Will the Writers Strike hold up the Stargate announcement?

This is the question I have been asking all of the industry insiders we speak to try and understand what is happening right now in Hollywood and in the minds of the MGM and Amazon executives making these decisions.

And the answer? No.

Thankfully for once in the rollercoaster that is the wait for the return of Stargate it seems that it is good news. The current writers strike is a major problem for Studios and many projects, especially on the Networks, will be delayed or even cancelled. But it seems that the Stargate franchise will not be on of them according to insiders close to the project.

But why? Well put simply this was all part of the plan. Amazon announced that they were pushing forwards with the TV adaptation of God of War with Penguin in a Parka last December. Mark Fergus runs the company and after his success with the Expanse Amazon were keen to see what he could not do with this show. He had already expressed an interest in Stargate but Amazon were not ready to push ahead at that point and the gate stayed closed.

In February and March it became increasingly clear that the writers strike was almost certainly going to happen so Amazon ordered Penguin in a Parka to focus on scripts for that series, even going as far as hiring new writers to ensure it was complete and ready before the strike so filming could go ahead as planned.

This would also give Amazon time to completely absorb MGM into Amazon Prime, to find a new head of movies for both and to make certain they had a plan in place for MGM studios. All of which they have now done.

And as the great Hannibal Smith used to say… I love it when a plan comes together!

In June this year the plan is to still announce the Stargate project and to put it into full development, probably with a movie, straight to cinema, first. MGM are looking for Directors and even thinking about the actors that will star as the gate reopens… and we will be right here the whole journey keeping you as informed as possible with all the news and rumours.