STAR GATE

STARGATE
U.S. RELEASE DATE - October 28, 1994
BUDGET - $55 million
WRITTEN BY - Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich
DIRECTED BY - Roland Emmerich
GUEST STARRING - Kurt Russell (Colonel Jack O'Neil), James Spader (Daniel Jackson), Jaye Davidson (Ra), Viveca Lindfors (Catherine), Alexis Cruz (Skaara), Mili Avital (Sha'uri), Erick Avari (Kasuf), French Stewart (Ferretti), John Diehl (Lt. Kawalsky), Carlos Lauchu Djimon (Anubis), Gianin Loffler (Nabeh)
Buried under the desert for 10,000 years, unearthed in Egypt in the 1920s and ultimately reburied in a Colorado missile silo, a mysterious ring, made of an unknown material and carved with arcane symbols, becomes a gateway to destiny for two very different men. One is Professor Daniel Jackson (Spader), an Egyptologist who's at the end of his rope when he accepts a job from a mysterious woman (Viveca Lindfors) who wants him to translate certain cryptic writings. The other is Col. Jack O'Neil (Russell), a soldier at the end of his own rope after the accidental shooting death of his son.
The mysterious ring proves to be an alien artifact, a long-sealed gateway to another world. Once Jackson unlocks its secrets, he joins O'Neil and a military reconnaissance party on a mission to find out what's on the other side. The expedition gets much, much more than it bargained for. The desert world on the other side of the Stargate holds the answers to both men's problems. But only if they can liberate the abducted human slaves they find there and survive a struggle to the death against the immortal Ra (Davidson) and Egyptian gods armed with alien technology.

Original artwork by Glass Bay Studio

STARGATE II
U.S. RELEASE DATE - undetermined
WRITTEN BY - Brad Wright, Robert C. Cooper
DIRECTED BY -
DISTRIBUTED BY - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
ANTICIPATED CAST - Richard Dean Anderson (Colonel Jack O'Neill), Michael Shanks (Dr. Daniel Jackson), Amanda Tapping (Major Samantha Carter), Christopher Judge (Teal'c), Corin Nemec (Jonas Quinn), Don S. Davis (General Hammond)
The sequel to the original "Stargate" film will most likely begin production after the TV series' final season wraps filming, and is intended to lay the ground work for a spin-off television series.
MGM announced on October 25, 2000, that it had "fast-tracked" a sequel to the 1994 sci-fi hit, "Stargate" (story). Due to the success of the television series and a rumored falling-out with original "Stargate" director and producer Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin (who wanted to make a trilogy of films), it is almost certain that the new movie will feature the cast and crew of Stargate SG-1.
Production will likely start after the conclusion of the television series (filming on Season Seven is scheduled to end in the early fall of 2003), rather than filming between seasons, according to writer / producer Joseph Mallozzi.
Word on the street is that MGM representatives approached Fox Studios Australia in the spring of 2001, hoping to film "Stargate II" there (story).
In an interview with TV-Highlights magazine, SG-1 director Peter DeLuise reported that the writers are currently developing storylines that would translate well onto the big screen -- and be done better with a larger budget. "Of course, the story of a movie has to be interesting and understandable for those people who haven't seen the show," he said. "But you also have to add certain elements for the fans. ... Making a movie means having more money and also having more time, which is very important."
He also assured fans that a theatrical SG-1 adventure would remain faithful to the series. "We'd cut into our own flesh [before we'd] anger the fans," DeLuise said. "A Stargate movie will be like the show, only much bigger, more elaborate and faster." (story).
Although the title of the film may not end up "Stargate II," it's interesting to note that MGM has taken the liberty of registering the domain names StargateII.com and Stargate2.com -- which currently forward to MGM's home page.

Original artwork by Glass Bay Studio