Stargate movie producer Dean Devlin wants to turn his original 1994 film into a trilogy, and recently stated his desire to get the project going (story) — which may be a real possibility, in the light of the TV series’ end and MGM’s new management.
In the wake of his comments, Collider caught up with Devlin on the red carpet at the Saturn Awards this week, and asked more about it.
“The irony is, of all the things I’ve ever done, the only thing that was ever planned to be a trilogy was Stargate,” Devlin said. “And for a variety of reasons we were never allowed to do Parts 2 and 3. A lot of things have changed, they’re not doing the series any more — so we’re really hoping that we’ll get a chance to tell that trilogy again, now.
“We’re having a lot of conversations. I don’t know if I can pull it off. But nothing would make me happier than to finally get to tell that complete story.
“We had three movies that we wanted to tell. You have to remember, the first movie was done independently. It wasn’t made by MGM. We raised that money out of France and did the movie independently. And, literally, our financiers got cold feet just before the movie came out and then they sold it to MGM. So that’s why it’s been all tied up.“But now there’s a new regime at MGM, and we’ve been having conversations with them. And our hope is that we can finally now, after all this time, get to tell the complete story. So with a little luck, we’ll be able to do that.
“The thing is, clearly — look, I don’t know the TV series. I didn’t watch it, I wasn’t involved in making it. But the fact that it had such longevity and has such a giant fan base … clearly they did something that was worthwhile. But I think it shows that there is an audience that wants to hear this story told. So I think there’s a lot of interest in trying to make that happen. Again, these things are complicated. There’s a lot of parts that have to come together. But that’s our hope.”
Watch the full seven and a half minute video below, courtesy of Collider. Devlin also talks about an Independence Day sequel, and his views on the science fiction-themed Saturn Awards themselves.
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The more I think about it the more I think I would be interested in seeing what his vision for a Stargate trilogy would be and how it would have differed from the TV series.
However, he could have a problem here. When Stargate Universe was announced, some fans of SG-1 and Atlantis did not like it because of how different it was from tone and feel to those shows. And Universe was part of the TV franchise.
Now, what would reception be to announcement of a new Stargate movie that has absolutely NO connection to the TV show? I hope Devlin takes into account that the reason Stargate has been so popular isn't because of his movie, but because of the TV show. And I hope if MGM decides to go through with this they remember that fans of SG-1/Atlantis/Universe would like to see conclusions to those shows (remember, they promised us Atlantis and SG-1 movies we never got).
Ideally, here's how I would like to see it pan out - they film Stargate 2 while at the same time film some sort of epic trilogy conclusion or something to the Stargate SG-1/Atlantis/Universe TV shows. Filming the conclusions would finally give us the closure we want that we never got (except for SG-1 really through Ark of Truth and Continuum) while doing that, Devlin works on Stargate 2 and 3 and AFTER the conclusions to the TV shows aired.
I think it would really work well like that. That way, Devlin & Co are happy they got to tell their story, we fans of SG-1/Atlantis and Universe are happy that we got to finally see the end of those stories, and we got more Stargate both in theaters and on TV.
And maybe while they're doing this, MGM is prepping for a brand new Stargate show (that maybe is set up with the conclusion to SG-1/Atlantis/Universe) to air after the trilogy is finished (much like what I've heard is being done with Star Trek, after Star Trek 2 or 3 they do a TV show).
@Browncoat
Well said!
I'll be honest, I could stand to see his vision of what Stargate was meant to be. I think the Stargate fans are largely intelligent enough to accept it as well, and there's plenty of casual sci-fi fans that will remember the movie and appreciate it as something new.
I'd say look at the upcoming Buffy remake to see about how well this would go over with the existing fanbase.
Devlin and Emmerich may have created the concept, but it was people like Cooper, Wright and Glassner that made it into what the general public recognizes.
It'd be nice to see the direction Devlin intended to go with the Stargate series, but not if it's coming at the cost of the existing franchise.
The smart move would be to offer some sort of announcement of a new entry in the television franchise alongside this, otherwise the fanbase is going to be annoyed that the canon they became so invested in is being thrown under the bus.
If say...SGU were to come back (which will never happen with Syfy being Syfy and MGM's new ownership), sure, I'd love to see another Stargate film.
The original movie loosely fits in with the show's canon. While I'm Interested to see how Devlin's movies would differ from where the show went, I would much rather have the loose ends from the two shows that were just left hanging.
Maybe 5 - 10 years down the road someone will step in a do a reboot (seems to be the trend these days). There are so many sides to the SG universe that are left unexplored. I don't see why they wouldn't want to go in a different direction from where the show went.
But definitely wrap up the loose ends before we start branching out and exploring the untold stories that lie within the realm.
Really? he created Stargate the movie but has never even watched the series, you think after maybe 5 seasons that would peak his interest, but 10 seasons and 2 spin offs, and you've never watched an episode... Nope I will not watch his trilogy. You don't give my show the time of day, I won't your squeals.
I would like to see that movie. It's not going to be anything like either of the shows, but since they're being totally up-front about that, no one should be expecting it to be. With Universe, they pulled the rug out from under us. Sure, they said it'd have differences, but we were all thinking that it would still be a Stargate show underneath, and it wasn't. With this new movie, I know to mentally set the TV franchise aside ahead of time. Then I get to see a completely different take on the property. That's cool! I don't know if it's going to be any good, of course, and I can't even start with the expectation of it being good like I did with Universe, because there's a clean break between this movie and both the TV shows; it doesn't have any of the same cast or crew working on it. But it could be cool on its own. I hope it gets made. I'm very interested to see what they do with it!
@sgcduffman
Really good point. You re not even curious with the direction they took YOUR story? Anyway,id much prefer proper series conclusions for atlantis and universe, but i will def go see a new stargate movie. Money and attention is what will get us more SG shows. a blockbuster summer release of a stargate movie in imax would do that.
Great!
Make it................
@Sgcduffman: I agree with Shermacidal, VERY VERY well said.
To be honest, the fact that he hasn't watched the series at all makes me kind of frustrated. He wants to basically make his movies as if 10 season of SG-1, 5 seasons of Atlantis, and 2 seasons of Universe never happened. Honestly, that is insulting to all the fans that love the show and its also insulting to the people that made the Stargate franchise extremely popular.
To be honest, I think that his sequels will probably belly flop(aka: fail) if he ignores 17 total seasons of Stargate and acts as if they never happened since that would make him lose most if not all of the people that love Stargate(the series, not the movie).
I think MGM should consider un-shelving the movies that were planned for the Stargate Franchise(the SGA movie, the Universe movie, and the third SG-1 movie).