Tag: Chris Judge

Third SG-1 Movie Filming in January?

In two of his recent interviews, Stargate star Christopher Judge has stated that if all goes well (i.e., Stargate: Continuum sells well), the third Stargate SG-1 movie, written by Brad Wright, will begin filming in January 2009.

One of the interviews is at the French AlloCiné Blogs website and is from Judge’s appearance at the Reunion Stellaire convention held June 27-29. The second is a video interview posted at Stargate: Continuum‘s page at play.com and took place in London, possibly at the time of the Chevron 7 convention held June 13-15.

In the play.com interview, the actor states, “Hopefully I’m not talking out of school here, but it’s been in the wind that we possibly may do another movie starting in January.” Pausing and laughing, Judge added, “And having said that, I may have just lost my chance to be in it!”

According to estimates given by Robert C. Cooper in an interview about the production schedule of his movie, Stargate: The Ark of Truth, and Judge’s statement that it took 15 days to film Continuum, if the third movie starts filming in January, it could possibly be ready for distribution by early 2010. Cooper stated that MGM and Fox want six months to market the product, so he had to be finished with his film in October for its March release. The Ark of Truth filmed from April 17 to around May 8, 2007, but it was the creation of the visual effects in post-production that took the greatest amount of time in the production schedule.

Judge discussed Teal’c’s growth from being “O’Neill’s straight man” to showing his inner character even if the circumstances were different in Continuum. He also touches on writing and his upcoming project, Rage of Angels, which he is developing for MGM with Brad Turner (24 and Stargate SG-1) and Michael Shanks. He warns that Rage, unlike Stargate, which he believes was successful due to its storytelling, its family-friendliness, the camaraderie of the four main characters, its sense of humor, and not taking itself too seriously, will not be something for the kids to see since his character, the Archangel Gabriel, called “the Wrath of God,” is “divined by God to basically be a serial killer.”

Visit both websites for more details.

[Thanks to jenks for the heads-up on the play.com video interview.]

Stargate Hits Big at Comic Con

Another San Diego Comic Con, another huge suite of Stargate events! This year was especially big for Stargate in that Richard Dean Anderson attended for the first time ever, and there were 3 panels, not two: Stargate Continuum, Stargate Worlds, and Stargate Atlantis. Fans had to arrive by 7:15 am to get the best seats, a mere 3.5 hours before the panels began. By the time they started, over 4000 fans had filled Ballroom 20 once again.

Stargate Continuum

Brad Wright moderated the Continuum panel, and it was a rousing and fun affair. In attendance, in order of assigned seating, were Richard Dean Anderson, Amanda Tapping, Director Martin Wood, Michael Shanks, Ben Browder, Chris Judge, and Beau Bridges. It was lovely to note Wright introduced RDA as perhaps his closest friend, and Michael Shanks as personally his favorite actor in the world. RDA didn’t seem nervous at all and in fact seemed to behave exactly as “Jack”, playing dumb and not taking anything the least bit seriously. He was a hoot. It should also be noted that Ben Browder kissed Michael on the lips as he joined him on stage. Michael seemed to take this in stride.

The main news for SG-1 is that both a third movie and Stargate Universe are in development. That doesn’t mean either one has been green-lighted, but MGM has authorized Wright to work on them, especially the third movie. Note this differs from previous stories saying there would either be two more SG1 movies OR Stargate Universe, but not both. Perhaps it will be one of each. In any case Brad is starting to work on a story for the third movie.

Some outlets are reporting this last as major news, but the certainty doesn’t seem to be any more or less definite than it has been for 6 months now. Hmm.

Brad introduced a lovely tribute to Don S Davis. It showed clips of General Hammond talking about what his people and his position as General mean to him, and it was set to Joel Goldsmith’s score from Continuum. When the lights came up after the tribute, all the panelists were clearly moved to tears. RDA got things back on track with a whacky joke.

