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Universal Pictures has set Bryan Singer to direct and produce a feature version of "Battlestar Galactica," confirming a report on the Hitfix website.

The development is something of a surprise because the most prevailing rumor had Singer flirting with the idea of returning to the X-Men series by taking the reins of "X-Men: First Class," which focuses on the younger mutant characters seen fleetingly at the Xavier Institute of Higher Learning.

"Battlestar Galactica" appears to be on a fast track and sources said that Singer could be looking at a $10 million paycheck to sign on to the film.

Battlestar_fleming Singer has long been intrigued with "Battlestar Galactica" and flirted with relaunching it into a TV series right after he directed the original "X-Men." Back in 2001, which involved teaming with Tom DeSanto to exec produce the series. Singer planned to direct the pilot of the new version of a series that originally launched on ABC in 1978 and ran two seasons.

It is possible that the timing of the series went awry because of the World Trade Center disaster that occurred later that year. Certainly, it made a series that launched with the attack and destruction of earth unpalatable.

The director got busy on other projects. Ronald Moore came on as executive producer and oversaw the 73-episode series relaunch, which had a critically acclaimed run on Syfy.

It wasn't immediately clear whether Moore would be invited to write the screenplay, but it is clear that Singer will put his own creative stamp on the project as the studio indicates that the film will be "a complete re-imagination."

Glen Larson is aboard to produce.