Bringing back Stargate Television Series

[Falcon Horus]

If MGM is beng lazy, it obvious that they're not sure in Stargate's success and we, its audience, are. So the conclusion is: it's time MGM gates out and lets someone else dial the 7th chevron.

They should have done that a long time ago, but they're just sitting on it -- just in case it might be worth their "sitting" on a later date.

However, newsflash... TV isn't like vintage or antique... it doesn't get more worth after years of collecting dust in an archive somewhere.

[Xaeden]

Whether MGM produces a new show or not, the syndication rights to Stargate continue to be a major source of revenue for them, and as long as that continues to be the case, it does not make good business sense for them to sell the rights to the franchise. To consider taking a large cash payout for a single property, they'd have to be facing another bankruptcy. While their business continues to trudge along, Stargate will be most valuable to them as a steady stream of yearly revenue or as part of a potential package deal should they decide to sell their entire business, as was rumored before COVID hit.

If MGM were a larger studio with the capital to launch a competitive streaming platform and invest billions to launch a series of big budget programs, there would undoubtedly be more Stargate right now because it's their second most recognizable property after James Bond. Instead they need to find outside sources who are willing to help co-finance their higher end projects, making it far more complicated to get a new Stargate greenlit than a new Star Wars show.

[Platschu]

I have a feeling that some fans would be disappointed anyway. Simply they can't please everyone as so many of potential continuations were imagined already. Action, comedy, adventure, high tech scfi, mythology, character orientated, episodic etc? There are so many wishes. Just I believe the Stargate brand could prove itself in time in spite of the first controversial reviews and who knows what if it can make way for more seasons and other spinoffs like Discovery has done it for the Star Trek franchise.

[Falcon Horus]

Whether MGM produces a new show or not, the syndication rights to Stargate continue to be a major source of revenue for them, and as long as that continues to be the case, it does not make good business sense for them to sell the rights to the franchise.

I, and many others, are literally in a Stargate dead-zone (it's like an internet dead-zone) so good luck selling that point as "lucrative".

[Xaeden]

Um... My point is simply that MGM is disinclined to sell the rights to the Stargate franchise because they continue to make money off the syndication rights. I'm not "selling" this as a reason why anyone should be happy with the status quo.

It was a neutral statement, so I'm unsure why you took it as a personal attack of sorts. CBS still makes tens of millions annually by syndicating "I Love Lucy." Libraries of old TV shows and movies are a major source of profit for studios, and while a cash sale of an individual property would give them upfront money, this would weaken their quarterly earnings, which is important for bringing in investor money. It would also mean giving up long-term revenue that could help them down the road, and it would mean reducing what they'd be valued at if/when they ever try to sell the whole enchilada.

By all means, feel free to state that you don't care about MGM's reasons for holding on to the franchise and elaborate on how you think it would benefit you if Stargate were in different hands. I wouldn't argue with you about that as I certainly agree that we'd more likely to have more Stargate right now if it were in different hands. Of course, I don't think that's because MGM is sitting on it, but rather because they're a smaller studio with limited resources and a post-bankruptcy mandate (from the current owners) to be fiscally conservative that makes financing big budget projects on their own difficult.

[Falcon Horus]

Um... My point is simply that MGM is disinclined to sell the rights to the Stargate franchise because they continue to make money off the syndication rights. I'm not "selling" this as a reason why anyone should be happy with the status quo.

Understood as a neutral statement. I know syndication is what brings in the money but it's a hard sell when you're in a dead zone -- with no stargate anywhere, not even on the streaming services.

It's all good when you're in the US of A, but once you set one foot outside of those borders (in a manner of speaking)... Stargate is pretty much non-existent.

I know -- international audience isn't important to the bigwigs of MGM -- their focus is the American market.

So, we're literally double screwed.

*** Edit

And when they finally decide what to do with MGM's library and Stargate, it'll probably go onto a streaming service with -- yet again -- limited availability because they literally haven't learned a thing from the big PIRATE years (thought those were finally and firmly behind us but no, we were so wrong) -- then Stargate will still be dead for most of us.

[Mnikolic]

Piracy is what is killing all good shows out there. Not just in America, but everywhere else too.

For example, I used to have all kinds of TV shows on an external hard drive, including a huge music collection of discographies from a lot of different artists whose music belongs to a veriety of different music cateogires. That hard drive has since died, but my point here is, that torrent basically gets you just about everythng you're after without you needing to pay anything to anyone.

