With the recent news that Roland Emmerich would like to make a second, big screen, Stargate movie, questions surrounding the future of the franchise have again started popping up throughout fandom.
It’s been three years since Stargate: Universe was cancelled and fans want to know: What’s next? Whither Stargate?
Well in my humble and somewhat informed opinion: Beats me.
But let’s look at the possibilities…
THE BIG SCREEN REBOOT (TWO WAYS TO DO IT)
Look at the re-imagined Star Trek. Both movies did HUGE business. And, like Star Trek, Stargate is an established scifi franchise that would undoubtedly wow with a big screen treatment and visual effects budget. The potential box-office returns could be tremendous!
Or not. If the summer of 2013 has taught us anything, it’s that Big Budget Star-driven features don’t guarantee success. The Lone Ranger ($215 million dollar production budget), White House Down ($150 million dollar production budget), Turbo ($135 million dollar production budget), RIPD ($130 million dollar production budget), After Earth ($130 million dollar production budget), The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones ($60 million dollar production budget). What do the aforementioned have in common? Yep, you guessed it: Big hopes, Big budgets, and, all of them, Big box office disappointments. Also, keep in mind that the listed amounts in parentheses are the approximate production budgets which don’t take into account the equally sizeable costs of marketing these movies. Ouch.
So, it’s clear that “throwing money at it” won’t guarantee a movie’s success. Neither will casting hitherto bankable actors like Johnny Depp and Will Smith. BUT Stargate is an established property with a pre-existing fan base, so it’s got that going for it. Right? Well, okay, so did The Mortal Instruments movie but, for argument’s sake, let’s just stick to Stargate for now. Big budgets aside, the Stargate franchise is much like Star Trek in that it has that built-in SF fan base eager for more. So it stands to reason that it should follow the Star Trek model and find success as a big screen reboot!
Well, not so fast…
First of all, as proud as I am of everything we accomplished with the Stargate franchise, I’ll be the first to admit it doesn’t have quite the reach or support of Star Trek. And that’s nothing to be ashamed of. Sure, we produced three series, two direct-to-dvd features, and some 300+ episodes over 15 years but, while impressive a feat, it pales in comparison to Star Trek’s five series, twelve theatrical features, and some 700+ episodes over 46 years. As a result, Star Trek’s influence reaches far beyond its fandom – which is important given that, despite its established fan base, Star Trek: Enterprise was cancelled after four seasons. This is not to minimize the impact of fans but simply to suggest expectations should be tempered. A robust and passionate fandom doesn’t necessarily guarantee success. Having said that, however, it’s in instances such as these, where a franchise’s reach may not be as wide-ranging as a Star Trek, that fandom is even more important in a studio’s campaign to “get the word out”.
It’s for this reason that you want to make sure you get fandom “on your side”. And this is where reboots can get a little tricky. On the one hand, re-imagining a property offers first-timers the opportunity to get in on the ground floor. They’re on equal footing with longtime fans in that they don’t need to come in to a movie knowing what has come before. It’s fresh and new to them as, ideally, it would be to longtime fans. A new beginning of sorts. Problems arise when you start distancing those longtime fans, the support crew that could prove an indispensable part of any pre-release online campaign, who may not take kindly to the franchise they’ve come to know and love being messed with. And, by messed with, I mean…
Ignoring what has come before.
Yes, a fresh start is a great idea when it comes to reaching out to a potential new audience, and while some fans would undoubtedly be pleased with a complete relaunch, many others would no doubt take umbrage with a complete dismissal of established canon. In some ways, it’s the equivalent to the Bobby Ewing in the shower scene in Dallas. Remember? Actor Patrick Duffy decided to leave the series and his character was killed off at the end of the show’s eighth season. But then Duffy had a change of heart and decided he wanted to come back. Unfortunately, this wasn’t a scifi show and cloning, time travel, and ascension were not viable options. So, to address the issue and bring back Bobby Ewing, Duffy’s character makes an inexplicable appearance in the final episode of of the show’s ninth season. His wife hears the water running, walks into the bathroom, and is shocked to see him there, showering. When season 10 got underway, it was revealed that Bobby never died and that the show’s ninth season was just a dream. An insanely detailed dream that ran 31 episodes! Which leads me to wonder how that ninth season performs in syndication and alternate media purchases (i.e. downloads). Anyway, my point is that a creative clean slate could hurt rather than hinder a reboot’s prospects as it slams shuts: a) the book on beloved characters and b) the door on the faces of longtime fans.
On the other hand, instead of a complete reboot, the studio could opt for a reboot that makes use of established characters – which is what Star Trek did. We are presented with a new version of long-established characters – Kirk, Spock, McCoy – but the potential to piss off longtime fans is minimized because the story takes place in an alternate universe. So, quite literally, fans can have the best of both worlds. The new adventures don’t undo what has come before. Fans will, of course, have a preference, but both versions can happily co-exist without trumping one another.
Of course, one could argue that the reason this type of reboot worked for Star Trek is that, while these classic characters have long been engrained in the SF consciousness, it’s been almost twenty years since we’ve seen them onscreen in a new adventure. In the case of Stargate, well, it’s been about two years since we last saw Jack O’Neill grace the small screen. Is it perhaps too soon to expect fans will embrace someone other than Richard Dean Anderson in the role?
A SMALL SCREEN EVENT (TESTING THE WATERS)
Another possibility is to produce a one-shot Stargate television event that could potentially act as a backdoor pilot for a new Stargate series. If the ratings are great, the studio can move forward with an all new t.v. series while, if the ratings disappoint, they can cut their losses with this single production. At first blush, this seems like a great idea. Creatively, it would allow the franchise to head in a bold, new direction while still paying its respects to what has come before, leaving the door open for established characters to make an occasional appearance and help bridge the gap between old fans and new. Upon closer scrutiny, however, it becomes clear that a “one and done” deal wouldn’t make much financial sense. In order to do it properly, especially if it was going to serve as a potential backdoor pilot, $$$ would need to be spent, and broadcast license fees and alternate revenue streams may not be enough to make the venture worthwhile. Like any show, it would be a gamble, but the fact that science fiction requires more of a financial investments makes this even more risky. At some point, the studio needs to ask itself what would be the better scenario: strike now or wait? There’s an argument to be made for both. The fact that the last Stargate episode aired only two years ago suggests the fans are still out there and, if a movie or series is produced sooner than later, one could count on their support – in addition to the potential support of new viewers. Strike while the iron is hot! Then again, the ratings for SGU’s final season could suggest viewer fatigue and maybe waiting is advisable.
A CLASSIC STARGATE MOVIE OR MINI-SERIES
As much as I would love to see a television mini-series or movie based on either of the three past Stargates (SG-1, Atlantis, or Universe), this one is the longest of long shots mainly because the sets no longer exist and rebuilding them for a one-time adventure doesn’t make a whole lot of financial sense. At the very least, if one were going the backdoor pilot route, there is the very real prospect of recouping those upfront expenses in an ongoing series. Back in the day, the two Stargate direct-to-video features, Ark of Truth and Continuum did VERY well. But that was before the bottom fell out of the dvd market. Sadly, a “classic Stargate” miniseries or movie isn’t the slam dunk it used to be.
A NEW STARGATE SERIES
Well, yes wouldn’t that be great? A new set of characters and host of new adventures with the potential for guest spots from the likes of Rodney McKay, Daniel Jackson, and maybe even Eli Wallace. A new Stargate-based television might be the best way to go. After all, while the original movie was successful, it was the television franchise that proved an incredibly lucrative earner for MGM. But some of the same questions arise. When should the studio look to put another series in development? Sooner or later? Has enough time passed?
LOOKING AHEAD
So, having said all that, what DOES the future hold for Stargate? Again, I haven’t a clue and I’ve long since accepted the sheer folly of applying logic to Hollywood decision-making. But, for what it’s worth…
My gut instinct tells me the studio would LOVE to follow the Star Trek model: take an established property, re-imagine it for the big screen, and makes hundreds of millions of dollars. Of course, it could be argued that that is a very best case scenario. If the studio does consider going down this route, careful consideration will present two indisputable facts: a) Stargate is not Star Trek, and b) alienating long-time fans in favor of a new audience could prove disastrous.
As much as I would love to see that Atlantis movie or SG-1 movie or even a mini-series that incorporates elements from all three Stargate shows, this is the unlikeliest of scenarios for the simple reason that the risks far outweigh any potential rewards.
No, given the history of the franchise, it would seem a new television series would be the best way to go – a fresh take on Stargate that would bring in new viewers while rewarding the long-suffering fans.
However, I’m not the one making the call.
In the end, I think there’s only certainty: On the question of Stargate’s glorious return, it’s not a matter of IF but WHEN.
I think he could go a different direction with it without having the same feel of re-writing the universe of SG-1, Atlantis, and Universe. He could go a different direction and it could have the feel of something completely different, a different universe altogether. The TV series didn’t feel like a perfect transition from the movie to me. I would just think of the series as starting with the pilot and the series of movies as a separate work.
By “the same feel”, I’m referring to the Star Trek re-imagining being like a re-write, whereas he could go another direction without comment on the SG-1 universe and it simply becomes a different universe to me.
