Sci-Fi Storm

AirlockAlpha has an article about the win-lose situation involving the Stargate Worlds MMOPRG game that has been in development for years and put on hold earlier this year – and now will likely never see the light of day. Developer Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year, won a court ruling that says it owns all the intellectual property for the game, which former employees tried to walk away with and form a rival company. However, MGM has revoked their franchise license – so all the materials regarding Stargate can no longer be used. However, Stargate: Resistance was apparently not affected by the license.

SyFy unveiled a list of upcoming guest stars on Stargate Universe (which starts again on Sept. 28th), and one character that fans have been clamoring for – Dr. Rodney McKay – will finally make an appearance, with David Hewlitt reprising his Stargate Atlantis role. Also announced are Victor Garber (Alias), as an alien ambassador; Robert Picardo reprises his role as Richard Woolsey, who last was head of the Atlantis expedition; Kathleen Quinlan (Apollo 13) as Senator Michaels, who replaces the deceased Senator Armstrong as the head of the off-world spending committee; French Stewart (3rd Rock From The Sun) as Dr. Andrew Covel, head of research at the SGC (and the original Lt. Ferretti in the Stargate movie); and Robert Knepper (Heroes) and Julie McNiven (Supernatural) in multiple episodes as Lucian Alliance members.

Season 1.5 of Stargate Universe was released a couple of weeks ago on [sfs=1031]Blu-ray[/sfs] and [sfs=1032]DVD[/sfs], and I’ve had a chance to catch up and review the DVD version.

SG-U is a different beast from the previous efforts. It tries to expand the plot that was the genesis of Stargate Atlantis – a team finds itself extremely distant from home at the other end of a one-way stargate trip, mostly in isolation. Whereas Atlantis was still able to receive supplies from Earth (and eventually solved the general problem between starships and the stargate bridge), the team this time is totally isolated except for the ability to use the consciousness transfer stones – which themselves bring up several plot points which are addressed in the series instead of simply ignored. This time as well, the “team” is a combination of military and civilian characters thrown together by circumstance rather than by mission, forced into that circumstance to escape an attack but also through the non-altruistic intents of Dr. Geoffrey Rush (Robert Carlisle), who would rather prove his theories and general greater intelligence than solve problems. And instead of a floating city, they are stranded on an empty Ancient ship (of ancient Ancient design 🙂 ) called the Destiny, where they have very little control over the ship, and few resources.
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Anyone remember that MMORPG that was in development for years based on the Stargate franchise, Stargate Worlds? I wouldn’t be surprised if it slipped your mind since it has been 4 years. I believe it actually entered a closed beta phase at one point though…but now it is on hold per an email. The producer, Cheyenne Mountain, is restructuring in the hopes of finishing the game. This forum post however is a little more bleak, with zero developers, zero web site maintenance, everything on hold.

There is however a bright spot – an alternate project, Stargate Resistance, is a third person shooter developed as a “proof of market” vehicle, to show there is life in the franchise. There is an indication that if this game proves popular, development on Worlds might resume.

Unfortunately I think this falls in the bucket of “great projects that came too late”, with SG-1 done for several years, Atlantis gone, and Universe still seeking the audience of the previous efforts. But then again you can’t develop a tie-in too early without knowing the stability of the franchise…

A little more news coming out of Comic-Con: Caprica will return in January for the second half of its freshman season (is it really still the same season if it airs a year after the first half?) and Ronald D. Moore is confident that with the plot picking up we will see a second season; and in Stargate Universe‘s second season, we can expect to see Dr. Rush (Robert Carlyle) return to his self-deterministic ways when he discovered the bridge of the Destiny; Eli get a new love interest and also visit his grandmother (in Carlyle’s directorial debut), and the discovery of a larger overall mission for the residents of the Destiny. Also interesting was a discussion about the unique shooting style, with multiple hidden cameras on set.

Producer Joseph Mallozzi posted on his blog that there WILL be a crossover episode between the Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe crews, with two of the cast members of the former signing on. Which cast members? He isn’t saying, as Syfy has that joy all to themselves.

Two to one that Rodney McKay is making appearance.

Just a few store updates: [sfs=1028]Season 3 of Battlestar Galactica[/sfs] gets its Blu-Ray release on July 27th; also on July 27th will be the second half of Season 1 of Stargate Universe on [sfs=1031]Blu-ray[/sfs] and [sfs=1032]DVD[/sfs]; the final full season of Heroes is out on [sfs=1030]Blu-ray[/sfs] and [sfs=1029]DVD[/sfs] on August 3rd; and the next three classic Doctor Who episodes are [sfs=1025]”The Creature From The Pit”[/sfs], [sfs=1026]”The King’s Demons”[/sfs], and [sfs=1027]”The Planet Of Fire”[/sfs], all out September 7th;

It may seem a strange place to find SF news, but the auditions and casting of the upcoming Hawaii Five-O has several tie-ins. The remake of the classic cop drama from the two-man team of Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Fringe, Star Trek), has cast Lost‘s Daniel Dae Kim in the role of Detective Chin Ho Kelly. And Stargate SG-1‘s Michael Shanks has auditioned for the famous role of “Danno” on the show as well, while he was also talking about his upcoming guest role on Smallville: Absolute Justice as Hawkman, and why he thinks there won’t be another Stargate SG-1 movie. But Dr. Jackson fans fret not – the character will appear again in a couple of Stargate Universe episodes.

Reports vary from sure thing to in negotiations, but as rumored it looks like Stargate Atlantis star Jason Momoa will star as Conan The Barbarian in the Marcus Nispel-directed remake of the character that helped Arnold Schwarzenegger become a household name.

SyFy has renewed both freshman series Stargate Universe and second-year Sanctuary from its Friday night staple lineup, giving both series new 20-episode orders. Some insights into the upcoming SGU half-season as well include more serialized episodes, and less reliance on skipping back to Earth – and finally some aliens.