New Stargate Movie Trilogy Coming From Original Creators

[Something Amyss]

As for SGU and the fanbase... Functionally the fanbase killed what was (certainly not great by anyones measure) at least an attempt to revitalize a stagnated series (remember how there was a Stargate SG1 centric MMO in the works that also got abandoned about that same time because support for it and the franchise had dwindled so low).

No, it got "abandoned" because of legal and financial issues of the company behind it. Not to mention Stargate had previous games announced which were abandoned well before this "dwindling" of popularity.

SGU could have been something had it been named ANYTHING else and removed the proprietary SG1 tripe because the show was not bad at all. Just suffered ridiculously negative press thanks to the adamacy of SG1 fans who felt betrayed because the tired formula that was not really selling any more had been altered.

I honestly doubt this would have got more than a second look without a franchise name attached to it.

The execution of this is going to be a bit tricky, won't it? I mean, at least the Star Trek reboot had a time traveling angle to explain the changes, more or less, which was actually more than I expected when I first heard the idea of a reboot.

It's likely going to be the "other kind" you mentioned, but I wanted to point out that time travel isn't impossible. They've used the Stargate to travel in time both accidentally and intentionally, even to rewrite history. And then there's the special gateship that was used in one of the later seasons.

If they wanted to do that, they ultimately could. But as mentioned in the thread, Emmerich hates the show and has already talked about his planned trilogy in the past. It's gonna be an "ignore twenty years of continuity" reboot.

 

[crazygameguy4ever]

I doubt it will be as good as Stargate SG1 was.. I can't imagine anyone but Richard Dean Anderson playing General Jack O'Neill.. any of the character being played by people other then the actors/actress from SG1. it won't be the same... anyways I find it funny that the creators of the film don't want to associate the new films with the amazing, Emmy award nominated tv series.. maybe they don't want the films to be as successful as the tv series?.. long live the dry humor of Richard Dean Anderson!

 

[AdmiralCheez]

I wasn't disappointed in Universe because it wasn't enough like SG-1. I was disappointed in it because the premise was they were stranded on an ancient ship on the other side of the known universe, but they failed to really capture the right tone. They had the Ancient communication stones to constantly talk to Earth and all their loved ones, so it never felt like they were all that far away. The first few episodes I actually really liked, but the more I realized they were going to keep using the stones, the less interested I became. It's hard to generate drama around things like never seeing your family again, or not knowing how to work the ship you're on, when you can just pop over to Earth in someone else's body and see everyone you want to see, and maybe switch places with an engineer to fix the ship for you.

SG-1 is my all-time favorite show, but I would have loved to see a Stargate series in a different, more alien setting. Instead of exploring new ground with a new show however, they kept tying everything back to the SGC and all the political threads left over from SG-1 and Atlantis. Universe, in my opinion, might have succeeded if they just cut all the ties with Earth and just made it Lost in Space with Stargates.

 

[SeventhSigil]

As for SGU and the fanbase... Functionally the fanbase killed what was (certainly not great by anyones measure) at least an attempt to revitalize a stagnated series (remember how there was a Stargate SG1 centric MMO in the works that also got abandoned about that same time because support for it and the franchise had dwindled so low).

No, it got "abandoned" because of legal and financial issues of the company behind it. Not to mention Stargate had previous games announced which were abandoned well before this "dwindling" of popularity.

SGU could have been something had it been named ANYTHING else and removed the proprietary SG1 tripe because the show was not bad at all. Just suffered ridiculously negative press thanks to the adamacy of SG1 fans who felt betrayed because the tired formula that was not really selling any more had been altered.

I honestly doubt this would have got more than a second look without a franchise name attached to it.

The execution of this is going to be a bit tricky, won't it? I mean, at least the Star Trek reboot had a time traveling angle to explain the changes, more or less, which was actually more than I expected when I first heard the idea of a reboot.

