Amazon Has Axed Its New Stargate Series

(gateworld.net)

57 points | by Kye 8 hours ago ago

63 comments

  • le-mark 7 hours ago ago

    > the studio were concerned that Gero’s take on the series “would not have broad appeal beyond the franchise’s already dedicated fanbase.” This is a key component in reviving a legacy IP

    It was popular because of who? The fans! No one needed the Disney-ization of Stargate. This is probably a good thing.

    • iammiles 7 hours ago ago

      The framing here gives some good insight into other controversial Amazon adaptations.

    • rgblambda 6 hours ago ago

      As bummed as I am by this news, I kinda understand the logic. The fan base likely didn't make up the majority of viewing figures when SG-1 and it's spin-offs were on the air. Otherwise, it would have been revived much sooner after their big bet on direct to DVD movies didn't pan out.

      • jhogendorn 3 hours ago ago

        As far as I understand it, the movies were actually very successful, but there was some kind of internal politicking or studio issue and they just didnt continue.

        • rgblambda 2 hours ago ago

          The co-creator of Stargate was interviewed about it and said:

          >The only thing that is blocking the SG-1 movie or the Atlantis movie, the only thing, is the fact that the direct-to-DVD market has gone away

          https://web.archive.org/web/20101001085140/https://tvdeathra...

          Interestingly, he also talked about the need to appeal to an audience outside of the existing fan base, quite relevant to the current discussion:

          >If you just try to hang on to the viewers you have and the numbers are going down, they’ll eventually go down to the point where the network and the studio will say, “OK, we’re done.” That’s what happens. That’s definitely what happens.

  • ojkelly 7 hours ago ago

    For those who don’t know (which seems to be the entire comment section at the moment), the new show is/was not a remake, they intended to follow on from the existing series.

    I was pretty optimistic after watching the announcement [0] that this would be a decent show.

    Here’s hoping they’ve developed it enough that they can shop it around.

    [0] https://youtu.be/e82uV9sBt4I?si=ZY3qO4o8r1DH5voG

    • lucisferre 7 hours ago ago

      Given the IP situation, is shopping it around even on the table?

      • randallsquared 7 hours ago ago

        Joseph Mallozzi says it's not, and he was involved with the new series development. I suppose Amazon is making enough from the concept that they aren't interested in selling it.

        • p1necone 6 hours ago ago

          How would they make anything from it if they aren't going to make the show?

          • randallsquared 6 hours ago ago

            Possibly it continues to stream frequently enough to be considered a contributor to Prime Video? Not sure if you can stream it other places, but if so, those fees would be continued revenue that might disappear if the reaction to a new show is poor.

          • daemin 6 hours ago ago

            They aren't going to make _this_ show, they might make another show in the future, one catering to a broader (non-core-fan) audience.

    • Izikiel43 7 hours ago ago

      > From the existing series

      Which one? Universe? Atlantis? SG1?

      • saurik 6 hours ago ago

        All of those are from the same continuity. (The show was not to be a remake/reboot, but also was not to be like, another season of one of the existing shows. I do wish they would just figure out how to finish Stargate: Universe... they even likely-purposefully left the plot/characters in a state where they could actually do the next season now, even after all this time, and even if some of the actors can't or won't be involved anymore.)

        • singingtoday 6 hours ago ago

          And all had at least crossover. Such a fantastic franchise.

  • pointlessone 2 hours ago ago

    Broad appeal? You can’t do anything good aiming for broad appeal. People like too different things, they all don’t mash together well. If you add to many tings that appeal to different people you end up with incoherent mess. Instead of appealing to everyone you end up pissing off everyone in many different ways.

    Look at the Ring of Power. Did it have broad appeal? Maybe, first 2 episodes brought in 25 million viewers. The whole first season was watched by 150 millions, despite season completion being ~40%. For reference, X-Files pulled in more only in 1 of its 11 seasons with most under 20 mil, and Friends lowered in 20-25 mil with only one season being about 30 mil. So the numbers are impressive but do you know anyone who loves the Rings of Power? Anywhere near to how people love SG-1?

