Just how would that Stargate Atlantis movie have played out? Writer and executive producer Joseph Mallozzi described the script’s opening scenes to readers on his blog a few months ago (story). Now he’s offered up a few more details on the storyline that would have taken the city of the Ancients back to the Pegasus Galaxy.
Mallozzi previously revealed that Stargate: Extinction would have opened with Atlantis relocated from its landing site in the San Francisco Bay (“Enemy At the Gate”) to the far side of the Moon, away from prying eyes. But the Ancients programmed an automated self-destruct should the city ever be taken out of Pegasus — which activates, prompting the team to fire up the stardrive and make a mad dash home.
“It’s time to get the band back together,” Mallozzi continued, “and we check in with our various team members as they are called up and beamed away for the return journey: Teyla and her family, Keller, Beckett, Lorne, Zelenka and, of course, Sheppard and Ronon who are plucked away while receiving treatment at a local hospital following a barroom brawl (we went back and incorporated the scar actor Jason Momoa received following an incident near his L.A. home). Once everyone has assembled, McKay gives them the 411.
“Given the time constraints they face, they have to get back to Pegasus as quickly as possible — meaning they’ll have to use the wormhole drive again. Zelenka calculates that two jumps should do it.
Todd (Christopher Heyerdahl)
“And they’re off. Sort of. The first jump ends up burning out the drive, rendering it useless and leaving them stranded with the countdown clock ticking down. However, a scan of the surrounding plants turns up a habitable world within range. They go there seeking help and, instead, end up involved in a wild time-travel themed adventure in which Todd, the Wraith, turns out to be, simultaneously, their hugest threat and biggest ally.”
Stargate: Extinction was announced by MGM and Syfy Channel in 2008, and scripted by Mallozzi and Paul Mullie. Financial issues forced the studio to put the film on the back burner. After MGM passed through bankruptcy and took on new CEOs at the end of 2010, hopes for Extinction were ended.
There are still hopes that the studio might allow a publisher to turn the script into a novel or comic book, but so far MGM hasn’t made any plans known — not even to Mallozzi. Stay tuned to GateWorld for any future developments.
(Thanks to Marc for the tip!)
Actor David Nykl looks back on Stargate Atlantis, being part of the fan community, and…
EXCLUSIVE: A classic Atlantis ship is now in the works from Master Replicas – one…
Fans in and around Vancouver, B.C. can attend a live recording of YVR Screen Scene…
Pre-orders go live this week for the next ship in Earth's fleet, set to ship…
Get ready for a cast reunion this spring in the U.K., with actors from across…
It's been two years since Amazon bought MGM. These factors likely have kept Stargate off…
View Comments
Another time travel movie? Seems like a cop-out to me.
I really wish that those in charge of Spyglass would realize what they have with the Stargate franchise. They are stupid to not give us more Stargate.
:( This sounds like it would have been good. Damn you SGU. (Before anyone comes rushing to SGU's defence: If it hadn't have been made Stargate wouldn't be looked at as a recent failure by MGM, and when it was time to make the movies there would have been a greater probability of the movies being made)
Jedi_Master_Bra'tac - since you apparently know so much about how things "would" have been, do you have any other information from that alternate reality of yours that you can share? Like, where's the next terrorist attack gonna happen?
As much I would of loved to have seen a movie, i'm glad it wasn't this, these time travel episodes have been done to death =/
The Fandemonium novelization of the return to the Pegasus Galaxy had a much more plausible plot, in my opinion (political).
This seems to me like a bad idea... I doubt I would have liked it. Ticking clock, time travel - haven't we been down this road before?
No one is pointing out the blatant plot holes in this script. Atlantis all of a sudden warns everyone that it will self-destruct after being in the Milky Way Galaxy for weeks to months? My car alerts me the second I take off my seatbelt (if the car is still moving). The Atlantis team should have been able to either find this self-destruct protocol beforehand (over the years they've been there) or alarms should have been going off as soon as Atlantis left the Pegasus galaxy. And once again, it brings in the wormhole drive that was pulled out of thin air in the rushed final episode. And those plot holes are without time travel, which is its own can of worms. I think I would have been disappointed if it was made in this form.
I'm with JohnSN7 on this. Why did Atlantis not start this as soon as it was taken out of the Pegasus galaxy? Why did the ancients even want to install such a feature on Atlantis, and shouldn't there be a way to just disable it?
Not to mention...time travel? AGAIN? REALLY? This is becoming worse than Star Trek. I think this script is proof that Stargate has jumped the shark story-wise and needs to be put on a rest and brought back with new people. I can't really see myself enjoying this film based on what was discussed.
It kind of makes me think that the conclusion to SGU would have been disappointing as well. At least the current producers of Star Trek have said no more time travel after Trek 2009. Were they writing for Stargate or just making a Star Trek story with Stargate characters?
I hate to say this, but I'm glad this film wasn't made. It sounds pretty weak. ANOTHER time-travel story? That is such a cliche at this point.