The panelists looked healthy and happy, in particular Beau Bridges who looks much younger with longer hair! Everyone has been keeping busy, most with acting and Ben with coaching high school pole vaulting this spring, and football coming up. He’s auditioning and writing, however. Chris Judge mentioned he was supposed to be a villain on the upcoming season of 24 but was “fired” for not being black enough, which seemed to refer to him not looking like he’s from Africa. That got a good laugh.

Everyone was excited by the premiere of Continuum with a few hundred fans on the deck of the US carrier Midway the night before. They are very proud of the film and what it represented, the chance to go to the Arctic and then work together again even after SG-1 was canceled. Several of the panelists talked about what a great experience it was working together over the years.

RDA didn’t do well with questions like “favorite episode” or “hardest episode”. He passed on hardest emotional scene, but then called the panel back to him to say it was when O’Neill dealt with the death of his son (“Cold Lazarus”). He said the kid died, how could there not be emotion? Otherwise he admitted he doesn’t remember what he filmed. But his favorite part of Continuum was filming in the Arctic, and his favorite part of that was that the toilet seats were frosted with ice and that his poop would freeze solid.

Stargate Worlds

The Stargate Worlds panel was next, hosted by the Cheyenne Mountain guys. Brad Wright participated too. I don’t pretend to understand all the lingo, like PvP, PvE, spawning, or arenas versus battlefields. What I got out of the panel very strongly was that the creators are really trying to make the game accessible to all Stargate fans regardless of previous gaming experience. There will be many modes of play from solo to team, from fighting to physics to archeology. There will be social networking aspects as well. Reviewers have said the game is like the 4th generation of on-line role-playing games, and goes beyond World of Warcraft in that it takes the social networking to the next level.

The game will be set right before Season 9, and those events had all taken place in the universe of the game. Playing the game will have the elements of an episode. The SG-1 characters will be there as mentors and gift givers to the player characters. The panelists mentioned having voiceovers, and I asked one of the guys afterward what this meant. He confirmed they will record the actors’ voices for the game! He said everyone has signed on, except that RDA might need some further convincing. This is new information to many of us and very welcome!

They confirmed the game is for Windows only now but expressed sympathy for Mac users and some hope that there could be a Mac version some day.

Stargate Worlds encourages fans to sign up to be beta testers and help stress the game. Their current projected release date for the game is “early 2009”.

Stargate Worlds is clearly a huge part of the franchise strategy this year. They have lots of bling, from tee-shirts to dog tags, and are key to the Stargate booth, which appears to be sponsored by MGM and Stargate Worlds. Oh, and some of the buses are painted with SG Worlds. I sense a pattern emerging.

Stargate Atlantis

The Atlantis panel was smaller in terms of panelists, with Martin Gero presiding and Joe Flanigan, Bob Picardo, Jewel Staite, and Sci Fi VP Chris Sanagustin on the panel. Martin Gero was especially pithy and quick-witted and added much humor to the affair. All the actors were in fine form and very positive about the show.

Answering about the future of the show on Sci Fi, Chris Sanagustin assured the audience that Atlantis will continue, if not as a series than in TV movies. This seemed a very diplomatic answer and did not exactly impart warm fuzzies about the prospect for a 6th season of Atlantis.

In a hint of a spoiler, Jewel Staite said her wish for Keller this season is to make a choice, and she does. I assume this refers to the Keller/McKay/Ronon love triangle, and based on other spoilers, it seems her choice will be McKay. But, that’s just speculation.

Beyond that, Robert Picardo expressed how much he enjoys the humrous aspect of Stargate and the way it sort of winks at the audience, in contrast to the seriousness of Star Trek. He said he feels a bit like he’s been let out of prison.

Joe Flanigan spoke about “Search and Rescue” being a difficult episode for him to shoot because they’d just come back from hiatus and also because he had a personal issue going on during filming [a/n: he might have been speaking about the death of his father, which occurred at the end of February.] He said when it happened, he went right back to work because that’s exactly where he wanted to be, with his friends and colleagues on set. He has moments of intense gratitude for getting to do this work that millions of people wish they could be doing.

Jewel noted that her character gets kidnapped in the woods many times. Martin pointed out that since they film in Vancouver, it’s hard for them to kidnap you anywhere else but the woods.

