AMAZON decides not to open its STARGATE…

There was much excitement in 2022 when there were suggestions that Amazon seemed to be looking ways to revive and continue the Stargate franchise. Then, at the end of last year, news came of more concrete plans with Martin Gero, who was a writer on both the Stargate SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis series, set to act as showrunner and executive producer on just such a new incarnation.  Brad Wright and Joe Mallozzi would have served as consulting producers.

However, news came today, first reported by Variety, that the plans – as they existed – will now no longer be happening. At least not at Amazon.

The series would have lensed in the UK and it is believed that a writers’ room had been operational for over six months. No reason was given for the cancellation and little was known of the specifics of Gero’s take on the core concepts that would form the pillars of the new series, though Variety reports that sources suggested that the new set-up might lean too heavily on knowledge of the previous series and not attract new viewers beyond the existing fanbase and that the recent internal shift in Amazon‘s priorities may have led to the series being a casualty.

Stargate began as a 1994 feature-film starring James Spader and Kurt Russell and telling the story of the unearthing of a gigantic metal ring in Egypt. Research and study of the ring revealed that it was not just a relic, but a gateway to the stars, with a certain sequence of symbols being depressed to open the portal.  The first team through the ‘stargate’ found themselves on a dusty alien world dominated by the aliens who had originally been the basis of the Egyptian gods. Devised by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, there was the possibility of the film becoming a trilogy, but despite Stargate‘s box-office success, later films did not transpire.

What did happen was a spin-off series, Stargate SG-1, that stepped away from the original future plans for the story and set-up a story where the stargate could actually be used to travel to many different worlds by changing the input of symbols on the Earth-based device. The series starred Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge and Don S. Davis and later the likes of Ben Browder and Claudia Black. Its mix of overt sf themes and gentle, yet sometimes subversive humour ran for ten seasons between 1997-2007 and two tv/dvd movies. It also produced spin-offs such as Stargate: Atlantis (2004-2009),  Stargate Universe (2009-2011), an animated series Stargate: Infinity (2002-2003) and internet set of micro-episodic tales called Stargate: Origins in 2018. The various strands of the franchise produced a devoted fan following that still exists.

According to the reports, even though Amazon has declined to move forward, other avenues and homes may be sought in an effort to bring the franchise back to screens… though Gero is reported to now be developing new projects under his deal with Amazon.