Stargate is dead! Long live Stargate!
While director, Roland Emmerich is most recognized for his quintessential 90’s disaster flick, Independence Day, which will receive a belated sequel on July 1st, 2016 (sans Will Smith, unfortunately), he actually first gained a name in the sci-fi community with another movie; Stargate. The 1994 movie starred Kurt Russell and James Spader, and involved a portal being discovered in Egypt that led to an alien world where humanoid extra-terrestrials worship the Egyptian sun god, Ra.
The movie received mixed to negative feedback from critics, but nonetheless made a mint at the box office, grossing nearly $200 million worldwide, which, when adjusted for inflation, is a very high sales intake! The popularity of Stargate in turn led to a staggering three live-action television spin-offs, an additional animated series, and two direct-to-DVD sequels.
It seems that Stargate wants to try for the cinematic limelight again however, as a reboot trilogy has just been greenlit by the collaborating likes of Warner Bros. and MGM. Who is sitting in the director’s chair? None other than Roland Emmerich.
Yes, undeniably a strange turn of events, as most studios want to go with a fresh director when rebooting a beloved movie or series or movies. Instead however, Warner Bros. and MGM think that the original visionary behind the original Stargate is the man for the job of rebooting and revitalizing the series for modern audiences. It’s a bold decision, but one that will hopefully pay off, given that Emmerich has already found a large audience with the debuting 1994 flick.
Given Emmerich’s present commitment to the two planned Independence Day sequels however, it’s unlikely that we’re seeing the rebooted Stargate trilogy before we start pushing on 2020. Predictably, no cast, plot details or any kind of release window have yet been decided, beyond the plans for a three-movie saga.
Emmerich is currently at work on Stonewall, a 1969-set drama about a young man being caught up in the New York Stonewall Riots, set in motion in the fight for the political equality of homosexuals. After concluding his work on that movie, he’ll move full steam on to his two new Independence Day follow-ups.
While Emmerich’s movies are often critically panned, he was considered a master of disaster in the 90’s, post-Stargate, continuing with this reputation well into the 2000’s. He not only helmed Independence Day in this genre, but also the 1998 Godzilla movie, The Day After Tomorrow, and his supposed magnum opus in the disaster genre, 2012. His other well-known movies include Universal Soldier, The Patriot and 10,000 B.C.
What do you think about the prospect of a new rebooted series of Stargate movies? Are you happy to see Roland Emmerich back at the helm, or would you rather have a different director imagining the saga? Feel free to leave your comments below.
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