The third Stargate SG-1 movie would have finally revealed the top-secret Stargate program to the world, Stargate executive producer Joseph Mallozzi revealed on his blog this week.
“This subject (the revelation and its many implications) would have formed the plot for the planned SG-1 movie, Stargate: Revolution,” Mallozzi said.
Written with the working title Stargate: Revolution, the movie was to heavily feature Richard Dean Anderson’s character Jack O’Neill.
The script was written by Brad Wright and Carl Binder, and of the possible Stargate projects bandied about over the past three years it came the closest to seeing the light of day. Wright was very confident in an April 2009 interview with GateWorld that they would be filming in the fall, and also said as much during his stage appearance at the official Stargate convention in Vancouver that month.
“I had a story idea that really worked with O’Neill,” Wright said. “And it’s not just his character, by any means. It’s a Stargate story that brings O’Neill back in a big way.”
Anderson confirmed on his Web site sooner thereafter that MGM had indicated its plans to go ahead with the movie. But when the DVD market continued to soften and the studio fell further into debt, plans were again put on hold.
Wright had previously told GateWorld that revealing the Stargate to the general public would be a major event in the fictional world and for the franchise — certainly a “revolution” — and was big enough that he wanted to reserve it for a movie. It was an idea that the writers enjoyed toying with in the television series, including the alternate-timeline episode “2010.” In that episode, Earth’s Stargate was kept in a public “space terminal” and available to the public for travel to other, allied worlds.
In an alternate future, the Stargate is a public transit service. From ''2010''
Mallozzi said that, even after those shows’ sets were taken down and key pieces auctioned off, he still held out hope that Revolution and the Atlantis movie (titled Stargate: Extinction) might still be made. (Wright announced last month that both were effectively shelved for good.)
“I still held out hope for both movies because, in the case of Stargate: Revolution, the lionshare of the action would have been off-world and ship-based while, in the case of Stargate: Extinction, although there was some action on Atlantis itself (eminently achievable through the magic of VFX), much of the story takes place on Earth and off-world,” he explained.
Mallozzi will give his blog readers new insights into the story of Extinction (which he co-wrote with Paul Mullie) next week.
MGM owns the completed scripts for both movies. At this point, there is no indication from the studio as to whether fans might eventually see these stories in the form of a novel, comic book, or in another medium. Keep your browser locked on GateWorld for the latest!
I’m glad that this movie is cancelled. I hate to see the entire project revealed to the world.
It’s really disheartening to “REALLY” see the producers give up on the movies and show; and the decision to give away the plot lines just sets this reality in stone. This movie should have been made. “REALLY MAD” right now!! In fact, just ruined my day!
Hmmmm, don’t know what to think about this. As much as I’d love to see RDA back in action again, I’m REALLY not keen on the idea of the program being made public.
I’m actually really surprised that they would have somehow revealed the gate to the general population. We have to remember that there have been more then a couple times in the last few years of SG1, SGA, and SGU that the Stargate program could have easily been found out: Lost City, Ex Daus Machina, Enemy at the Gate, and most recently, Alliances.
How about a letter campaign to get this shot? Or even a DVD pledge/preorder campaign? I’d certainly buy it.
I actually called it on this plot. Way back when there was information regarding political intrigue and a problem “which has plagued the Stargate program since its inception”, I figured that the one thing that best fit that description was the fact of hiding the Stargate from the public and the fact that characters always told themselves that “eventually” it would be revealed.
Looks like I was right… too bad we won’t actually get to see it. At the very least not any time soon.
Still makes for a great plot for if and when a new SG series starts. It should be set a few hundred years in the future. Not some Star Trek Utopia, but the world has gone to sh*t. Maybe Stargate technology is abused and portals to other dimensions are opened. Thus ushering in two hundred years of chaos and war…much like the table top game RIFT :)
Then again, if SGU was too dark and not family friendly then that wont fly with most people :P
@Lee_Machine part of the magic and beauty of Stargate is that it takes place in the here and now. At least SGU kept that part, if they made it be 100 years later it would lose that aspect and it would be less like Stargate then SGU was.
