Ryan further notes that series mastermind Ron Moore is currently writing the series finale, that as many as three movies could be made, and if the movies do get made they'll get made this summer.

I’m guessing the plan being bandied about is to air the movies this autumn, before the final 10 episodes of the series finally hit NBC-Universal’s SciFi Channel.

I’m also guessing the TV-movies will, like “Razor” and the soon-to-shoot Cylon-genesis project “Caprica,” serve as prequels to the current season-four storylines. Moore has, in a David Chase-like manner, repeatedly rejected the notion of continuing the “Galactica” story beyond its coming series finale.

Ryan's story also tells us a new set of webisode shorts will link the first and second halves of season four.

As "Battlestar Galactica" gets ready to air its mid-season finale on Friday, there are two bits of good news to share regarding the show.

According to well-informed sources, it’s almost certain that at least one “Battlestar Galactica” TV movie will be made this year.

Here’s even better news: Up to two hours may be added to “Battlestar’s” final run of episodes.

You heard that right: The last leg of the show’s final season could expand to 12 hours, instead of the originally planned 10 hours.

As he discussed here, the show’s executive producer, Ronald D. Moore, wrote "Battlestar's" final episode, which could be up to three hours long (a wild guess here: Sci Fi probably wouldn’t air the whole thing in one night). Mary McDonnell described her reaction to the script this way: It filled her with "an incredible feeling of adrenaline,” she told Ain't It Cool News. “It made me understand the entire saga, and made me excited for all of you.”

UPDATE: Here's a statement from from a Sci Fi spokesman: "As written by Ron, the phenomenal finale script extends beyond the time alotted for the episode.  We're exploring how to shoot the extra footage as Ron has envisioned and written it."

As for when the final part of Season 4 will air, Moore has told TV Guide that it’s probably going to be in 2009. (Update: EOnline.com reports that the president of Sci Fi has said the last episodes will begin airing in the "first quarter" of 2009.)

Kateeviper Regarding the “Battlestar” TV movie, as "Razor" did, it will probably air on Sci Fi first then be released on DVD within days (the preceding sentence was updated with new information from a Sci Fi rep). There’s no word on who will be in the movie, what it will be about and when it will air. All of that is still to be determined.

In a previous story, I’d reported that up to three films were being considered. Whether the other two “Battlestar” TV movies will get made is an open question at this point, but it is possible, according to my sources and according to Galactica Sitrep (which also has wall-to-wall coverage of Wednesday’s screening of the mid-season finale at Los Angeles’ Cinerama Dome).   

Stay tuned for more “Battlestar” thoughts: I’ll have a blog post up on Friday’s mid-season finale, “Revelations,” this weekend. (The photo above is of Katee Sackhoff as Kara "Starbuck" Thrace in "Revelations.")