The third direct-to-DVD movie based on the defunct Sci Fi series Stargate SG-1 will film this summer for a 2010 release, and it will return to the show’s roots by focusing on original star and executive producer Richard Dean Anderson (MacGyver). Claudia Black (Farscape), who joined the cast of SG-1 in its 10th and final season as the roguish Vala Mal Doran, will not be a part of the production. All this according to the well-connected fan site GateWorld (story).
Anderson (above), who played the wry Air Force Colonel-turned-General Jack O’Neill, left SG-1 except for occasional guest appearances after eight seasons.
The show’s finale was followed almost immediately with two DVD features: The Ark of Truth, which resolved the ongoing storyline of invasion by fundamentalist aliens, and Continuum, which explored an alternate timeline.
Meanwhile SG-1’s spinoff Stargate Atlantis is preparing to sign off for good this Friday, having been canceled late last year after soaring costs and multiple cast upheavals. You can expect at least one TV movie to continue the Atlantis storyline. A third series, Stargate Universe, is in pre-production and will star Robert Carlyle (The Full Monty, Trainspotting) when it premieres this summer.
Stargate Atlantis was NOT cancelled due to sagging ratings. As a matter of fact, season five’s ratings were higher this year than season four. Both SciFi Channel and MGM acknowledged that the series was cancelled due to the production costs involved for a sixth season.
And Richard Dean Anderson left after eight seasons on SG1, RDA guest starred in SG1’s seasons 9 & 10, and SGA’s seasons 2 & 3.
Thanks for the corrections, morjana. Post updated accordingly.
There’s actually an interesting Q&A with Brad Wright at http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/2009/01/02/january-2-2009-brad-wright-answers-your-questions/ - so you might want to get your info straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak ;) in regards to reasons for cancellations. Fans just repeat what they read in the press.
And oh, cast upheavals? Sounds like “Desperate Housewives” bruhaha ;), but it wasn’t so much.
C’mon! If Stargate isn’t becoming famous for revolving-door casts, I don’t know what is. First Weir was recast, then she was killed off and replaced by Carter, then they met a new hotter Weir and then Woolsey shows up.
Thanks for the Mallozzi blog info. I had seen that, but didn’t end up linking to it.
As long as Jack and Sam don’t end up together, I’ll be a happy camper. The writers “screwed the pooch” by taking the plot line away from the O’Neill/Jackson friendship. The new movie should go back to the beginning with Jack and Daniel being the main characters and Teal’c and Sam being in the background.