How close are Stargate fans to getting a brand new, fourth series on the air? According to former Stargate executive producer Joseph Mallozzi, we’re about five chevrons into the 7-chevron dialing sequence.
“How much progress and how close are we?” Mallozzi said on Reddit today. “Well, someone asked me how many chevrons have been locked. I told them five.”
It echoes sentiments that Mallozzi wrote on his blog back in July — that “truth be told, we’ve never been closer to a fourth Stargate series. … Long-suffering Stargate fans may finally be rewarded. Provided a few crucial pieces fall into place.”
The project long in development comes from creator Brad Wright, who co-created the three previous TV series and is confirmed to be developing a new project for the franchise. He’s been working on something for nearly two years now, and the COVID-19 pandemic has very likely pushed back pitches, an official pick-up, and/or a production start. Wright himself said in the spring that he is still trying to get the project going.
Mallozzi served as a writer and executive producer on all three television series, joining the Stargate SG-1 writers room in the show’s fourth season. After Stargate he went on to co-create Syfy Channel’s Dark Matter (with his Stargate writing partner Paul Mullie). Most recently he worked as a writer and producer on Hulu’s sci-fi themed musical drama Utopia Falls.
While he has no officially announced ties to a fourth Stargate show, of course he does know Wright. In recent weeks Mallozzi has made further comments on his blog, on Twitter, and on Reddit. If we sew all these together (and assuming Mallozzi has been fully read in on the pitch), we begin to gather a bit more intel on just what form Wright’s long-gestating project might take.
Here are three things we didn’t know (for sure) at the start of the summer:
#1 – It will be a series (not a one-off).
In multiple places Mallozzi refers to Wright’s project as a “Stargate series.” That’s great news, as it suggests some sort of ongoing show — as opposed to a one-off movie, or other project with a more limited scope.
Remember, in 2018 MGM put out Stargate Origins in the form of 10 short webisodes. Two years ago the best fans were hoping for was a second season of the same, but perhaps more connected to the TV mythology.
On the other hand, “series” does not rule out something that is planned to have a contained story with a set end point. This may not be the second coming of Stargate SG-1, with a brilliant premise that runs for a decade. But hopefully it would run for at least three seasons of around 10 episodes each, which has become Netflix’s preferred model for its original scripted dramas.
#2 – We’ll be seeing some old friends.
Unlike MGM’s decision in 2014 to reboot Stargate on the big screen, Brad Wright’s project won’t rewrite years of history and mythology. Instead it will continue on where Stargate SG-1, Atlantis, and Universe left off, set within the same continuity and not rebooting anything. Of course that’s the case, since Wright led the writers in shaping that universe over 14 years of production.
What Mallozzi has newly confirmed is what we all hoped and expected for this project: Its setting will allow for familiar faces to make a return — an extensive cast of characters (and the actors who played them) from 17 seasons of Stargate. “If the new #Stargate series [Brad Wright] is working on gets off the ground,” he said, “we’ll be seeing quite a few familiar faces.”
And while we shouldn’t expect main cast members from the previous shows to sign up for main cast duties on a new series, we will at least get to catch up with them through guest appearances.
If the new #Stargate series @bradtravelers is working on gets off the ground, we’ll be seeing quite a few familiar faces.
— Joseph Mallozzi (@BaronDestructo) September 5, 2020
Who would you most like to see on screen in 2021? Want to see if McKay and Zelenka are still sparring in the corridors of Atlantis all these years later? Has General Mitchell (or maybe General Lorne) assumed command of the S.G.C.? Has the Stargate been made public? Need some on-screen confirmation that Sam and Jack ended up together?
And then there are the cliffhangers. What about the Destiny crew?
#3 – There are plans for Destiny.
When we last saw Colonel Young, Dr. Rush, Eli, and the crew of the Destiny they were going into long-term stasis (“Gauntlet”). They hoped to survive the ship’s long voyage between galaxies, facing a long journey on minimal power reserves. They were even short one stasis pod: when the series faded out in 2011, Eli (David Blue) knew he had to either fix the last pod or sacrifice himself for his shipmates.
“If Brad is successful in getting the fourth Stargate series picked up, he already has plans for the Destiny,” Mallozzi wrote on Reddit.
After SGU was cancelled, Wright reportedly pitched an epic crossover movie that would draw from all three shows’ casts on a mission to rescue the crew of the Destiny. The fact that Wright is the one who is now developing a new show means that all those possibilities, all those percolating ideas, would not be lost to the ages.
At any rate, a new series from Wright’s imagination would give space to address not only the fate of Destiny crew but many other lingering questions as well. Where is Atlantis today? Did the city ship return to the Pegasus Galaxy (as was the plan for the scrapped sixth season, as well as the unproduced movie Stargate: Extinction)? Did Destiny accomplish its mission to discover the secret to the origins of the universe?