I wonder what would’ve been the motivation for revelation. Were they under attack, as they were in The Road Not Taken and Continuum? Or, with all of Earth’s enemies defeated, did they decide the time was right for revelation? I guess now we’ll never know.
I’m actually kind of glad this didn’t get made. I think the covert nature of the Stargate program is a huge part of the mythology, and while it could make for an interesting story, I think it would irreparably damage the franchise.
@Sealurk
I agree, while it’s nice to think about. To have it permanent would cause too much to change. I like that Stargate is in the here and now.
If it went public, then there’s nothing stopping the outpouring of technology OR war with other countries that feel threaten.
I mean in the here and now, the revelation of the Stargate could cause deep resentment and further attacks on the SGC. Which is good for story-telling, but grounds the story too much on Earth and not on using the Stargate.
Too be perfectly honest, I’m super curious to see how it would have played out. I like the idea for Revolution way better than some of the possible scenarios for SGU’s continuity(also revealed in the same blog post from Joe Malozzi). I still have hope that the movies will be made. Stargate is essentially MGM’s flagship TV franchise. The only reason they were shelved is cuz of their financial issues. The next Bond movie was green lighted after it also had been shelved at around the same time, due to the bankruptcy. It wasn’t approved until MGM received a bail… Read more »
I’m glad it was never made then. Having said that though, Revolutions was supposed to be set before SGU, so there was probably a reset in there anyway.
I always figured this would happen eventually, and maybe be the basis of a new Stargate series. Wasn’t Revolution supposed to occur prior to SGU though?
oh then its a good thing it was never made.
I’d really like them to release the scripts so we can read it ourselves and do our best to pretend they made movie by visualizing the action.
@Jenks Revolutions initially was set before SGU but after the delay they changed a few things to keep it at present time. I don’t think there was a reset, SGU was supposed to have “ended” the franchise anyway and brought closure to all three shows so knowing that, its more likely to assume that Revolution wouldve showed us the “earth” events and issues that happened at the same time as the Destiny mission. If Destiny crew returns back home, they would come back greeted as heroes by the whole world. Thats just speculation but I think thats what they probably… Read more »
well what better way to end the franchise than with a movie showing the revealing of the stargate to the general public.
i really hate that stargate was canceled.
After it lasted a cumilitive 17 seasons and 2 movies, i hope they get to finish their story through a book or comic series.
i just wish the fan were as supportive as they were when it came to Atlantis. it really is a shame to see it finally go.
I would have thought that the all star movie was going to be the one when the Stargate is revealed, because that is the ultimate ending to the franchise. Can you just imagine what would happen if the Stargate program have been revealed? The economy, everything would be revolutionized! I would hope that even though these movies or all shelved “permanetly” that they still in some way could make it to production in some time. I’m still optimistic that the franchise will rise up again. Also what happened to the money they made from auctioning stuff off? Surely that money… Read more »
I feel that MGM betrayed us more than anybody else, even SyFy here. SyFy may have canceled SGU but it was MGM who kept on promising us “games, movies and a bright future for the Stargate franchise.” Instead we got nothing from them. Absolutely nothing. Everything they were promised was shelved. I always go “wtf?” when they say “there’s no DVD market for a Stargate movie” YES THERE IS! EVERY fan I talk to and I mean EVERY fan both online and off is always asking me “what about the movies? what about the movies?” EVERY fan wants to see… Read more »
Looks like I’m in minority here, but I love this idea and I would love to see this movie made. Now that I know it was supposed to be about the revelation of Stargate I’m even sadder that it’s been shelved. I want to see it, darn it! For me it’s obvious that any story about revealing Stargate to Earth population would need to feature heaviy original SG-1 team (and Jonas, please) and especially Jack O’Neill. He’s essential for such plot and I’m very happy to hear that BW knows that. Here’s hoping that the movie will get made at… Read more »
How strange that I made a comment about this sort of thing the other day “I wonder if there was any plans to have a 4th spin off, not so much about gate travel (although could of been a feature at some point) Its just with all the references to Homeworld Command, to me it sounded like they were plugging something.. Maybe it’s something they could to combine all three series in the future, why does it always have to be set in one area of the universe, use all 3… Maybe even announce to the world about the program,… Read more »
The way I always felt it to be cool to go is make the movies like the Star Trek novels. In the Trek novels, you have your DS9 and your TNG, your Voy, etc. but its all one Universe so events and characters cross over all the time.
