Fans of Stargate have been crying out for a new series for years and it seems as soon as we get a glimmer of hope, something steps in its path and stalls the progress. Before COVID, Brad Wright was commissioned by MGM to write a script for a new series. A series which would have seen the Stargate Program become public knowledge and fan favourites like Jack and Sam returning to their characters.
But when the pandemic hit and the world shut down, so did the talks between MGM and Brad Wright. Coming out of the pandemic, whilst MGM and Brad were very keen to push on with their joint venture, Amazon was gearing up for a take over of the company. Amazon told MGM that they’d remain independent. That Amazon would act as a “Customer” ordering shows and letting MGM do what they do best. Well, as you’ll know if you are a regular SciTreker, as soon as the deal went through, Amazon went back on this promise. They restructured the company and the higher executives of MGM resigned. All of this happened and Brad was never contacted about continuing where he left off with MGM before the sale.
So Amazon had seemingly decided among themselves that they would like to push on without Brad. Unfortunate, sure, but its a move in the right direction.
They then solicited pitches from production companies for a new series of Stargate, among those to pith were Bad Robot and Penguin in a Parka.
Now we broke the news that Penguin in a Parka, headed by Mark Fergus and Hawk Otsby had seemingly been successful in their bid to create a new Stargate television series. All that was left to do was to sign on the dotted line. But in came the first barrier. Money. Mark Fergus proposed an amount to Amazon, which was around $100 million for 10 episodes. Amazon responded with “We can do $60 million”. Mark Fergus said he simply couldn’t do that and negotiations reportedly broke down. They reconvened once the new year had arrived.
Whilst we do not know much about the subsequent negotiations, what we do know (from our sources) is there is a voice within Amazon who is really pushing for a Stargate Movie before a Series. Bad Robot who had previously pitched for a television series also pitched for a Stargate Movie and it seems as though it was given some serious consideration. But, the plan was to start with a Television series and maybe do a movie later on.
This all being said, a very vocal executive named Jennifer Salke has been pushing for a movie first and foremost, nobody else within Amazon/MGM share the same opinion and everyone, but her, want to push on with a television series.
This is where the second hurdle comes in. Because of this push back by Jennifer Salke, Mark Fergus cannot continue with his development of his series. Mark Fergus (Penguin in a parka) and Michael Wright (Head of MGM+) are very frustrated as they have a solid plan ready to go for a new Stargate series. But because there is push back on having a series over a movie, everything has stalled.
So thats where we are at the moment. Still waiting on something solid. Still waiting for our favourite show to be signed, sealed and delivered.
This news was provided to us by an Anonymous source within the industry. We cannot verify this information, though we are confident in their consistently reliable information.
