Amanda Tapping

SCI FI and Tapping: "Sanctuary" Is All New

Emilie Ullerup as Ashley Magnus, Amanda Tapping as Helen Magnus, Robin Dunne as Will Zimmerman of "Sanctuary"

SCI FI WIRE’s Ian Spelling talked recently with Amanda Tapping about her new series Sanctuary, which will be making its television debut this fall on the Sci Fi Channel. Tapping represented her new show, for which she is starring and executive producing, at the channel’s Up Front event in New York held earlier this month.

The show already has a ready-made fan base thanks to its web-based predecessor, an eight-episode season that was made available for purchased downloads in May last year. Tapping did say, however, that the 13-episode first season of the television show will be significantly different, starting with the making of a new pilot for the series, created by Damian Kindler and co-written by Martin Wood, two Stargate veterans. “The fact is it’s already evolving. Our pilot that we’re now going to start shooting is very different from what you’ve seen on the Web.”

How significant the differences will be remains to be seen, but Tapping reassured her fans that her character Dr. Helen Magnus “is still this crazy character. She’s 157 years old, and she’s very eccentric and very sexy and very unapologetic. I love it.”

To read the full article, visit Sanctuary Is All New. Visit the web-based series’ homepage at Sanctuary for All.

ETA: A follow-up story was published by SCI FI: Sanctuary‘s Tapping Also Producer.

North Shore News Interviews Amanda Tapping

Vancouver’s North Shore News conducted an interview with Stargate star Amanda Tapping earlier this month to talk about her career with the franchise and other endeavors.

Tapping described her character Samantha Carter, “She’s strong, she’s smart, she’s capable, she’s unapologetic for it. I like her because she’s really well-rounded. Even from the start she wasn’t a stereotypical female sci-fi character. She had a lot more going on. And over the course of the years obviously the writers have really rounded her out as a human being and as a woman. And (she was) also just so physical too, which really appealed to me.”

At the time of the interview, Tapping was filming an episode for Season Five of Stargate Atlantis before moving over full-time to her role of Dr. Helen Magnus of Sanctuary at the end of this month. Sanctuary, for which Tapping also serves as executive producer, has been picked up by the Sci Fi Channel and TMN (The Movie Network in Canada) for a 13-episode season. The show had a unique way of presenting a pilot by showing it first on the Internet. “It’s such an interesting model. And I think it is the way that things are going to be going. We were riding the crest of that wave. And I’m not going to say that TV will ever become obsolete because I don’t think that it will, but a lot of people are going to the web for their entertainment. We just wanted to try it out.”

Tapping talked about some of her career history and how it was built up slowly as she started out filming commercials. She has a theatre background and co-founded a comedy troop in Toronto. She guest starred on the Vancouver television circuit until she landed the role of Captain Samantha Carter. As far as future roles, Tapping admitted, “I’d love to do a period drama. Starting out on stage and doing a lot of classic theatre, I’d love to get back to that.”

For the two direct-to-DVD movies, Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum, Tapping was enthused about returning to the sets to work with her SG-1 co-stars. “These people become not just your friends, but your family, and such a part of your life. It was fantastic getting back together for the DVD. It was so much fun.”

Stargate: The Ark of Truth was recently released in North America (Region 1) on March 11. Stargate: Continuum is due for a July release (the date of July 29 is being bandied about, but has not yet been confirmed). Tapping explained that the resolution of the Ori storyline in The Ark of Truth “will allow for future stand-alone movies that don’t have to keep reaching back into the mythology of the show,” according to Rosalind Duane of North Shore News. Tapping told Duane that she’s looking forward to possibly more Stargate features.

To read the complete two-page interview, visit Gifted group behind Stargate’s success.

Tapping, Wood Heading for Sanctuary?

As announced here at the Hollywood Reporter, Sci Fi Channel has “greenlighted” Sanctuary to become a TV series for the channel, and has ordered 13 new episodes of the series. The announcement also states: “The cast from the Web series will remain intact.” Relative to Stargate Atlantis, it states: “Tapping, who co-starred on that series last season, will return for several episodes.”

