We Were Robbed of a Stargate Trilogy, and We're Still Mad About It (2024)

Back in 1994, Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin wowed sci-fi audiences with Stargate. This original feature re-imagined ancient mythology as a reflection of not the divine, but the otherworldly. The Egyptian sun god Ra, played by Jaye Davidson, was not so much a spiritual entity who interacted with humanity, but rather an alien overlord awaiting his inevitable return. So, when an ancient stargate is found in Giza, the world is threatened by the possibility of another incursion. Kurt Russell and James Spader starred in the film as Col. Jack O'Neil and Dr. Daniel Jackson, respectively, who venture through the portal to a whole new world. But did you know that there were originally plans to make not just a sequel to Stargate, but a whole trilogy? It turns out, Emmerich and Devlin had the whole thing figured out, until Stargate SG-1 got in the way.

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Stargate

PG-13

Action

Adventure

Sci-Fi

An interstellar teleportation device, found in Egypt, leads to a planet with humans resembling ancient Egyptians who worship the god Ra.

Release Date

October 28, 1994

Director

Roland Emmerich

Cast

Kurt Russell , James Spader , Jaye Davidson , Viveca Lindfors , Alexis Cruz , Mili Avital , Leon Rippy , John Diehl

Runtime

116 Minutes

Writers

Roland Emmerich , Dean Devlin

Studio(s)

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Franchise(s)

Stargate

'Stargate' Was Meant To Have a Sequel a Decade Later

Though Stargate did considerably well at the box office, the film wasn't the instant critical hit that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer had likely hoped it would be. Though this author considers Stargate one of the most original, unique, and entertaining sci-fi blockbusters of the late 20th century, others don't consider it much at all. But when appearing on GateWorld's Dial the Gate podcast in 2020, producer Dean Devlin reminded audiences that, "the original plan of the movie was to do three movies." Though Devlin and director Roland Emmerich moved on directly to Independence Day following the release of Stargate (and that horrible Godzilla reboot after that), plans for the continued adventures of Jack O'Neil (Russell) and Daniel Jackson (Spader) were still being hashed out. In 2006, Devlin first teased a trilogy of Stargate adventures, noting that the first sequel would take place in real-time, 12 years after when the original left off.

Of course, by this time, MGM had already launched a Stargate television franchise, beginning with the famed Stargate SG-1. Spin-offs such as Stargate Atlantis and the television films Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum were either airing or in development, and it seemed like the studio had left the original film in the dust. While the television franchise still considers the events of the 1994 feature canon, new actors, name/spelling changes, and other discrepancies and mythology expansions separated the two universes in Devlin's mind. "Fans love the series, so much that it got a sequel," the producer noted. "So it's alive, well and in good shape. But it would be great to finish telling the story we set out to tell 12 years ago." Devlin believed that both Stargate projects could co-exist in the same creative space, but MGM didn't necessarily agree. For them, SG-1 and the other shows were their bread and butter, with the theatrical film being almost a distant memory.

Despite the studio's hesitations, Devlin was confident that Kurt Russell and James Spader were willing to return for more, and that Roland Emmerich would find his way back to the project as well. Though Devlin noted that Emmerich might not have directed the Stargate sequel, he would still be heavily involved in bringing it to life. After all, the pair had co-written the original 1994 film together, so it's only fitting that they would continue their initially envisioned story. "Stargate started as a story that Roland wrote in college called Necropol: City of the Dead," Devlin revealed in 2006. "[It] was about a space ship buried underneath the Great Pyramid of Egypt. I had been working on, separately, without ever knowing, this thing I always called Lawrence of Arabia on Another Planet. And when we met, he pitched me Necropol, and I told him mine." From the get-go, Stargate was always the unique combination of Emmerich and Devlin's shared vision, and the sequels would have been the same.

'Stargate's Trilogy Would've Connected to a Larger Mythology

But what would've happened in this proposed Stargate trilogy? Well, Devlin explained that the idea was for the second film to pick up over a decade after the original ended. If we remember, after defeating Ra, Jack O'Neil, Lt. Col. Charles Kowalsky (John Diehl), and Lt. Louis Ferretti (French Stewart) all return to Earth through the stargate, while Daniel Jackson opts to stay behind on Abydos. During their visit to the alien world, Jackson falls in love with and marries Sha'uri (Mili Avital), the daughter of local village leader Kasuf (Erick Avari). With the people of Abydos liberated from the tyrant's rule, Jackson believes he's finally found a place in the universe for himself, and remains with his new bride. So why would Jackson and O'Neil reunite for Part 2? Well, Emmerich and Devlin had crafted a sequel well-worth revisiting, which would've picked up 12 years after the original.

