Amph Our Mission Was the Journey Itself: Stargate Universe

I suspect they're just showing off some of the armor and helmet stuff you can use. We've seen there are non-helmeted, show-style faces in the commercials for the MGM contest to get your face in the game.

I'm also not sure how much direct crossover SGU and SGW can have- the former being set "present day" while the latter will be set between Seasons 8 & 9. Though perhaps elements or characters introduced in SGW will pop up "a few years down the line" in SGU.

 

SGU Premise Revealed!

"The idea of Stargate Universe is that it is set on a ship that was part of an Ancient experiment that was set in motion probably millions of years ago -- one that they never saw to fruition, but that we can," Wright told GateWorld exclusively. "They got busy with the whole ascension thing."

The experiment is "to send a ship across the universe, and to send one ahead of it to seed the galaxies with Stargates, and that they would one day use the ninth chevron to get there [to the ship]. And that's what Stargate Universe is."

...

The series was pitched to SCI FI Channel last fall, just before the writer's strike -- which put a hold on the project. "The pitch was received very well," Wright said. "[But] we pitched an expensive series -- the idea we have is not cheap. I think we've proven ourselves, so ... 'Can we please have enough money to do it right this time?' And, if not, then honestly I don't want to do it. Why do it wrong?"

...

The strike and the potential cost of Stargate Universe are not the only reasons the show is not yet moving forward.

"Part of the reason it's taking a while is that Atlantis is currently on-going, and because we didn't want to go into development with anything during the writer's strike -- because it seemed inappropriate. Even though we're Canadian, we recognized it is for the American marketplace."

"Internally, Robert and I are a little bit torn, because we had such a great time making The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum. Making one or two of those a year would be a damn fine thing to do! Honestly, it takes up a big chunk of time writing it, a big chunk of time making it, and then the post on a movie is more than twice as complicated as post on the biggest episodes. So it's not like you can just knock one off while you're making a television show. It's just too much."

Wright said that he is not anxious to return to a schedule that requires the Vancouver team to produce 40 hours of television each year, indicating that Stargate Universe may wait until Atlantis has concluded its run.

When the show does begin, Wright believes that it has to both move the franchise forward to attract new viewers, and remain true to the established formula. "It has to feel like Stargate, and it has to feel new. That's the tight rope, that's the balance you have to maintain, and that's the challenge.

"To put it in its simplest terms, if we had ever just done SG-2as a series it would never have worked. It's not the C.S.I. model."

 

Looks like it's a choice between going with Universe or doing more SG-1 movies, as long as Atlantis keeps going.


Gateworld; Wright: Stargate Universe news may be close

Stargate fans may not have to wait much longer to find out when the franchise's third live-action series is coming to television. Series co-creator Brad Wright told Newsarama.com that he expects to hear word from the network soon.

The series, Stargate Universe, was first revealed to GateWorld in 2007 (story) and pitched to SCI FI Channel last fall (story). The decision was delayed by the writer's strike, but is also complicated by the on-going success of Stargate Atlantis (renewed and now in production for Season Five) and SG-1's direct-to-DVD movies.

"Stargate Universe is very much something we have been discussing with SCI FI and MGM for a long time ... too long actually," Wright told the site. "They need to make some decisions. I think we are at the point of finding out soon. We know what we are doing and what we want to do."

The writing staff and production crew managed to produce both Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis simultaneously for three years, though 40 hours of television proved to be a very difficult task. In 2007, one series and two DVD movies was a more manageable work load.

"Making one or two [films] a year would be a damn fine thing to do, honestly," Wright told GateWorld in a recent interview. It takes up a big chunk of time writing it, a big chunk of time making it, and the post [production] on a movie is more than twice as complicated as post on the biggest episodes. It's not like you can just knock one off while you're making a television show. It's just too much."

Thus two television shows and an SG-1 movie seems out of the question. Either the next movie would have to wait, or Universe can't get going until Stargate Atlantis ends. That is the decision that MGM and SCI FI have been wrestling with.

"We are excited about the prospect but as long as Atlantis is going strong and as long as there are prospects for new movies, it doesn't matter to me if my next project is two more movies for next year," Wright told Newsarama. "Essentially, we would put a third series off another year, but MGM wants one. They know the franchise is still strong."