This is a clear indication Tapping will not be a regular on Stargate Atlantis for Season 5. She would only have part of February available to film on Atlantis, since filming of Sanctuary begins in March. Filming the 13-episode order will take nearly 5 months if a typical 7-day per episode shoot is used. Sci Fi could order more episodes, as well, keeping Tapping busy past the point of Atlantis S5 filming.

This news also puts into question the involvement of Stargate fan favorite director Martin Wood, who is strongly attached to Sanctuary. If he is gone from Stargate, fans will no doubt mourn his loss, both for his directorial skills and his exceptional DVD commentaries.

Fans may now begin speculating who might take over as commander of Atlantis. Torri Higginson told fans at the Pegasus 3 convention this weekend that she has not been approached to appear in Season 5 yet, so it’s a fair bet Weir will not be returning to lead the expedition. Will Rodney finally be given that leadership opportunity he feels he deserves? Only time and Sci Fi will tell. 🙂

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).

SGA S5 to Start Shooting February 19

Listed under “TV Pilots” at the BC Film Commission website, Stargate Atlantis is documented by the Commission to begin its filming of its fifth season on February 19, 2008, and complete it on September 23, 2008:

STARGATE ATLANTIS ~ SEASON V
Pegasus Productions V Inc.
Exec. Prod: Joseph Mallozzi, Paul Mullie, John Smith
Prod: John Lenic
DOP: Michael Blundell, Jim Menard
PD: James Robbins
PM: John Lenic
PC: David Magee
LM: Lorne Davidson
ALM: Dominic Main
Publicist: Brigitte Prochaska
Cast: Joe Flannigan, Jason Mamoa, Ish Kabibble
SPFX Coord: Wray Douglas
Casting: Corinne Clark, Jennifer Page
Extras: Sandra Couldwell
Sched: Feb 19/08 – Sep 23/08
2400 Boundary Rd.
Burnaby, BCV5M 3Z3
TEL: 292-8500
FAX: 292-8550

Interestingly enough, “Ish Kabibble” is listed as a cast member, perhaps because the actual cast members for the new season have not yet been officially announced (note that Joe Flanigan’s and Jason Momoa’s names appear in the list, but are misspelled). Fans corresponding directly with executive producer and co-showrunner Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog have been told that an official announcement is to be issued by the SCI FI Channel, rather than from him directly.

Joe Flanigan stated at his Burbank Creation Con appearance that he had signed up for Season Five, and Mallozzi has discussed continuity issues concerning Jason Momoa‘s hair after Momoa had a major haircut. Mallozzi also confirmed that Rachel Luttrell will be returning for Season Five, and Jewel Staite has mentioned returning to the sets in her personal blog, but hasn’t revealed for which or for how many episodes. And as for how Flanigan and David Hewlett will appear after seeing that they both were sporting beards for the People’s Choice Awards acceptance video, Mallozzi said, “The boys will be beardless for the start of the new season.”

This leaves the status of Paul McGillion (Dr. Carson Beckett), Torri Higginson (Elizabeth Weir), and Amanda Tapping (Col. Samantha Carter) still in question. Mallozzi has reassured the Save Carson Beckett campaigners that the “door will be left open” for Beckett’s return in Season Five. Additionally, the new Weir-Replicator story arc that was started in Martin Gero’s “Be All My Sins Remember’d” leaves Elizabeth Weir fans wondering if Torri Higginson will be returning to reprise her role. Gero reassured them, “Weir’s storyline will be revisited in season 5.” And as for Carter, Mallozzi has expressed his desire to see Amanda Tapping return for Season Five. It should be noted, however, concerning contract negotiations and writing the new episodes, Mallozzi said, “It’s very rare we’ll write a script without having an actor commit beforehand.”

