CINESCAPE Feb. 4, 2000
Scribe Algis Budrys is confirming that he's been tapped to write a prequel to Battlefield Earth, only it won't be a script for a movie. According to the Sci Fi channel's website, Budrys is actually writing a book. Budrys explains, "Every book in the L. Ron Hubbard library potentially is the basis for the script. ... This is much likelier to become a film, [but] I received an assignment to write the novel. ... The script-writing, etc., will not be done by me, but by somebody else."
'Battlefield' Prequel Talk
Budrys also revealed that the book's story will take place centuries before the events of L. Ron Hubbard's book and eventual film, saying, "There will be people who will be born who will in turn give birth to [Battlefield Earth's hero,] Jonnie Goodboy Tyler. ... It takes place with the first landing of the [evil alien] Psychlos on Earth, about 1,000 years before Battlefield Earth."
The as yet untitled book is scheduled to hit store shelves in the fall.