Is Stargate headed back to the big screen?
Roland Emmerich, who directed and co-wrote the original 1994 film, is optimistic that the pitch for a rebooted Stargate movie trilogy will go forward. But in a new interview with Digital Spy, he did not say that the studio has officially given the project a green light — contrary to what online news outlets are suggesting today.
We know that Emmerich and co-writer Dean Devlin haven’t given up on their hopes of a big-budget movie trilogy — which was their original plan before MGM acquired the rights to Stargate and turned it into a television franchise in 1997. The two have been talking about it for years, and the cancellation of the television franchise and the turn-over at MGM only breathed new life into the rumors.
The duo — who are also behind movies like Independence Day and 1998’s Godzilla — pitched their plan to MGM last year (story).
“We went to MGM, who has the rights, and we proposed to them to do a sequel — but as a reboot, and reboot it as a movie and then do three parts,” Emmerich told Digital Spy. “And that’s what we’re doing right now. [We’ll] pretty soon have to look for a writer and start.”
Emmerich added that original film stars Kurt Russell and James Spader would not work for their plans to reboot the movies. “The actors look totally different,” he said. “It would not work.”
The proposed trilogy also would not have anything to do with SG-1 and the television continuity.
But Emmerich stopped short of actually saying that MGM has given the go-ahead to begin production. A source told GateWorld that, while preliminary conversations are taking place between the producers and the studio, the project is not yet in development.The director’s comments indicate that the next step in the process is to hire a screenwriter. Any official production commitment from the studio would likely require at least a completed script that all parties are happy with.
The strategy of a high-profile, big-budget feature film does seem like the most logical way to reboot the franchise, which struggled in the ratings during its final years on Syfy Channel. Paramount did it successfully with the Star Trek franchise, with four years separating the final season of Enterprise and J.J. Abrams’ 2009 feature.
Stargate Universe went off the air in 2011.
Meanwhile, a pair of sequels to 1996’s mega-hit Independence Day is going forward at FOX, which has announced a release date of July 3, 2015, for the first. Despite earlier reports that actor Will Smith won’t be involved, Emmerich said that moods have changed and talks with Smith are starting soon.
That’s great news for ID4 fans. But if Emmerich is planning to direct those sequels and also the first in a Stargate trilogy, then practically speaking that means the latter is still a few years away from production … and probably would not arrive in theaters before 2018.
Watch the video below, and keep it locked on GateWorld for more news as it breaks!
(Thanks to Ashley for the tip)
it doesn’t *need* a reboot, especially if it’s going to ignore the TV franchise!!
i think brad wright and jonathan glassner should partner again, and make that proposed sg1-atlantis-universe combo movie. (though don’t let the universe storyline overwhelm the sg1/atlantis stories)
don’t fix what’s not broken. just pamper and tread lovingly on the stories/characters you already have. if you make it, the fans will come!
(((stargate tv franchise)))
I’m not sure how I feel about this.
He’s stupid if he’s gonna ignore the TV franchise where an Earth with advanced technology and spaceships is established. The success of Star Trek has shown people like spaceships on the big screen. 304s are much cooler than the Enterprise. If MGM wants to visit Stargate again, don’t let Emmerich touch it.
No Reboot! Don’t thow away 17 seasons of mythology. If MGM wants to start it back up, get the fans what they want – a new show.
The Problem is, that’s not what MGM wants. They want $$, and they don’t care about the existing fanbase. If they feel they can make more money off of a rebooted trilogy in the theaters, they’ll do it in a heartbeat.
I think one of the reasons why Universe got cancelled was the writers didn’t do a good job introducing it as a new type of show, there was too much back story and elements from the other shows to make you appreciate the show in the first 10 or so episodes. It worked if you were a hard core stargate fan, but to not as a new viewer. There simply too much that has happened since the show started, that to just make a movie continuing the story would be a bit challenging to sort of “get” if you never… Read more »
To quote Grumpy Cat: “NO”
NO! There is no reason to reboot this movie, especially when SGU needs to be completed, SGA never got a proper ending on television, and SG-1 was going to get its own movie!
