Month: July 2008

Wright Discusses MGM's Quandary

Stargate

With the release of Stargate: Continuum less than a week away, the question of what will happen next for the Stargate SG-1 portion of the Stargate franchise has once again been brought to the fore. Will there be more movies, or will MGM, the studio that owns Stargate, prefer that their eggs be placed solely in the television series basket with the much-talked-about third series, Stargate Universe?

In a brief interview with Straight.com, “Vancouver’s Online Source”, Brad Wright talks about how Vancouver has changed over the time since Stargate SG-1, his creation along with Jonathan Glassner’s, debuted in 1997. Lost are the financial benefit of stretching the American dollar in Canada and many of the filming locations, which have been converted into condo developments. Even so, Wright believes that the film industry will not leave Vancouver, and apparently, neither will Stargate.

Ultimately, though, it is up to the studio to decide which path to take. Wright is preparing a script for a third movie, but no official green light has been announced, and he has already pitched Stargate Universe to the Sci Fi Channel, but the cost of the show might be too high for them. Straight.com’s Blaine Kyllo said that MGM “wants another spinoff series and another pair of movies” and that “Wright said the only decision to be made is whether to make two more movies or start up another series.” Apparently, they can’t do both concurrently, so MGM must choose. Wright has the luxury to be the creative behind both and told Kyllo over the phone, “All I can do is take care of my own little corner of the universe up here and make sure that we have more product being made and shows being put into the pipeline.”

To read the rest of the interview (which is spoiler-free), visit Straight.com: New on DVD: Stargate: Continuum.

Stargate: Continuum will be on the shelves July 29 in North America in both DVD and Blu-ray formats.

MovieWeb: Exclusive "Continuum" Special Feature

U.S.S. Alexandria crashes through the Arctic iceVisit the MovieWeb website to see an exclusive clip featuring director Martin Wood, Richard Dean Anderson, and Amanda Tapping as they were on location to film Brad Wright’s Stargate: Continuum.

The clip includes the behind-the-scenes reactions of the cast and crew as the nuclear submarine U.S.S. Alexandria made a perfect appearance when it crashed up through the Arctic ice. It was fortunate that they were able to get on film the sub making its mark after the batteries in their cameras began to die.

Stargate: Continuum is due to hit the shelves on DVD and Blu-ray on July 29 in North America.

MGM: Wright on "Continuum" as a Movie

Along the Continuum with Brad Wright

Part 3 of the “Along the Continuum with Brad Wright” video interview series is now up at MGM’s Official Stargate website.

This time, Wright answers questions that touch on Continuum as a movie: it was always a story envisioned as a movie rather than as an episode, they were appreciative of the access that they had to a nuclear submarine and F-15s, and its budget helped to produce a “huge” movie. He did note that there were some visual effect sequences that didn’t make it to the movie because they were financially prohibitive. Wright also addresses which position at Stargate Command he’d most likely be in versus what he thinks would be the most fun.

Stargate: Continuum is coming July 29 on DVD and Blu-ray (North America).

Discover: Stargate Atlantis Gets Biomechanical

The Seed

Those of you who are interested in some of the real world science behind the fiction of Stargate should visit the latest blog entry at the Discover Magazine website entitled, “Stargate Atlantis Gets Biomechanical”.

This article discusses the real world science of using “BioBricks”, “genetic sequences that perform specific functions,” to create miniature machines from organic materials, such as was shown for the creation of Wraith hive ships in the recent Stargate Atlantis episode “The Seed”.

Visit Discover Magazine: Stargate Atlantis Gets Biomechanical for a fascinating look into our scientific future where life might very well imitate art.

[Image from MGM Official website.]

SCI FI WIRE: "Sanctuary" Lets Tapping Stretch

Sanctuary

Patrick Lee, News Editor at SCI FI WIRE, has posted a brief report on Amanda Tapping’s appearance at the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour in Beverly Hills, California, on July 20. She represented her new show, Sanctuary, along with Damian Kindler, Martin Wood, Sam Egan, and Robin Dunne.

The article mostly focuses on a contrast between Tapping’s Col. Samantha Carter and her Sanctuary character Dr. Helen Magnus, a “raven-haired, 157-year-old English monster hunter.” Tapping said of Magnus, “And as much as she’s very dissimilar from Sam Carter, there’s a lot of similarities. I think for some reason I’ve been blessed in my career to play very strong, very smart women. I don’t do bimbo well, which maybe is a fault of mine, but I don’t. So there you have it. So Magnus was the perfect over-the-top, sexy, unapologetic, proud and loud woman that I never got to play in Sam Carter.”

Tapping is not only starring in the 13-episode first season of Sanctuary, but she is also executive producing along with series creator Damian Kindler, Martin Wood, and Sam Egan. “I would have to say the worst part of being an executive producer is I’m concerned about the budget. Honestly.”

Tapping has also directed one of the episodes thus far while the production is filming in Vancouver.

