To tell this story we must go back to Autumn 2019. It was a different time. A simpler time before Pandemics and lockdowns were a thing and no one was wearing a mask or freaking out if someone coughed.
At this time Amazon approached MGM and asked if they would like to make a Stargate series? If they did, they’d quite like to buy it … or maybe buy the whole company, who knows.
MGM were already trying to sell the business by this point and decided if Amazon were interested in a Stargate reboot and maybe buying the company too that they could use a new Stargate show as an interesting negotiation tool and maybe even squeeze some more money out of their, soon to be new owners. So, with this in mind they approached Brad Wright, the co-producer of the original series and asked him to create a script for a pilot of a new Stargate series.
News that this was happening leaked out and Gaters rejoiced. Not only were we getting Stargate but we were getting Brad Wright back too. It was a happy time.
But then!
Well, we all know what happened and thanks to the Pandemic everything stopped. However, while the world stopped spinning Amazon and MGM kept talking and even as far back as the earliest development of Brads script voices in Amazon expressed concerns about the script they were seeing via MGM. They praised the writing and the characters but were not convinced about the scale of the project or if it could lead into the franchise they hoped for. Was it written for an MGM budget at the time instead of an Amazon budget?
Later we found out though that these concerns were as much to do with business as anything else. They may have had concerns about the script but in truth Brad never had a chance of making his show… and here is why.
Amazon don’t make any TV shows or movies. None. They finance shows and movies. Other people make them. For Stargate this meant Amazon would certainly want an existing production company to produce the show and not Brad via MGM.
But why was Brad and MGM strung along for so long? Why did they continue to develop different ideas for 6 months while they waited for the sale to go through? Simply put it was because MGM was being lied to.
Amazon did not want to rock the boat while the sale was going through the FTC (financial trade commission) in the USA. There was already opposition to the sale, and they knew they had to keep any controversy to a minimum, so they let MGM believe they were going to be kind and benevolent owners. They allowed MGM to believe they would continue making material they wanted to make and that included Brads Stargate. However, this was never the case and the day the FTC were out of the picture the truth hit MGM like a tonne of bricks.
Top executives left with a few weeks when the reality of the deception hit home and Brads Stargate dreams … our Stargate dreams with Brad were dead.
Amazon always wanted an existing production company to come in and create a fresh Stargate franchise. New blood to breathe new life into the series. Brad was old Stargate. This would be new Stargate! What that means for the future we just don’t know.
Now people who watch SciTrek knew all about these twists and turns months before the rest of the world so we were prepared for the reality, but other Gaters were shocked. Even into this Winter many still fought for Brad to be involved even though there was little chance, and we still hold on to the hope that maybe… just maybe… whoever Amazon pick to create new Stargate will have enough sense to reach a hand out to Brad Wright and say “Please sir. we need you!” because Brad knows Stargate.
Brad is Stargate!
Fuck Amazon, bunch of liars !