Everyone on the panel seems very excited about the upcoming Season 5 episode “The Shrine,” penned by Brad Wright. There are insights into Woolsey. Brad Wright’s favorite moment of the season so far is a scene between Sheppard and McKay in The Shrine, on a pier at night. The slashers in the audience cheered the implications of that one.

These are just some highlights of course. Check back for a more detailed report, or since video taping was allowed, it’s likely the panels will be on MGM, Sci Fi, and/or YouTube. We will be uploading a more complete gallery in the next few days, including close-ups from the autograph sessions!

SCI FI PI Interviews Christopher Judge

In the first part of a possibly three-part interview, Australia’s SCI FI Channel’s SCI FI PI talks with Stargate star Christopher Judge during his appearances at the First Contact Conventions in Sydney and Wellington. SCI FI PI wrote, “He talked about pretty much everything you could imagine, from his darkest fears, the highs (and lows) of Stargate, his experience as a writer, the two new Stargate films, his upcoming new series, Rage of Angels, all the way to golf with the kids…”

In one portion of the interview, Judge talks about writing for Stargate SG-1 and how supportive Brad Wright, Martin Wood, and John Smith were to his making the move from actor to writer. His script, “Birthright”, went before cameras with very few changes, something that rarely happens in the industry. It was Brad Wright’s support of him that finally led to his writing the pilot script for Rage of Angels, which he wrote in the four days following the announcement that SG-1 had been cancelled. Rage is meant to be a starring vehicle for Judge.

To read the first part of the interview, which covers the creation of Teal’c and how to pronounce “Jaffa” and “Goa’uld”, visit SCI FI PI: Teal’c Cuts Loose: The Ultimate Christopher Judge Interview. Make sure to check back for the rest of the interview that is soon to follow.

NOTE: Judge’s script was the pilot for an hour-long drama series for television, but recent statements from Judge and Michael Shanks, who is Judge’s production partner and co-star, have indicated that the script will be turned into a screenplay for a feature film. A television series is still possible following the making of the movie, which Shanks said he’ll be concentrating on after he’s finished filming his two episodes of Stargate Atlantis that he is currently shooting.

Judge's "Turok" Now Available for Windows-Based PCs

Cover Art for the video game "Turok"

Stargate star Christopher Judge provided the voice for the character Jericho in Touchstones’s Turok, which was released on February 5, 2008, for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Now, SCI FI WIRE has announced that a PC version of the game is also available:

Turok, the epic SF first-person-shooter video game, is now available in North America for the Windows-based PC, Touchstone announced.

Developed by Propaganda Games and optimized for PC by Aspyr Studios, the game gives PC players the opportunity to experience the story-driven single-player experience and multiplayer modes for up to 16 players.

The PC version, which enables either a mouse and keyboard or a game controller, has a suggested retail price of $49.99. The recently released downloadable Velociraptor Pack, featuring five new multiplayer maps for the console versions, will be available for Windows-based PC soon.

Turok is set on a dark planet in the future. Players take on the role of Joseph Turok, a former black-ops commando, now part of an elite special forces squad known as Whiskey Company, which is on a mission to take down a war criminal: Turok’s former mentor, Roland Kane.

Sidewalks TV: Video Interview with the Men of SG-1

The men of SG-1 in video interview at Sidewalks TV.com

From Sidewalks TV: “Host Rafael Siegel interviews Stargate TV series and film stars Ben Browder (plays Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell), Christopher Judge (Teal’c) and Michael Shanks (Dr. Daniel Jackson). In the March 2008 interview, Ben, Michael and Christopher talk about their career starts and The Ark of Truth, the first of two feature-length Stargate movies made directly for DVD.”

You’ll need the latest version of Adobe Flash Player to view the video: The guys from `Stargate SG-1` talk about their continuing adventures on DVD.

