(upbeat music)
(air whooshing)
- [Narrator] It finally happened,
after 11 years and hundreds of thousands of us asking,
nay begging for MGM to be sold to another studio
so that Stargate may once again breath life,
it has finally happened.
Amazon, in a blockbuster deal paid $8.45 billion
for the 97-year-old studio, it's 4,000 film library
and more than 17,000 episodes of Television.
This is a huge deal for Amazon
but for Stargate fans, this is not just a huge moment
but it is the moment we've been waiting for.
For several years now, we've been explaining
why Stargate being chained to MGM is a death sentence
for the future of the science fiction franchise
we love and adore.
And today we can rejoice because our chains are broken.
With Amazon's incredible cash flow,
Stargate is going to be one of the biggest benefactors
from this new deal.
We've gathered all of the facts
and put them together for you here.
The stars have aligned perfectly after a decade of waiting
and everything points to Stargate being a new series
on Amazon quickly.
But before we start the celebration and share everything
we know, please take a moment now to subscribe
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Fans who have followed the Stargate story closely
since it was taken off the air in 2011
understand what a big deal it is
that MGM was bought by Amazon.
Since their bankruptcy
and the abrupt end of the Stargate franchise,
the legendary Hollywood studio has been wishy washy
about restarting the property.
And the fandom has grown sick
riding the emotional rollercoaster MGM has built.
Despite being disappointed by the studio's lack of action,
thanks to the 2017 Stargate fan temperature test
known as the Stargate Command Streaming Service,
we know that MGM doesn't think of stargate
as a dead franchise and neither will Amazon.
According to insiders,
Stargate commands subscription service
was MGM's initial test to gauge fan interest
in the franchise with streaming becoming the future,
this was a clever way to not only find out if fans
were still interested but also raise money
to create a new Stargate series risk-free.
The service was launched in the wake of an announcement
that a new 10-part web series, Stargate Origins
would live exclusively on the platform.
While exciting news for fans,
Stargate Command quickly got a bad rap
for having constant issues with their service.
Also, Stargate was already available on Netflix, Hulu
and Amazon and people weren't sure they wanted to pay
for a new service to watch content
they already had access to.
So when Stargate Origins 10, 10-minutes episodes
were released in 2018, fans were not only underwhelmed
by the service they were underwhelmed
by the content as well.
And MGM was underwhelmed by the lack of paid subscribers
to their service.
According to people close to the project,
MGM didn't feel they would get a return on their investment
based on the estimated 75,000 subscribers
who had paid for a Stargate Command subscription.
The studio put Stargate back on the shelf
and fans' questions were met with silence.
And as the silence went from months to years,
like a child who has just realized
their pet is not actually at some happy fam,
the slow realization that Stargate was now dead
to MGM started to set in.
But it was only dead because MGM couldn't afford
to take a chance on it.
The reality was that MGM needed about 50 Million dollars
to produce one season
of a conservatively budgeted Stargate show.
Remember that number,
because it is going to be an important reason
why we believe a new Stargate series
will be one of the first MGM products out of Amazon,
but let's get back to that in a moment.
Following the Stargate Command debacle,
fans kept their fingers crossed
that a streaming service like Netflix or Amazon
would sweep in and rescue the Franchise.
Then out of nowhere, Stargate Television Creator,
Brad Wright announced that he was talking with MGM
and that spark lit a flame of hope in the fandom.
More time passed and a couple of Stargate Twitter Storms
and a Save The Gate campaign was launched by fans
to get the attention of a studio, yes MGM, but any studio.
Shortly after that, Brad tickled the community
with small twitter hints that he was working on something.
After breaking down Brad's mysterious Tweets
and cross referencing it with other information,
we were able to gleam that he was indeed
working on a Stargate project.
Then a recent podcast with him and Michael Shanks
revealed that Brad was writing the Daniel Jackson character
into his project.
Excitement in the fandom was growing.
And most recently, Amanda Tapping revealed
she had been asked by Brad
if she was interested in being in his new Stargate project
reprising her role as Samantha Carter.
Statements like these sound like a foundation
is being built for a project
that is on it's way to production.
But something was still wrong,
why was Brad working on new Stargate
if MGM had been shopping themselves around to be sold
and most people believed it was just a matter of time
before the right deal fell into place.
Hold onto that thought for a second.
Rumors that Apple TV was close to a deal to buy MGM
have been floating around since 2018
when MGM CEO Gary Barber was fired.
According to the Wall Street Journal,
MGM had a market value of about $5.5 billion at that time.