It would be nice if Emmerich and MGM would actually *listen* to what the fans of Stargate (the ENTIRE franchise!) would like to see!
A deal for a big screen trilogy is only a good thing. It will be hype spread out over at least half a decade and perhaps that hype can respawn a series set in the original sg universes, if not one set in this new one. Season 1 was nearly 17 years ago and this would only help to bring in new and younger viewers. Think of it as a long alternative reality arc and enjoy it if it happens!
The Star Trek reboot occurred 40 years after the series whose characters it shared went off the air. The Stargate reboot, if greenlit today, would be on the air less than 10 years after the series with O’Neill, Jackson and Skaara went off the air. There’s really no comparing the two. And frankly, Emmerich hasn’t done a single decent thing since Stargate, and he’s made one of the most laughable disaster movies I’ve ever seen (The Day After Tomorrow… oh no, the freightliner that crashed in the middle of Manhattan had rabid wolves on it!), making me dread what he… Read more »
this franchise is in desperate need of a reboot. Universe got canceled because its a show based on a movie from 1994, kids today dont even know the movie existed. Reboot it, and lets see what they will focus on this time.
No reboot
I will never watch a StarGate reboot unless it incorporates the TV (Stargate SG-1 10 seasons) and TV Movies (Stargate SG-1 Continuum & Ark of Truth) within its story. If Emmerich was dead on he’d hire Brad Wright and Rob Cooper or Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie and Carl Binder to write the script and story for the reboot. That I would watch as well as a few more hundreds of thousands or millions of fans I’m sure.
As a massive fan of Star Trek that franchises reboot has left me cold. Its not my Trek. As a dedicated fan of SG1 who also likes seasons 1 & 2 of Atlantis, I have accepted we will never see the Glasner / Wright / Cooper version of SGate again. Its finished, completed, ended. Everyone has gone off in different directions, the cast and crew working on new projects. The book has closed. I can accept the idea of a new version Stargate. It probably will not be for me, because I love SG1 so much. The idea of another… Read more »
I love stargate, just ran through the entire run, still in SGU. But the fact is, this wasn’t even the original vision. This, as insanely awesome as it all was, was just a serialized sugarcoated super happy tv fun time. These shows, as fantastic and thoughtful as some of them are, are, believe it or not, Wormhole X-Treme. And it was especially thoughtfully painstakingly built not to be too good or too specialized so it wouldn’t scare away any viewers, we didn’t even see something as mundane yet important but too smart for americans as the way geologists would find… Read more »
I agree with much of the comments here especially at mgm for seeing dollars signs, but the reality is they are right, now matter how much we all slag of this movie and hate on it, we are all going to see it just to prove a point. And beacuse it is a emmerich film and beacuse it is an cinema release, this has the advantage of bringing in the general public as well, which has what has made the last 2 trek films a financial success. I fear the only conclusion we are going to get to the sg1… Read more »
Reboot the original movie? Sure, updated special effects alone would make that worth while. The rest? Well… The only way I see this working is if they made sure to stick to everything up until SG-1 started, turning the original movie into a trilogy could actually do wonders for the franchise as a whole. Hell it’d be pretty sweet if as a trilogy they made the first movie about the discovery of the gate, the risk of getting it to the US (maybe a cameo of Browder as a nod to Continuum, culminating with Ernest’s trip in 1945 (S1E9). The… Read more »
I’d be up for this. The TV series had a good run, an amazingly good run really, how many shows last that long? But it’s had it’s day and I’d be thrilled to see a reboot of what is at heart a brilliant concept. The world needs more Daniel Jacksons!
I’m a huge fan of SG-1, one of my favourite shows ever. But I have always wanted to see how Emmerich’s vision would have panned out. As much as I love the series, his movie is the “true” Stargate. It had an incredible, fascinating bleakness that was sorely missing in SG1.