Stargate: The Ark of Truth concludes the Ori storyline that was started in Season Nine. The direct-to-DVD movie had its world premiere on March 11 in North America (Region 1). The following are the known dates for DVD releases in other parts of the world (thanks to our readers for helping put the list together):

If you’ve heard of other release dates, please leave the information in our comment section below. Thanks!

Christopher Judge on "The Ark of Truth"

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Stargate star Christopher Judge shared his thoughts about Robert C. Cooper’s Stargate: The Ark of Truth in two recent interviews.

In the first one, an audio interview conducted by Tony Tellado of Sci Fi Talk, Judge enthuses about how Teal’c’s trek was depicted in the movie and how it appears on the screen.

Judge also gets into the religious implications of the story, especially concerning blind faith and how Tomin’s journey depicts that of an every-man’s. “When you are accepted into something, I think that human nature is … the first thing that we do is we’re so glad that we’re accepted into something that we do follow blindly.”

Judge talks about how the production was blind-sided by the cancellation of the show, especially after they had just negotiated two-year contracts to go into Season Eleven. “That’s why Season Ten felt so unfinished: because we didn’t think it was the end; we thought there was going to be a Season Eleven!”

Thinking back on the ten seasons of Stargate SG-1, Judge says his most enjoyable week was shooting the landmark episode “200”. He reminisces fondly about the sequences for The Wizard of Oz and Farscape. He admits that the addition of Ben Browder, Claudia Black, and Beau Bridges to the show helped the production find new energy. “Season Nine: it was a new show.”

Judge touches a little on the stand-alone nature of Brad Wright’s Stargate: Continuum and how that movie is meant to start the series of stand-alone SG-1 stories.

Outside of Stargate, Judge talks about his role in fellow Stargate star David Hewlett’s A Dog’s Breakfast. “I jumped at the chance to do it.” And to wrap up the interview, Judge talks about his production company’s pursuit of his pilot script Rage of Angels, and how the Writers Guild of America strike stopped the negotiations with MGM for a while, but after the strike ended, the paperwork was pushed through in three days. “We’ll probably shoot it up at Bridge [Studios in Vancouver].” Besides writing and producing the movie, Judge will also be starring as the angel Gabriel, and fellow Stargate star and business partner Michael Shanks will also star as Lucifer.

You can listen to the full interview (mp3 file) from THIS LINK.

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In the second interview, conducted by Kevin Carr of Film School Rejects, Judge touches on how tight the filming schedule was for Cooper’s movie. Of course, Cooper pulled off the endeavor, to which Judge comments, “In true Stargate fashion, Brad [Wright] and Rob [Cooper] showed that they are smarter than I am, and that’s why they’re the boss.”

Judge talks about his appearance in the Season Four episode “Midway” of Stargate Atlantis and about his working with Jason Momoa, who plays Ronon Dex: “I was afraid. Yes, I was. I was scared. That kid is a lot younger than me. That kid is younger, better looking, bigger and faster than I am.” He laughs.

Carr mentions Judge’s fears during the filming of the show and movies: from what his hair was going to look like to being attacked by wolverines during the filming of The Ark of Truth. Judge says, “They told me, ‘We’d like to say you’ll be 100% safe.’ And I said, ‘You’d like to say that, but you can’t.'” Judge didn’t go to the Arctic shoot with Stargate: Continuum‘s crew because he was afraid that he’d be mistaken as a seal by a hungry polar bear.

As far as looking forward to both direct-to-DVD movies, Judge reassures fans, “Truly from day one was in the grand scheme of things that Stargate was ultimately going to go back to the movie format.”

To read the full interview, visit Exclusive: Stargate’s Christopher Judge Talks About The Ark of Truth.

Unreality SF Covers Upcoming Stargate Audio Dramas

Vala Mal Doran

Unreality SF interviewed James Swallow, one of the authors for Big Finish Production’s Stargate audio dramas. Each season of the series includes three stories each from Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. “They’re kind of a halfway house between a talking book and a full-cast audio drama,” Swallow explained, “similar in format of Big Finish’s Doctor Who: Companion Chronicles discs. Basically, we have two actors – one lead voice, one supporting voice – and the story is ‘told’ to you by the lead.”