From your mouth to Hollywood’s ears, Joe! 🙂 Still, an Atlantis movie would be my pick… Been stuck super sick this week (and it continues), and I started re-watching Atlantis today (for the umpteenth time), I still love it. What you say about Star Trek v Stargate is very true. I have much stronger ties to Star Trek than I do to Stargate, but maybe that’s just a matter of my age and how long I’ve been watching both shows? I remember Brannon Braga being very optimistic about a new Star Trek show within 5 years of Enterprise’s demise, and here we are, nothing yet. Let’s hope Stargate does a little better than that!
so your gut says: “No, given the history of the franchise, it would seem a new television series would be the best way to go – a fresh take on Stargate that would bring in new viewers while rewarding the long-suffering fans.”
i’m a long-suffering s/j fan for sure! :p but i love the whole mythology/history of the Gates, so bring it on!
would you like me to campaign on twitter to mgm about this? if so, any suggestions on how to state it?
I confess, I don’t know much about the business end of these things, but the apparent success of the “made for Netflix” programs (House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, etc…) might present another alternative. It would have the advantage of 1. Built-in fanbase (who, we know from the SGU experience, are more likely to watch their television shows via the internet), 2. A commitment to at least a single season of episodes (so those sets will get used more than once!), and 3. An opportunity to draw new fans in by giving them the opportunity to binge-watch an entire season and become committed to the show (I still maintain that part of the demise of SGU was due to SyFy’s messing with the schedule and having such a long hiatus between half-seasons/seasons that many viewers drifted away…).
Anyway. That’s my layman’s (laywoman’s?) two-cents on the matter. And for what it’s worth…if the MGM PTB are reading this…I wouldn’t spend a cent to see any Stargate movie that didn’t honor the existing canon established by SG-1, Atlantis and Universe. Alternate Universe or no Alternate Universe, they can keep it.
Stella
Stargate not a matter of if but when…YAHOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😀
Not really thinking about Stargate. For me, it will always be the Atlantis series just as it was. That’s MY Stargate and I want nothing else but fond memories of the likes of Spectacular Steve and Temperamental Todd.
In other news we had a big fire here in New Jersey. Fire, fueled by 30 mph winds, consumed several blocks of the boardwalk in Seaside Park, including what was left of the Funtown Pier. Firefighters dug up the boardwalk and created a 20-foot trench to keep the fire from progressing north. At the height of the fire about 400 firefighters – including forest firefighters – were on scene, with companies coming up from even our southernmost area nearly 90 miles away. Coincidentally, there’s a fireman’s convention in Wildwood this weekend – it will not be a festive one, that’s for sure.
Less than a year ago the boardwalk along Seaside Park and Seaside Heights had been devastated by Superstorm Sandy, and massive effort went into rebuilding for the summer. Though it’s the end of the season not all businesses were closed, and some people actually lived above those businesses, too. This is a real kick in the nuts for the people who live there.
I am curious to learn what started it. It is a shore ‘tradition’ for a few stores on any given boardwalk to burn down at summer’s end. As kids we used to try to guess how many days after Labor Day the fires would start. A good summer = no fires. A bad summer = fires. So I won’t be surprised if this turns out to be arson, though I hope not. I really hope this was just an accident or an electrical fire, especially since people were still working and living in the places that were lost. To set fire on a windy day to inhabited buildings would be pure evil.
News and photos here:
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=9245840
das
@Das My sister was telling me about it (remember she lives in Toms River, just across the bridge). It made our local news here. I hope they don’t find out it was arson.
If am still stuck on the “trilogy” comments. MGM’s darling Hobbit series did not do as well as expected trying to take this story and stretch it into three. Personally I enjoyed it and look forward to seeing the new one in December but I heard a lot of grumpy people. Ditto for Star Trek for the 2nd installment of the newly imagined series. People who thought Khan was the best of the original Star Trek movies to come out strongly disliked this one. It’s always a gamble.
@deni. Sending virtual chicken soup to you to help you feel better., wish I could do more to help than that though. So sending prayers!
I really don’t think Stargate would work as a big feature movie with a budget to match, to avoid making a huge comment, although Stargate is popular, it’s nowhere near the level Star Trek is at, it would never make hundreds of millions and investing in a big budget trilogy would be a very foolish/costly move if it ever were to occur(I doubt it).
Either a one shot movie, or a TV series would work, at least in my opinion. With enough love, and effort, not to mention talent and marketing, you could easily revive Stargate.
With a director that respects the franchise, and not his or her own ego, you could easily do a Stargate movie that is both respectful to what has already been established, and give fans something new.
I’ve kind of resigned myself to no Atlantis movie but if they do a new series I’d only tune in if some of the existing characters from SG1 and SGA made appearances on a semi-regular basis as mentors to the new crew. Or something like that. And to be more specific Sheppard would have to be one of them. Or I’d honestly have very little reason or need to check it out.
I don’t think this upcoming reboot is going to have anything to do with the series. It’s being made by the original creator, who is said to be not a fan of where the series went (his loss!). So we’ll get new Stargate, but it won’t have the slightest resemblance to SG-1.
I’d like to think MGM had more sense than that, and that they’d rather capitalise on the massive already-in-existence fanbase and library of existing television episodes, but I just don’t see it happening.
In my opinion it’s too early for a reboot for the movie or tv series. I would go for movies à la Star Trek. Same personage but in a near futur (5,10, 20 years later). For a tv series I would definitely continue SGU, 2-3 years have passed, corresponding to time it takes to make it from one galaxy to another.
You know, THEY could another route… “ANIMATION”! ;-D
[STAR TREK & STAR WARS have “been there, done that”]
Nothing like catching that New Audience from BIRTH! And, you could still use all of the Actors…
BTW, are those PUPPETS still around?? – Now THAT’s a NEW VERSION I *WOULD* WATCH!! – [Gerry Anderson ROCKED!]
seriously, how bad could it be? — After DISNEY buying STAR WARS, let’s face it, NOTHING is “Sacred” any more!
I’ll watch… movie, series, whatever. I am a stargate addict. Unless it is really bad, I’ll be there. But I agree it seems too soon.. at least for a series.
@Randomness… gosh I hope you are joking that you don’t believe there is global warming. Not as crazy as a flat earth believer, but still….
@PBMom: Thank you for the soup and the prayers, much needed and appreciated! xo
Hi Joe
After the first, and successful, Stargate movie they didn’t do another. Emmerich didn’t. Why?
Instead, after a lull, the TV series was conceived and born, and helmed by a different leadership (not Emmerich) and given a bit different tone.
There were DVD movies spun-off the series, not rolled out to cinema.
Now Emmerich sees a follow-up movie not a DVD (I presume) nor TV series linked – unless that is an intention, and to do it as he had possibly thought waaaay back….or just do another sequel to roll with that franchise.
Who is writing with him?
Real life – Stargate: origins debate?
Aside from that I wonder (like everyone else) what tack he’d take. He is big on Alien invasion and end of world stuff…so there’s all that bumpf on web building (in the post 2012 no-show) the next conspiracy bandwagon: landing! takover? Return of the nephilim? last pope! Mars! Prophecy! New Age con! End of Days! They’re coming…ahhh!
The reach-out into the universe happened in the first movie. Here comes the reach-back home. Not so much blow-back as culmination of the long agenda…and the stories will be in and around Earth, Moon & our solar system only.
But some on Earth have been preparing and will use adapted Stargate tech to have a web of fast-shift link holes all over the Earth, Moon, planets and their moons. When the enemy starts moving, and openly, this official resistance will be ducking and weaving fast through the rabbit warren of micro wormhole tunnels (& a few biggies), striking hard and holding out – like the Vietcong in tunnels underground.
Of course, there will be further layers of conspiracy. Is this for real – a real attack? A genuine resistance? Or a scripted agenda to bring humanity together to fight the enemy from out there – entities/’gods’ who think they own us? Step forward the New World Order and One World Government agenda…
two cents worth…if that!
best! PJR
Or we could all just admit Stargate has had its day. SG1 got a good run but by the time it ended had run pretty severely out of steam. Atlantis had some good ideas but was always the-lesser-son-of-a-greater-sire. SGU was a brave attempt to do something different with the setting but unfortunately ended up showing that built in fan base also means built in baggage, namely fanboy who throw hissy fits. Frankly might have lasted longer if it hadn’t been a part of the SG universe.
No, if there is another SG offering it will probably be the Stargate equivalent to Enterprise.
[shudder]
The original film had a ‘sequel’ novel published which was supposedly how the creators saw it progressing. It was dull and with a very ‘preachy’ plot about big business and military stupidity. If this gets resurrected as part of the plot then it will be a spectacular failure…
It doesn’t bode well if even you call him O’Neill with two ‘L’s. I was lead to believe that that colonel had no sense of humour at all…
hi Joe. very happy to hear that you’re still saying not if but when. if like to see gate take a cue from American horror story. gritty and serialized like sgu, but each season be a story that is concluded by season’s end, taking place in the universe we love. New main characters could be cycled in each session as well. I think sci-fi viewers have become weary of show spanning arches because the shows rarely survive long enough to reach conclusion
Whatever evolution of Stargate appears, movie or series, big screen or small, I’ll watch. I might not like it, and I may moan about it, but I will watch it. Sigh. Just don’t wait until I’m too old to see the end of a trilogy …
@Ganymede:
There was a Stargate animation.