These questions should be answered in a new #Stargate series.
— Joseph Mallozzi (@BaronDestructo) September 5, 2020
Genius Takes Time …
So what’s the hold-up? It’s been more than two years since MGM dipped its toe back into the Stargate franchise with the Web series Stargate Origins. And it’s been 20 months since Wright first told us that he was actively working on a new project with MGM.
Since then fans have understandably grown impatient, as week after week rolls by without an announcement about Stargate from the studio in a new Golden Age of streaming television. While streaming services old and new are pouring out dump trucks of cash for original programming, Stargate continues to hang on the vine as a property with a built-in audience that is ripe for the picking.
But in TV and film production it takes time to get all the ducks in a row — especially in the era of COVID. But today many series that film in Vancouver and other parts of Canada are finally getting back to work, with shooting dates ramping up in the fall.
“Five chevrons locked” may not indicate that MGM has found a home for the show yet. (Maybe that’s Chevron 6?) Elsewhere on the Reddit thread Mallozzi reiterated that the time may come for fans to petition the likes of Amazon, Apple, and FOX.
“This has been a surprisingly long process,” Mallozzi said. “My initiative (the tweetstorms) was part of a concerted fan effort to convince the studio that: a) Stargate fans want and would support a new Stargate series, and b) said series should NOT be a reboot that would wipe out some 20 years of stories and characters, but a new show set within the established Stargate universe that would appeal to new fans, but also reward long-suffering fans with guest appearances, cameos, Easter eggs and the answer to many of their burning questions.
“THAT proved challenging. But progress was finally made with the announcement that Brad was once again in talks with MGM. Since then, things have progressed — but the pandemic has thrown a wrench into things (across the industry).
Two years and five chevrons later, and it may nearly be time to gear up to go through the wormhole.
Keep your browser locked on GateWorld.net for the latest updates on the next Stargate series! Meanwhile, we’d love to hear your thoughts and questions below: What do you want to see out of a fourth Stargate series?
Sam and Jack confirmation is all I need :)
If they have to shop it to a new network/streaming service, will that require an eighth chevron and a ZPM? ?
If it’s a continuation they’ll probably have to throw in the other series.
I just want confirmation McKay has done a Google search in the Atlantis computers on how to make a zero point module
This is fantastic. Closest we’ve ever been to a new series. I just hope the SGC doesn’t go public; part of the allure of the series is that you were in on the secret and went along for the ride. Revealing the Stargate’s existence would mean you’re just another person in the world, and a lot of the mystique would be gone.
I want this more than I want most things.
Yo quiero saber que paso con el SGC con cada integrante y como terminaron Jacj y Samanta. Daniel Jackson se quedo con Bala? Tealc…se formo un nuevo pueblo junto a ola guerrera rubia?
Que sucedio con Atlantis? por fin encontraran a algun antiguo perdido con el conocimiento suficiente como para entender el universo y todos lo que hay en ella?
Amo esta serie.
I’m as much of a shipper as anyone else, but seriously, “General Mitchell” or :General Lorne”- but Samantha Carter’s best career aspiration is to end up with Jack? Seriously? 11 seasons of Captain/Major/Lt. Colonel/Colonel Samantha Carter, and your vote is for the 2-season Lt Colonel Mitchell or guest star Major Lorne? How about General Carter? With a retired General O’Neill? Women can have it all these days, you know?
Yes, thank you!
Lorne actuallly became a general, atleast in the alternate timeline future episode “The Last Man”(SGA S4E20). Its not far of a leap, given Lorne’s promotion, that Mitchell (a rank above him already) would eventually become a general.
I do agree though that making him a general would seem too soon if the show is set “present day”, unless their goal is to come up with a reason why hes not leading SG1 anymore.
Yes absolutely! General Sam head Of SGC.
Fingers crossed! Hope to see McKay and Sheppard again!
Atlantis rescues Destiny with the Wormhole drive!
Destiny interfaces with Atlantis’s advanced computers and uploads its data. Atlantis computers discover the answer to Destiny’s mission. Which leads them on another mission:
At first I was saying ‘we just need a sixth season of Atlantis’ but now I think I would like a new series with characters from both SG-1 and Atlantis crossing over. Maybe have the odd guest appearance of O-Neill and Landry in their retirement. Carter needs to be Brigadier General or General considering where she started. We can see how Daniel and Vala are getting on. And then there is Shepard and Mckay. I can’t imaging Shepard will be General, maybe. Teyla’s son would be quite a bit older now. And I imagine Teal’c and Ronon are hanging out.
You’re crazy if you think Jason Moamoa would do this show now.
I’ve said this before, but I would be okay with a Legacy adaptation. You could easily account for the time passed by saying it took 10 plus years to repair Atlantis.
