Devlin wants MGM to complete movie trilogy Options

[jetsetter]

Not sure where I should put this but whatever.

Twelve years after the original "Stargate" movie was a hit in theaters, writer and producer Dean Devlin still hopes to complete the trilogy he originally conceived. And he's in talks with MGM to do just that, he told fans gathered at the San Diego Comic Con today.

"'Stargate' was a film a lot like [Devlin's new film] 'Flyboys' because it's a film no one wanted to do or fund and we had to get our funds ourselves. I thought one time about what it would be like if I didn't do this. It's like being a dream ... and now the it's like the dream has walked out of my mind, across the street, married someone, etc."

While Devlin and "Stargate" director Roland Emmerich never raced to support the television series produced by MGM without their involvement, the producer said that he is proud of the success of his brain child.

"You can't help but be proud of that, especially when no one believed in that," he said. "There was a day we went back to the editorial suite and no one was there -- everyone was gone.

"The interesting irony is that now that Flyboys is independent, we've made a deal with MGM to release it. And suddenly now I'm in a position where I could suddenly do those sequels. We're in talks with MGM to do 'Stargate' sequels."

MGM originally acquired full rights to the "Stargate" franchise when it signed on to distribute the film in 1994, after it had been produced by Emmerich's Centropolis Films. Though Devlin hoped that the movie's box office success would make a second and third feature film happen, MGM instead tapped veteran television producers Jonathan Glassner and Brad Wright to create Stargate SG-1 for Showtime.

In light of SG-1's small screen success, MGM has for years expressed a desire to see Stargate return to the big screen, even penning a deal with Wright and SG-1 executive producer Robert C. Cooper to create an SG-1-based film.

Whether hope remains for Devlin's original "Stargate" concept -- and whether there is room for two different versions of the "Stargate" mythos -- remains in MGM's hands.

Read more about Devlin's Comic Con comments at FirstShowing.net and ComingSoon.net. "Flyboys," the story of a group of World War I fighter pilots, is in theaters September 29.
http://www.gateworld.net/news/2006/07/devl...ompletemo.shtml

To be truthful I think this is a good idea. They wouldn't have to worry about the SG-1 storyline and could do whatever they wanted to. They wouldn't have to worry about tying it in to the show.

[hobo_joe20]

Not sure where I should put this but whatever.
To be truthful I think this is a good idea. They wouldn't have to worry about the SG-1 storyline and could do whatever they wanted to. They wouldn't have to worry about tying it in to the show.

I'm sorry, but I think that's a very BAD idea. He would be completely ignoring 10 years of storylines, just to cash in on a franchise that has taken off in popularity. This has nothing not do about continuing a trilogy he started 12 years ago. If that was the case, he would have finished it long ago.

[Dafmeister]

This is seriously old news. MGM have already said they have no intention of continuing from where the movie left off. Devlin only wants to complete the trilogy because SG-1 is so successful right now. He's seen how much money it is making and wants to try and jump on the band wagon and cash in on the success of the series.
There are already plans for Stargate to return to cinema screens with a movie that will lead into a second spinoff.

[KillerMarv]

What? They are really considering ripping the series apart? If they continue the trilogy, the series will have had no point whatsoever. There will be two different concepts with the same name. No, if MGM agrees to this, they will do a huge mistake. They should now include the series in their plans, and make the other 2 movies as sequels to the storylines of SG-1 and Atlantis, maybe make a new spin-off using this. Fans won't accept disregarding the past 10 years of the show.

[jetsetter]

It's just hard to turn SG-1 into a movie. The only way it would be good would good if is they took the Serenity option and didn't use half of the movie for back story. And actually the two other movies planned after the first one sound quite interesting.

This post has been edited by jetsetter: Jul 20th 2006, 6:24 PM

[Dafmeister]

What? They are really considering ripping the series apart? If they continue the trilogy, the series will have had no point whatsoever. There will be two different concepts with the same name. No, if MGM agrees to this, they will do a huge mistake. They should now include the series in their plans, and make the other 2 movies as sequels to the storylines of SG-1 and Atlantis, maybe make a new spin-off using this. Fans won't accept disregarding the past 10 years of the show.

It's just hard to turn SG-1 into a movie. The only way it would be good would good if is they took the Serenity option and didn't use half of the movie for back story. And actually the two other movies planned after the first one sound quite interesting.

Like I said, MGM already rejected Delin's request months ago and there are already plans for a movie that will lead into another spin off.

[KillerMarv]

Like I said, MGM already rejected Delin's request months ago and there are already plans for a movie that will lead into another spin off.

Yes, that may be true, but why is the story showing up so late on Gateworld? Could it be because Devlin's trying it again, and perhaps MGM are reconsidering their options...? I certainly hope you're right, and that they already refused this.

This post has been edited by KillerMarv: Jul 20th 2006, 6:28 PM

[Dafmeister]

but why is the story showing up so late on Gateworld?

That's Gateworld for you. Don't trust everything you read on that site.

[IndyJan]

Like Daf said, I would be worried about this if the source was anything but Gateworld.

I cannot believe that MGM is considering this for real because of the success of both SG1 and Atlantis. This Devlin guy didn't support the series. He sees it's making money for MGM and the SCI-FI channel and he wants to cash in on it. I doubt he actually had planned a trilogy. This is just johnnycomelately, IMO.

If there is a movie, it will follow what they have done for the past 10 years.

[Dafmeister]

I doubt he actually had planned a trilogy. This is just johnnycomelately, IMO.

I agree. The fact that there was a "plan" for a trilogy has only come to light in the last few years. There were never any rumours of a trilogy in 1994 when Stargate was first released. What I find dubious is why he has only just decided he wants to continue the movie. It has been 12 years since Stargate was produced, where was he in those years? Why has only just petitioned MGM to let him continue? All he wants is money because the movies he makes now are terrible.

Arcady has posted a thread in the Site News forum, here. Please continue the discussion there, thanks.

[xayeidemon]

I doubt he actually had planned a trilogy. This is just johnnycomelately, IMO.

Actually, the trilogy was part of the original plan. But Dean and Devlin sold the rights to MGM for some reason. When they found out MGM was planning a TV series instead of more movies (which pissed them off big time), they turned what they had into another popular film of theirs. Independence Day was supposed to be Stargate II (or whatever the next title would have been), but they had to backtrack and make it an entirely different movie. They've admitted in the press that they "borrowed" stuff from Stargate to make ID4, and even in the movie, there's a billboard advertising Stargate. That was their way of paying homage. Basically, ID4 was what happened after Ra's race decided to exact revenge against Earth. There just weren't any stargates.

I also think there's a novelization of the original trilogy that got published. Those books are the closest Dean and Devlin ever came to completing their Stargate trilogy.