"The Ark of Truth": Different Ways to See It

Stargate: The Ark of Truth is the first of the direct-to-DVD movies produced by MGM following the cancellation of the ten-year-old record-breaking series, Stargate SG-1. The movie was written, directed, and produced by Robert C. Cooper so that the fans could see the last chapter of the Ori story arc that was started in Season Nine. “I think that Stargate: The Ark of Truth will hopefully be very satisfying to the fans, and we tried to make it as accessible as possible to people who aren’t as familiar with the franchise,” Cooper recently said in an interview in the March/April issue of the Official Stargate Magazine.

In making it accessible to those who have never seen the show, Cooper added a 10-minute “previously on” compilation of Seasons Nine and Ten to set up the storypoints and character moments that are necessary to get full enjoyment out of the movie. After adding this and other extra features to the DVD release, MGM and Fox have recently begun their promotions of the movie that is to arrive first in North America on March 11. Following this world premiere, DVDs are expected to be released April 9 in Australia, April 14 in the UK, and April 23 in France.

The pre-order sales performance of The Ark of Truth DVD have been very impressive based on the movie’s placement in the Top 25 DVD Bestsellers on Amazon and as #1 in TV Sci-Fi and Fantasy category several weeks before the movie’s release. For Amazon in the UK, the sales rankings have been just as impressive, with its recent placement in the Top 5.

It should be noted that selling the DVD on Amazon is not the only online sales venue that the studio is taking. Amazon Unbox will have the movie available for download in the United States on April 10 for $14.99 (but this version probably doesn’t include the audio commentary and extra features made available only on the DVD, which is currently priced at $16.99).

If you’re going to be in Australia at the end of March or in early April, you might want to consider attending a screening of the movie, sponsored by Supanova:

Great news for Stargate and Supanova fans alike! In conjunction with Twentieth Century Fox, Supanova is screening “Stargate: The Ark of Truth” pre its April 9th DVD release exclusively during both the Melbourne (March 28) and Brisbane (April 4) Preview Nights!

This is a huge coup and further expands the Stargate presence at Supanova with Sonny Whitelaw, author of five Stargate SG-1 & Atlantis novels, and Jennifer Fallon, international best-selling fantasy author, and co-author of Stargate SG-1: Roswell.

Sonny & Jenny will be jointly running intensive World Building Masterclass writers and game designers’ workshops at 4-8pm March 30 (Melbourne) and 4-8pm April 6 (Brisbane). Sydney and Perth workshops later in the year.

Tickets are available through Ticketek. For more information see www.supanova.com.au and www.worldbuildingworkshops.com.

As for the rest of the international community for which a release date has not yet been announced, Cooper said, “It will definitely be out but it might be on television, internationally, prior to the DVD coming out.”