The less said, the better.
One reason I wouldn’t be offended by Stargate branching in a different direction from the original movie is, for all we know, Emmerich might have had a plan for a next movie all along. Then, a couple guys went a different direction with it from his plan.
I’m with Das. Although I started out watching SG-1, Atlantis became the show I like best. A movie or show with the original actors is what I crave. If a new movie is made I would probably rent it when it got to Redbox but I wouldn’t spend money to go to the movies.
@Joe Mallozzi says “Is it perhaps too soon to expect fans will embrace someone other than Richard Dean Anderson in the role?”
I certainly wouldn’t miss Anderson, who turned Jack O’Neill into a buffoon. Besides, who needs RDA when Kurt Russell is still available. Barring that return, I’d be more than happy if they cast Jeffrey Dean Morgan in the role of Col. O’Neil(l) in a reboot of Stargate.
Deni: Sending you Prayers. Aren’t the antibiotics helping?
Das: Horrible news about the fire. It’s hard to imagine such loss after the last time.
I’d take any kind of StarGate but I like Carl’s idea the best. There is so much untapped potential for stories in SGU. Imagine a movie sized budget for SGU…..:D I won’t hold my breath waiting. 🙄
JeffW: The South is having a cold spell (80ish). I hope it lasts through your trip to Nashville next week. Safe travels.
I’ve got to appreciate that Stargate is still on MGM’s radar, and the difficult situation they’re currently in re: your in depth analysis. I’ll just wait impatiently until they poo or get off the throne.
Whatever incarnation the next step in Stargate evolution, I’ll watch.
Thanks for the thoughtful and informed run down Joe. I hope the audience you wrote this for, in addition to us blog denizens, will also read it and be inspired to make use of the standing, and extremely LARGE, Stargate fan base.
It is NOT too soon for a new Stargate TV series. Everything these days is instant gratification, want it right now anyway, so why wait longer?
On another note, just lost a full week of work due to an inflamed pinched nerve in my lower back. It was so severe, I had numbness/weakness in both legs, preventing me from moving very well. Chiropractic treatments have helped, thankfully, and I’m now mobile with a back brace and much less pain.
@das… yeah, the boardwalk fire was so tragic. I smelled the smoke up here in northern Monmouth County. Amazing show of strength and assistance from so many great firefighters & police. May God bless them and the families devastated by this loss. So sad…
2cats
@Tam Dixon: Thank you, sweet girl! Had to go off the antibiotics after two days, horrible gastrointestinal side effects. 🙁
Regardless of what MGM/Fox is going to do with the franchise overall, I would very much like to spend my money on a Blu Ray copy of Stargate Universe season 2.
Is anyone listening at MGM or Fox?
Wake me when it gets here… I just hope MGM respects the exsisting fan base. I bet Jason Momoa would at least make a guest appearance.
@ Das – I can’t believe brand new construction would burn like that. Did they use all wood? It better be started by a welder’s torch, or something ain’t right there.
@ Deni – Babies and very young children are germ factories. They pick up everything from their little mates and bring it home. I hope you get better soon. A girl at work use to get really sick a couple times a year. When her grandchildren started arriving, I thought she would be sick constantly from their germs, but she hasn’t been at all. She says she is loading up on vitamin C tablets. Someone even sneezes around her and she’ll pop a Vitamin C. You might want to try it.
@ Tam – Send some of your 80’s weather over here to Texas please. It is slightly cooler – mid to low 90’s instead of 100’s. I can’t wait for Fall.
As much as I would love to see SGU pick up where it left off (3 years passed is the perfect amount of time, as that was the estimated hiatus of the crew) I realize that it’s not viable because it would be too much expense in rebuilding sets for a series that (according to questionable network execs, anyway) didn’t succeed the first time.
But I think that some creative plot development could continue the story while avoiding that expense.
Maybe that 3 years gave Eli (an already smart dude) a lot of time to think. When you have a lot of time to think, and some pieces of a message from the beginning of the universe which is probably about ascension, maybe he was able to ascend himself. Maybe once he ascends he has to make a choice about whether to use his power to help his friends get home, resulting in his banishment; or to stay ascended and refuse to intervene.
Let’s say he magic’ed his friends home and was banished. You are back on contemporary Earth which means you save a lot on building sets. Maybe the SGC has been dismantled by some political forces, which means you don’t have to explain why the SGC set isn’t around anymore. This gives some opportunity to explore the characters (Rush would be pretty damn jealous that Eli experienced ascension. no? Also pretty pissed off that he was removed from Destiny?) and to slowly introduce some new plots that could effectively be a “reboot” in itself, and could even allow you to get back to the kind of show that those whiny Atlantis purists wanted (which pretty much led to the downfall of SGU). I dunno, maybe the gate has been put in storage since the SGC was dismantled, and suddenly it activates and an entirely new threat is introduced. Old SG characters and new SGU characters have to do something to battle the threat – maybe they band together and form a shadowy-secret freelancer group operating outside of government knowledge and oversight! Led by the tortured but brilliant Dr. Rush and financed by… something. Maybe they operate out of Canada to further save on production costs and they hire Dr. McKay to be their Canadianese interpreter. Yada yada yada, successful show! Let me know when my royalty check is in the mail 😀
I think if Emmerich can make a decent movie then people will watch it, regardless of connections to the franchise, or not. Sometimes it seems that studios are making some movies just for the sake of making a movie.
The The Lone Ranger is a good example. I wouldn’t pay to watch it, and using Depp as a native Indian version of a drunken pirate only puts me off it even more.
I have a hard time imagining what i’d want to see in a new TV series. SG1 seemed to cover everything in a simple package of 3 or 4 core people running through the gate. I think Star Trek had the same problem in that they covered so much ground with so many different series that they now have to rehash under an alternate timeline. The new Star Trek movies have a nice flashy package, but they’re only decent movies and mostly reminiscing about the old characters. I think MGM is in a very tricky position on how to go forward without damaging the franchise further.
I just want more sci fi period; I miss Stargate, Battlestar, Trek, Fringe; I love Orphan Black and Defiance but I want more space adventure and more awesome fight scenes and kickass heroes.
If a reboot of Stargate the movie means more Stargate on TV then I’m in. Heck I’d even take a tv version of Elysium or District 9, just something that’s full on sci fi.
Deni: Can they try another antibiotic? You sound like you need something…. So sorry. I get terrible secondary infections from colds. Miserable!
Hey Joe you missed something important.
You mentioned the alternate universe angle, but… Why go with alternate of existing characters?
As per the Stargate universe’s own rules, shouldn’t there also exist a Stargate Command and SG-1 that never had a O’neil or Carter at all? A “SG-1” may ot even exist, but some other letter or team alphabet names. Stargate GT-1 ? (Gate Team 1), or Stargate (2015) and Stargate (The Series), or Stargate ET-1 (Exploration Team 1). All the suggestions in this comment I place hereby in the public domain. So go for it!
So a reboot would not need to be a “reboot”.
It would be a alternate universe, different command, different team, heck the Ori may not exist there at all, not even the Go’ould need to exist.
Even the stuff that happen in the original Stargate movie may not even apply.
It could be a completely separate origin story, without the “reboot” trap that so many others suffer, and best of all, zero retconning issues as the previous stuff remains fully untouched.
Per the infinite universe theory, an infinite amount of Stargate movies/series could be made without ever stepping on the toes of previous material.
Thank you Joe for the great analysis of the current Stargate situation.
By the way in the last couple of days I watched some old SG-1 episodes from season one. Good times and memories.
I know it was before you and Paul joined the gang.
There were even female writers e.g. Emancipation on the show.
(now I know why there weren’t more female writers on Stargate 😉
So, you’ve thought about this a little bit, then, I take it? 😉
Really well thought out and laid out. But, there might be one avenue you left out…
After re-reading your post, one thing that just came to me is that Emmerich may take it in a whole new direction. New characters(no Jackson, no O’Neill), different looking gate(i.e. not a circle), different time, etc. Just a whole new everything. This completely distances himself from anything previous, namely, his own movie.
He establishes new canon, spins off his own new TV series, and establishes himself as creator and EP of that new series, hereby maintaining control of his baby(or second baby) and keeping the money, too. None of which happened the first time around. It may be what his endgame is with the new movie. Understandable, too.
Sadly, that “new TV series with a fresh look at Stargate” was SGU, to me anyway. I loved it. It had that 90% new, 10% familiar feel that works well with new spin-offs. I think if someone tries to go that route, MGM will just keep pointing to SGU and say no.
What would be interesting to have happen would be for MGM to pass on the Emmerich reboot(due to cost) and have them actually sell of the rights to Stargate to another production house(kind of like the Dumb and Dumber sequel). Perhaps selling it to another, more eager, company is the new lifeblood the SG franchise needs?
-Mike A.
Just a quickie…
@ Ponytail – As I understand it, the section that burned was mostly old boardwalk (in Seaside Park). The section of boards replaced after Sandy was mostly in Seaside Heights, I believe. Not sure if any of the new construction burned, but they did have to tear up part of the boardwalk to stop the fire and that may have been the newer part. I heard that something like 50 businesses were destroyed. Even if those buildings survived Sandy they still had to do major cleaning up and repairs to get ready for the summer, and now they have to do it all over again.