It's likely going to be the "other kind" you mentioned, but I wanted to point out that time travel isn't impossible. They've used the Stargate to travel in time both accidentally and intentionally, even to rewrite history. And then there's the special gateship that was used in one of the later seasons.

If they wanted to do that, they ultimately could. But as mentioned in the thread, Emmerich hates the show and has already talked about his planned trilogy in the past. It's gonna be an "ignore twenty years of continuity" reboot.

I just looked up Emmerich's past works. I can't even begin to describe with words how much I want this guy to stay away from Stargate.

Seriously. Words NOT sufficient.

 

[Vigormortis]

This is great news. Fantastic, in fact.

Why? Because the more involved Roland "I swear I'm not related to Michael Bay!" Emmerich is involved with rebooting or reviving his old films the less likely he is to attempt bringing Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" series to film or television.

Emmerich's already had his shot at doing science fiction. He fucked it up every time. So anything that can keep him away from ruining Asimov's masterpiece is okay in my book.

 

[Zontar]

Same, I don't understand it, nerds love mash ups, I don't understand how stargate/galactica didn't succeed. I loved the attempt at a darker more harshly realistic idea for stargate. Almost all of the characters were well developed and I really cared about them and was crushed when I found out how it ended.

Actually, for the first season and a half it did. Sure, it wasn't total crossover in fanbase, but most was made up for in BSG fans who had never had an interest in the series.

What killed it was Sy Fy (I hate typing that in) moving it from Friday night to late on Tuesday (which, on a specialty channel, is only for reruns and low budget things since Tuesday is the day the main channels get the most viewership) because of a broadcasting deal with the WWE of all things (and the worst part of the deal is that it worked, so Sy Fy's biggest show is fucking wrestling. I have nothing against it, and even liked it for a few years of my life, but that is just wrong).

So anyway once the show was moved to that death slot (nickname for a timeslot only shows which are being cancelled are put in, like 10PM on a Wednesday on Comedy channel) the inevitable happened and viewership went down to below renewal levels. Had it not been for the time slot shift, though we can't say with absolute certainty the show would have been kept, we do know that before the move viewership was at renewal levels, and that they would only be expected to go up as quality was improving dramatically in the second season.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Also why does yet another thing have to be bloody rebooted?

I don't know how picky this is, but everyone (news story included) is referring to these movies as a straight up reboot.

Roland Emmerich, the '94 movie creator, considers the upcoming movies as canon sequels, continuing directly from where he left off.

If you're a fan of Brad Wright's SG-1 ('97-'07) then it would be considered a pseudo reboot. Same source material, but all of SG-1, SGA, and SGU will be considered in the same manner as the Star Wars Expanded Universe (now called Legacy). Its still canon, just alternate universe canon.

That's not much better. The original movie came out 20 years ago, at this stage they'd be better off rebooting it. ...or, since there was only the one movie and he doesn't want to acknowledge the TV series(s), remaking it.

 

[Zakarath]

ew. That's a choice I don't like, throwing out all that was good about stargate so you can go remake an average movie? Gotta say, I doubt you could do a better job of alienating the fanbase.

 

[K.ur]

People, let me put their sin in one simple sentence.

They said no to Mcguyver.

 

[TheSYLOH]

As for SGU and the fanbase... Functionally the fanbase killed what was (certainly not great by anyones measure) at least an attempt to revitalize a stagnated series (remember how there was a Stargate SG1 centric MMO in the works that also got abandoned about that same time because support for it and the franchise had dwindled so low). SGU could have been something had it been named ANYTHING else and removed the proprietary SG1 tripe because the show was not bad at all. Just suffered ridiculously negative press thanks to the adamacy of SG1 fans who felt betrayed because the tired formula that was not really selling any more had been altered.

