From Gateworld 2007
The working title of the third Stargate television series has been unveiled! The series currently exists in the form of a one-page treatment of the story and characters, with the title Stargate Universe, executive producer Robert C. Cooper told GateWorld exclusively.
The new series has been conceived to be “a completely separate, third entity,” Cooper said in an interview — “much more so than Atlantis was. Atlantis was much more of a spin-off series of SG-1 and was sort of born out of SG-1.”
Like many of the producers ideas, Cooper said, the idea for Stargate Universe was originally conceived as a stand-alone movie. “When we originally were sitting around talking about this we were trying to come up with ideas for a Stargate feature — not an SG-1 feature or an Atlantis feature, but a feature that would fit into the Stargate franchise that we feel we have created,” Cooper said. “We were thinking, ‘How do we create a third arm to the franchise that is very connective and that fans will feel is born out of the material that has come before, but at the same time is very much something that stands alone?’
“When it became clear that a third series was a more realistic possibility at this point from the studio’s standpoint, we figured out how to tweak that idea and give it a little more legs than it would have had as a one-off story. We always, in the back of our minds even in coming up with that concept, felt that it could launch a third series. … But now that idea has become the core idea for the new show.”
Stargate Universe will not be set in a different era, Cooper confirmed, neither as a prequel nor in the far future of the Stargate program.
“I’m not a big fan of prequels,” he said. “I don’t think that really works, and I don’t really understand people who do think that works. One of the things that we love about Stargate is that is us — it’s our military, it’s our scientists, it’s our people — and we’re going out into the galaxy and the universe to discover all the wonders that are out there, and dealing with our own limitations versus things that are far more advanced than us.
“That’s identifiable. It’s what we deal with every day, in terms of medicine and science and astrophysics. We’re just babies in all that. And we would always want to maintain that in anything that is Stargate-related.”
In spite of being quite distinct in identity from SG-1 and Atlantis, the new series will be unmistakably Stargate. “It certainly plays into the mythology that has been pre-established,” Cooper said. “But it doesn’t directly relate to anything that has been in either series.”
Cooper and executive producer Brad Wright plan to turn more attention to the new show’s pilot script after wrapping principal photography on the two Stargate SG-1 movies, Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum this June.
———
After much waiting, fans finally have the first solid info on just what Stargate Universe is all about! The third live-action television series in the Stargate franchise has been in the concept stage for more than a year now, and is being conceived by Stargate Atlantis co-creators Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper.
“The idea of Stargate Universe is that it is set on a ship that was part of an Ancient experiment that was set in motion probably millions of years ago — one that they never saw to fruition, but that we can,” Wright told GateWorld exclusively. “They got busy with the whole ascension thing.”
The experiment is “to send a ship across the universe, and to send one ahead of it to seed the galaxies with Stargates, and that they would one day use the ninth chevron to get there [to the ship]. And that’s what Stargate Universe is.”
Millions of years ago (before their conflict with the Wraith and possibly even before they moved Atlantis to the Pegasus Galaxy), the show would reveal, the Ancients sent out two ships: an automated vessel to place Stargates throughout multiple galaxies in our universe, and a second ship to follow up and explore.
A standard, 7-symbol gate address allows for travel within the same galaxy. Use of the Stargate’s eighth chevron allows for travel to a different galaxy. And the ninth chevron will allow the team to reach this second, still unmanned Ancient ship.
The series was pitched to SCI FI Channel last fall, just before the writer’s strike — which put a hold on the project. “The pitch was received very well,” Wright said. “[But] we pitched an expensive series — the idea we have is not cheap. I think we’ve proven ourselves, so … ‘Can we please have enough money to do it right this time?’ And, if not, then honestly I don’t want to do it. Why do it wrong?”
The strike and the potential cost of Stargate Universe are not the only reasons the show is not yet moving forward.
“Part of the reason it’s taking a while is that Atlantis is currently on-going, and because we didn’t want to go into development with anything during the writer’s strike — because it seemed inappropriate. Even though we’re Canadian, we recognized it is for the American marketplace.”
“Internally, Robert and I are a little bit torn, because we had such a great time making The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum. Making one or two of those a year would be a damn fine thing to do! Honestly, it takes up a big chunk of time writing it, a big chunk of time making it, and then the post on a movie is more than twice as complicated as post on the biggest episodes. So it’s not like you can just knock one off while you’re making a television show. It’s just too much.”
Wright said that he is not anxious to return to a schedule that requires the Vancouver team to produce 40 hours of television each year, indicating that Stargate Universe may wait until Atlantis has concluded its run.
When the show does begin, Wright believes that it has to both move the franchise forward to attract new viewers, and remain true to the established formula. “It has to feel like Stargate, and it has to feel new. That’s the tight rope, that’s the balance you have to maintain, and that’s the challenge.
“To put it in its simplest terms, if we had ever just done SG-2 as a series it would never have worked. It’s not the C.S.I. model.”
Keep in mind that the Stargate Universe concept is still in an early stage of development, and some change is inevitable. GateWorld looks forward to keeping you up-to-date on the development of the new series, and to exploring brand new galaxies in Stargate Universe!
———
Stargate fans may not have to wait much longer to find out when the franchise’s third live-action series is coming to television. Series co-creator Brad Wright told Newsarama.com that he expects to hear word from the network soon.
The series, Stargate Universe, was first revealed to GateWorld in 2007 and pitched to SCI FI Channel last fall The decision was delayed by the writer’s strike, but is also complicated by the on-going success of Stargate Atlantis (renewed and now in production for Season Five) and SG-1’s direct-to-DVD movies.
“Stargate Universe is very much something we have been discussing with SCI FI and MGM for a long time … too long actually,” Wright told the site. “They need to make some decisions. I think we are at the point of finding out soon. We know what we are doing and what we want to do.”
The writing staff and production crew managed to produce both Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis simultaneously for three years, though 40 hours of television proved to be a very difficult task. In 2007, one series and two DVD movies was a more manageable work load.
“Making one or two [films] a year would be a damn fine thing to do, honestly,” Wright told GateWorld in a recent interview. It takes up a big chunk of time writing it, a big chunk of time making it, and the post [production] on a movie is more than twice as complicated as post on the biggest episodes. It’s not like you can just knock one off while you’re making a television show. It’s just too much.”
Thus two television shows and an SG-1 movie seems out of the question. Either the next movie would have to wait, or Universe can’t get going until Stargate Atlantis ends. That is the decision that MGM and SCI FI have been wrestling with.
“We are excited about the prospect but as long as Atlantis is going strong and as long as there are prospects for new movies, it doesn’t matter to me if my next project is two more movies for next year,” Wright told Newsarama. “Essentially, we would put a third series off another year, but MGM wants one. They know the franchise is still strong.”
Does that mean that MGM believes the third TV series is a higher priority than the third DVD movie? Only time will tell. Stargate’s production schedule runs from February to October — leaving plenty of time to gear up for a 2009 premiere of the third series, should it be given the go-ahead soon.
