Syfy Greenlights Battlestar Galactica Prequel Pilot Following a Young Adama

Syfy is returning to the Battlestar Galactica universe once again, this time for a new series prequel following Ensign William Adama fresh out of the Academy, the network announced Friday.

Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome will be a two-hour pilot set in the tenth year of the first Cylon War. In the midst of the battle between humans and their creations, a young Adama finds himself leading the colonial fleet's newest addition, the Galactica. The impulsive twentysomething must head a dangerous secret mission to help the fleet survive. (Adama was played by Edwards James Olmos in the network's critically acclaimed Battlestar Galactica reboot.)

Watch full episodes of Caprica

The pilot, from Battlestar executive producer David Eick, will air as a two-hour movie on SyFy; in success, the project will be picked up to series. Earlier this year, the channel launched another Battlestar spinoff, Caprica, which takes place 20 years before Blood & Chrome.

"The Galactica universe as re-imagined by Ron Moore and David Eick is rich with possibilities and backstory," Syfy vice president of original programming, Mark Stern, said in a statement. "We jumped at the chance to revisit the William Adama character and explore this exciting chapter in the BSG narrative which falls between the events of the original series and the prequel, Caprica, currently airing on Syfy."

Check out photos from Battlestar Galactica

The project is expected to begin production next year and air on SyFy in either late 2011 or early 2012, according to AOL TV Squad, which first reported the news.

"While maintaining the themes of politics, social propaganda, and the timeless question: what does it mean to be human? — Blood & Chrome will also return us to the authentic, relentless depiction of combat and the agony and ecstasy of human-Cylon war, which was the hallmark of Battlestar Galactica's early seasons," Eick said in a statement.