Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men was one of the better films of the past five years or so—and along with Battlestar Galactica, it’s a powerful reminder of the potency and relevance that sci-fi can offer. Now comes news that Children of Men might be coming to TV, by way of one of Battlestar’s exec producers, David Eick, who’s taking his inspiration from the original book by P.D. James.

“It’s really taking root more in the origins of the novels in that it will focus on the cultural movement in which young people become the society’s utter focus… Much like our culture, whenever Lindsay Lohan does something [and] it becomes the headline of every news show, it’s about how, when you don’t have a responsibility to the next generation and you’re free to do whatever you want, where do you draw the line?”

Eick added that Children of Men will question how society defines responsibility, freedom and a sense of values when it doesn’t necessarily believe humans will survive as a species. “So it’s a very compelling, I think, human question that science fiction has always explored extremely provocatively,” he said. “It’s not really a war show like the movie was. It’s more an exploration of that issue.”

Huh. Well, first, I’m wary; while I’m generally impressed with the work of Battlestar’s mastermind, Ronald D. Moore, Eick’s got a sketchier track record (largely thanks to that unfortunate Bionic Woman remake business, which he was also behind). And while it’s not explicit in Eick’s quotation, he seems to imply that Children of Men: The TV Show! will focus more on the last kids alive on the planet—and not so much the burned out, worn out grown-ups Cuarón’s film so fascinatingly followed. Don’t get me wrong; I’m all for shows about photogenic teens (my new favorite show, Gossip Girl, is rad precisely because everyone’s so, so pretty and it contains lines like, “You ruined my cotillion on purpose!”), but skewing the focus of Children of Men younger feels more like a slick marketing decision than anything else. (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, anyone?)

Anyway, it’ll be interesting to see how this shakes out. The full story at Sci Fi Wire has a few more details, as well as a tantalizing mention of Battlestar’s upcoming spin-off, Caprica.