You might think it’s stating the obvious to say that any reasonably successful blockbuster that ends up launching an entire shared universe and continues expanding for decades would get at least one feature-length sequel, but Stargate stands out as an anomaly for the opposite reasons.
Roland Emmerich’s high concept sci-fi epic was a decent-sized hit that notched almost $197 million at the box office on a budget of $55 million, ensuring the profit margins were more than healthy enough to justify a follow-up. And yet, it’s one of the biggest cosmic properties of the last 30 years without even coming close to reaching the big screen again, making it a true outlier.
The expanded Stargate mythology encompasses three popular TV shows, three made-for-TV movies, almost a dozen video games, a webseries, and an animated spin-off, but no theatrically-released successors. It’s unusual to say the least, although Amazon and MGM do have plans for a reboot, even if it’ll no doubt come with the caveat that the next iteration will only be available on streaming.
It’s not even what you’d call a missed opportunity either, given that Stargate has retained immense popularity despite not being invited back into multiplexes since 1994, no matter how perplexing its existence has been as an IP. With FlixPatrol revealing the OG as one of the most-watched titles on Amazon’s ad-supported platform Freevee, though, there’s obviously still an appetite there to see how things shake out in a story that’s designed with the silver screen in mind.