Double Takes: 'Battlestar Galactica'

As sci-fi showdowns go, Darth Maul vs. Qui-Gon Jinn has got nothing on this battle(star) royal. Turns out there are not one but two Battlestar Galactica features currently in the works. Actor Richard Hatch, who played Apollo on the short-lived cult TV series (1978-79), is working on a film about a new Galactica generation. Hatch has a script and he says he's already lined up investors as well as most of the original cast, including Dirk Benedict, who played dashing space cowboy Starbuck. ''I've never [directed and produced a movie] before,'' says Hatch. ''It scares me. But I got tired of waiting for someone else to do it. It's been a quest.'' However, series creator Glen Larson has his own project in the works, a film supposedly based on a Galactica character named Commander Cain. (Larson did not return calls.) So which Battlestar will prevail? As far as anyone can tell, Universal owns the rights to the original series, though Larson may own the rights to some characters. (''We've had several meetings with Universal and every time we've gotten different information,'' says Hatch.) All a studio spokesperson will say is ''Universal has no plans to make the movie.'' Still, Hatch is optimistic enough that he went ahead and prepared a trailer for his film. ''We recently showed it to about 500 fans,'' Hatch says. ''We got a standing ovation for five minutes. People had tears in their eyes.'' Don't cry for me, Commander Adama.