A brief history of Stargate’s Development.
Stargate has been off the air since 2011 and fans have been begging for more ever since. So where is Stargate now? Stargate Universe aired its final episode after only two seasons of being on air. The official statement we got was Stargate Universe was cancelled due to poor viewing figures. But we now know that MGM was going through a bit of a financial struggle. In 2009, the studio was in a staggering $3.7 Billion of debt ,and the interest payments alone were $250 million per year. At the time MGM was earning around $500 million from its Television and Film Library but there was a massive economic downturn that would have reduced this number significantly.
In February of 2010, MGM said they would more than likely be sold within the next 4 months, hoping that someone would buy the studio and their debts. Sadly, that didn’t happen and later in the year, MGM filed for bankruptcy. Only a couple of months later the studio announced they had “emerged from bankruptcy” but sadly a lot of damage had already been done.
Stargate Universe was cancelled in 2011 and the upcoming Stargate Movies, Stargate Extinction, The Direct to DVD Stargate Atlantis Movie, and Stargate Revolutions The next SG1 Movie were also cancelled. Along with this, the highly anticipated “Stargate Worlds” an MMO set within the Stargate universe was shelved.
Nothing was said for the next 3 years until in May of 2014 MGM announced a re-imagined version of the original 1994 film which was to be produced as a trilogy with Warner Brothers. Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin were to produce and direct the three movies. The following sequel movies to the original were said to take a dramatically different course than the SG-1 and Atlantis had created in the following 15 years. On November 17, 2016, Devlin told Empire Online that the plans to make a reboot and potential new series are stalled.
Stargate Fans get a glimmer of hope.
In July of 2017, Stargate Fans who attended San Diego Comic-Con were told that a new show was being created alongside a brand-new streaming platform, where fans could stream all 3 series and the Stargate Movies. The new series was called Stargate Origins: Catherine. It focused on the character of Catherine Langford, and it was a prequel both to the television continuity and to the original feature film. There were 10 episodes in total all lasting 10 minutes, however a Stargate Origins: Catherine Movie was later created with all of the episodes shown in one go.
Brad Wrights Involvement in Stargate
In September 2018, it was reported that SG-1, Atlantis, and Universe showrunner Brad Wright had been approached by MGM about continuing the franchise. In the following year cast members including Richard Dean Anderson and Amanda Tapping confirmed they had spoken to Brad and that they had expressed an interest in returning to the franchise.
In March of 2019, Brad commented on conversations he was having with MGM stating that whatever was to come next had to acknowledge the hundreds of episodes that came before it.
“We’ve had conversations about what may or may not be able to happen going forward,” he said. “And it’s sort of starting from scratch in so many ways. And very much in the acknowledgment that whatever the next step forward is, it has to be of a certain quality and honor the several hundred hours of a show that’s already out there. I don’t mean ‘honor’ — I mean acknowledge it. And they agreed.” – Brad Wright
He continued in the interview, to let fans know that he and MGM were working on something, and although a new show may not have been around the corner, they would think of something.
“That’s really still where we are,” he continued. “I don’t expect — and certainly don’t anyone expect — another television show to appear around the corner. But Stargate is an important part of their library. And so … maybe we’ll think of something! [Laughter] That’s all I can tell you! We’re working on it.”
In July of 2020 whilst the world was thrown into lockdown, Stargate fans were once again given some information from SG1, SGA, and SGU writer-producer Joseph Mallozzi who teased Brad Wrights Project commenting that “we’ve never been closer to a fourth Stargate series.” This continued in September 2020, when it was reported that whilst not currently involved in writing, Mallozzi had spoken to Wright about the development, confirming it to be a fourth television series that would continue on from where SG-1, Atlantis, and Universe left off and include characters from those shows.
On November 21st, 2020 Brad Wright confirmed that he was developing a television series of Stargate with MGM and that the new show would be a continuation of what had come before it. No reboots. He also confirmed that whilst things were progressing the industry having shut down due to the pandemic was slowing conversations down. Not much is known about what happened between this time and the MGM sale to Amazon. But it has been rumored that MGM was still in active development of the new Stargate project with Brad Wright as the showrunner, even getting as far as storyboarding and a pilot script being written. This is somewhat substantiated by Joseph Mallozzi’s tweet in which he shared the front cover of a script in March of 2022.
A little light reading ahead of the weekend.#Stargate pic.twitter.com/Mm1ltZFpQa
— Joseph Mallozzi 🏴☠️ (@BaronDestructo) March 24, 2022
Shortly after this the sale of MGM to Amazon went through and Stargate fans were left wondering whether they would get an update on the current state of Stargate Development. Sadly, we have yet to hear any official announcements from Amazon.
However, Brad Wright confirmed in November of 2022 that he was no longer in discussions with MGM about a new Stargate series.
Thanks! But you won’t hear news from me. MGM did hire me to write a pilot for a new show but that was just before covid hit. Timing couldn’t have been much worse. All the players have changed in the interim so it’s likely destined to gather dust. Would’ve been fun, though.
— Brad Wright (@bradtravelers) November 1, 2022
It had been heavily rumored by contacts we have at Amazon that they were no longer interested in Brad Wrights Script, but this was the confirmation we feared would come. Brad Wright is no longer involved in Stargate.
The future of Stargate?
So what does the future hold for the Stargate franchise? Who will take the reins and bring the show back to our screens?
In August of 2022, our Youtube channel SciTrek reported that Amazon/MGM was soliciting pitches from various creatives to produce their vision of what they would do with Stargate. This was later confirmed by Jenny Stiven on an episode of “Dial The Gate”, stating that “That rumor is true, I had heard that prior to when SciTrek had talked about it.”
So, with Amazon soliciting pitches two names that cropped up were Mark Fergus and Hawk Otsby his partner, the guys that bought The Expanse from print to our screens. it has been reported also that Amazon approached the pair and asked them “What would you like to do?” and their response was “Stargate”.
The latest update on the Mark Fergus and Hawk Otsby Rumour is that the pair are in early negotiations to produce a new Stargate show. Whilst they haven’t officially signed any contracts and a new show hasn’t been greenlit, this is the closest we have ever been to an official announcement and we are expecting something around January 2023, this will coincide with the launch of MGM+ a new streaming service offered by Amazon which will house the entire MGM content library.
As time progresses, this post will be updated with more news and links to articles that give a clearer picture.