Join Solutions for production coverage of Season Five, and please continue to visit to keep up with Season Four as new episodes are currently being aired on the Sci Fi Channel on Fridays at 10pm Eastern.

Sci Fi Wire: Tapping Wins Canadian Comedy Prize

SCI FI WIRE posted this announcement today:

Amanda Tapping (Stargate Atlantis) has won a Canadian Comedy Award for her performance in the short film Breakdown. The award was presented at a gala awards dinner last week at the Canadian Comedy Awards in London, Ontario, Canada.

Writer-director John Bolton and actor Winston Rekert were also nominated for their work on the film.

Breakdown is described as a “disaster film disaster” about a casting session gone horribly wrong. It was based on the award-winning short story by Canadian author Nancy Lee.

See our previous story on Tapping’s nomination for more information.

SGA S4 Filming Wraps, Actors Find Projects

SGA Season Four Cast
Cast of Season Four of Stargate Atlantis

Introduction

It might seem a bit strange talking about the end of Season Four’s filming just as the episodes are starting to make their world premieres on the Sci Fi Channel, but it’s that time of year once again! Word still hasn’t come from Sci Fi about renewal for a fifth season, though, so whether or not the fond farewells the cast and crew bid each other on Friday, October 5, were to mark the end of a season of filming or the series as a whole remains to be seen. Executive producer and co-showrunner Joseph Mallozzi, looking back over the season’s development, stated in his personal blog, “I’m extremely satisfied with the end-product, and extremely satisfied with all of the hard work put in by the cast, crew, writers – pretty much everyone who stepped up and helped make this such a terrific year.”

As far as what everyone will be doing over the hiatus (the time between filming the seasons), here’s a quick run-down from what we’ve been able to gather from the Internet. If there are more, please add to them in the comment section for this blog entry. 🙂

Joseph Mallozzi

Season Four was the first for Joseph Mallozzi and long-time writing partner Paul Mullie as showrunners for the show. Since Mallozzi has been keeping his personal blog for about a year now, fans have had an exceptional peek into what goes behind such a position. It’s apparent from Mallozzi’s entries that he has many interests, including trying out various restaurants and reading science fiction novels. Concerning how he’ll be spending his time off, Mallozzi wrote, “Well, it really depends. If the show doesn’t get picked up, I’ll probably be working on pilot scripts are heading down to L.A. for meetings. If the show does get picked up, then we’ll be spinning stories and heading off to write – over the hiatus. So, time off in the long-term? No. Time off in the short-term? Sort of. I’m so exhausted that I think I’ll be sleeping straight through next week and well into word on the show’s fate.”

Joe Flanigan

Joe Flanigan will be making some convention appearances this month in Australia (October 13-14) and New Zealand (October 20-22). He revealed at the Comic Con in San Diego earlier this year that MGM has tapped him to star in the remake of the 1991 film Shattered, filming for which was last heard to be starting in November. According to IMDb, the tagline for the 1991 film was “A love he can’t forget. A murder he can’t remember.”

Amanda Tapping has revealed in recent interviews that she’ll be making more webisodes for her on-line serial Sanctuary. She’s working with Stargate veterans Damian Kindler and Martin Wood to create another ten hours of entertainment, which equates to about 40 webisodes. Tapping said in a Sci Fi World interview, “Really, honestly, I just want to get Sanctuary up and going, that’s my main motivation right now.”

Rachel Luttrell

Rachel Luttrell is currently expecting her first child, so right now things are a bit quiet for her as she prepares for this momentous event. Her pregnancy was written into her character Teyla’s story arc for Season Four. Luttrell posted a note to her fans on her official website, “Another season has blown by. And it has been a wonderful one. I will endeavor to attend the party [wrap party held on September 29]…. but my first child may decide to make an appearance at any moment now. Exciting times!”

Jason Momoa

Jason Momoa is a new father! He and partner Lisa Bonet celebrated the birth of daughter Lola Iolani Momoa on July 21. According to one report, Momoa’s mother revealed more about the baby girl: “The middle name means royal hawk, and was chosen as there were hawks flying around [overhead] during the birth. The baby has ‘long legs, lots of black hair, and her lips are the perfect shape.'”