Visit SCI FI WIRE: Sanctuary Lets Tapping Stretch.

For more details concerning Tapping’s appearance at the tour, including images of her with her new hair color, visit IGN: Inside Sci Fi’s Sanctuary: The creators and cast talk about the unique new series and Dryope at LJ.

Sanctuary premieres on the SCI FI Channel on October 3 with a two-hour pilot. It will also be shown on Canada’s Movie Central and Movie Network, as well as on the UK’s ITV4.

ETA: Other SCI FI WIRE Articles — Following up on Tapping’s interview, SCI FI WIRE also got to talk with creator and writer Damian Kindler: Sanctuary Bridges Real, Fantasy

New! Solutions Gallery

I’m delighted to say that our ever-resourceful tech guru Michelle has successfully installed the Coppermine software and Solutions now has a gallery! You can find the gallery by clicking on the Gallery link in the site navigation bar, or click here to enter the gallery. You can rate images, too.

One of the main features will be our character galleries, which will track an individual SG-1 or Atlantis team character through the series with 10 images for each episode. We’ve made a start on the Season 1 gallery for Daniel Jackson, which will be complete within the next week or so. Then we’re moving on to Rodney McKay in the first season of Atlantis.

Our images will be large, 1024×576 pixels, and high quality, lightened, brightened and noise reduced. The gallery is also searchable by character name, by season and by episode. New content is being added daily.

Avatars:
100×100 avatars/icons for Daniel, Jack, Sam, Vala, Daniel & Jack, Daniel & Sam, Daniel & Vala, SG-1 Team

Banners:
Solutions site banners featuring Stargate and Atlantis team members

Character galleries:
Daniel Jackson Season 1, 10 images each for Children of the Gods parts 1 & 2, The Enemy Within, Emancipation.

Wallpapers:
Posted today, 2 wallpapers each for Daniel Jackson and Jack O’Neill, two wallpapers for Jack and Daniel.

Jack & Daniel wallpaper from the gallery

SGA S5 Spoilers: "Brain Storm"

“Brain Storm”

McKay brings Keller to Earth to visit an old rival physicist at his secret research facility. The rival demonstrates a wonderful new invention that’s intended to fight global warming, but things do not go as planned.

Details

McKay and Keller have returned to Earth. McKay has been invited to visit an old academic rival, Dr. Malcolm Tunney, and is bringing Keller along as his date. Rodney is bitter about Tunney, who has achieved great success on Earth and rubbed it in by sending a private jet to bring McKay and Keller to his secret facility in the desert. Tunney is throwing a party to demonstrate his new invention, a global warming fighter that can pull in cold weather from across a space/time bridge. Tunney has been funded by The Cause, which has a great stake in the success of the device.

While some of Tunney’s colleagues think it’s too risky to proceed with the “live” demonstration, Tunney insists everything will be fine. But once his team turns the device on, they find they can’t turn it off. The facility’s temperature begins to plunge, and no one can get out. Tunney and Rodney must somehow shut down the device and save Keller from freezing to death.

Guest Characters

  • Dr. Malcolm Tunney
  • Terrence Kramer
  • Ken the Scientist
  • Front Desk Guy/Girl
  • Assistant

Production

  • Written by Martin Gero
  • Directed by Martin Gero

Brain Storm Episode Guide

  • SPOILERS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AS THE EPISODE IS IN PRODUCTION.

Friday 07/18 Banners

This week’s banners to enter the rotation feature good guys and bad guys. First up, we have Jack and Daniel a la Season 1. Then, a couple of villainous Goa’uld System Lords as arch as they come in the shape of Apophis and Baal. Our Guest Goa’uld are at the request of Solutions staffer DeeKayP. Finally, there’s a familiar promotional shot of the Season 9 SG-1 team with General Hank Landry and Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell entering the fray.

"The Seed": Tested Reliance

Dr. Carson Beckett in \"The Seed\"

Tonight on the Sci Fi Channel in the United States at 10 pm ET/PT, the second episode of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis, “The Seed”, presents how individuals rely on each other, the city, and protocol to work and survive in the ever-so-unpredictable and often-hostile Pegasus Galaxy.

The reliance that Richard Woolsey, the new commander of the base, has on by-the-book procedures and protocol is tested when the city comes under its first life-threatening crisis since the change in leadership: Dr. Jennifer Keller is taken over by some kind of Wraith-engineered biological organism. Everyone in the Expedition relies on her to be there to help them when they are sick or injured, but who takes care of her when she becomes incapacitated? They call upon their leading expert in Wraith physiology, Dr. Carson Beckett, by removing him from the stasis chamber, but there’s a problem with this in that his reliance on the drug that Michael engineered still exists, making his time out of stasis dangerous and potentially fatal. And, what will the Expedition do when their reliance can no longer be placed upon Sheppard’s team and the city itself when these, too, are overcome?

Preview Videos – Beware of Spoilers! –

Solutions Coverage –

[Episode still courtesy of Andreas of Repro Images.]