Though it would irk people like us who are already fans enough to be showing up at SG sites, I can understand that trying to use the TV canon as we know it is going to make it fly over the head of everyone else. That said, I don’t particularly put much faith into people like Emmerich producing something I really want. He’s good enough at making something full of explosions based on old ideas, but doesn’t get much chance for depth. Similarly, the idea of a TV followup to 2012 that explored the consequences of that movie sounded a… Read more »
The thing I liked most about SG:SG1 and SG:Atlantis was the exploration of new worlds concept. Incidentially that is the same thing that made Star Trek good. For me SG:SG1 started losing some of that appeal in it’s last two seasons when they started focusing on battle and war with the Ori (but it was still good enough). SG:Universe, on the other hand, had almost none of that exploration appeal. It seemed like fifty percent of the time SG:Universe had the crew bickering among themselves. Universe could barely considered good entertainment because of that reason. Personally I would rather see… Read more »
Personally, I’m excited. I see a lot of people worried about 17 seasons-worth of continuity being “thrown away”… but it’s still there. The new doesn’t eradicate the old. Good stories is more important than whatever the “current canon” is, and no one is stealing the dvds from our shelves. I mean, let’s look at something that finished but hasn’t been “replaced” yet: shows like Cheers or movies like The Shining. Those were released long ago and are still treasured, but aren’t ongoing. They’re done. But they’re still great. Just because we’re getting a new type of Stargate doesn’t mean the… Read more »
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This movie will never be made, so the entire question is moot. Roland Emerich is a hack, nothing more, and his Stargate film sucked compared to the TV series that spun off it. MGM knows this, and isn’t that stupid.
If the action is happening at a time when Jack O’Neill is retired, and the other people are doing all this, then I have no problems. History may not be related to the franchise.
Sadly, the TV version of any of the series are not coming back. No TV-movies or made for DVDs. If the company wants to continue the franchise, MGM will reboot just like Paramount did with Star Trek. This is what will happen.
The article and people here rather pessimistic, which i think is unwarranted. Sure its been said before, but never after SGU’s cancellation. And the stargate movie is unlike any other, for it perfectly lends itself to being an enduring franchise, as the tv shows success werent some fluke. And unlike independence day, it doesnt rely on a mega movie star to pull its weight. Had stargate been in the hands of a more competent studio (sorry MGM), we wouldve seen a reboot ages ago and probably wouldve been watching the tv show based on the reboot right about now. As… Read more »
Hey-Hi. Here speaks a stupid German girl from the fanbase. All these words here are very impressive, but they did not answer my question: What will become of Stargate? Is there a sequel? One can hope something on any? Which always occurs in the producer responsibility, how high the cost may be, I would like it just goes on. It’s that simple my statement. No more and no less. xxx
And yoooooo- I’m sorry for the naive words, I know how that sounds. You are all so cool and entertain you about things I barely understand English, I love syfy, I’ll pay it just because of Stargate. It makes me sad that Stargate Universe was so unfortunate end, there was much more to get out. As you twist and turn, the voice of the fans will be ignored so? Sad, thats so sad.
EMMERICH cant do anything “new” anymore that hasn´t been done in stargate world. just make continue to these shows movies or series
THERE SHOUDL BE SOMEKINDA OF POLL TO EMMERICH AND MGM!!!
Wasn’t there some rumor that their proposed Stargate franchise looked very much like Independence Day?
I’m still holding out hope that we can use Kickstarter to get another SG-1/SGA/SGU TV movie made.
maybe arkalis games are somekinda of test to see how many fans are still out… maybe:)
I despise Roland Emmerich and I would never have watched his movie hadn’t it be for the Stargate TV series.
Well…. At least this plan is more realistic than having Russel and Spader reprise their roles in sequels to the original movie, I still don’t see it happening though. If Stargate is to be rebooted, I’d like it to be done by someone who isn’t just gonna completely ignore SG1/SGA. When a superhero franchise is rebooted they use characters/plots/themes etc from the comics, ignoring SG1/SGA’s extensive mythology would be a shame.
My biggest problem isn’t that it’d be a reboot–it’s that it’d be from Roland Emerich. His film is the weakest part of the franchise–all three series were better than that movie. Emerich is a hack writer, and the only reason the film worked was because of its two lead actors playing Jack and Daniel–everything else about it was cheesy. The show surpassed it by a magnitude of a thousand. To now go back to Emerich’s weak writing and one-dimensional storytelling would be a huge misstep.