Momoa’s family means a lot to him, as he recently got a large tattoo that represents his family crest on his left forearm that the producers covered for “Adrift” and “Lifeline”, but will reveal in “Reunion”. Momoa gave Flanigan a new guitar at the end of filming for Season Four that is decorated with the same pattern. Fans can see the guitar in a picture Joseph Mallozzi posted in his blog entry for October 1.

David Hewlett

David Hewlett saw his independent film A Dog’s Breakfast distributed on DVD on September 18 (see Solutions Blog story on the release). He’s already working on his next movie’s script, Design of the Dead, which Hewlett talked about in an interview at Eclipse Magazine: “I loved Evil Dead; I loved Fright Night. It’s just that I loved that kind of stuff. And then, strangely, I’m a fan of these Home & Garden kind of home renovation shows. In this bid to become kind of the Martha Stewart of horror, I’ve combined the two. It’s about a design show that goes into this house to give it a new life, and it ends up waking the dead. It’s a lot of fun to write. I’m halfway through it now, so we’ll see how much time I get to sit down and write the rest of it. Right now it’s called Design of the Dead. It just seems in keeping with the Romero films, and the obvious likeness would be Shaun of the Dead, as well. That was sort of an honest appreciation of zombie films — and I just want to make a funny one.”

Hewlett had also said in his blog that he was writing a part in the movie for Christopher Judge.

Hewlett and his partner Jane Loughman are expecting their first child very soon. While waiting, Hewlett quickly noted in his Twitter recently, “Baby really taking its time…going to do this “Helen” movie next week now!” This movie stars Ashley Judd and is scheduled to film from October 9 to December 11 in Vancouver.

Jewel Staite

Jewel Staite recently finished filming some scenes in Panama for her new movie The Tribe. In a recent interview at SCI FI WIRE, Staite revealed a little more about the film: “It’s basically about a girl who starts off as being very meek and kind of subservient and scared about life in general and then really has to step up to the plate and become the leader, become the alpha in the situation. So it was really fun to play. It was a really complex character, and, yeah, it should be coming out next summer.”

In her latest MySpace blog entry, Staite answered a few questions from her fans, one being about the roles she chooses to play: “I love that I get these smart women roles, but it’s also fun to play the helpless victim sometimes, when it’s written well. What’s really great is someone who starts out as helpless and grows into the hero. Or superhero. That flies. And kicks ass.”

Staite is scheduled to appear at the Collectormania 12 Convention in Milton Keynes, England (October 26-28).

Season Four Continues…

Season Four of Stargate Atlantis continues on the Sci Fi Channel on Friday, October 12, at 10pm Eastern, with “Reunion”.

Tapping on Carter as "Spark from SG-1"

Stephanie Sanchez of IESB.net has compiled the entire interview conducted between several journalists and Amanda Tapping and Jewel Staite about their roles on Stargate Atlantis and in science fiction in general. During the lengthy interview, Tapping talked about how Carter fits into the Stargate universe, since she’s appearing in both of SG-1‘s direct-to-DVD movies and Season Four of Atlantis.

Because Carter leaves her team SG-1 to become the commander of the Atlantis Base, many fans have wondered how that will affect Carter’s position in Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum. Tapping clarified, “I mean even though we shot them concurrently when I talked to Rob Cooper and Joe Mallozzi and Paul [Mullie] about it, Sam crosses over after the two movies.” The mere knowledge of that spoils both movies in that Carter, as a member of SG-1, survives any and all threatening events she might face in the two adventures. The realization of that made Tapping exclaim, “Damn, I gave it away.”

