Stargate may not have achieved the same level of popularity as the Star-related movies of the Trek and Wars variety, but it remains a cult classic. Following that first tale, the franchise moved to television, but two years ago, director Roland Emmerich and writer/producer Dean Devlin announced plans to reboot the original movie as a fresh trilogy. Now Emmerich has revealed that the Stargate reboot probably won't be made due to unforeseen complications. He explained:
It looked good for a couple of months, but now it's not looking so good. There are just a lot of things that have to fire at the same time, and there was a moment where I thought it was all firing at the same time, and then it all kind of fell apart.
Roland Emmerich informed Empire that while there was originally a lot of enthusiasm to bring Stargate back to the big screen a little while back, it doesn't look like the reboot will move forward anymore. After the original Stargate movie was released in 1994, there were plans to release sequels, but they never came to fruition. By 2014, Emmerich realized that it was better to start from scratch and re-tell the Stargate tale for a new generation, but that's been put on ice.
Along with the "fire dying," Roland Emmerich attributed the modern moviemaking model as the reason for why the Stargate reboot fell through, specifically citing how he believe studios pay more attention to the "idea" of a movie rather than how it actually turns out. He continued:
It's one of the reasons I prefer to work independently. Listen, I think if we did Stargate right, the fans would like it and we could do something really good. But if we screw it up, they'll reject it. As they should. But I kind of don't want to do it if I think that we'll screw it up, and that's one of the things that's holding us back.
While there may be some truth to what Roland Emmerich said, no doubt Independence Day: Resurgence critically bombing earlier this year didn't help matters. If that attempt at revisiting his other big sci-fi movie from the '90s was so poorly received, surely MGM doesn't want Stargate to share the same fate. Dean Devlin also noted in the Empire report that they made the original Stargate movie without a major studio backing them, but that same kind of freedom isn't available anymore.
With the Stargate movie reboot apparently dead (for now), maybe MGM should consider bringing the property back to television. Stargate SG-1 aired for 10 seasons and spawned the spinoffs Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe. After the latter concluded in 2011, the franchise has been in suspended animation. So if attempts to make a new movie series have stalled, bring in a new TV show, and rather than go the reboot route, have it take place in the same continuity with a brand new cast of characters. That's something worth considering.
What do you think of the Stargate reboot being axed? Were you looking forward to it or are you glad it's not happening? Let us know in the comments below.