Of course, some properties may now get sold off. My sister’s father-in-law bought up half a block of Wildwood boardwalk after a fire back in the 80s. Sometimes it works out better for the owners that way – they get the fire insurance money and the money for the sale (provided the property was free and clear). That’s one reason they look very closely at these things for signs of arson – a boardwalk fire can be lucrative for someone who has no plans of rebuilding.
das
Ponytail: Tonight the low is going to be 58F(14C) Bring out the coats! I’m not kidding, I’ll freeze at the football game tonight . I’ll pack a blanket.
I’ve tried to switch weather with Narelle but it doesn’t work! When do the fall temps take effect in Texas?
2Cats: Hugs and I hope you feel better tomorrow.
@Tam Dixon: Well, we’ll see. I’ve tried two and both have caused terrible side effects. I’ll wait a couple of days (and like you, I always get secondary infections) and see how I feel. At this point, I’m kinda done with antibiotics, you know? 🙂 Ugh, ugh, ugh. Anakin’s still really cranky and stuffy and miserable too, but no fever.
I’m watching the Lost in Space movie. That’s what this has come to.
the best of both worlds is what you said, joe, mixing the new with the old.
if i were writing the new series (i sooooo wish!!), i’d have it be in the here and now, but seeing as stargate’s been off the air for 2 or 3 years, things have changed and the stargate program is being set up to be revealed to the public. sam, daniel, and teal’c have moved on with their lives away from sg1 (sam and jack are married together *squee*), and atlantis has returned to the pegasus galaxy.
but as the program is about to be revealed, a new baddie comes forth (and make the baddie something totally different). so you’re dealing with new bad guys, the program going public, new characters, our beloved characters, *character growth* for old and new characters, and…
no rushing writing episodes, no plot holes, no juggling more than one series at a time, no juggling more than one episode at a time… and whoever(s) take on the new series, watch (or re-watch) the first 4 seasons of sg1 to see stargate at it’s best.
there’s SO much left to tell…
@ Tam Dixon –
Never. The leaves turn on cue because of lesser sunlight, shorter days, but Halloween is usually still hot. Thanksgiving is nice. Maybe November and December is Fall. Winter is January and February. March, it’s Spring already again.
Stargate revival Great idea;
For all the world would I give to ensure a new Stargate Adventure. That being said, myself and many of my friends are fans of the series, however, as God is my witness Stargate Universe Sucked the big one. Who ever had the stupid idea to allow the creators of Battlestar Galactica to remake a new Stargate series in that story line model was an idiot.
They took a great series then brought in God like aliens as well as the possibility of meeting God himself. Give me a break, they killed BSG by doing that. Both BSG and SGU had such wonderful potential but the writers of both those series killed it with stupidity. You don`t go meet God in a sci fi.
The ratings for SGU didn`t drop like a rock due to the sci fi fans of SG, they dropped because of stupid writing. Everyone I know, who where great fans of the SG franchise wondered what cheap drugs the writers where on taking the same idea line they used to kill the potentially great BSG bringing angels and meeting God.
If the writers had just followed the same formula used in Stargate SG! and Atlantis, and stuck with what works, the third series would have been a hit. The fans where not tired of Stargate, they where tired of stupid writing.
Someone needs to wake them up, first they killed BSG, which was great when it started and then used the same people to kill SGU. This angle became a soap opera for both these shows, which is not what sci fi fans want. Notice the ratings.
It was the writers and there idea`s, pray to God or a different God or god`s whatever. Do not promise to meet God or his Angels, GIVE ME A BREAK.
Why would they think fans would enjoy a stupid story line.
They can test a Stargate series all they want, as long as they don`t go stupid on us again. I am sure the fans will support any good writing.
Yours respectfully
Mike
The best part of your comment was the last line.
star trek deep space 9 went dark, was fresh, lost ratings. BSG was great however lost ratings towards the end, went dark not to mention brought god and angels into a sci fi. SGU went dark and brought in god, lost ratings. Why is it that no one on here see’s this pattern? Stargate could have kept running with Atlantis or SGU with better writing. That’s all I am saying.
LOL Joe, perfect comment. I think your analysis is remarkably objective considering your involvement in the franchise. I wouldn’t hazard a guess as to the best path forward, but I do believe any new incarnation would need to appeal to a new and far wider audience than exists for Stargate now. My observation is fandom is shrinking fast, and I’d wager the public awareness of the series is too, sad to say. A movie seems a huge risk unless so e big names are attached, but yeah, if a silly Johnny Depp can’t save Lone Ranger, who would that name be? 🙂
It’s refreshing to know that at the very least, Stargate isn’t just a forgotten memory in the minds of hollywood producers. I think that a new series would be great for the franchise, but moving constantly forward and building on old concepts could, as you say, make the show hard for new fans to follow. Maybe the franchise could wait a while to make a new “Earth is in danger, our expedition is the only one that can stop it” series, instead focusing on other cultures in the universe.
In the same way that Star Trek features several generations of characters, or that the LOTR universe features many, many interesting side stories that are just as exciting as the books following the War of the Ring, perhaps the Stargate franchise could document a series about the Ancients, Asgard, FURLINGS, or maybe even the survivors of the destruction of Tollana.
I thought that both BSG and SGU were excellent shows. Different shows with some similar elements.
I think BSG had the edge, but then BSG got to finish the series. I like that BSG didn’t have ray guns. It was all regular old fashioned nukes and bullets and it seemed to suit the show.
On the other hand Stargate was getting all sorts of high tech stuff, on SG1 and SGA. Like the rail guns. Google ‘rail gun’ on Youtube these days, you’ll find the real deal just a few years away from implementation on navy ships. They are able to do Mach 10, don’t need explosive charges and can reach well over the horizon, unlike conventional artillery. I’m still waiting for force fields and time travel.
Both shows had great writing and acting, IMHO. Of course I don’t expect everyone to like the same things I do.
The only thing I didn’t like about SGU was that at that time I wasn’t able to watch it in high definition. Watching the first season on Blu Ray, the show looks great. Much better then it did over cable on my flatscreen.
Oh, and Young should have evacuated the air out of the damned gate room. I could almost slap the writers for that. He revived Rush, he probably could have revived Telford. He didn’t even need to wait for them to die. Only until they passed out, were they would have been easy pickings. Oh well.
In the end, I think there’s only certainty: On the question of Stargate’s glorious return, it’s not a matter of IF but WHEN
…and WHO?…
Definitely agree that new TV show building on the best of the three previous shows would be the best way to go for the studios at this time. If a star trek style movie reboot was to be made it MUST pay lip service to the TV series which was far more successful in every way than the movie ever was. (as the star trek reboot did). If they ignored TV canon I guarantee you that the fan base would be almost entirely up in arms. But my understanding is that it is the original creators of the original movie that are pitching a new film franchise and that they are not big fans of the TV series, so that looks like a recipe for disaster to me. Finally there is still a lot of potential for a decent stargate game, probably a MMOG, such a game could easily compete with the likes of Warcraft, MGM need to sort that out too.
Hi Joseph,
It’s safe to say I’m a loyal fan and have had a deep love of the Star Gate franchise for a long time I find it very unfortunate that MGM with the cancellation of SGU has not proceeded with production of any new current movies or series for Stargate: SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis and episodes for Stargate: Universe and I have always felt that MGM has turned their backs on the Stargate’s franchise’s very loyal fan base. I am thankful for the information run down concerning the future of the Stargate franchise and the concerns over Roland Emmerich proposed second, big screen, Stargate movie reboot. I truthfully cannot see MGM giving Roland Emmerich the green light on that project. The Stargate franchise is an historic MGM asset that was acquired and paid off while the movie was not. MGM stands to lose fare too much by disregarding the series. I would definitely agree with the idea that a new Stargate TV shows should be built on the best of the three previous shows, it would be the best way to go for the studios at this time. But, in the mean time until MGM decides if they are going to release a new Stargate series, I have my DVD and Blu-ray discs of Stargate: SG-1, Atlantis and Universe I can watch. In addition there are two very good Stargate fanfictions I have been reading by the same publisher. The first of two is called “A New Dawn” which has 77 chapters, but is well written on the basis of a continuing storyline. For instance, he wrote a couple chapters out before the end of SGU and Destiny didn’t start on its 3 year journey in the story and the Sequel is called Aphelion. But hopefully MGM realizes that the Stargate television series has many more stories left to tell and turns down Roland Emmerich’s proposed big budget reboot.
Any way seeing how MGM is making the decisions, my ideas are worth about as much as the paper it’s written on (so to speak). Take care of yourself.
I don’t know about anyone else, but as a huge Stargate fan, I stopped watching Universe after about half a season. I was so excited to have another show and then it just disappointed. Too much sex and not enough light humor that had made Stargate what it was. I still consider it “the stargate that never happened”. I think that’s one of the reason it wasn’t successful. The writers decided to go darker, but that’s not what Stargate was all about in the first two shows and it put people off of it. My friend lasted a little longer than me, but in the end didn’t like it either.