  • calmbonsai 6 hours ago ago

    We didn't want a "fresh perspective" on Stargate. We just wanted more classic Stargate.

    Not at all related, "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy". ;)

  • relyks 6 hours ago ago

    Why do they even make announcements that they're going into production and then casually cancel the show? Do they not know they are completely toying with the emotions of fans? Giving false hope is worse than no hope.

  • KevinMS 3 hours ago ago

    > Variety reports that executives at the studio were concerned that Gero’s take on the series “would not have broad appeal beyond the franchise’s already dedicated fanbase.”

    in other words, it would have been good

  • mynegation 7 hours ago ago

    I am still mad at them for cancelling Wheel of Time.

    • diabllicseagull 6 hours ago ago

      Same. The third season was great and left me wanting for more. Alas.

    • losvedir 6 hours ago ago

      Oh no! This is how I found out they cancelled it.

    • fmajid 6 hours ago ago

      TBH, it was a train wreck apart from the actresses who played Moiraine and Lanfear.

  • diabllicseagull 6 hours ago ago

    Massive fumble imho. I'm still sad about the SGU cancellation. It had so much potential for the third season. If Amazon won't commit to a new Stargate show it should at least release it for others to do so. Currently, it's keeping the franchise hostage.

  • chicagobob 7 hours ago ago

    That's a bummer. I literally started my latest rewatch because of this news.

  • spicymaki 6 hours ago ago

    Good! Did you really need more Stargate? Just watch the classic movie, and 200+ episodes of SG-1 and then 100+ episodes of Atlantis. Let these franchises rest.

    • b65e8bee43c2ed0 6 hours ago ago

      >Let these franchises rest.

      your beloved franchises vill be re-imagined for ze modern audience und there's nothing you can do about it.

      Evil is not able to create anything new, it can only distort and destroy what has been invented or made by the forces of good.

    • singingtoday 6 hours ago ago

      I want more. Yes, I'm greedy.

      • calmbonsai 6 hours ago ago

        You are not alone. That 'verse has so much to explore and so many possible pathways and plot-lines yet requited. We know nothing about the Furlings.

        • foxes 6 hours ago ago

          Their planet exploded though

      • relyks 6 hours ago ago

        All the fans want more and a continuation of the story.

    • johntash 4 hours ago ago

      Don't forget to watch SGU too, and I think there were a few other movies too?

  • throw7 6 hours ago ago

    Amazon? I'm sure Macgyver would've had to be a woman. And make her gay.

    • hdndjsbbs 6 hours ago ago

      Oh no, a sci-fi series making a character a woman? Like that famous train wreck Battlestar Galactica?

      • atmavatar 6 hours ago ago

        Who cares about Starbuck's gender swap when you have Number Six?

        I suppose if you make O'Neill a woman, you could bring in Vala earlier in the series as a similar distraction

  • jazz9k 8 hours ago ago

    The new Quantum Leap was terrible and most of the new Star Trek shows were equally as bad.

    Maybe this is a good thing.

    • thedanbob 7 hours ago ago

      When I first heard about the reboot all I could think of was this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HeNZBItzps

      I'm going to call this news a win.

      • randallsquared 7 hours ago ago

        It wasn't a reboot, but a continuation. That doesn't mean it would have been good, of course (cf Universe), but better than a reboot.

    • observationist 7 hours ago ago

      Hopefully we hit that mythical "hollywood level audio/video" AI before too much longer and really creative people can run pirate series.

    • Dig1t 7 hours ago ago

      Not to mention what Amazon did the Lord of the Rings. It is probably a good thing.

    • ls612 7 hours ago ago

      The new Expanse was good though.

      • seer 6 hours ago ago

        Sad they didn’t finish it. The later books seemed like they were written “to be movies/series” with less political stuff and more visuals / speculative sci-fi. Plus the story has an actual half decent conclusion.

        To me the plight of Hollywood is “forever shows” where the writers start without knowing where it would end, so shows never really “end” they just slowly fizzle out without ever getting to the end.

        I simply loved “the good place” for having such a powerful conclusion.

        • rgblambda 6 hours ago ago

          I'm currently reading the first book that takes place after the conclusion of the show. There's a large time jump and I suspect they didn't want to age up the actors for 3 seasons.

