So, David Yates is making a Doctor Who film. It's not going to be set in the show's canon, which did a lot to assuage the fears of any fan old enough to remember 1996.
So, Bryan Singer is making a Battlestar Galactica film. It's not going to be set in the most recent show's cannon...
...but here are a number of reasons why a second BSG reimagining is a terrible, terrible idea.
1) Shepard Syndrome
For those of you who have never played or heard of Mass Effect, let me explain in slightly more detail: in Mass Effect, there's a very prominent character whose most commonly-used name begins with the letter S. Depending on your preferred version of canon, this character could either be a man or a woman. Now in total contrast, in Battlestar Galactica there's a very prominent character who... oh, you get the picture.
Is Starbuck a man or a woman? Is Boomer a man or a woman? (What race is Boomer? What species is Boomer?) Either way, you're not going to be able to please everyone.
2) How much of the RDM version do you keep?
Directly related to number 1 above, but I felt like highlighting the Starbuck issue in particular. Among other things, will there be: a President Roslin, a Chief Tyrol, a Dee, a Helo, a Gaeta, a political dissident played by the former Apollo, humanoid Cylons (including Number Six), flight pods that close, Raptors, DRADIS, etc? How about stuff from the original show that didn't make it into the RDM version? Will there be Boxey, Cassiopia, Sheba, Muffit, Athena? Which version of the Cylon Raiders and Baseships will you use?
3) Deus ex Machina
Let me just reiterate before going any further that I still love the RDM BSG, despite its less-than-perfect ending, its disappointing prequel, and whatever the frak Blood and Chrome is going to turn out to be. That said, I am very much aware that most BSG fans hated the finale a great deal more than I did. The thing is, the original BSG was essentially the Book of Mormon in space; I've never read it, but my guess is God's involved somehow. So if you don't want religion in your science fiction*, this was never really the show for you in the first place.
*This is completely off-topic, but I'm amused that some Mass Effect fans hated Ashley because she was into God. Then the ME producers turned right around and hired BSG's resident Angel of God to play HAL in the second game. That just struck me as hilarious.
The problem is, RDM BSG had an extremely (literal) deus ex machina ending, and Singer might want to backpedal as far away from that as he can. This, in my opinion, would be a fantastic mistake. The religious angle was far from the only thing that made BSG so unique, but it was an integral part of the show.
4) Doesn't the franchise need a break?
If I were a studio executive looking at the backlash from Daybreak and the atrocious viewing figures for Caprica, I'd be extremely hesitant before I signed off on a very expensive (because space opera always is) feature film. Try to imagine J.J. Abrams's Star Trek film getting green-lit in the immediate aftermath of Enterprise's cancellation. If memory serves, five years elapsed between the time Enterprise was cancelled and Star Trek the Star Trek came out. In contrast, George Lucas has been churning out Star Wars stuff for an entire decade, but we've all stopped caring. It's been two years since BSG wrapped, one years since Caprica went down in flames, and Blood and Chrome hasn't even aired yet.
Now, I know that Singer's not looking to piggyback onto a commercially successful franchise, because he's been planning this movie since before Ron Moore upstaged him back in 2003. But that's part of the problem. David Yates (who has just come off of four Harry Potter films) is almost certainly making a Doctor Who film because there's money to be made from it. With certain other directors, I'd complain, but Yates seems fairly compentent and determined to do right by the show. Singer may be as well, but here's the difference: there is a market for a Doctor Who feature film. The show is popular here in America in a way it never was during the last century. I'm not at all convinced that a similar market exists for Battlestar.
5) Yeah, I went there.
When the original Galactica was cancelled, there was an attempt to get something with the Battlestar Galactica name back on the air as quick as possible. The result was... Galactica 1980, a show everyone pretends never existed.
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