Excellent insight Julie Ann Bateman.
Personally, I’m surprised the SG franchise hasn’t followed in the footsteps of Buffy/Angel and Firefly, continuing the series in comic-book form.
It’d certainly be cheaper.
Just reading this after watching a rerun of Stargate SG1 which is the better of the three with Atlantis coming second and Universe third, i think what they could do is the whole Star Trek alternate reality or timeline deal.
My Idea
First have either all or some of the original cast come back and we see
them about to start an adventure through the stargate, they get a little screen time maybe ten fifteen minutes, they then step back through the gate after going to the alien planet and fighting off a small hive of bad guys but when they come back the Worm hole passes through a solar flare which sends them back in time and we have our Team meet their past self or in some way the old team are killed off except for maybe one or two and has to prepare the new team for the arrival of Ra.
Alright the idea needs some work but maybe it could be an idea. i know some might have an issue with the old team being killed off but it would allow old fans to see their favorite characters and bring in a new team but i want people to know one thing, Stargate SG1 wasn’t as good after RICHARD DEAN ANDERSON left the show, he made it for me, funny, snarky.
I came to post the exact comment of Andrew Caufield – surprised that SGU hasn’t been continued as a comic book. it seems tailor made for that type of storytelling, especially when the economic feasibility of continuing the show is in doubt. Have there EVER been SG comics? Not to my knowledge.
One comment that I’ve seen you make over and over again is about the rebuilding of sets – and I do agree that could be cost prohibitive. But that’s also assuming that the a new series is set exactly where an older one was. What if there was a 3rd stargate on earth somewhere, with differing origins than the first 2? New series could follow the adventures of that gate. Same continuity. Sets up the potential for exploring the existing universe some more long term, but in the short term, its a fully realized, self contained story? That to me is would be the challenge of the writing staff.
I’m sad to admit when my dad bought me SGU s1 for Christmas two years ago I kicked it aside. I had seen the 2nd or 3rd episode when it aired and thought it was too far off the map. Stargate had made a lot of bad moves in my eyes; ending SGA by abandoning all of their allies?? – not giving Jack Oneall the sacrificial death to save the planet his character deserved to have aired (only when Anderson committed to his retirement (s.8)) – not having any more beautiful nudity scenes after the pilot (art).. so with me and my opinion on the producers remake into SGU, I had lost them. It wasn’t explained in advertisements enough where if you want to protect your billion dollar franchise you insure it by taking part in the endless brainwashing of our society, what’s a couple 100, 000, 000? #TakesMoneyToMakeMoney
After about a year of the dvds sitting there I finally got bored enough to put on an episode. I must admit, it was encapsulating. I downed the season in mere days
Stargate to me has the most potential out of any sci-fi franchise, and I say that knowing there are far more treckies out there than gateists. I hold this true because This series has the resources to gets any sci-geek wet. The wormhole science – the government politics – the biggest explosions and graphics – and lets not get started on ancient human mythology and civilizations.. it has ascension for Christ sake!
I remembered watching back too many years ago to season 1 (But for the grace of God) and Daniel touched that mirror to another reality, that this show was unbound from anything we’ve ever seen before.
If they make a washed version of stargate I won’t be watching it, like any orgisinim, this show needs growth, and renewal. Don’t be afraid to let a character die after a decade of service, it’s what happens in life. and besides, your stargate, you can just say the thing’a’ma’bob, the latest Ancient discovery, can revitalize him for x number of hours as a hologram if they ever want to guest star.
A series that incorporated all three shows, having their main studio back in shian mountain but 3 sets with 3 different casts that would intertwine harmoniously by the oversite of the NID. Story line episodes could be shot simotanusly by 3 separate directors spending up production time. And with each character not not SO vital to the franchise with less face time, the producers would have more power over salary contracts
One thing is certain, Stargate won’t be the same not able to anticipate Dr Jackson passing away again.
“As much as I would love to see that Atlantis movie or SG-1 movie or even a mini-series that incorporates elements from all three Stargate shows, this is the unlikeliest of scenarios for the simple reason that the risks far outweigh any potential rewards.” – R.I.P Stargate
Origin stories, people love origin stories. That is why the original SG movie worked. Everything is new and wow. But that is also why Universe just wasn’t really engaging the Ancient stuff was cool but it seemed that the stories were all about the characters emotional problems and that just wasn’t engaging. So do something like have a group of SG people go back in time to the origin of the Ancients. Then you have a group of modern humans traveling the original gates as used by the ancients. This way you can make self referential bits that thrill old fans while not having to re-educate new fans. Plus you could time it at the same time they are deploying the gate network and the technology is young and unreliable. Also the Ancients could be gritty and more Tatooine than all holy and about to ascend but with factions that will lead to the later ancients.
“Back in the day, the two Stargate direct-to-video features, Ark of Truth and Continuum did VERY well. But that was before the bottom fell out of the dvd market. Sadly, a “classic Stargate” miniseries or movie isn’t the slam dunk it used to be.”
Really?? Based on what? Every “classic Stargate” tried up to now HAS been a slam dunk!
“Then again, the ratings for SGU’s final season could suggest viewer fatigue and maybe waiting is advisable.”
SG-1’s good run of movies was stopped because of fear of low DVD sales (though never shown to be the case). SGA was cancelled by the producers amid fluctuating but still very good viewer ratings.
To claim that low ratings for the “Stargate in name only” series that followed (SGU) was due to “franchise fatigue” is a huge insult and quite frankly a slap to the face of almost every fan of the original series.
That being said, I agree with most of what you write about a movie reboot by Emmerich.
Btw, I really liked your script for the SGA movie/season 6 opening. If something like that were pitched as a new series today I’m sure it would raise a lot of interest at some network. Maybe you’ll have another shot at it someday.
No one will ever see this but if I had my way, I would see a gritty, hurt locker / blackhawk down version of the first film with minimal digital effects and sets, focusing on drama and realism, making the peppering of fantastic elements that much more interesting. Rather than a big FX movie, it’s about misunderstood people at the end of their rope, a shamed and uncredable self-doubting linguist, disillusioned military personal lost in a god forsaken dessert, dirty sand people starved and over-worked, battling personal demons that are symbolized and manifested by the Gould over-seers. That ripping open the veil and exposing the false gods is an allegory to letting go of that which holds us back. A true tale of human ascension. High drama, not ironic or self conscious no matter how fantastic. The opposite of Eli in SGU.
Honestly, I’d be happy with new Stargate…. period 🙂
I don’t care what you make as long as you crowd fund it and release it directly to the contributors via the internet first. TV and DVD are dying in the USA and will follow suit elsewhere when Netflix etc are rolled out worldwide. He’ll if I wasn’t paying twice the us iTunes price in my country I’d buy the full back catalogue digitally if it meant ANY stargate was made.
He’ll give me a figure and three months I bet I could crowd fund it for you!
Studios can’t argue with getting paid upfront and making profit by owning the rights…
To reboot something they need to finish what they started..i mean SGU story is not finished..SGA at least have some “bad” but finish..but SGU is in the middle, how to reboot something in progress..stupid.
i loved SG1, i loved SGA, but SGU just missed the THEME of this Franchise / IP / the Series by a mile.
It was not that the fanbase was “oversaturated” by Stargate, you just killed SGA way before its time, SG1 could have gone on forever with new cast members (just think Power Rangers here for a moment… lol) they just moved on too early to SGU.
I was angry at SGU for killing SGA, YES, totally, but i was also open to get impressed by SGU, i watched every episode and honestly it just failed as a Series, you could have written Star Trek on it and i still would have hated it.
The characters weren’t the HEROES i expected or wanted, they were people i would despise in real life, pretty much all of them.
The Story wasn’t the FUN action / SciFi / comedy ride anymore, it was Drama / Soap Opera… “try something new” some may say, but SG1+SGA had a winning formula, it was light entertainment and people could watch those eps out of order and still have their casual FUN with it.
SGU failed to entertain and failed to make one care about the Characters.
There were no feelings for the Ship either, we didn’t even see the Bridge until Season 2!
I remember one short glimpse at a CGI Engine room?…. yah sorry, i am a Space Ship Nerd for all things SciFi, but the Destiny only had some darkly lit rooms and corridors, nothing memorable about it at all, i don’t remember a Ship Show where the Ship was explained so little ever as it was in SGU.
So… even the techy nerdy stuff failed for me.
The Prometheus from SG1 was a Ship i could have lived with… Bridge, Engine room, shiny well lit corridors and i even knew how the engines worked etc. not exactly USS Enterprise levels of Technobabble, but good enough for me!
…. just face it already SGU was just the wrong show for this Fanbase at the wrong time, and if you write STARGATE over something, people expect Stargate and not BSG lite.
Lets just move on and somebody do the next big thing already. I’m starving for some decent new SciFi content here…. if Stargate doesn’t do it, somebody else will fill that void sooner or later.
A Stargate Reboot would be kinda lame, the new Star Trek movies brought some movement back into Trek yes, but most Fans hate the new JJ Universe because it is just mainstream popcorn kino now.