Wow…. I can understand why this one was shelved – that would have destroyed the entire SG mythos, and mandated a reboot if we ever wanted to see it on the small screen again. Good call MGM.
@ace_love I actually agree with you that a 4th show could have been based out of homeworld command and been amazing. They could have featured SGC, Atlantis, Destiny, Carter on the USS Hammond, and even some of our other off world bases, even the jaffa nation would be good to see every now and then.
I would of buy the next two movies. three if you count one for SGU. But maybe in three years SGU could return right were they left off but in a new galaxy. i was truley hopping to see that they were going to find if the show was still on for another three seasons….
i guess, i’ll just have to work on my crossover/ timetravel stargate story then.
I’m sure Joe has all kinds of wonderful ideas of what would have happened if… But they ain’t never gonna happen now, so why taunt us with it? The band is breaking up and it’s going to take more than Jake and Elwood to get them back together.
Damn that sounds like it would have been an exciting movie. I don’t understand why revealing the Stargate programme would ruin the franchise. Look at the franchise now. There is nothing at the moment. I always thought there had to be a point when the Stargate programme would be revealed. That would have made for a great and exciting movie in itself but just think of all the other storylines they could come up with (more movies or TV series perhaps). Please MGM give us our movies. There is a market for Stargate still.
one well written movie could incorporate this. as well as tie up atlantis and sgu. thats all we need. just one movie.
I am with Sealurk, Mrja34 and Jenks. The secret nature of the Stargate program has been what has made it so compelling since the original film. Inevitably with each new advancement – Gaining access to advanced tech, gate travel becoming routine, the development of Prometheus – finding Atlantis and the IOA, etc, the format has been inching in this direction piece by piece. – However, it has also been stadily moving away from its “this could happen somewhere” ethos into the realms of present day set Star Trek. Revolutions might have been a great, exciting, character building and dramatic DVD… Read more »
besides the awesome idea of revealing the stargate program to the world (think of the story possibilities!!), this was also the movie that was going to reveal sam and jack’s relationship *had* progressed to an actual RELATIONSHIP
i meant to hit the period at the end, not enter. :p
so anyways, i soooooo wish this movie had been made!! maybe it’s not too late.. MGM, pay attention, make this movie! (and include atlantis and sgu aspect, so those fans get closure too!). one grand and wonderful story, for ALL fans!
please, MGM!!!
As much as I hate the notion that the Stargate franchise is dead and long over, and we’ll never see any real closure to either of the three series, especially with the possibility of movies, etc. – we need to get off the whole denial train and move towards acceptance! After reading so many blogs, stories, and other press releases – the fans need to “accept” that SG is no more – there is no hope, not even a glimmer of hope or the notion of hope that the movies will get made, the series will return or continue in… Read more »
@nobycane-
brad and joe both said stargate will return someday, so why not start letting MGM know *now* how much we want it back!?
@Wraithkelso – exactly, the possibilities are pretty much endless, it would unite all of the fans by one massive cross over, it’ll give a better insight with the IOA, the heavy handed politics side (not just earths), don’t forget about all the alliances that need to be maintained and new ones created during the show.. Every other week would guest star the characters from all 3 series, it’ll finally link everything together with off world eps (SG:1/SG:A style) plus actual gritty drama (SG:U style).. People forget that there was alot of onworld episodes with some great boardroom dialogue.. I really… Read more »
@nobycane
I refuse to “let it be over” with multiple cliffhangers. You just dont let a franchise go on for nearly 2 decades and have no ending. It doesn’t make sense, it’s stupid and messed up to say the least. Once we…the millions!! of the stargate fans get our ending that we deserve, then we will accept the fact that its over and move on. But untill then we will fight
@ace_love I would like to say that I remember reading a while ago that back when SG-1 was ending season 8, they wanted to rebrand and just make it Stargate Command, stil using the same characters, but that is why Mobius is like a series finale, and Avalon pts 1,2 and Origin are like a series premiere. Who knows, maybe SG-1 would have lasted longer if they did this, then SGA would have lasted longer, and SGU could have too. For all we know they could have had 3 shows on at once (how awesome would that have been???)