Swallow has written other audio dramas, including those for Doctor Who, Blake’s 7, and Star Trek, among others. In the interview, he talked about his latest efforts in some of these “universes”.

For Stargate, Swallow revealed the plots for his upcoming season one dramas. “Shell Game is set in season ten of Stargate SG-1; it’s a Vala Mal Doran story, featuring Daniel Jackson. The plot involves Vala’s past coming back to bite her in the backside, when a crime she once committed is revealed to have a very serious consequence.

Dr. Radek Zelenka

“Zero Point is set during season four of Stargate Atlantis; it’s a Radek Zelenka story, featuring a new character in the supporting role. The plot for this one has an alien force threatening to destroy everyone on Atlantis, and only Zelenka and the crew of the starship Apollo can stop it.

“Shell Game stars Claudia Black and Michael Shanks, while Zero Point stars David Nykl. Also reprising their roles from SG-1 and Atlantis are Christopher Judge, Paul McGillion, Torri Higginson and Teryl Rothery. We’re prepping the next ‘season’ of stories now, and we hope to have more Stargate actors for those.”

Swallow also indicated that he’s already working on his next script, an SG-1 story called First Prime. “You can probably guess who’s going to be the lead character in that…”

Visit Unreality SF for the complete interview. Visit Big Finish Production’s Stargate homepage for more information about the audio plays for season one that are currently available for pre-order.

Judge on "The Ark of Truth": "It's Quite Phenomenal"

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Actor Christopher Judge was interviewed in the March/April issue of the Official Stargate Magazine and described Robert C. Cooper’s Stargate: The Ark of Truth as “Stargate SG-1 on steroids!”

“When I first read the script,” Judge told the magazine, “I was talking to Coop [Robert Cooper] and I said, ‘Are you on drugs? There’s no way that we can shoot this in 16 days!’ It was quite an ambitious undertaking. Two weeks ago I had the chance to do the behind-the-scenes commentary, with Coop and Producer Peter Woeste, and when you see up on the screen what Coop’s vision was — it’s quite phenomenal, and I must say, he pulled it off!”

Judge raved about Teal’c’s role in the movie, the first of two direct-to-DVD movies to be released following the cancellation of the record-breaking Stargate SG-1, and emphasized, “I had to do a lot of stuff that I have never done before, and probably will never do again!”

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One of the new things that Judge did in the movie was to traverse a mountain. “It’s not CGI’ed, I’m actually on the peak of a mountain, running across a snowy mountain-top — it really was a real mountain! That’s quite an experience. I’m not saying that I’m in a rush to do it again, but it was a new experience and I think that sums up the entire movie.”

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Solutions reporter Michelle attended The Ark of Truth panel at the San Diego Comic Con held in July last year and reported more about the filming of Judge’s mountain-top scenes: “In filming The Ark of Truth, they had to take him up to the side of a mountain, on a very thin ridge. They filmed him with a helicopter that got very close to him at times. There were wind gusts and the helicopter downwash blew him around at times. They asked Chris to walk closer to the edge but he declined. At one point the rudder of the helicopter almost hit him. Chris said in his mind, he was thinking of the guys who’d been to the Arctic. And so he thought, ‘If I don’t stay up here, I’ll never hear the end of it.'”

The resulting helicopter shots of Teal’c’s time on the mountain are included in the movie, illustrating the near-epic quality of filming the movie versus filming the TV show. Portions of these scenes can be seen in the video clip “Movie v. TV Show” recently posted by MGM’s Official Stargate website in their Video Gallery.

Stargate Talent Shines

While we wait for the release of Stargate: The Ark of Truth and for the cast and crew to resume filming Stargate Atlantis, many of the talent behind bringing the stories to life have been busy with various types of projects. It’s also a time for some award nominations (and wins, such as the People’s Choice Awards) and follow-ups on older stories worth revisiting:

Visual Effects Team Nominated for VES Award

Stargate Atlantis visual effects team of Mark Savela, Shannon Gurney, Erica Henderson, and Jamie Yukio Kawano have been nominated in the Visual Effects in a Broadcast Series category for their work in Season Four’s premiere, “Adrift”. This is the sixth annual Visual Effects Society awards, which will be presented on Sunday, February 10, at the Kodak Theatre Grand Ballroom in Hollywood. This year’s lifetime achievement honoree is Steven Spielberg. For a complete run-down of the nominees, visit Variety: VES sailing with ‘Pirates’.