Joseph Mallozzi had already indicated in his personal blog that Carter “will be a Full Bird Colonel for both the movies and Atlantis’s fourth season” (see his June 14th entry), so her promotion will first be “seen” in Stargate: The Ark of Truth. She’s also seen wearing the SG-1 patch in this season’s second episode of Stargate Atlantis, “Lifeline”, which premieres tonight on the Sci Fi Channel at 10pm Eastern (see image at left), indicating that she’s still a member of that team until she becomes the commander of the Atlantis Base (in next week’s episode, “Reunion”, in which Christopher Judge also makes a cameo appearance as Teal’c).

Because Carter is no longer a member of SG-1 and is living in the Pegasus Galaxy, how will this affect any future movies involving Carter and SG-1 (there is already talk of two more movies, according to Mary McNamara of Multichannel News, Charlie Cohen at MGM said, “Our hope is, of course, is that these things are very popular. Our desire is to keep making them. We’ve already started thinking about numbers three and four.”)? Tapping replied, “The movies would have to sort of work as autonomous little anomalies out there. I’ve stormed myself of Brad Wright’s floor and held my breath and counted on the floor with… so I don’t think he wants to see that again, so I’m hopeful that I’ll be back on if more movies happen.”

The loss of Stargate SG-1 was felt by its fans when Stargate Atlantis premiered without its sister show last week. To encourage fans of other SG-1 teammembers to watch Atlantis, Tapping talked about Judge’s appearances in Season Four (in “Reunion” and “Midway”), “It was great fun having him on the show and I’d love to see Michael [Shanks] come over.” Mallozzi recently stated in his personal blog that if there is to be another member of SG-1 to make an appearance on Stargate Atlantis in the future, “Daniel would be a priority given his connection to Atlantis.”

But as it stands for Season Four, Carter is the only former member of SG-1 to have a major presence in Stargate Atlantis. Tapping commented, “I think Atlantis stands on its own really well. And I think, you know, I mean, me crossing over hopefully, you know, in spite of some disparaging comments from some fans or some sections of fandom, I think for the most part people are pretty excited about it, so, if there’s any spark from SG-1, it will be little old me.”

To read the full interview, visit IESB.net: Interview: Amanda Tapping and Jewel Staite from Stargate: Atlantis!

SG-1 Spoilers: Producers and Cast on "The Ark of Truth"

Thanks go to our on-site forum member SueS for gleaning out some spoilers for Robert C. Cooper’s Stargate: The Ark of Truth from the lastest edition of the Official Stargate SG-1/Atlantis Magazine (issue #18):

Robert Cooper: “The movie I’m doing, The Ark of Truth, is the two-parter that I was going to do as the cliff-hanger ending of season 10 and opening episode of season 11. We were never going to get the resolution that we get in the movie, the movie is a much more climactic condensation of the arc that we were going to tell in season 11. That makes it more exciting. So many big things happen in the movie, it’s got a scope to it that normal episodes of the series just don’t have. Not just in terms of the money we’re spending on it, or the time we’ve taken to make it, it’s more the story and how big that is.”

Brad Wright: “Robert’s story, The Ark of Truth, is just great fun too. They’re both very ambitious and we’re throwing out every trick we know. What we’re really doing is telling a longer, more complex story than we do with our television episodes. It’s not a long episode – it’s different. We’re very excited.”

Ben Browder: “The thing is we’re back to shooting (The Ark of Truth) on 35mm film, and I love the look of 35mm. Robert (Cooper) is moving the camera in a way that we didn’t move it on the series, and that’s exciting. The first movie is more related to the last few episodes of the series …”

Amanda Tapping: “The Ark of Truth is really a wrapping up of the Ori storyline. Carter spends a lot of time on the Odyssey, fixing a major problem there because we’re dealing with Replicators and a whole myriad of other nasties. It is a big wrap up of the Ori storyline so there’s a lot of Daniel and Vala and Adria.”