There is no Star Trek or BSG or even Farscape on TV right now, any SciFi fan is bleeding for NEW material (you know we have a limited lifespan? so the “is it too early” question is just stupid really, it is never too early to do something AWESOME, it can only be too LATE, as in… “if am DEAD i can’t watch it anymore”, you know?), as long as it isn’t Drama driven like BSG / SGU and Caprica were (which imho ALL failed horribly… yes even BSG failed! The last 2 Seasons of BSG were just bad and i was glad when it was over and Caprica was just a PITA to watch.),
The FUN ride that SG1 and SGA were, with actual HEROES, Aliens, Space Combat and so on… i’m on board with whatever is coming next.
What i REALLY want to see is, what happens on Earth, now that Atlantis has landed? What really happens when the Stargate program finally becomes public knowledge on Earth?
I want to go FORWARD with the Plot, not reboot, not prequel not sideways to a Lost in Space-Ship Show somewhere out there… and certainly not Reboot it all and start from zero.
Also the argument of rebuilding the old sets is a non argument really, Whatever new Show comes along will need new Sets anyway, those will cost money anyway, it can’t be more or less expensive to build a new set with old or new Layouts in mind.
Hi Joseph,
I loved Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis and even though I felt it was extremely dark I enjoyed Stargate Universe. However, I did feel while after watching the 34 Kino episodes that were on the first season Blu-ray of Stargate Universe there was one I found really humorous Kino webisode 24 – “Wait For It”. I could not stop LOL after I saw this and it made me wonder why stuff like this could not have been included in the show. There times I preferred these to the actual episodes; Stargate Universe needed more a bit of humour like that; it would have given the show more ratings. These little moments get lost in the tight plotting, but a few minutes here and there make them more real. And we care more about what happens to the characters.
But what I enjoyed most of all about Stargate Universe was the dramatic change in the Lucian Alliance, even though the Lucian Alliance have been in a maximum of two (three, if you include ”Air”) episodes in SGU, so far they have been much better than the Lucian Alliance that was introduced in SG-1. In SG-1 they came off, slightly as the ”Dumb Villains” of the show. The writing was sloppy, and the characters they had in the Lucian Alliance where just foolish! In SGU, however, they have moved away from the ”Dumb Villains” category into a major threat! Much of that goes to the writing; Kiva makes a great leader and a character. And, add to the fact that, they seem prepared for battle every time we’ve seen them on screen! I truthfully enjoyed the new take on the idea of the Lucian Alliance as a threat, SGU is a lot darker, more serious show and the Lucian Alliance fit in well with the show itself. I truly believe if they could have created a series with a darker and more serious Lucian Alliance as the major villain it would probably have done much better.
This is what leads me to my next point I am an avid reader of a lot of Stargate Fanfiction, and that’s why I believe so strongly in the idea that there’s so many stories left to tell. But would the producers even consider a Fanfiction story for a new Stargate series? There are two very good Stargate fanfictions I have been reading by the same publisher AlexanderD, the first of two is called “A New Dawn” which has 77 chapters, but is well written on the basis of a continuing storyline. The Sequel is called Aphelion and is at 49 chapters and counting is somewhat darker but does not neglect the character involvement. In that we care more about what happens to the characters in these stories you really need to read it to appreciate the story. Which involves a war with a
darker and more serious Lucian Alliance, involving battle scenes which are not glorified and new technologies. Along with a depiction of the Earth’s military and its mission in the universe; both of these stories encompass characters from all three of the Stargate series and the introduction of the Furling race, but overall would producers consider adapting a well written Stargate Fanfiction story into a series? As for sets why not use the same method they used for Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome that it would be filmed using digital reconstructions of the Stargate franchse sets, that is if any were scanned before they were dismantled after the end of the shows.
I’d watch what ever they did simply because I love Stargate, but I’d much rather a new TV show set in the existing Universe. I was glad to hear you’re so confident of Stargate returning, wouldn’t be the same with different writers though.
What bugs me most is the cliffhanger at the end of SGU, one movie finishing SGU would make me happy. 🙂
An entirely new series wouldn’t hurt either, I think 🙂
Personally I just need wrap up SGU story line. I loved old series, and they did marvelous job, but reboot wouldn’t be a bad thing overal.
i feel like who ever owns stargate if they decided to release a long commercial about the long and epic journey of the stargate program and advertise the possibilty of releasing a new series that has characters and themes from all the previous series people willl start watching and buying more of it. an AWESOME commercial would bring in tons of support if the commercial was on syfy because i randomly found out about it from some website…other than that i had no way of knowing about sg!! but i love the show i just want it back a NEW series bringing all the old people back would be a DREAM come true lol.theres just wayyy to much sg material to not at least have a commercial .I am a huge syfy fan. And i basically watched all the stargate material backwards in release order. just because i thought sg-1 was in the 90s so itd be cheesy….boy was i wrong im on season 9 of sg-1 and season 2 of atlantis and ive already seen universe and the movies…and i already am feeling the horrors of there being nno new stargate stuff for me to watch. i really wish there was a way i could help to bring it back
i loved all of stargate and i really loved the gritty feeling of SG-U, SG-1 and SG-A were great dont get me wrong but they were a little fluffy but SG-U bought in the real world and how humans would really act in that situation. it was a nice change up with everyone stepping on nerves or jabbing them on purpose and everyone having an agenda of thier own. i think the made for netflix idea is great with streaming becoming more and more popular. i dont even own a tv nowadays i stream everything via paid for sites. i think a film is too much risk, wont draw the same crowd and hook them. once a movies done its done with another huge budget to continue and having to remake the sets every time. plus actors like having steady jobs as much as anyone else, bring in new promising actors for the main cast cheap and then if it all goes well and you get good ratings pop in a bigger actor from the franchise as either a one off deal or offer them more episodes whatever. its an evolving series and has more chance of sucess.
Doesn’t David Hewlett have the set for Destiny? Anyway logistics aside (getting the band back together, stage, budget) for the love of god SGU was just too damned good, just getting the point of being undeniably awesome and engaging (for anyone) (ratings models in flux and certain self-important skiffy execs aside). SGU has 8-10 seasons of unexplored brilliance left there, full of possibility in it. Just sort of laying in suspended animation as it were. Cameos, integration of new cast members, movies, integration with other existing Stargate personnel and storylines, and new ones all possible. How could looking for God, interaction with world-creating, ship restoring forces, ascension (including to merger with the ship), communication stones having (and all the unthought of issues that brought to focus (ethics in someone’s else’d body, who dies when one person’s body is killed, the possibility of other races or power “hacking” the “ansible-link”(sorry!:, couldn’t resist, but that connection only bolstered the concept’s viability/plausibility in the average consumer’s mind: a good thing)), the possibility of a way (maybe in the ancient database or an existing device/interface) to view, record, playback, the experiences anyone has in the link/host’s body, and the potential for that to be misused), the possibility that the planets the alternate timeline SGU cast somehow weren’t the only ones that happened, Franklin with a message that inspires everyone, an SG-1 200th episode(?was that it?) type just for fun episode with the Gerry Anderson/puppets/Farscape/Star-Trek riffing thing, maybe a little Rumple-Stilskin riff just for laughs). Any exec that can’t see the potential in the SGU franchise would be short-sighted, at best. There are decades of material, spin-offs, convolutions, and evolutions possible. It’s possible it grew to be the equivalent, really the bettering (for genre-transcending but also capturing the essence of what the heart of sci-fi should be: of opening hearts and minds to thoughts, perceptions, feelings that make us questions what is and can be, to see what could be and want to make the world more that way)of anything the (cancelled) run of Star-Trek ever did. From within the complexity of the reality of human behavior, delivering hope, courage, redemption, and the enduring nature of values in a world in flux. I don’t think you can see what you created for what it’s worth, I’m sure you can call up a memory of one or two brilliant artists that are too close to their work, heard it a million times getting edited in the studio, and can only see that music (as an example) as is “okay” with moments he/she is more or less happy with, when what ended up getting made was brilliant, more than the sum of it’s parts (though those making them were talented enough) and comprised a solid, viable archetype, like an undiscovered math waiting to be brought to light and change things as we know them, for the better. Please find a way to continue where SGU’s left off? It’s just too damned good not to. Please forget the logistics of how and focus on what should be, can be, could be. It will come together. Take a stand for it and see if someone recognizes the value. If the execs are too blind, and I’m not saying kickstarter, but eff it maybe there’s a venture capital company that sees the potential, long term, with streaming deals, etc. You could even just straight up hit Apple for an exclusive for Apple TV (existing and coming), get a phat deal, bring it all back to life: let Eli’s pro-Apple riffs, right up there with “Damn you, damn you all to hell!…”:) earn their keep. Please just fricking go for it, man, like it’s worth what it is and can be! Please bring back SGU. Thanks,
Glenn
Btw I cut the cord after Skiffy (intentional spelling) cancelled SGU – Netflix, Hulu only, waiting on Apple to do to TV what they have to Music and Books for TV, then that. Don’t let these soulless industry people get you to doubt the value of what you created with SGU, please.
A long time Stargate fan from Finland here… I completely agree with you on all above mentioned points and hope that the Gate can be saved somehow!
I think they should take the planned ending for Revolution (the Stargate gets revealed), and go from there in a series. The first episode could be the “what-if” to season 8’s “Covenant.” Somehow the Stargate gets revealed in a huge expose. Then the U.S. government and the others with knowledge of the gate have to deal with that.