It was reported that MGM Board Chair Kevin Ulrich,
said he could sell MGM for more than $8 Billion
in 2 or 3 years and apparently he was right.
And through all of this, Brad was still writing.
What did he know?
Well, here is what we know.
Brad Wright doesn't work on projects
hoping something will happen.
He is extraordinarily accomplished
and he could have easily washed his hands
of Stargate and looked back on it
as a shining moment in his career.
At 60 years old, Brad has a limited number of years left
and he isn't going to waste it
on a project that he doesn't know will likely get made.
The only reason
to start seriously creating new Stargate stories
is that he knows it's going to get made.
We believe Brad knew it was only a matter of time
before MGM would be sold to someone with enough cash
to bring Stargate back.
Also despite the studios mishandling of the property,
there are people inside MGM who really love
the Stargate franchise and want it to succeed.
People who spoke with Brad and gave him assurances
they could develop something together.
While a decision hasn't been made
about whether Amazon will pull MGM into the fold
or let it operate independently,
those MGM employees that support Stargate
will likely be involved with advising Amazon
on what to launch first and what will Amazon ask them?
What do you guys have ready to launch now?
Amazon will be looking for an immediate return on investment
and the properties with large fan bases
that are easy to get going will get green lit first.
This is why Stargate should be the first MGM property
up to bat for Amazon.
Amazon is clearly preparing for liftoff.
Jeff Blackburn who is credited
with helping build Amazon with Jeff Bezos
was brought back two weeks before the MGM purchase
to serve as Vice President
of their newly-created Global Media and Entertainment unit.
Amazon is bringing in the big guns
and they are going to bring
as much high level original content as they possible can
as quick as they can.
And this is the beauty with Stargate,
Amazon will not have to start from scratch.
Brad has been developing the show.
The Original actors are ready to return and reprise
their roles and the price tag for Stargate is good.
Remember that $50 million dollars we mentioned earlier
for a Season of Stargate?
Amazon recently announced
they were spending $465 million
just for one season of A Lord of the Rings series.
- Half a billion dollars on a TV show.
- Somebody bring Stargate back on--
- Yeah, how on the world it's not a Stargate show.
- [Narrator] That's an incredible number
and for a little more than 10 percent of that,
they can produce an entire Stargate season quickly.
Other MGM content is going to require Amazon
to find Showrunners, develop scripts
and begin production from the beginning.
But with Stargate, Brad Wright is the show runner
and the ink is already drying on the scripts.
Stargate alumni are ready to come back to act and direct.
Longtime Stargate producers like Joseph Mallozzi
are chomping at the bit
to return with Brad to the franchise.
With Stargate, Amazon has a snowball
already at the top of the hill.
Everyone else is trying to figure out
where the snow is.
All the hype is being written about what Amazon will do
with properties like James Bond.
And while the idea of a James Bond universe television show
sounds wonderful, Bond is co-owned
by people who have decision making power over that content.
So it's going to take time to develop anything related
to Bond into a series.
MGM has been heavily focused on movies like Creed III,
Tomb Raider 2, RoboCop Returns, a Pink Pather Reboot
and Legally Blonde 3.
But those are all movies and Amazon is going
to be looking to launch more series to keep pace
and pull ahead of Netflix.
Amazon is going to be looking at properties like Fargo,
Vikings, The Handmaid's Tale,
Twilight Zone and Yes Stargate.
With Fargo, series creator Noah Hawley said season 5
is coming but he's not in a place
where he's writing that yet.
Fargo is something Amazon should continue
but they aren't even thinking about season 5 yet.
This makes Stargate the obvious choice
to be the first MGM property to make a new series for.
Brad Wright's new Stargate series as confirmed by Mallozi
will be a new show set
within the established Stargate Universe
that would appeal to new fans
but also reward long-suffering fans
with guest appearances, cameos, Easter eggs
and the answer to many of our burning questions
from the first three series of the franchise.
It is expected that the story will take off
after Stargate Atlantis.
Mallozi also confirmed that a new series
would answer the question of what happened
to the Destiny Crew from Stargate Universe.
Amazon will not be able to pass up on green lighting
this fully-fleshed out series
that will have fans lining up to subscribe to Prime
in order to watch it.
So Amazon, if you are watching, we're ready.
And more than two million Stargate fans
who have been waiting more than a decade are ready.
It's time to dial the gate.
The Stargate stars are aligned,
the right people are in place
and stories are ready to be made.
The next move is yours
Are you excited to have the fourth series
in the Stargate Franchise launch on Amazon?
Let's talk about it in the comments below.
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Until next time.
(somber music)