Producers ‘haven’t given up’ on finishing SGU’s story

The producers of Stargate Universe still hope to finish out the story that they started — one way or another.  Series co-creator Brad Wright has made his first public comments on Syfy’s cancellation of the series (story), stating that they have not given up yet.

“We haven’t given up on finishing the story we started,” Wright told Show Patrol. He told the site that he and executives at MGM — the studio that owns the Stargate franchise — are currently exploring several options for continuing the series in some form.

Wright heard about the cancellation news while he was on a trip, according to the site. He and several members of the SGU cast were reportedly at sea (and incommunicado) on board an aircraft carrier when Deadline.com broke the story one week ago, citing a Syfy announcement.

The cancellation was quickly confirmed via Syfy’s Twitter account, after which it became evident that at least some of the show’s cast hadn’t been informed by the producers yet (story).

Wright said that, in spite of the bad news, he was encouraged to return to find that many people were upset by it. “It’s heartening to see so many people upset about Syfy’s cancellation of the show,” he said, “but it’s important to remember that their license fee represented only a portion of our total budget.”

SGU is also licensed internationally, and supported by online and DVD sales. MGM announced this week that its bankruptcy restructuring is now complete, and that the studio has secured $500 million in financing to kick-start its film and television productions — some of which may likely go into keeping the Stargate franchise alive.

Executive producer Joseph Mallozzi also commented at his blog on the current state of Stargate Universe’s future:  “Obviously, it doesn’t look good,” he said.  “But is this the end?  Well, the Syfy cancellation makes it very long odds that we’ll be producing a third season next year.  But is this the end? … The honest answer is: I don’t know.

“No, that’s not entirely true.  The truth is I do know some — but only enough to say it doesn’t look good and it’s very log odds we’ll be producing a third season next year — yet still only enough to say I can’t say this is definitely the end.  At least for now.”

Just what Universe‘s odds are for finishing up its major storyline — and whether this might take the form of a third season on another network, a DVD movie or two, or something completely different — remains to be seen.

Read the full story now at Show Patrol, and stick with GateWorld for the latest! The final episodes of Stargate Universe air this spring on Syfy in the United States.