Potential storylines could deal with groups aiming for control of the gate, as well as terrorist groups who want to get rid of it because of their political/religious creed. Other storylines could deal with the public’s reactions to the existence of extraterrestrials – perhaps including getting the public familiar with them. Too bad the Asgard are gone, as that could be a good spot for someone like Thor, but perhaps it’d be a decent way to get Master Bra’tac back in the picture? It might be better to start with a near-human race, anyway.
Ultimately, the end goal could focus on the themes of what happens when the Stargate is revealed, and maybe in the final episode or season, or several seasons in, we could end on a picturesque setting like we saw in “2010,” without the whole slow extinction thing.
a new movie or show would be nice but what we really want is an ending to Universe!!! even if you just tell us what was supposed to happen
definitely tv show rather then movie, movies are great but are over too quick. i prefer a long story u can sit down and relax every week to 🙂 i liked every series it all brought a unique take, i liked the adventures and mythology of sg-1, the enemys and we could be attacked at anytime of atlantis, the limitations of universe getting lost, gate jumping etc. i still believe if someone comes up with a GOOD idea thats original and unique involving the stargate that they could take to MGM its how it starts. until then i doubt its gonna happen.
my thoughts would be doing the ancients its been threaded through every stargate series and apparently we only scraped the surface of the coolest race to ever inhabit the stars, it could be a sorta reboot in a way as its going right back to the start 🙂 it would bring new audiences aswell as satisfy old as we were always being teased with the ancients never getting too much which could work in our favour now. they had the ability to time travel, so could end up anywhere even though this wasnt exactly approved but we always crossed boundaries every now and then 🙂 sure it would be in the past but that past had technologies even in the future were amazing. maybe its time we tell the story.
Many people may not agree with this but I think that all the people from Stargate, and Atlantis should start in a new series. It might be cool if they finally got Atlantis station fully operational after these three years and set out to find the people from the universe series to save them, from there they could introduce the new characters and phase out the old ones ( except for the much needed guest appearances ). From there anything is possible in how a new series should go and what adventures await. I think it’s perfect Atlantis a fully functioning space fortress / scientific community/ space ship, that is loaded with smaller spaceships in the docks and the puddle jumpers with the fighter ships. Along the way they learn more about the ancients and what there true purpose was, since they would be chasing the Universe ship.
Series 100%, Stargate Atlantis and SG1 combined, the precedent was set at the end of Atlantis, they landed in American Waters and got a cloak up so now they have- A base to operate from on home waters, no issues now from nagging governments on money spending on the stargate program etc as Atlantis has its own upgraded gate and power source, safe landing sites for the ship fleets and now they can get to exploring the city in full now with SG1 incorporated, You got 2 stories going on at once potentially (with SG1’s away missions and home missions on the city-Daniel Jackson would need to be more so in Atlantis now) If they were to acquire the knowledge on how to make ZPM’s (so the city can have 3 fully working) or incorporate the newly given Asgard Technology into Atlantis i’m sure there are more Galaxies to explore. The ascended Ancients might have even decided if Humans are going to get so much of their technology (Incorporating Destiny’s return to Earth and lands on Atlantis) they are going to have a………representative of sorts sent down (Please Morgan Le Fay!) to observe and advise, she could take human form again easily! I’m rambling and getting excited but there you are writers! A couple of my thoughts!
Stargate is missed big time!
Simply do what they did with BSG:Blood and Chrome. A one hour stand alone episode with digital sets. But which show would you build on? SG-1? Atlantis or SGU. I’d say Atlantis. But more importantly, the people high up need to get off their horses. As Joe Flanigan has said, the arrogance with which SGU was build (It’s stargate….people will watch whatever we do) and then getting the finger from the fanbase and then moaning about said fanbase is the worst thing you can do as a producer, writer or network exec. Admit the mistakes first. SGA was cancelled when it’s ratings were up and it was making a lot of people a boatload of money. A reboot will “anger” the fanbase even more. Maybe in 20 years the franchise is ready for a battlestar like reboot. As reboots go, BSG is the perfect example on how to do it. I’d say get Ronald D moore and Bear McCreary (for the score) onboard for any type of continuation of the franchise.
I am a huge Stargate fan. I felt Universe did not do well because this series did not revolve around a military base/enviroment. By giving the civilian side more of a say so in this series produced a lot of uneventful arguing. The bickering got tiresome rea fast. I feel the show should go full military or full civilian control. This will leave room for better writing and a lot more action.This downward spiral started with Atlantis when the show put Richard Woosey in charge. I will always be a Stagate fan and I hope MGM brings it out on Blueray like they did with Atlantis. I do not feel a reboot will do the brand any good, another TV series would be great if the show can find out why the brand went from 10 years to 5 years and then down to 2. I feel the reason is the focus on the military.
You don’t need to rebuild the old set!
I have an idea of a small plot to circumvent the problem withrebuilding the old Stargate Center.
It goes the following way:
1. We use old footage of the Stargate Center Gate Room showing it from a complete perspective.
2. Then the Stargate opens suddenly.
3. Now we go in close up view, showing only the blueish of the stargate horizon.
3. A device falls out of the bluish horizon.
4. We go back to big perspective, using an old footage with Jack O’Neil looking wondering about the device, that just felt out of the gate.
5. Then, everything lights up to white.
6. We go outside, taking outside shot, seeing the whole Chayenne Mountain exploding in a big nuclear explosion.
7. Intro of new plot is finished.
That’s the idea. The old set is destroyed with that nuke device.
We have a new enemy, but we don’t know who it was. This is the hook for a new story in a new serie.
Though O’Neil died at that attack, it might be sad, but Dean Anderson is too old and Carter, Teac & all the other weren’t in the Stargate Center at that day, Carter was on Hammond deadalus class spaceship, Teac on Chullack etc. so we can bring them back to show. And the fans want have revange for killing O’Neil, which means, that they watch the new series to find out how Carter & the others solve that and getting informations about the new enemy.
The set problem is also solved, because you now can build a new one which makes financial costs lower. Maybe a set on another planet, that was some sort of an Alpha Base.
Also the public get some sort of knowledge because of that nuclear explosion. This will also be interesting to show and explain in a complete season.
You can use this plot idea for free. I put it under Public Domain.
BTW:
If you can, i would really like to know how SGU officially continues.
Series 3 of SGU would be great.
@New plot idea
Respectfully, and I’m going to be kind here, but that idea is absolutely dreadful. Not one enemy of the SGC would have anything to gain from destroying the base either. Not while Earth has ships that can easily just pick up a new gate and place elsewhere.
@Dean Anderson is too old
Nah he isn’t.
Hi!
I’ve been a SG fan all my life and it was sad to see no SG on TV at all after SGU was canned. SGU was a bit dull in the 1st season but it was becoming a really great show in the 2nd season, only to have it’s legs cut off way to early.
I think i have a great idea on how to bring back SG to the small screen since SGU is an open book as to what cold possibly happen.
It involves Destiny meeting up with a faction of The Ancients who choose not to go through ascension(insert reason here ), at the same time The Ancients tell the crew of Destiny that the ships missions still needs to be fulfilled ( what ever it may be ) and they have the Ancients blessing to help Destiny do it, since Humans are direct descendants of The Ancients.
This faction of the Ancients have the means to sending people back to Earth ( due to ZPMs) and they also tell SG command where another Stargate is that is tied into a plants core to use it ( one time only deal, due to the fact like the last time/s when you use the planets core to generate that much power is becomes unstable and blows up. Don’t worry the planet is in a system where there is no life at all. ) to send people a complete crew to man Destiny and complete it’s mission.
A lot of the stuff is missing tho, needs to be smoothed out a lot but you get the idea of it.
…
Or you could do a reboot about The Ancient war it self since it went on for a long time. Stargate: War of the Ancients, has a nice ring too it 😉 Since it could tell the story of Atlantis / Earth and Destiny all in one.
That is my thoughts, i just need Stargate back on TV as it was my most watched show. I grew up watching it with my Dad, since he really enjoyed it as well. Come to think of it, Stargate is the only thing my Farther and I had in common.
Cheers!
Pete
Come oooon you can easily create a new series, think about a new galaxy with a new enemies and a new team, you can start from the stractch and can easily recreate it, you can create a series that takes place in 2014 in a much more developed sgc organizations and a new team is assembled to discover the new galaxy. You can always close the gap of SGU by saying there is no word from them or you can say it has’nt been 3 years.
Or all sgu members wake up 100 years later, but everything changes in home world, earth may be under siege from another enemy.
Atlantis may be lost, or they can be the only colony left in another galaxy, preserving the rest of the humanity, and sgu and sga characters can work together in a new series, by taking earth out of the picture.
Just think about these.
short & sweet: i’m a stargate fan, have been from the very beginning. i loved sg1, sga & sgu, loved the characters and the incredibly detailed and rich mythology established by all those years of great stories. stargate doesn’t need a reboot, we don’t want a reboot, we won’t watch a reboot (speaking for myself and some friends). just a heads up to any mgm peeps reading this. and the simple fact is, emmerich doesn’t make good movies. flashy, yes, but not good. rant over, thank you for your time 🙂
This has probably been suggested before… but just in case… couldn’t crowd funding help to bring back the Stargate that we know and love (rather than the remake idea)? ‘Veronica Mars’ made a movie in just that way (and set a crowd funding record). Plus, many of the old Star Trek gang are now doing the same and releasing projects like ‘Of Gods and Men’ and ‘Renegades’.