  • dyauspitr 6 hours ago ago

    They would probably ruin it anyway. The new commander would probably be a woman and be totally bland like the lord of the rings thing they did. I don’t know anyone that has watched that.

  • SilentM68 5 hours ago ago

    [dead]

  • OutOfHere 7 hours ago ago

    If you haven't seen Stargate SG-1, it was one of the greatest shows. I would rather rewatch it than watch a bad remake. Stargate Atlantis was not half bad either.

    They will likely hire the cheapest script writer, who in turn will likely offload it to the cheapest LLM, resulting in derivative work that is not in any way creative or inspiring.

    • Sebguer 7 hours ago ago

      "modern wokeness", ah, yes. Because the show about religion as a means of control, that featured strong women throughout, was broadly about how colonialism is bad and the importance of respecting different cultures, that brute force was almost never the 'right answer' is anti-woke.

      • randallsquared 6 hours ago ago

        I'm on season 6 of a rewatch with family right now, and I will say that one of the things I had not remembered was just how much of the time brute force IS the right answer in this show.

      • rayiner 6 hours ago ago

        Your post is so close to connecting the dots to realize that, when people complain about “woke” shows today, it’s not because they feature “strong women.”

      • Kye 7 hours ago ago

        Many classic scenes like the P90 demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjlCVW_ouL8

        Or Carter's literal first scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bi4lt-17OxE

        And so on

      • OutOfHere 7 hours ago ago

        For example, look at all the recent Star Trek series; they have been an abomination, and are rightfully canceled.

        • Kye 7 hours ago ago

          State, don't insinuate.

        • jfengel 7 hours ago ago

          Ah, yes. That great anti-woke series Star Trek.

        • jghn 7 hours ago ago

          I’ve seen those shows and still don’t know what you mean. Since you didn’t mean the other stuff you’ll need to be more explicit

      • readthenotes1 6 hours ago ago

        "Modern woke' would have Samantha Carter be be a quadriplegic trans person of color in a complicated polycule whose father was killed by American forces and one of the many overseas illegal activities. Sam is just so smart, though, they have to give zher clearance (and at least one of the episodes will be about respecting pronouns)

        • Sebguer 2 hours ago ago

          you're living in a fantasy world besieged by an ideology that doesn't actually exist

    • HDThoreaun 7 hours ago ago

      Yea I watched stargate SG-1 and can confirm that plenty of media released post covid is not only half as great, but a good deal better.

      • OutOfHere 7 hours ago ago

        Like what (in sci-fi)? Not counting the Star Wars series, the last independent good scifi show that I recall was The Expanse, the majority of which was pre-Covid. In fairness, Foundation is okay, but not great.

        • HDThoreaun 7 hours ago ago

          It's funny you mention the expanse because I find it similar to the stargate show. Solid, but in no way extraordinary. Now, I agree sci-fi especially TV has been a bit rough recently, but that's mostly because its not popular so there isnt much made, not anything to do with ability to make it.

          Still, there have been sci fi masterpieces released recently. Dune being the most obvious. Not an original story but a far more worthy production than stargate sg-1. Everything everywhere all at once was also more compelling than stargate imo but this might be where your anti woke complaints come in. Nope also fits this bill, but fine you dont have to love that. There are still examples which have no wokeness at all as far as I can tell. I found the foundation show to be similar quality to stargate sg-1, perhaps a bit worse I guess but in no way definitively worse. Topically I found project hail mary to be good enough, certainly no worse than stargate.

          • singingtoday 6 hours ago ago

            SG1 is a masterpiece and one of the greatest pieces of fiction created.

            • HDThoreaun 6 hours ago ago

              Aesthetics are subjective after all

          • readthenotes1 6 hours ago ago

            I think most people here are talking about the Stargate SG-1 TV series and not the movie.

            • HDThoreaun 6 hours ago ago

              As am I. If the take is just that sci fi movies dont count and only 22 episode seasons count as "real" sci fi we can have that conversation too. It's a valid take that I absolutely disagree with. But that's not how I read the original comment(which has now been edited to remove the woke part)