Beau Bridges: “In these two movies it’s really kind of time for the Ori to get theirs! One of my favorite lines that I have in the movie is when I look this one Prior in the face and say, “You go ahead and burst into flames!” They know they’re going down, and they do. It’s so much fun to be back with the old crew … these guys and girls, they’re a terrific group, and the people behind the scenes, a lot of the same ones are back for these two movies. I hope we do some more. In the end they kind of leave it open-ended and there’s a feeling that it will go on, and I hope it does. I feel like I’m kind of in a dream being back with everyone. It’s wonderful.”

Michael Shanks: “In the first film we are tying up what we didn’t get a chance to tie up at the end up the series, which is the Ori storyline that we’ve been doing for the last couple of years. It’s a very complex villain that we’ve created, it seems trite to cheat them in any way without fulfilling some sort of huge mission to take them down piece by piece, and we kind of have to do it all at once. I think the audience will be satisfied with the closure of the story, and some nice team moments and emotional moments, and everybody gets something to do which I think our audience usually enjoys.”

Pick up your copy of the Official Magazine on newstands now, or order through their website. Keep up with the spoilers for the movie in our movie guide in the Solutions Stargate Wiki.

Stargate: The Ark of Truth is due to be released worldwide on DVD in the Spring of 2008.

Sci Fi Weekly: Tapping, Shanks, Judge on Movies

SCI FI WEEKLY‘s Melissa Perenson has published short interviews with Amanda Tapping, Michael Shanks, and Christopher Judge about their experiences in the ten years of Stargate SG-1 and what’s in store for their futures.

The three remaining original cast members also talked about the two direct-to-DVD movies briefly:

The Ark of Truth

What was originally going to be Season Eleven of Stargate SG-1, Stargate: The Ark of Truth closes the Ori storyline that was started in Season Nine. Written and directed by Robert C. Cooper, the movie is due to be released world-wide in the Spring of 2008.

Asked if she is happy with how the arc was closed, Tapping replied, “I am, actually, yeah, I am. Because I think it still had a human quality to it. It wasn’t just a blow-’em-up, shoot-’em-out … There was still a very human element to the story, so I am happy with how it ended.”

Shanks, however, didn’t seem to be as satisfied when he offered, “I don’t think there is a way to please everybody. We had a two-year arc of that particular aspect of the storyline, and to spend two hours trying to wrap it all up really quickly, I don’t think is going to please everybody. So it’s hard to say if it’s an apropos wrap-up to it. But I think it’s satisfying enough that we don’t have to leave it lingering. So it was satisfying that we finished the storyline, but Rob [Cooper] still had the presence of mind to write the characters going back up the ramp and ready to take on the next challenge, so to speak. So we can at least end with the aspect these characters are continuing to explore, and we can live on in the imagination of the viewer.”

Judge said that he couldn’t say anything about the movie, but did say, “It’s the closure for the Ori storyline. And it’s big, big, big. It’s a great conclusion for that arc. In a series, it would have taken three or four episodes to tell that story, and we were able to do it in one contained movie.”

Continuum

Brad Wright’s Continuum was directed by long-time Stargate director Martin Wood. The movie sets the stage for the new way of telling SG-1 stories as stand-alone adventures. There is already talk about more movies to come in this new format. Continuum is due for world-wide release on DVD in the Fall of 2008.

Tapping shared some of her experience filming in the Arctic with Ben Browder and concluded with, “I was giddy. It was fun. I had gotten up at 2:30 the last morning so I could see the northern lights, and it was unbelievable.”

Shanks wasn’t asked about Continuum, but Judge was, and he responded, “It was fun, it was fun. It was a fantastic story. But for us around here, fun is always job one. And a lot of it was the fact that Brad was actually on set every day. Over the years, no one’s really gotten to know Coop and Brad, ’cause they’ve been the guys locked up in the tower writing the stories. But to have them actually on set, and for people to see that they’re funny and engaging and human …”

To read the full interviews in which the three talk about their future involvement with the franchise and their non-Stargate projects, visit SCI FI WEEKLY: Amanda Tapping, Michael Shanks and Christopher Judge look back on 10 thrilling years of Stargate SG-1.