Yeah, but from the 3 years that they had both shows running at the same time (SG1-SGU) they dropped SG! from 22 eps. to 20, and were always talking about how tough it was having both.
Anyways, ANY movie would have been better then nothing, which is what we have now.
@Wraithkelso – awesome is not even the word that could describe it! :)
Isn’t all of this information we already knew? I thought this was revealed ages ago.
@ace_love exactly. If I had the money I would buy the rights and get something made. I can say that if I ever work for Disney i will push for the mto buy the rights and keep it as is because it is such a great franchise (similar to when they bought mirimax but didn’t water down those movies). Also, as a shameless plug, I would like to ask you all to look at my new blog. It is a mixture of Disney and Stargate, but besides the name and picture, I keep them separate. The blog is called Stargate:… Read more »
I rather have a company like Paramount to have Stargate than Disney. Stargate is too grown up, and I just rather not have them baby it down. It would have been fun however if back then MGM studios at Disney World had a amusement park ride similar to the star wars one. Btw is losing MGM studios one of the reasons MGM went bankrupt? I’m sure that park generated millions a year
I agree that revealing the covert operation would have severely damaged the franchise. It’s best Revolution didn’t get made, but sad to admit this “Full Disclosure” of the movie scripts and SGU S3 plot means one thing … it’s dead, Jim :-(
@nobycane, sad to say, I agree with you. Don’t want to, but I guess I do. Yet, I still say who know in 3+ years. Maybe things can change at MGM in 3 years or even SyFy.
If they want to do the movies, they should do them now (especially the one with O’neill). The actors/actresses aren’t getting any younger. The whole idea of revealing the Stargate to the public–well, I don’t know if I like it or not. I guess it’s okay, but what about the last 17 years of Stargate??? Isn’t keeping the gate a secret Stargate??? It wouldn’t matter to me if they made this one, but I do demand the Atlantis movie!!! I want them back in the Pegasus!!! Earth can use space ships to defend itself–by now they should have a lot,… Read more »
I simply don’t get why MGM wouldn’t sell the Stargate franchise to another studio. Granted they gave birth to it, but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t just set a price for the license and create an entirely new universe as before.
Why should fans be penalised because MGM doesn’t have the money to continue the shows/movies?
I would love to see RDA in a new staragte movie but i would prefer a sgu movie first… i keep wondering what s going to happen.. and besides make a movie about the stargate program going public is a terrible idea… it would really destroy the franchise… make an SGu movie then SGA movie and then SG1 movie…SG1 is the only stargate show that had a real finale with the last 2 movies…
As an ad-lib; if MGM is dead-set about mothballing it as a television franchise, I’d rather it end with a 20th Anniversary than a 17th.
I’m unemployed but have an idea that might drastically offset the cost of such a series, whilst retaining the VFX quality found in previous seasons… if MGM are interested in knowing more, they can contact me through my GW Forum-handle, Tiletron.
i have to say i think the revealing the stargate to the public is a great idea!!
i didn’t used to think that (i liked it being a secret, like it could be happening right now in our own world), BUT, i think the stargate story *needs* an influx of new ideas, and this going public could sooo open up possibilities!
@Hyncharas
first MGM doesn’t read these forums lol
second, its more like a 15th anniversary because don’t forget that for 2 seasons SG-1 and SGA ran together.
@puddlejumper_1 don’t forget that Disney owned Mirimax during the time frame that movies such as Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, and Jay and Silent Bob, etc. So Disney doesn’t baby down everything they have. As for the MGM Studios Park at WDW, I think it benefited Disney more because they were able to put in rides like Tower of Terror, and Great Movie Ride.