Sci-fi social media was a buzz on Wednesday morning when Amazon officially announced it was moving forward with a brand-new entry into the “Stargate” franchise. And about time too.
Martin Gero, who served as a consultant and co-producer on both the “Atlantis” and “Universe” spin-off shows, is behind the new series, and it seems many of the original team have been involved. Plot details and the name of the new show are as yet undisclosed, but we do know it will be produced by Amazon MGM Studios and air on Prime Video.
Hollywood-based MGM Studios originally owned all the rights to the “Stargate” franchise, but in May of 2021, Amazon bought MGM Studios for $8.45 billion and consequently acquired the rights to more than 4,000 films and 17,000 TV shows, including “James Bond,” “Rocky,” “Stargate”, and “RoboCop.”
The first series, “Stargate SG1”, aired on television in 1997 and was a direct spin-off of the 1994 movie “Stargate” written and directed by Roland Emmerich and starring Kurt Russell and James Spader. That show lasted for a staggering 10 seasons and 200 episodes and spawned the arguably even better sequel series. In fact, many sci-fi aficionados consider “Stargate” to be the most re-watchable television sci-fi series ever made.
After “SG1” ended and “Atlantis” approached its finale, the sci-fi landscape shifted toward darker, grittier storytelling thanks to huge hits like “Battlestar Galactica.” Eager to evolve with the trend, MGM launched “Stargate Universe,” but despite strong creative ambition, low ratings kept the series from securing a third season. The Stargate franchise ultimately went dark in May 2011.
This isn’t the first time an attempt has been made to revive the longstanding sci-fi franchise. In 2018, MGM released a modestly budgeted prequel series, “Stargate: Origins,” which explored Catherine Langford’s early years and earned <em>very mixed reviews.
Earlier attempts included “Atlantis” actor Joe Flanigan’s effort to pull the property out of MGM’s bankruptcy troubles, a move that collapsed when new leadership took over. Co-creator Brad Wright later mounted his own reboot push, but that also stalled, marking a level of sustained effort rarely seen for any television property, science fiction or otherwise.
Since then, the number of “Stargate”-themed conventions, held worldwide – albeit on the smaller side – has exponentially increased, allowing fans to meet the stars from every spin-off, including Amanda Tapping (Major Samantha Carter), Christopher Judge (Teal’c), Michael Shanks (Dr. Daniel Jackson), Joe Flanigan (Lt. Col John Sheppard), Rachel Luttrell (Teyla Emmagan) and more. Thus proving the fanbase is not only alive and well, but it’s thriving.
Although estimates differ on the typical production cost of a “Stargate SG-1” episode, most accounts agree that the budget grew as the show’s audience expanded. Even so, those figures remain nowhere near the reported $8+ million price tag for a single episode of “Star Trek: Discovery,” which would have been roughly $4 million in 1997 dollars.
And then there’s the question of format. The classic 22-episode season is largely a thing of the past, and viewers are lucky to get half that now. Longtime “Star Trek” veteran Brannon Braga said to fans at the Star Trek Las Vegas convention in September 2025 that Trek was stronger when it had 20+ episode seasons, arguing that modern short streaming runs feel like fleeting “Tinder relationships” rather than long-term viewer commitments.
Moreover, imagine what a modern “Stargate” could achieve with today’s VFX tools and the use of a VR wall, freeing the franchise from its “every planet looks like Vancouver” limitation.
Are we excited about this? In a word, indeed.
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