Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich are returning to one massive success in just a couple of weeks with ‘Independence Day: Resurgence’ and it looks like they are revisiting another major success next, ‘Stargate’ starring James Spader and Kurt Russell. The 1994 film was something of a sleeper hit that went on to gross $200 million worldwide and was conceived by the creators as part one of a trilogy, but due to shifts behind the scenes, the second and third films never came to fruition. Of course, ‘Stargate’ was spun off as three television series, which delivered a total of 354 episodes. (For the record, they were ‘Stargate: SG-1’, ‘Stargate: Atlantis’ and ‘Stargate: Universe’, and starred such major names as Richard Dean Anderson, Ben Browder and Robert Carlyle.)
But now Devlin and Emmerich are going back for another cinematic installment and they are starting from scratch. As Devlin explained:
“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.”
So the new film will clearly be a complete reboot. It remains to be seen who will step into the boots of Spader and Russell.
As for negating the TV shows, which were actually pretty popular with sci fi fans, Devlin stated:
“It was taken away from us, and it’s tough to have your children raised by other parents, even if they do a very good job. … For us, it’s not putting down what has been done. It’s to let us finish telling our story.”
So whatever unfolds on the big screen will be Devlin and Emmerich’s original vision, which may or may not be similar to what occurred on the TV shows.
When looking back on the original film, Devlin said:
“At the time that we made it, 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.”
And should we expect just two sequels?
“Today, studios tend to not think of movies as trilogies or sequels (but) as cinematic universes. So as we’ve been developing it, we found all these avenues that allow it to expand. The foundation is exactly the same as what we wanted to do, but now the possibilities are much wider.”
When can we expect this reboot? Well, first we have ‘Independence Day: Resurgence’ arriving on June 24. Devlin also has several other projects in the works, including historical drama ‘Battle of Midway’, futuristic thriller ‘Confluence’, historical novel adaptation ‘Maya Lord’, another alien invasion flick, ‘Emergence’ and arctic thriller ‘Rise’.
Where will ‘Stargate’ fall on his to-do list? We’ll see!
Are you a fan of the original ‘Stargate’? How do you feel about the original creators revisiting this concept?
Source: Variety