This is NOT a direction where MGM should even contemplate going towards… Emmerich should not be the one to ‘retake’ the reigns of the SG universe; he gave up those rights to MGM in the 90’s- who in turn gave it to a new team of TV artists that created something more special and longer-lasting than Emmerich himself could have dared to hope for. (“Godzilla”, anyone..?) That said: The idea of a reboot does have a certain appeal to my heart. But to me, Brad Wright, et al, has already burned enough fan-base bridges to de-select him and his SGU… Read more »
I disagree. Roland Emmerich, as well as Robert Cooper, even their immediate environment, is quite provided people. I want to believe that they do not need to do anything the rest of their lives. So, I believe that Roland Emmerich have a good reason to present his version of Stargate. And I really hope that this is not money.
In any case, I am glad that the Stargate moved forward. I am glad that something is happening.
from reading the post people do not want a reboot,but just look at star trek we need reboot to keep it alive.
Finally, at least someone understands that absence of movement equal to death. We can not ignore even the smallest efforts to revive the Stargate. This is a unique concept that allows you to build any story. I would even brought Stephen Hawking to develop the plot.
They should just continue where SGA left off – that series never really ended properly in my opinion. It could just be spiced up a bit – more focus on the interaction and relationships between characters, and DR WEIR’s long wanted return to the galaxy as the new replicator leader or something (“Ghost in the machine” was just an over-hasty and non-final episode) . If they’re just going to make up something new, then I don’t know how special it will be really – most of the base material is already there, they just need to develop it more.
Please don’t mention the name Emmerich, I’m eating!
I’m shocked to read hostile comments from Stargate zealots. I need to remind you guys that your over zealousness is the main cause why Stargate now is extinct, thanks to the Boycott-SGU movement. Now, Emmerich wants to do a reboot. We should have rejoiced! If you guys create Boycott Emmerich, then Stargate may be DEAD for good! Think about it…. Some argue about years of Stargate mythology will be messed up by the reboot. Well, think from Emmerich’s perspective. His movie is THE original. From his eyes, Stargate series might have ruined his original vision. I myself am very excited… Read more »
Yeah, I also will not buy the aliens speaking English. I was especially impressed by a military specialist Ronon Dex. He was able to learn English in a few minutes! But the decision creators of the show is understandable. If you force the aliens to learn English, you have to double the time and costs. However, it can be fun.
Why was my post edited? I quite rightly pointed out that the series was already dead during the Atlantis days. The bar got lowered as did expectations, and SGU was too layered, too deep for that same audience. They killed the show so now it’s being rebooted. Good job. I can’t wait.
himeros wrote:
“I’m shocked to read hostile comments from Stargate zealots. I need to remind you guys that your over zealousness is the main cause why Stargate now is extinct, thanks to the Boycott-SGU movement.”
That’s not even REMOTELY true.
I loved the original movie to the point I didn’t touch SG:1 for 8 years. I finally did and I was hooked. Same with Atlantis, not so much Universe. Despite the moving having come first, not the other way around, they both were good.
Anyway, I don’t see why they can’t make one off the original. The TV show and the movies were good and I would like to see where they were headed with it in the original trilogy they didn’t get to make.
Oh, well.
We were all having such a great time, engaging in a good pro/con debate on Emmierich’s possible revamping of our beloved SG franchise… until, as if on cosmic cue, someone *had* to take our their angry red crayon and scribble maniacally about dem mean ol’ “Stargate zealots” on this post… *sigh*
(I should be surprised that it took this long.)
Stargate – Rise of The Asurans = Next movie title ;)
Hmm, if they do this they ought to compromise. The Start Trek reboot works and didn’t shun the fanbase because it is still technically cannon. Yes it’s a parallel universe and things look a little different, but it’s the same characters, the same bad guys, and the aesthetics have just been updated to meet current cinematographic expectations. These guys should draw on the TV show. Making it a parellel universe with time travel would be far too much like copying Star Trek so it would just have to be an alternate version. I see no reason no to bring back… Read more »