At least this way it would also give you an idea of how badly the fans want Stargate. You wouldn’t have to worry about creating a new show that may not get the ratings… as you’ve mentioned, due to possible viewer fatigue (although I doubt anyone is tired of Stargate!!!!) 😉 .
If the funding is not made then that is that…. nothing is lost. But if it is, well….
If this only gives us a TV movie or two (or at least an ending for SGU) then so be it. I’d take anything related to the already existing Stargate universe any day (as i’m sure many others would) rather than a remake/reboot.
I’m no expert or anything but surely this is an option?
I’d be the first to donate if this happened!
Thank you for all the years we already have! Stargate rocks!
I am shocked that nowhere in there was a picked up series via Netflix or Amazon wasn’t brought up. It seems to me that would be an excellent choice, and one that is the most likely to bring in more viewers.
IMO, I have been sucked into shows that I would NEVER have continued if they were on regular TV on a weekly schedule. I.E. I tried House of
Cards, hated the first few episodes, but since they were right there on netflix and I didn’t have anything else to watch I continued on and got sucked in. The same thing happened with Arrested Development, and Orange is the New Black and I’ve heard this from a LOT of people. I didn’t like the show at first, It wasn’t my cup of tea, but it’s there and available to binge watch, so they continue and voila! New fans!
Now, I’m a die hard SG fan. I have all the dvds, movies, among other things and I re-watch them all the time. I loved all three series. It IS hard for someone who isn’t very Sci-Fi oriented, however, to get into such a show, or someone who has never seen such an established show before to get on board. What better option than to continue on with a MS or new series via the Netflix/amazon route? You get your fan base on board, you get new viewers sucked in via the “binge watch” and you get a more accurate read on viewers since a huge portion of today’s watchers are online, not on a TV schedule. Heck, I don’t even have cable or satellite because I can find enough to watch between my Netflix and Amazon Prime subscriptions.
I would also like to say, I got my husband to binge watch stargate with me (all 3 series, and because I had them available on DVD) and he was SUCKED IN, and not a sci-fi fan at all. And that is saying something. We even named our dog Teal’c. Hes a true blue SG fan for life. He even quotes the damn TV show will still shocks me to this day, but it’s true. He loves it. If it was on TV and he watched one, I’m convinced he would have never seen another episode the next week. But in this format, he’s a huge fan.
Put it on a schedule on cable, new people just aren’t there. Even big SF fans hate what the network is doing to itself. Put it online, you have a virtual gold mine waiting for new fans to get sucked in daily. It makes the most sense to me.
I heartily believe its only a matter of time before they try to get a Sci Fi show on board, whether its a SG series, or maybe firefly, they’d be silly to not try to tap into this market soon.
yes i think they should finishes for what they started in the whole three of them with the same characters instead of leaving people hanging i am a big fan of the whole three of them best shows ever.
I don’t understand why SG wouldn’t start where they left off, adding in a deeper story and tying in all of the SGs to create what ALL the fans crave, closure to the loose ends and expansion of a very interesting story. The only fans would bring the new fans. That’s the magic of having a big fan base and including what they want. Adding a great new twist, deeper plot, keeping the mythology we all love and the historical points we can relate to would make the series something we can all connect to. I’m will watch the new series and after some years hopefully the movie. I miss having something to watch on tv that has something I can get into that has some history and interesting facts to it along with a great adventure. Movies that someone can be entertained by and learn from are the shows that old scifi watchers and the new generation are craving… I would love to see them bring back the series where it left off with the old characters, and fill in all those blanks and loose ends we have been wondering about, and make it taste as good and fresh as the first time we watched the entire season strait through with wide eyes, excitement, and very little sleep…..<3
I meant to say old fans would bring in even more new fans.
Don’t know if you’ll ever see this but I made a short Stargate video using a video game. I like to think it still lives on in some strange way and that ‘missions’ to other planets still take place. Anyways here it is. Thanks for your time. http://youtu.be/WSa086TjkPs
I agree with you on your thoughts about stargate reboot movie, first time I heard about this like several months ago I was like what?! they’re gonna making another stargate films?! Despite the idiots at skiffy (sci-fi) cancelled two of my favorite tv shows SG-1 and Atlantis, but unfortunately the showrunners like yourself and paul mullie were the ones who killed SGA thanks to the bad writings and killing the heart and soul of SGA (Weir and Beckett) by getting rid of two awesome actors…. I’ve read alot of recent comments from the original sga cast they wants to come back and playing these characters again at set of SGA they miss them so much…. and very protective of their characters.
Also I heard there is new stargate atlantis novel, latest one, called Unascended (book 7 of legacy series) which is dr weir’s return. Thats how you guys should bring her back… I hated the season 4-5 which writers basically killed the SGA’s working formula by changing its direction of SGA storyline by introducing new villains, I felt that we’re not done with the first storyline with the wraiths that hasnt been tied up or finished its story telling. from season 1-2 but why introducing us to asurans as villains in first place…
Its not making sense why to introducing us to another villains yet the wraith storyline is not even finished to tidying up the loose ends before moving to new story. Look at SG-1 for a example, it took SG-1 fans and myself about 8 or 9 years with goa’uld storyline… I haven’t watch rest of atlantis it hurts me so much to go back to watch atlantis again…But I have to forgive you for your mistakes by kiling the sga. I know you want to rectify that by bringing sga back to tv and finish the story telling for huge SGA fanbases, i know the fact that there is alot of episodes that you and writers shelved on the shelf that will not see on tv… for which makes me realize sga has so much left to tell the story. I recall back to the premier of stargate atlantis back in 2004 that john sheppard has ata gene and doesn’t know about his family which connects to the ancients that lives in atlantis, he would have to met one of his ancient relativies and tell him about his family tree and why he has the ata gene thats what I rememberd in original storyline that supposedly but never used it I suppose.
I truly enjoyed SG-1 and Atlantis for so long time and made me big fan of both of these show, I truly miss the SGA cast and the show itself so much.. I wish that show was on tv again I’d always to tune in every friday to watch it just like good old days. I’d support to bring SGA back by sign with netflix and pick up where it left off, I will not support for the idiots likes of scifi/nbc they dont know how popular stargate sg-1 and atlantis and how big stargate fanbase are.
I would mind to watch if they made SGA movies… that is long overdue… I’ve seen both of SG-1’s ark of the truth and continuum both of these were so good!
what the fans loved and need is for universe to come back bring in some new people and the most important thing is a new ship something with bright lights a BAD ASS SHIP worthy of the ancients getting to the beginning of the universe
As far as I’m concerned The Only way to do it is to properly close off the series’ with a miniseries event that pushes the story to new territory. Take a cue from Agent Carters model and do an 8 part series where the Destiny Shows up in Earths orbit after all this time and is followed promptly by some new horrible threat that immediately occupies Earth. The Series could then Have Regulars and New characters all mixed in various pockets of Resistance and Be about them reclaiming the planet, All culminating in Revealing the existence of the Stargate to the public. Any show that followed could be more about the fall out of the revelation and how Earth deals with the sudden jump in technology. How that radically changes the status quo and the effect on the Economy etc.
Bottom line, we need more Stargate and not the Emmerich Shlock.
Thanks for all the Good stuff over the years!
Nick
I see the potential in a continuation of SG1 and or Atlantis Stories, SGU did not have the appeal that the other two did. On the other hand, Stargate SG1 and Atlantis built very well on the story arc of the ancients. If a new series is to come out, and the existing IP is not what is desired to continue on the series, why not do Stargate Avalon. Imagine a series where the story picks up after the ancients leave the ORI Galaxy, and we see them building Stargates in our galaxy as well as see the progression side by side of the ORI and the Altarans. The evolution through millions of years up to the point of abandoning Atlantis, the great plague and the re-population of the galaxy with the Dakara Device would make at the very least for a mini series or a series a la Bab5 with a given duration and a complete story arch that could technically cross over some characters from SG1 and Atlantis via time travel and or any other means. One good thing about SCIFI and the Stargate stories is that its in all reality an infinite way of coming up with new stories, imagine creating a series based on the Asgard that went to pegasus and the rise of the Wraith? There is so much that can be told!
Well its syfys 25th anniversary is coming up and so is stargates 20th anniversary it would be awesome if they decided to do a new series taking place 20 years after the first team went through the star gate and revealing the stargate to the public of the world in some crazy way like Atlantis being revealed by it losing power due to some sort of event or system that was turned on by some new characters in the show. Or even a new series completely before the star gate was built with the ancients and ori and wrath and asgard and there great alliance that they had and they could reveal the furlings in it but with a twist that the furlings where evil and betrayed them all. Idk the possibilitys and new series and story’s are endless and the timing couldn’t get better. Because that new show dark matter and killjoys I see getting chopped soon. They just don’t have the love like stargate series has still even though it’s 20 years old. Who knows maybe Netflix would pick it up that could be interesting too.