SGU was not a bad series because of what it was named. SGU was a bad series because of what it was. A discount Battlestar Galactica knockoff. Indeed it was very easy to ignore that it was a Stargate series, the communication stones that so much of the plot revolved around were hardly used in the main series and the Lucian Alliance showed up like twice.
But everything from the lighting to the camera work to the constant bickering point to an aping of BSG.
Except while BSG had complex characters who's motivations drove the shifting drama, SGUs characters were just assholes and idiots who fight alot with each other, that or they were just boring. Take Camile Wray, she acts like a completely different person on earth than on the ship.... but her actions on earth do not in any way inform her actions on the ship and vice versa. Shes just a nice lover on earth and a total ***** in space. She isn't acting out because of a desire to return, nor is her lover pulling her back from the edge of paranoia. Shes just inconsistently characterized.

And Dr Rush... obviously they were going for a Baltar. They took his untrustworthy bits, tried to make rush Machiavellian, but failed utterly. Baltar was manipulative, but he was good at it. He always did things that were self serving, but made an effort to pass them off as serving the greater good. And there was enough ambiguity to make you question if he really was actually good all along. Rush is just a jerk, his attempts at manipulation are so transparent that I'm surprised people haven't hit him more often than they have. He just a whiny spoiled brat.


OT I think people have wised up to Roland Emmerich, if he doesn't care for SG-1, why should SG-1 fans care for him.

 

[Mausthemighty]

I think I'll skip the movies. I saw the Stargate movie when it came out and I loved it. Even though it was a nonsensical B-movie.
The SG-1 series expanded on that universe and made it legendary.
They will be doing what JJ Abrams is doing right now to the Star Trek Franchise. They will ruin it.

 

[ecoho]

So basically the only reason people even remember the forgettable, not particularly good movie or why it would have any audience at all is the very thing it's trying to distance itself from.

Great.

Unless this ends up getting the series back on the air to continue the only story people actually care about (which was only canned because of a whole controversy with Sy Fy and wrestling which saw the one show they had on the air placed in a timeslot to intentionally cancel it despite the promised 3 seasons ending up being only 2), there's nothing to look forward to. No one gave a shit about the movie, the only reason the name is remembered is because of SG-1. Distance yourself from that too much, it stops being Stargate.

Even while entertaining the thought of it being set in its own universe, without the sci-fi references, self-awareness, humour and genre savvyness that made the series, it just won't be Stargate. And Emmerich is not known for going any of those things well, or wanting to.

couldn't agree more. if these movies get us a new stargate TV show ill support them if not then theyre a waste of time.

 

[Nigh Invulnerable]

They do realize that the only reason anyone even remembers their rather forgettable movie is because of the TV series, right?

Also why does yet another thing have to be bloody rebooted?

I totally want to echo the first question. The movie was kinda fun, but ultimately not really that great or memorable (though someone thought enough of it to greenlight a TV series), but the whole thing really became awesome once SG-1 gained some traction and developed the universe. SG-1 did continuity way better than many other series of any genre. See some cool alien gadget in an early episode? There's a decent chance it'd show up again later, sometimes modified, as a plot point or useful tool for the team. Same with characters they met and befriended. This didn't always hold true, but the writers did a good job of reincorporating things they'd used previously.

 

[Skeleon]

As much as I loved the feature film and even started out strongly disliking the reworked aliens (stupid worms) and a lot of the lore SG-1 tacked on, over the years it not only grew on me but became something you couldn't think away from Stargate. So... during season 1 or 2 or something I might've agreed with Emmerich. Now? After more than a decade? A reboot? No. I mean, I'll probably watch it out of curiosity, anyway, but I'm not particularly hyped for this.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

Where did all this hate for the first movie come from? WTF? I've seen the show and it's more cheesy than the original. That's actually why I stopped watching it in the end. I'm not a fan at all of these reboots either, let me tell you, but seriously...

What the hell... ?

As much as I loved the feature film and even started out strongly disliking the reworked aliens (stupid worms) and a lot of the lore SG-1 tacked on, over the years it not only grew on me but became something you couldn't think away from Stargate. So... during season 1 or 2 or something I might've agreed with Emmerich. Now? After more than a decade? A reboot? No. I mean, I'll probably watch it out of curiosity, anyway, but I'm not particularly hyped for this.

