In the Christmas Day entry in his weblog, executive producer Joseph Mallozzi posted a fan Q&A, what he calls his “mailbag,” that follows up on the recent cancellation of Stargate Universe by Syfy and its impact on the rest of the franchise, especially on Stargate Atlantis.
“I’m sorry to say but the cancellation puts the brakes on whatever progress the SGA movie had made in the past month, shelving it indefinitely.”
Mallozzi and writing partner Paul Mullie have already written the script for Stargate: Extinction, a story that originally took place soon after the events of “Enemy at the Gate.” The timeline will have to be tweaked just slightly to place the events to follow the appearances of Robert Picardo and David Hewlett in the SGU episode “Seizure,” which will be aired after SGU returns to Syfy for its last 10 episodes on that network in Spring 2011 (possibly early April).
Ratings for the first half of Season Two were not sufficient for Syfy to renew the series. “Those early season two ratings were admittedly a downer. The move to Tuesday night was not good for us (and, speaking to the franchise as a whole, the move from summer to fall did us no favors either) and I firmly believe that time-shifted viewing and internet downloads have bled off a significant portion of our younger, tech-savvy audience.
“Still, we held out hope and, as production continued on season two, positive word from various places gave us hope that the show would come back for, at the very least, a third and final season (much the same way Battlestar did). Many of us were shocked by the abruptness of the cancellation decision.”
When asked if another network might pick SGU up for a third season, he replied, “We’re investigating all possible avenues.” All possible avenues, however, are limited. “A new Stargate series isn’t even being considered.”
As far as what the fans can do to support the franchise, and perhaps bring about the production of Stargate: Extinction, Mallozzi suggested, “Letters and emails are nice and all but, at the end of the day, the studio is more likely to look at things like iTune and DVD sales when making a decision.”
Did they really plan to give us the movie or where they just trying to placate us, we were also told the movie was not dependent on the success of SGU so was that just another lie.
From the comment section of Joseph Mallozzi’s blog, he stated, “The prospect of a renewal may have taken a shot when those first numbers for the show’s second season came out but, as I pointed out, that initially dim view brightened as the weeks progressed. Furthermore, the prospect of a dedicated Atlantis movie has always been contingent on a number of things, among them a financially sound model for investment predicated on the strength of the franchise. The cancellation of Universe deals a blow to the strength. Furthermore, any focus that may have been aimed at making the SGA movies now that MGM is once again moving forward into production will now be redirected to SGU.”
Link
Mallozzi is very accessible at his blog as he reviews every comment that comes through. As evident to his reply within the comment section itself, he is open to carrying on a discussion. It has always been his policy that he will let any comment to his blog pass moderation if it is kept civil and respectful.
“Furthermore, any focus that may have been aimed at making the SGA movies now that MGM is once again moving forward into production will now be redirected to SGU.”
Why when it is the least successful show would they go with SGU when they know there is still a market for Atlantis and SG1?
Doesn’t really surprise me. They didn’t get what they wanted…a third season for SGU so they’ll make sure we don’t get what we want…a return of the highly successful SGA and/or the movie. And you’re right, it doesn’t make any sense at all to base whether or not an SGA movie would be made on the success/failure of SGU. Anymore than it made sense that they canceled SGA to begin with. AND…they were surprised SGU was canceled? Give us a break. The signs were all there. Or is it they just can’t differentiate between a successful show…SGA that didn’t have half the signs of failure SGU had? Why can’t they just ‘buck up’ and admit they made a terrible mistake allowing SGA to be canceled? One can only hope that MGM or someone with half a brain there will recognize that the ‘strength of the franchise’ was always SGA and SG-1 and still is. If only they’d realize the fan base is still out here, waiting for someone to wise up.
The idea that they were actually going forward with the SGA movie is laughable. Do they really expect us to believe that?
Oh wait, these are the same people who are blaming the fans of the previous two series for the fact that audience viewership for SGU fell by over a million households when the show failed to keep their attention. Of course they are going to perpetuate the myth that a) there was going to be a movie and b) the failure of said movie is somehow *also* the fault of the former fans.
Let them make SGU movies or mini-series or whatever. Frankly, given the direction the franchise has taken recently, I don’t believe they could make a SGA movie I’d enjoy watching.
But if MGM follows *that* lead, they deserve to go bankrupt.
I agree. They can still do SGA Extinction and Brad Wright can concentrate on
SGA. If they and SyFy are going to cheat the fans out of the movie. I am glad I am boycotting anything done by MGM, Spyglass and SyFy.
You know, Malozzi’s statement would almost tend to imply that the making of SGU was possibly contingent on the ‘success’ of SGA when you think about it. So…if that is true then it simply defies the imagination why the heck they would cancel a ‘successful’ series like SGA? Think about it. He’s saying the chances of making the SGA movie are now less since SGU was canceled but that wasn’t the case when they canceled SGA. They went ahead and made SGU. So, again, why not bring back the ‘successful’ series…the proven successful series – SGA-…and/or the movie? Why should it even matter that SGU was canceled? It’s not like that series adhered to the Stargate formula anyway…which is probably why it failed. It seems Malozzi, like Wright, is feeding the fans and public BS and still blaming the SGA fans for SGU’s failure. Cut to the chase, fellas, do what you were paid for, what you allegedly spent lots of time writing scripts for…make the SGA movie and bring back the series. Period.
Joe Mallozzi, MGM,Spyglass, SyFy and Brad Wright. The cancelation of SGU is just another cop out for not doing SGA Extinction which you promised fans and kept stalling and giving excuses. you never intended to do any movie. you lied to and cheated fans. If Proctor and Gamble can put A Change In Plans on DVD you could have done it with SGA Extinction. I am through with you. The only reason I am watching SyFy tonight is the rerun of SGA and the only reason I am watching anything done by MGM.