Stargate


Stargate is a military science fiction media franchise owned by Amazon MGM Studios. It is based on the film directed by Roland Emmerich, which he co-wrote with producer Dean Devlin; production company StudioCanal owns the rights to the original film. The franchise is based on the idea of an alien wormhole device that enables nearly instantaneous travel across the cosmos. The franchise began with the film Stargate, released on October 28, 1994, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Carolco, which grossed US$197million worldwide. In 1997, Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner created a television series titled Stargate SG-1 as a sequel to the film. This show was joined by Stargate Atlantis in 2004, Stargate Universe in 2009, and a prequel web series, Stargate Origins, in 2018. Also consistent with the same story are a variety of books, video games and comic books, as well as the direct-to-DVD movies Stargate: Children of the Gods, Stargate: [|The Ark of Truth], and Stargate: Continuum, which concluded the first television show after 10 seasons.
In 2011, Stargate Universe, the last Stargate program on television, ended its run. Brad Wright announced that there were no more plans to continue the same story in further productions. In 2016, comic publisher American Mythology acquired the rights to publish new Stargate Atlantis stories set within the established franchise canon. This was expanded in 2017 to include new Stargate Universe comics as well, resolving the cliffhanger that ended the show. The predominant story arc thus ran for more than 15 years, including 18 seasons of programming, and 22 comic book issues as of January 2020. However, a variety of other media either ignore this main continuity or reset it, while maintaining essential elements that define the franchise. These include the 2002 animated series Stargate Infinity.
In November 2025 a new series was announced to be in the works, to be led by franchise veteran Martin Gero. It will be produced by Amazon MGM Studios, who now control the rights to the franchise.

Premise

The Stargate franchise is built around the in-universe titular device of the Stargate, a ring-shaped device built by an ancient intergalactic race of beings that allows almost instantaneous travel across vast distances via wormholes that can be "dialed" between any two Stargates on the network. The shows themselves are typically set contemporaneous to when they were made, featuring real-world or "realistic" technologies in an otherwise science-fiction setting. Most incarnations of the franchise follow a similar structure, following the exploits of the lead expeditionary team of the show's setting on various one-off or season-arc continuing episodes, with major differences being the principal setting and main villains faced.

Franchise releases

Due to multiple developers working separately and independently on the franchise over the years, the various Stargate productions are not entirely consistent with each other; and while no set of works forms an official canon, the largest following exists for the three live-action series.

Media releases

Films

Television

Documentaries and specials

Game releases

Theatrical films

''Stargate''

The titular 1994 film Stargate, directed by Roland Emmerich and co-written by Emmerich and Dean Devlin, focuses on the initial "re-discovery" of the Stargate on Earth and the first expedition off-world. The film sees a team led by Colonel Jack O'Neil and including Egyptologist Daniel Jackson venture through the Stargate to the planet of Abydos, finding a society of ancient Egyptian-speaking humans ruled by a space-faring alien posing in the role of the ancient Egyptian sun god Ra. The expedition eventually liberates the society from the control of the alien, killing it in the process, before the survivors return to Earth.

Television

''SG-1''

In 1997, Jonathan Glassner and Brad Wright co-developed Stargate SG-1, a television series intended to continue the story laid down by the original film. Although new actors were cast, several roles from the film were reprised, including the main characters Daniel Jackson and Jack O'Neill. The setting was transferred from a fictional military facility located in Creek Mountain, to Stargate Command which was based in the Cheyenne Mountain Complex. The show for the first eight seasons initially focused on efforts by Stargate Command to combat the Goa'uld, the race of beings to whom the alien calling itself Ra had belonged to, and their leaders known as the System Lords while liberating both the human populations they had enslaved throughout the galaxy as well as their enslaved armies of mutated humans known as the Jaffa. For the final two seasons the show moved to a new threat, the Ori, which were inspired by Arthurian legend.
The series debuted on Showtime on July 27, 1997, and moved to the Sci-Fi Channel after its fifth season. It starred Richard Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks, alongside Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge and Don S. Davis respectively playing the new characters Samantha Carter, Teal'c and George Hammond. The cast remained fairly regular for most of SG-1 run, but experienced some changes. Michael Shanks left the show at the end of Season5 and was replaced by Corin Nemec as Jonas Quinn. Shanks returned at the beginning of Season7 and Nemec was written out. At the end of Season7 Davis left the show and Anderson filled the gap he left in the story. Season9 saw the departure of Anderson, but added new regulars Beau Bridges and Ben Browder. After a debut episode in Season 8, followed by appearances in eight episodes of Season 9, Claudia Black's popular reception earned her a position in the regular cast in Season 10.
MGM put an average of $1,400,000 into each episode of the show, and regarded it as one of its most important franchises. SG-1 was taken off air in 2007; however, two direct-to-DVD movies entitled The Ark of Truth and Stargate Continuum were made to tie up loose ends.

''The Ark of Truth'', ''Continuum'' and ''Children of the Gods''

Stargate: The Ark of Truth is a direct-to-DVD movie written and directed by Robert C. Cooper. The film is the conclusion of Stargate SG-1's Ori arc, and picks up after the SG-1 series finale, but takes place before the fourth season of Stargate Atlantis. The Ark of Truth was released as a Region1 DVD release on March 11, 2008. Sky One has broadcast the film on March 24, 2008, to be followed by the Region2 DVD release on April 28, 2008, with the Region4 DVD release on April 9, 2008.
Stargate: Continuum is a direct-to-DVD movie written by Brad Wright and directed by Martin Wood. Some scenes for this movie were already shot at the end of March 2007, but the original start date was set for May 22 at Vancouver's Bridge Studios. The production budget was $7million. The movie was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on July 29, 2008. The Region4 DVD was released on August 6, 2008, with the Region2 DVD released on August 18, 2008; followed by possible TV broadcasts. The film is a time-travel adventure and is the second sequel to Stargate SG-1, after Stargate: The Ark of Truth.
Stargate: Children of the Gods is a direct-to-DVD movie written by Jonathan Glassner and Brad Wright and directed by Mario Azzopardi.
The Stargate SG-1 pilot episode was re-cut as a third Stargate SG-1 direct-to-DVD special and released on July 21, 2009, by MGM Home Entertainment in 16:9 widescreen format. A few months before its release, executive producer Brad Wright announced it would be enhanced with brand new visual effects and scenes not previously included in the television version. The beginning was to be slightly altered, a new scene added, and the nudity scene taken out to make this episode suitable for children, with the final movie roughly seven minutes shorter than the original episode.