So it does get better after the first season? Huh. I might have to give it another chance.

 

[Laughing Man]

Where did all this hate for the first movie come from? WTF? I've seen the show and it's more cheesy than the original.

It's a shockingly easy answer that one. The hate isn't directly for the first movie, the movie was exceedingly average. The hatred steams from the fact that the movie went on to spawn some rather successful and much loved TV shows that in turn created a whole developed universe for the fans that watched the show. The hatred comes from the fact that the original movie creator and rebooter now wants continue right from where his original movie left off and just pretend that non of 3 separate shows, 17 seasons, 300+ episodes and the whole universe that they created happened, all because he didn't like the direction the show took, more likely because the TV show became something a hell of a lot more successful than anything he could have managed with the franchise.

The other issue is that the TV shows directly followed on from the movie events, they make reference, use the same location, use the characters and more or less expand on the lore that was started in the film, for him to rock up and just ignore everything is nothing short of taking a long steamy piss on the fanbase.

The other issue is that I am not really sure who these movies are aimed at?

Any real fans of the original movie will no doubt have moved on to being fans of the TV show and chance are will just be plain pissed at this non sense. If you weren't a fan of the original movie then why would you want to watch these new ones? They are direct sequels and how the hell can they be called reboots if they are sequels?

The whole thing sounds like a grudge, the Emmerich wanted to do something with the movies when referencing the original would have made sense, but MGM had the rights locked down so tight he couldn't touch the franchise, now that the franchise is dead this is his chance to take a side ways stab at it at a time and place where the fans will just ended up annoyed with what he's trying to do and the mass public won;lt care because the movies are a sequel a 20 year old film that they didn't care about in the first place.

 

[Something Amyss]

I just looked up Emmerich's past works. I can't even begin to describe with words how much I want this guy to stay away from Stargate.

Seriously. Words NOT sufficient.

Yeah, to say I'm not a fan is to undersell it.

What killed it was Sy Fy (I hate typing that in) moving it from Friday night to late on Tuesday (which, on a specialty channel, is only for reruns and low budget things since Tuesday is the day the main channels get the most viewership) because of a broadcasting deal with the WWE of all things (and the worst part of the deal is that it worked, so Sy Fy's biggest show is fucking wrestling. I have nothing against it, and even liked it for a few years of my life, but that is just wrong).

It's the end result of their attitude towards science fiction, though. They've been trying to distance themselves from it for years and years and years. It sort of makes me wonder why they even did another Stargate series to begin with. Especially one set in space of all places.

I'm sure the parent company had something to do with Smackdown, but if it wasn't Smackdown I bet it'd be something else. The writing's been on the wall for ages.

 

[Something Amyss]

Where did all this hate for the first movie come from? WTF? I've seen the show and it's more cheesy than the original.

It's cheesy in a fun, self-aware, genre savvy sense. The original was cheesy in a "we're serious about this."

The show even did its serious moments better, which is saying something for a show that's an action movie meets Doctor Who.

 

[frizzlebyte]

I don't get the hate on here for SGU. It wasn't as good as SG1, but like a lot of scifi shows (including SG1 and Atlantis) it took a while to find it's feet.

The problem that I had with SGU (and that might have been fixed at some point; I never watched it much) was that it basically was trying to be a BSG clone at the beginning, and it was doing it very, very badly.

There were some interesting things about it, but it never really caught my fancy enough to care.

 

[Wereduck]

- snip -
So it does get better after the first season? Huh. I might have to give it another chance.

Significantly better after the first season and vastly better after that. It took a few years to get the universe set up but after that they built on it in amusing, exciting, plausible and most of all entertaining ways.
Definitely worth checking out the later seasons. You could skip season 2 but if you don't enjoy playing catch-up with background info you'll want to resume where you left off, a lot of what seems like crisis-of-the-week filler gets brought up again later.