"The second one was going to deal with, 'Why are there pyramids in Mayan culture?'" Devlin told Yahoo! News in 2023, noting that the draw for Stargate was always the concept of exploring humanity's unique mythology from a new point of view. The Mayan concept would have been unique, predating the similar themes explored in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and almost certainly doing a better job. The first film had already connected alien intelligence to the Egyptian pyramids, so tackling the other types of mythical structures around the world (and the cultures they represent) was the natural next step. It sounded like Stargate 2 might have been very similar to the first film, though it would've explored a different system beyond Abydos. "There was going to be three major addresses [on the stargate]," Devlin told Dial the Gate. "And that's why we needed the nine [chevrons]...And one was an Egyptian, and our second was going to be a Mayan culture."

But that's not all. The third film would've tied everything together, pulling from just about every mythology and legend mankind has devised. "Whether it was Bigfoot, or the Yeti — we were going to tie everything together into a larger mythology," the filmmaker continued. Even the Loch Ness Monster would've been involved. As far as how O'Neil, Jackson, and any of the other supporting or returning cast were concerned, we haven't gotten too much detail. Sure, the idea was to have Russell and Spader back on board, but as to what their characters would've gone through, we haven't a clue. The world of Stargate is a mystery for a reason, and while the SG-1 series may have had the luxury of expanding on it over time (and developing its characters the same), the film trilogy would've had far less to work with.

The 'Stargate' TV Shows Shattered Plans for More Movies

As mentioned before, the reason that the Stargate sequels ultimately weren't made was because of MGM's commitment to Stargate SG-1 and the other spin-offs associated with the television franchise. SG-1 takes place not long after the original film, with Stargate: Children of the Gods kicking it off. Aside from the lack of returning cast and crew, Children of the Gods - The Final Cut feels very much like a true Stargate sequel. Sure, it wasn't what Emmerich or Devlin originally envisioned, but it took a deep look at the original characters and dealt with the fallout of the film uniquely, with Ra's death creating a power vacuum among the other alien gods out there. "MGM decided to do the television series, which has become enormously successful, and I think that they would rather do movies based on the television series than based on the first film," Devlin explained to IGN back in 2002.

According to the producer, Stargate SG-1 (which first aired on Showtime before moving to the Sci-Fi Channel) happened after the original film because they sold the picture to MGM. Stargate was made entirely independently of Hollywood, financed through the French-based Le Studio Canal+. But according to Devlin, the group was "so sure they had a bomb, that they sold [the $50 million movie] to MGM for $5 million." The studio then decided to echo the success of Star Trek and build a television brand, independent of Emmerich and Devlin, who the studio cut out of their plans for the franchise. It wasn't long before SG-1 was a hit as well, and began expanding into multiple television series, films, and even a 2017 prequel, Stargate Origins. Unfortunately, this kept the studio from following up with the theatrical franchise, and so Devlin and Emmerich's sequels were never pursued.

"When we created the original Stargate, we always envisioned it as a trilogy, and, unfortunately, the way in which the movie got made, we didn't really have control over [it]," Devlin told audiences at Comic Con International in 2006. Despite hopes that Devlin could convince MGM to change their minds, nothing came to fruition. The original Stargate story was long gone, and it was us fans who suffered most. Though we could've had two simultaneous Stargate narratives running (not unlike the J.J. Abrams Star Trek films existing alongside the original timeline) that would've expanded further on what makes the concept exciting in the first place: the hard sci-fi interpretation of ancient mythology. Nowadays, Devlin considers the Stargate ship to "have sailed," and doesn't see any hope for a traditional sequel to the original 1994 film.

What's the Current State of the Stargate Franchise?

Part of the reason that a Stargate sequel is unlikely to occur is that MGM sold to Amazon in 2021. Though a Devlin/Emmerich Stargate reboot was announced at one point back in 2014 before being cancelled, a few years later, Amazon came into the picture. Now that the streaming giant has the rights to the entire franchise — both the 1994 film and the television shows — they're looking to reboot the story entirely. With Amazon at the helm, a Stargate reboot might finally happen. Of course, a reboot would likely feel more like SG-1 than the original Stargate given the longevity of that series, and maybe that's for the best. After all, SG-1 is the series that most think of instantly when the word Stargate is uttered, and why shouldn’t it be? The Showtime-turned-Sci-Fi Channel series ran for a whole decade and further diversified Emmerich and Devlin’s original concept. Not only did it add loads of character depth and build upon the mythology of the original, but it made a name for itself almost entirely separate from the 1994 film.

If Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin (who ironically made a sequel to Independence Day, a film they originally had no interest in revisiting) can't be the ones to finish out their original Stargate story, then perhaps a new batch of filmmakers would have better luck inserting new life into the 30-year franchise. According to Deadline, Amazon is hoping to generate both new Stargate movies and television productions, with a feature film meant to kick the whole thing off. If that's the case, then we could be on the verge of a whole new era of Stargate, one that could take the foundation of the original classic and take us boldly to worlds we've never gone before.

Stargate is available to watch on Tubi in the U.S.

Watch on Tubi