ATLANTA — Maybe it was the booze, or the rush of adoring fans chanting, “So say we all!” again and again, but Edward James Olmos let loose a few more details Saturday night about the final episodes of Battlestar Galactica and the forthcoming Galactica telefilm.

Last year, Dragon*Con organizers thought the Saturday night Colonial Fleet Party would be an intimate affair and scheduled a couple of meeting rooms in the Hyatt. A capacity crowd, hour-long wait at the door and a wincing fire marshal convinced them to take a different tack this year.

A huge ballroom in the Sheraton encouraged hundreds of fans and all the cast members at the con to attend this year’s party. Almost every fan wore some kind of Galactica costume: red-dressed Sixes danced with Viper pilots in full fight suits; blue-uniformed Colonial officers partied with Starbuck lookalikes.

I saw only one Laura Roslin costume — my friend Chasity, her head bedecked with a scarf acknowledging the Colonial president’s advanced cancer. Actor Michael Hogan (Colonel. Tigh) told her, “Mary [McDonnell, who plays Roslin] would love it!”

Olmos Takes the Stage

Olmos took the stage and thanked the fans for “allowing us make you part of our family.” The award-winning actor delivered a stirring speech about the social and political relevance of the ground-breaking SciFi Channel series, sprinkled with tantalizing hints about what lies ahead.

SPOILER ALERT!  While Olmos gave few actual spoilers, purists among you may differ, so read ahead with caution.

“We’ve found Earth,” he said of the climax of the mid-season finale. “But Earth is nuked. There’s nothing there. What happens in the next 10 episodes takes science fiction in a new direction we’ve never seen before.”

Olmos ended his speech with this reassuring tidbit, given that he has described Galactica’s finale as “brutal” and “not an uplifting story”: “The human race will survive!”

As one, the fans chanted, “So say we all!” several times, joined by Olmos, who added, “Just wait til you see how true that’s going to be.”

Introducing New Cast Members

Olmos introduced each of the principal cast at the party: Tahmoh Penikett (Helo), Aaron Douglas (Chief Tyrol), Hogan, James Callis (Baltar). He also featured Colin Corrigan, whom we’ve seen only in passing in the past few episodes playing a Colonial Marine.

Embraced by Douglas, who called the Canadian actor his best friend, Corrigan was described by Olmos as playing a major role in the final episodes.

Olmos noted that he is directing a two-hour Galactica telefilm currently in production. The film will air on SciFi in 2009 with a DVD release scheduled shortly thereafter (much like “Razor,” which told the story of the Battlestar Pegasus).

About the Galactica Telefilm

As announced by SciFi earlier this month, the film was written by series writer Jane Espenson, and is shooting in Vancouver. The cast includes Michael Trucco (Anders), Douglas and Dean Stockwell (Cavil).

Olmos introduced his wife, actress Lymari Nadal, whose small role in the 2003 Galactica miniseries will be greatly expanded in the film, which begins before the miniseries’ events. The story focuses on characters we know, including Stockwell’s Cylon, Number One; Trucco’s resistance Leader Sam Anders, and Douglas’ Chief Galen Tyrol.

The Cylons’ much-vaunted plan apparently didn’t account for one reality: survivors. Amid the chaos following their attack on the Colonies, two powerful Cylon agents struggle with plots and priorities on the human ships that got away, and among the resistance fighters who were left behind. 

A Major Role for a Former Minor Character

That’s where Nadal’s character comes in. She played a Caprican named Giana. Viewers may remember her as one of the survivors, along with Baltar, who were rescued by Boomer and Helo. Helo remained behind so Baltar could use his scientific prowess to aid humanity’s survivors (we all know how that turned out).

Giana’s husband, presumed dead in the miniseries, served in the Colonial Fleet near Gemenon. Nidal, 30, is a Puerto Rican actress whose work includes roles in “American Gangster” and the Olmos-starring series, “American Family.” She and Olmos were married in 2002.