New Stargate trilogy will let Roland Emmerich finish the story he started

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

A television series spun off from a feature film doesn't typically become a bigger success than its big-screen parent, but we'll have to make an exception for the Stargate franchise. Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner expanded on the story within Roland Emmerich's STARGATE to create Stargate SG-1, a hugely successful sci-fi series which ran for ten seasons and spawned two spin-offs. Neither Emmerich or his writing/producing partner Dean Devlin were involved in the TV shows, beyond handing over the rights, but they've always wanted to return to the film which started it all and finish telling their story.

As Dean Devlin tells Variety, at the time they made STARGATE, "every single studio in Hollywood had told me that science fiction was dead, and Roland and I really love science fiction, so I think that’s partly why it worked and resonated. It wasn’t a cynical attempt to try and make something that was crowd-pleasing.” Even back in 1994, Emmerich and Devlin had envisioned a trilogy of STARGATE films but "because of what happened with the rights and changes at the studio and all kinds of strange things, we never got to do parts two and three.” It was announced that the pair would be working on finishing that story several years ago, but rather than following the first film, they've decided to just reboot the entire thing.

It’s not a story that can take place 20 years later. So the only way to really tell that trilogy is to go back from the beginning and start the story all over again.

Ever since the Stargate television franchise shut down with the cancellation of Stargate Universe, fans have been hoping to see its return. Unfortunately for those fans, Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin don't plan on using much from the continuity of the TV franchise, but Emmerich told Empire that they will be borrowing a few elements which worked, namely, a larger ensemble cast.

Elements of it will flow into the reboot, definitely. The amount of characters, for instance. It's not a two-hander like the first one with James Spader and Kurt Russell, this time it's a bigger group. Yes, there's still the James Spader character and the Kurt Russell character, but other people are equally important. James and Kurt won't come back – maybe as cameos – it'll be a younger cast.

Although I recall enjoying it, it's been some time since I last revisited the original STARGATE film. The idea of stepping through a wormhole using ancient technology and traveling to various alien worlds is still incredibly appealing however, and even after the feature-film and the hundreds of episodes, I still feel like there are plenty of adventures left untold. Hopefully Emmerich and Devlin's new trilogy will be able to show us something new.