MGM announced today that it has greenlit two feature-length productions that extend Stargate SG-1, the popular sci-fi series that originated on Showtime and recently ended its run on the SCI-FI Channel. The films, Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum, are being made for television and home video distribution.
“Stargate SG-1 is to MGM Television what the James Bond, Pink Panther and Rocky franchises are to our feature film unit,” says Charles Cohen, senior exec VP of MGM. “We are committed to continuing to release new SG-1 content and its Stargate Atlantis spin-off, and we’re also steadfast in our dedication to extending the franchise. Stargate is an indelible brand for MGM and we will support it well into the future.”
Based on the 1994 theatrical release titled Stargate, the series first aired in 1997 with Richard Dean Anderson taking over Kurt Russell’s role of Major General Jack O’Neill, a soldier chosen to lead interstellar missions using an ancient portal discovered in Egypt. Late in the series’ run, Anderson stepped aside to let Farscape stars Ben Browder and Claudia Black bring a fresh vibe to the show.
Browder, Black and fellow SG-1 cast members Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge and Michael Shanks are all confirmed to return for both movies, which are being written and produced by series scribes Brad Wright and Robert Cooper.
Cooper will direct Stargate: The Ark of Truth, which will bring a conclusion to the Ori conflict that has dominated storylines of the past two seasons of the series, leaving the team free to embark on new adventures in Stargate: Continuum. In the second film, Teal’c and Vala inexplicably disappear into thin air and Carter, Daniel and Mitchell must race back to a world where history has been changed and the Stargate program has been erased from the timeline. As they try to convince the authorities of what is happening, a fleet of goa’uld motherships arrives in orbit and threatens to enslave the human race.
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