Stargate Pilot to be Remade
In an interesting move, the creators of the hit sci-fi series Stargate will be remaking the original pilot from 1997.
Speaking exclusively to GateWorld, co-creator Brad Wright announced that they would be remaking the original pilot to fit in with the Stargate universe. "I saw it on television, and I thought, 'We can do better than this," he said. "And it wasn't just the visual effects -- it was the whole thing. It was the way we tell story. It was the whole 4:3 thing. And I thought the score and the music was so heavy-handed. And, frankly, there was some bad writing."
The episode, entitled Children of the Gods, was intended to bring people in to the Stargate universe even if they hadn’t watched the 1994 movie. It started out with Daniel Jackson and Jack O’Neil from the movie (though obviously played by new actors, Michael Shanks and Richard Dean Anderson respectively), and introduced us to Captain Samantha Carter (played by Amanda Tapping), Teal’c (played by Christopher Judge) and the, at first, hard-nosed Major General George Hammond (played by Don S. Davis).
And that first introduction in to the TV world of Stargate was definitely different from the Stargate known today. Most prominently would be the full-frontal nudity, starring Vaitiare Bandera as Sha’re, Daniel Jackson’s wife, who would be then implanted with an alien symbiote. Apparently the decision was insisted upon by the Showtime network, which planned to air SG-1 at 10 p.m., but vocally opposed by Wright.
"It doesn't belong in Stargate," Wright said. "I'm not a prude, [but] this is a family show. It has violence, there's no question it has violence, but it is almost always some sort of 'just' violence as opposed to random or gratuitous."
The remake will be remade from the originally filmed material. "We went back to dailies," Wright said. "We are rescoring. There is new material, but most of the new material is visual effects or scenes that have been cut. It is tighter. It is significantly tighter. ... The editing pattern is different, and therefore the performances are different. It's a different movie."
"Children of the Gods" will be ready for a DVD release by the end of 2008, though it is up to MGM and FOX Home Entertainment as to just when it will be available. It could also air in high definition on MGM's new HD channel, or SCI FI's HD channel. Either way this is a bold and good move for Stargate, which is hoping to air a third series in the near future, not to mention sell a second direct-to-DVD movie and air further seasons of Stargate Atlantis.