Sam Rockwell Names Hopeful Alan Rickman Replacement For Tim Allen’s 90% RT Sci-Fi Classic Sequel

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I’m still holding out hope for a Galaxy Quest sequel, and Sam Rockwell recently shared a fascinating thought! While it’s unclear if one will ever happen, he’s actually given some thought to who could possibly fill Alan Rickman’s shoes, which is amazing to me as a huge fan.

The first movie starred Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, and Alan Rickman as actors from a popular, *Star Trekinspired science fiction show. They unexpectedly find themselves transported into a genuine war between two alien races who believe they are actual heroes. While the film did reasonably well in theaters when it was released, making a sequel has proven difficult over the past 26 years.

In a recent interview with Liam Crowley of ScreenRant, actor Shawn Rockwell discussed the potential sequel series to the film Galaxy Quest. While admitting he wasn’t sure about the project’s current status and acknowledging that Alan Rickman’s death significantly impacted its progress, Rockwell then suggested an actor who could potentially fill Rickman’s role, proposing another well-known British star.

I’m not sure what the future holds, but we’d need someone like Helen Mirren to join the project. I’m also unclear on the status of the Simon Pegg series, but I’m definitely interested in moving forward and would be happy to participate.

In the movie Galaxy Quest, Alan Rickman played Alexander Dane, a Shakespearean actor who disliked being known for his role in the sci-fi show. Like Spock and Worf from Star Trek, Dane wore a fake alien head during the story. By the end, the headpiece gets messed up and broken, with his hair poking through in several places.

DreamWorks/courtesy Everett Collection

Ever since the original Galaxy Quest came out, people have tried several times to make a sequel. Around the mid-2010s, Paramount Television started working on a sequel as a TV series. As we’ve heard, Alan Rickman’s passing created a significant hurdle for the team developing the show, and the original cast members’ busy schedules also made things difficult.

Despite the challenges, the studio has continued to develop a Galaxy Quest show, working with several different writers and creatives, including comedian Paul Scheer, Simon Pegg, and Georgia Pritchett. The latest news, from Summer 2025, revealed that following the merger of Paramount and Skydance, the project remains in active development, but now under CBS Studios.

It’s interesting that Rockwell has mentioned Helen Mirren as his choice to wield Grabthar’s Hammer, originally intended for the late actor from the Harry Potter films. However, she wasn’t the only one considered to fill the role after Alan Rickman. Sigourney Weaver shared in late 2025 that Benedict Cumberbatch was once a potential candidate to play a reimagined version of the character for a Galaxy Quest sequel. She described the idea as amusing, but also admitted it felt odd to continue the story without Rickman.

While it’s just an idea at this point, Helen Mirren could potentially take on a role similar to the one Alan Rickman played in Galaxy Quest. She’s recently been working with Paramount+ on the Yellowstone prequel 1923 and the crime thriller MobLand, with a second season of MobLand expected to be released later this year.

Since Galaxy Quest is mostly a parody and tribute to Star Trek, and the movie ended with the fictional show getting a continuation, the new series could address Jason Dane’s absence by having his character pass away and introducing a new character, played by Helen Mirren, to take his place. This approach would allow the writers to honor the original character respectfully throughout the series without needing to convince audiences to accept a recast.

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2026-02-11 02:28