Extra! Features Stargate Atlantis

Extra! correspondent Jerry Penacoli produced a segment about his time as “Genii Jerry” on location of “Harmony”, complete with fun behind-the-scenes acting tips provided by Amanda Tapping, Jason Momoa, Joe Flanigan, and David Hewlett. Meant to be shown the same night as the premiere of the episode, the segment was pre-empted (see first story) and moved to the weekend edition of the television entertainment magazine. A fan has put the short segment on YouTube for all to enjoy.

Big Finish Audio Dramas

Big Finish Productions has plans to produce several Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis hour-long audio dramas, plays written for audio performances and narrated by one or two actors. James Swallow, one of the writers, has visited some of the Stargate fan forums and also has his own online presence in the form of a LiveJournal blog. He recently stated, “Regarding extra content, I’ve now been told that Big Finish intend to include an exclusive interview on each disc. There may be out-takes too, depending on permissions from the actors.” Fans will also be able to download the programs directly from the studio’s website.

CD Release Schedule:

  • April 30: SG-1 Gift of the Gods by Sally Malcolm. Read by Michael Shanks. (Amazon.uk pre-order)
  • May 30: SGA Necessary Evil by Sharon Gosling. Read by Torri Higginson. (Amazon.uk pre-order)
  • June 30: SG-1 Shell Game by James Swallow. Read by Claudia Black and Michael Shanks.
  • July 30: SGA Perchance to Dream by Sally Malcolm. Read by Paul McGillion.
  • August 30: SG-1 Pathogen by Sharon Gosling. Read by Teryl Rothery.
  • September 20: SGA Zero Point by James Swallow. Read by David Nykl.

Swallow also said that the studio is “already moving forward with our next set of six releases…”

Christopher Judge and Turok

Christopher Judge provided the voice for one of the characters in Turok (see first story), an SF first-person-shooter video game slated for release on February 5 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. A featurette, slightly under five minutes long, has been posted at GameVideos.com: Turok: Awakening the Giants and includes information about the story, graphics, and voice talent behind the game (Judge is interviewed and is also shown in the recording studio).

Tapping’s Sanctuary Greenlit for SCI FI

Amanda Tapping, Damian Kindler, and Martin Wood (all Stargate veterans) have sold SCI FI Channel a 13-episode season of Sanctuary, “which originated online as the first high-definition sci-fi Web series,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. They’ll use most of the footage from the web series, which includes 90% CGI, but make some enhancements to the visual effects and background to show better on a TV screen.

Sanctuary will begin production in March (this might affect Tapping’s and Wood’s participation in Season Five of Stargate Atlantis; an official announcement is coming this Monday, according to executive producer and co-showrunner Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog).

Judge Attached to "Dark Swarm"

According to IESB.net: The Movie Reporter, Christopher Judge has been attached to a new Hogofilm project entitled Dark Swarm. The movie will be directed by Tim Pyle, an award-winning former CG animator, who will also be supervising the special effects. The script for Dark Swarm has been nominated for awards at two film festivals: Best Screenplay at the International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival in Phoenix; and Best Feature Screenplay at the Terror Film Festival in Philadelphia.

Dark Swarm is a story “about billions of aliens that consume all life on the Earth, leaving a small group of survivors to fight back.” Christopher Judge will be playing “a father figure who will do anything to protect his daughter from both the swarm and the other survivors.”

IESB.net states that the film will begin production in the summer of 2008 for release in 2009 (possibly direct to DVD, just as Hogofilm released Pyle’s previous project Decaying Orbit).

To read the full announcement, including more on the background of other actors attached to the project, visit Sci-Fi Actors Fight The Swarm.