STARGATE Producer Gives Update on The Reboot: "It's To Let Us Finish Telling Our Story"

The idea of filmmakers rebooting a franchise in order to finish telling their original story may seem antithetical, but it's exactly what producer Dean Devlin and director Roland Emmerich are planning for Stargate. The duo originally planned for their 1994 movie to be the first part in a trilogy, but, as Devlin says, "because of what happened with the rights and changes at the studio and all kinds of strange things, we never got to do parts two and three.”

Variety sat down with him and asked about his plans for the reboot and why they didn't just take the same approach they did with Independence Day: Resurgence and pick up where they left off:

“It’s not a story that can take place 20 years later. So the only way to really tell that trilogy is to go back from the beginning and start the story all over again. It was taken away from us, and it’s tough to have your children raised by other parents, even if they do a very good job. … For us, it’s not putting down what has been done [the TV shows with which they weren't involved]. It’s to let us finish telling our story."

Devlin says the modern Hollywood studio system is now concentrating on cinematic universes, so they're developing this new reboot with that in mind. Resurgence writers Nicolas Wright and James A. Woods are writing the screenplay for Stargate, and I'm sure fans will be intrigued with how the films will be able to move beyond what Emmerich and Devlin were able to do the first time and to see their intended story finally come to a proper end.