Will they use the clone of Jack O’neill. Colonel Mitchell could be bossing Jack O’neill around. What about having Cassandra work for the SGC. Maybe Daniel Jackson has taught the the Unas, the first ones, Chaka how to speak English an is also working with SG teams. Maybe Daniel and Vala got together and they have had kids.
Honestly I’m super excited! I’m guessing Mallozzi wouldn’t be posting this and getting excitement up if “5 Chevrons” meant anything less than “just hammering out a contract with a platform”. I’m hoping for a spiritual successor to SGA (it was more serious than SG1 but less than SGU).
I am sat in the Embarkation room holding a royal flush, guess I had better put my cards down and go and gear up!
Great news that Stargate is coming back, can’t wait!!!
Obviously the series has to be about solving Destiny’s search…and with that, they figure out how to dial out of their universe and find the “makers”.
As long as it like that steaming pile of garbage called Stargate Origins Catherine
We can’t wait for another “Stargate” series. Hopefully it will be different from “Universe” that we thought was way too dark and depressing. SGC-SG1 was a perfect combination of good writing, more serious action dotted with great humor. We hope that returns with the possibility of a “Destiny” series, NOT just a one time movie, unless you do both. A movie to start it off, followed up by the series. That would be great! Hope to see it soon. : >
Sorry, Been Holding out Hope of a Stargate Renewal since 2003.
AT this point, I’ll believe it, Once I see the Pilot.
What do you mean since 2003? After 2003 we had some of the best Stargate (final seasons of SG-1, all of Atlantis, and Universe).
I’m sorry, but I want and expect MORE, for good reason! A new series should be a no-brainer, there should be plans for MUCH MORE than just one series, and you’d think that everyone involved in the creation would proceed with the attitude that it WILL BE long running and WILL EXCEED what was accomplished in the past. There’s only ONE simple rule they need to follow to be successful: QUALITY STORYTELLING that models everything that made SG1 work so well. If I could say only one thing to everyone working on the project, I would tell them to LISTEN… Read more »
I only hope they finally use their brains and get some good writers on board. There was a lot of bad writing in all 3 series… The fourth series might fail badly if they continue that.
I mean seriously think about Atlantis. The main city of the Ancients and all it got for defense was drones and its shield. It makes no sense. And no way to make ZPM’s? Who builds a city like that?
And there is a lot more…
This news is what we need right now. Gives hope and makes us SG fans so happy to have something to look forward to! Personally I would love to see more of Todd the wraith. He was awesome, great performance by Christopher Heyerdahl. Ofcourse McKay, Teyla, Ronon, Sheppard too. And heck, throw in some Daniel, O’Neill, Carter, Teal’c and Vala too! I loved all shows, SG1 and SGA were my favorites because they felt lighter and had so much humour. But I did wonder what happened with Destiny. Some amazing ideas in that show, like the ship being powered by… Read more »
I agree on the fact that ‘SGU’ was too dark and had a rough start in Season 1. But it is amazing to hear that Stargate is returning, and hopefully it will include Destiny’s mission.
This is the best sci-fi genre news i’ve heard in a long time.
Whatever happens please stay away from SYFY and anything NBC.
This is good news of course, I have been hopeful for new stargate for a decade and how it hasnt been renewed so far confuses me. A show about a team going to other planets, with stories open to what can be anything! A new show needs to be greenlit. If I was creating something new I would do a miniseries wrapping up everything so far, then create a new TV series. I would make shorter seasons with fast flowing storylines that can be packed with action. Don’t do filler episodes! They cause ratings to drop and networks will hate… Read more »
I’ve almost finished my rewatch of all three series. It’s made me realise what a big part of my life this universe has been, a potential new series is incredibly exciting.
I have watched all 3 series more times than I’d like to admit, more than 10…. and to this day I still cant believe MGM would drop a show that has made such an impact on the world , while star trek and other shows attempt to fill a void that has left us wondering why
Continue what was developed but leave political bias, social issues, and agendas out of it. Go back to fun clean entertainment. No reboot… No reboot… no reboot! I don’t want to see Asgard that suddenly look nothing like they do now (reference Klingons on star trek discovery mess)
Put it on HBO / HBO MAX
I can Petition. Send me the form to petition amazon!! Hulu or wherever!!
I see SG-1 has been readded to Netflix. It would be a good idea to watch it there to show there’s still interest in Stargate in general.
Good to hear there’s a 4th series in the works. At this point best to play it safe and just meld SGA and SGU and get a mix of characters from each as I anticipate there will be actor availability issues.
Thankfully some seem somewhat interchangeable
I am on my 8th time to watch the re-runs of SGC1, SGA, SGU and I am paying a monthly fee to HULU to do this. I am now 78 yrs.old and am worried if I will even be around to see the new series! Can not remember when I last checked Gateworld for information on the new Stargate series, but has been several years. I am praying they will be out at least by the end of 2022. Thank you very much for keeping track of what is happening with them and letting us know. Without Gateworld I would… Read more »