Stargate Is Back

Read The Latest News Regarding The Beloved Franchise
Story by David Clark
In 1994 a movie named Stargate was released that was almost immediately considered a success; however, nobody dreamed of how far that movie would go. In the two decades following the release a franchise was born that consisted of cartoons, comics, books, movies, and television shows. Now, 20 years after the release of the original movie, Stargate is being infused with new life in the form of a reboot.

The original concept and screenwriting for the 1994 Stargate movie was done by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin. For those that do not know these two individuals they have spent time in the industry as actors, writers, producers, and directors who most recently were in the news for the successful greenlight on the upcoming Independence Day sequel.

In an interview with Devlin he expressed excitement at the opportunity for improving the vision of the franchise while adding to the storied legacy that is Stargate. The original plans for the movie were somewhat derailed when the television show Stargate SG-1 premiered to high ratings. Devlin’s original plan was for Stargate to be the first movie in a trilogy. However the powers-that-be decided the series was a better fit on television and Stargate part two and three were scrapped.

Devlin explained this situation in his own words, "Of all the projects I’ve ever done, Stargate is the only one from the beginning intended to be a trilogy. We always wanted to do parts two and three, but the thinking was they didn’t want to do anything other than the TV series. So literally for 20 years I’ve been chasing this project.”

Given the amount of canon-building franchise mediums released over the past 20 years the original plans for Stargate part two and three no longer fit. Devlin and Emmerich decided if they were to continue pursuing a Stargate trilogy the franchise would have to start over from scratch; hence the reboot. MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) Studios has given the go-ahead on the reboot allowing Devlin and Emmerich the opportunity to finally create the Stargate trilogy of their dreams.

Stepping in to assist in the creation of the first movie are two upcoming actors turned screenwriters Nicolas Wright and James A. Woods. Technically they are still in negotiations but given the consulting Wright and Woods are already doing on Independence Day 2 it seems likely they will be on board for the Stargate reboot.

As a fan of a good science fiction story I am very excited to hear the news about Stargate. Stargate Atlantis and SG-1 were two of my very favorite television shows growing up. Stargate Universe had potential too but was cut short before the series really had the opportunity to develop and explore the possibilities. Hopefully the reboot of Stargate will revitalize an aging yet amazing franchise and make it popular to a new generation of viewers.

It is important to note, there was a time when the word reboot might have caused people to roll their eyes. It is becoming a cliche’ to say Hollywood is out of fresh ideas so they are rebooting everything. Successes like the latest Star Trek iterations have proven the concept can work. Will Stargate be successful 20 years after the original? Should a franchise with two decades of history behind it be left alone?

Feel free to share any thoughts or opinions in the comments section below. Sources: Blastr