Does that mean that MGM believes the third TV series is a higher priority than the third DVD movie? Only time will tell. Stargate's production schedule runs from February to October -- leaving plenty of time to gear up for a 2009 premiere of the third series, should it be given the go-ahead soon.

 

::looks at the threads marine posts in::

Yes, you will

 

Stargate at Comic-Con

Wright reportedly told the crowd that MGM wants both a third DVD movie and the third television series, Stargate Universe, to move forward. Deals are reportedly very close, but nothing has yet been made official.

"We're very close," Wright told GateWorld when we contacted him for further comment. "[That's] all I can tell ya."

Apparently, even with SGU going forward, both Wright and SFC are not done with SGA yet.

 

I think the delays in getting the two movies on shelves, combined with the writer's strike, also pushed back SGU development. And now that they have solid numbers for AOT, SGA S5 and, soon, initial numbers for Continuum, they're past the possible hump of having too many projects out there at once, and something to work forward from.

There was a rumor that Wood or Wright was pushing for a larger budget for SGU as well, which, if true, would probably depend on the performance of all three of the above.

 

I still feel Atlantis had one of the strongest first seasons a show has ever had. With exception to 1 or 2 episodes like the one with the kids, it felt like a tightly structured season, with a direction the whole thing was moving in, while positioning itself to be a darker show than SG-1.

*some* of that carried over to Season 2 (mostly just with the tone) but season 2 had less structure and aim, suffered from having to setup the major cast change, and had to have Season 3 focus more on character episodes and team camaraderie-building to compensate. Also it's major episodes- The Lost Boys 2 parter and Allies finale, fell flat as far as event-episodes go, which diminished the impact of the season as awhole.

Which is not to say Season was not without it's highlights. Siege part 3, Trinity, Critical Mass, Grace Under Pressure and Inferno are some of the best episodes in the franchise.


Season 3 and 4 have gradually felt lighter after they got past the initial Michael arc, which makes sense as they've gradually begun getting an upper hand on the Genii, Wraith and, now, the Asurans. SG-1 had a similar pattern- things were looking pretty good for the SGC and it's allies at the onset of Season 5. Then Anubis entered the picture and tore all that down. Hopefully we'll start seeing something like that with SGA without having to resort to "bigger and badder", and instead go with "different and tricky to counter".

 

Jewel is now a regular this season, yes.

Never had a problem with Weir, myself. I liked her for the most part. Shep never struck me as an O'Neill clone- yeah there's a smarmy wit to him, but Shep always seemed more laid-back than O'Neill. Jack's sarcasm tended to be either the result of growing anger or sidelines mockery- kinda ranging from "Oh, that's it!" to "Oh, this outta be good- let's sit back and watch." Shep's sarcasm seems to be mostly people/situation getting crazy/ahead of him or from going-with-the-flow, ranging from "wait a minute here now" to "well, why not?". I know those are generalities, but that's the best way I can describe the distinction I see.

As for the darker tone- there are things like the first season episode where the guy whose been partially fed on by a Wraith uses the gun on himself to end his misery- I just get the impression we wouldn't see that kind of twist happen on SG-1, it'd have a happier ending on that show. And since Season 1 built to "the Wraith are coming", there was an impending sense of doom throughout most of the season, as opposed to just a couple episodes, that we didn't really get on SG-1 until Season 9.

 

SG-1 S1 did hhave that, but it was mostly just the last 2-3 episodes. IIRC, SGA S1 had it as a theme for a more extended period of time (at least 4-5 episodes, if not more).

 

Well, one of the key factors in the franchise's appeal is that it is anchored in the real world and present day. SG-1 had a little more of that since they were based on Earth. Atlantis isn't so much as more-fantasy than just using everything SG-1 built up and developed over the years.

 

I wouldn't say that- starships, fighters, gateships, spacegates, beaming, ARGs, drones, ZPMs, etc all predated SGA, and others, like Asgard weapons, are from SG-1 events even while SGA was going on.

Though I can understand the Star Trek analogy (I'm certainly not alone in seeing SG-1 as the modern incarnation of what was appealing in the original Trek series), I'm not sure I'd say Enterprise is SGA's analogue. More like a Borgless TNG.

 

Actually, I can see what you're saying- I think you've changed my mind