The same thing happened with Stargate. The internet expansion was taking place quickly in the early 2000s, when SG-1 and Antlantis were both on air and when one of them was a brand new show. When Universe came along, the auidience was basically already used to getting their TV-show-fix via illegal means. It's what pushed Stargate into a deep hole from where it doesn't seem able to get out and it's what also killed the DVD market, which many of the TV shows being made at the time had relied on, including Stargate. Now it may be even harder for MGM to push anything related to SG forward since the rules of the TV industry have now changed.

So even if BW has good intentions (and I believe he does), it's not entirely up to him to make more SG for us and for newer audiences. He did mention something about waiting for the right moment. That means that cicrumstances under which the show is brought back have to be right as well. Which, nowdays, is anything but easy pickings. I doubt even MGM has an idea for when to give the green light.

[Platschu]

https://www.gateworld.net/news/2020/...selling-block/

BW Companion interview parts :
https://youtu.be/gFGgwTIO9ig

So nothing new. MGM needs to be sold asap then we will see if there is any future for Stargate.

[Mnikolic]

That might not be enough. It would be more than welcome to have a few people around who know Stargate, what it represents, recognize its true potential and actually have the will to do anything with it and about it. I don't think money is the only issue here - because obviousely, MGM did have the money, they just chose not to invest it in new serious SG shows.

[Platschu]

What Stargate Needs From the Mandalorian: Brad Wright has VFX Envy

https://youtu.be/tegjLSBMn3g

It would be cool to use this new technology as we could finally leave behind the usual Canadian forests. Just I would like to see wild new trees, giant chrystals, floating bushes, weird roc formations, gas filled mosses, agressive cactuses, underwater corall worlds, fluorescenting mushrooms etc. So they could create a photorealistic environment with Unreal 5 or any other engines. Just the new stargate prop must be built as that is essential.

[NickEast]

As a fan and user of the Unreal Engine, visual effects, and "Virtual Production" (the set of techniques used by ILM on The Mandalorian, and by many others), which I am also learning, I am convinced that adopting these techniques (even if on a slightly smaller scale than The Mandalorian) would be incredibly beneficial.

For one, it allows the producers to adopt modern and state-of-the-art technology to deliver great production value (arguably relatively "cheaper" and faster than traditional VFX production), and in turn breathe new life into the franchise, even when (if) the visual and narrative style remains the same.

As someone who is actively diving into Virtual Production in one way or another, having seen what it can do and how to achieve it, it would significantly speed of production. Things can be built live and iterated upon while filming the live actors, instead of after the fact. This also makes it easier for actors to work with CG elements as they can directly interact with its presence (not to mention things like lighting and reflections, with the absence of green-/bluescreens).

LED walls (even a simpler/cheaper setup than what ILM uses) can make set extensions easier (even making sets like the SGC or better yet Atlantis much more realistic and "lively") and add in background elements that the actors would look towards. But it can even work for in-camera VFX (like the CG Asgard as opposed to the limited animatronic, and more) and for full-scene CGI like space battles. The engine can't do fully realistic CGI yet, such as fluid effects (water, fire, explosions, etc.) but it would certainly look on-par with late-SG-1 and SGA (and since it's not a game, such pre-rendered effects can easily be integrated into the real-time scenes, with improving technology to make it possible in the engine itself, even if not "real-time").

[Platschu]

I would be happy if they would build enough stargate props as a good start. One for indoor sets, one for the outdoor location and maybe a third for action sequences or the supposed led room. The stargate is the soul of the whole show, so it would be nice to have more scenes when they actively use it. So even if they could make set extensions with a led wall, I would like to see a real gate prop when they arrive. They must have realised the set piece is better than the CGI gate as they have quickly returned to this shooting method in the Universe as I believe not every gate sequence was convincing in the Atlantis. They had only some part of the gate as a prop, but not the whole portal. And since there were no stairs all the CGI gates are just standing out from the ground in an awkward way.

Back to the LED question. I doubt they could afford it, but maybe a similar technology could be used for set extensions. I still don't understand how the technology works. So if they would build a prop gate then they must shoot an arriving scene while they are surrounded by the led wall. Then while they walk away the set piece can be removed and they could walk around in the complete digital background? I am pretty sure they have to place some dunes or hills or objects on the floor or is that one also completly led generated? I mean otherwise how could they reach that effect that they really walk?