Caddickisms

GateWorld - SCI FI confirms Atlantis cancellation, TV movie

Stargate: Atlantis has been cancelled. The show will run through its 100th episode in January 2009 and end on a cliffhanger, which will be resolved by a 2-hour movie.

So basically, this is the new way the studios want to handle their successful franchises - run the series for a while, then make a few DVDs. I suppose I can’t blame them. The formula worked for SG-1. Those two movies were pretty good, really, and I hear they’re selling decently.

The press release is all rosy and positive about how great it will be to tell stories in this universe on a larger canvas. I’ve no doubt that the movies will be good, and feel larger than any individual episodes. The franchise, however, is gonna die.

Yeah, I know there’s another spin-off series under consideration. If it gets green-lit, it might last a couple seasons. But let’s be honest… SG-1 is still the base of the franchise in most fans’ minds. And they’ve wrapped up their story lines. There’s some vague talk about doing another SG-1 movie, but I don’t think it will happen - at least not any time soon. And that’s the problem: the longer you go between “episodes,” the smaller your fan base gets. The public isn’t really known for it’s large attention-span. By the time the next movie comes out, even the true fans will be saying “now, where were we in this story again?”

So they’re going to wrap up the Atlantis story in a 2-hour movie. Great! I’m glad we get the end of the story. I even think they’ll be successful in doing maybe 2 more after that, assuming they do them within 1 year. But they’ll be progressively less ‘large’ feeling, because they can’t build on each other - they have to be self-contained units. That doesn’t mean they won’t be good, they just won’t be as good as they could be.

If the new spin-off gets picked up, it will already be over before it starts. It’ll have growing pains as everyone gets used to it and we figure out if we like this copy of a copy. Then it’ll be cancelled just as it’s starting to get good, because it didn’t do gang-buster numbers out of the gate. Then they’ll make a DVD to tie it up… maybe.

So my prediction is that 2009 will have two Stargate DVDs/TV Movies, 2010 might see a poorly received spin-off, and then Stargate will be dead.

Overall, that’ll be, what… 13 years? Not bad, I guess.

I think I’d prefer to have a really thick, heavy-hitting back half to a season with an explosive conclusion than a set of “let’s milk this thing dry” DVDs, though.

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J. Michael Straczynksi, the creator of the 5-year TV series Babylon 5 in the 90’s, has been doing little side stories from the B5 universe on and off since the show ended. A few TV movies, a canceled series (Crusade), a backdoor pilot (Legend of the Rangers - LOTR), and a direct-to-DVD anthology (B5: The Lost Tales - TLT) were all made, and none of them really reached the same level of quality as the original show. There was also a theatrical release (B5: The Memory of Shadows - TMOS) in the works for a while, but that fell through before even pre-production. There was a proposal for one more D2D starring fan favorite Garibaldi, but after the announcement JMS just made, it looks like that won’t happen, unfortunately:

B5 as a five year story stands beautifully on its own. If anything
else is to be continued from that story, it should be something that
adds to the legacy of B5, rather than subtracts from it.

As well intentioned as Rangers and TLT were, as enticing as it was to
return to those familiar waters, in the end I think they did more to
subtract from the legacy than add to it. I don’t regret having made
them, because I needed to go through that to get to the point where I
am now psychologically, but from where I sit now, I wouldn’t make them
again.

So I’ve let everyone up here know that I’m not interested in doing any
more low-budget DVDs. I’m not interested in doing any low-budget
cable things or small computer games. The only thing I would be
interested in doing regarding Babylon 5 from this point on is a full-
featured, big-budget feature film.

It’s that or nothing.

And if it’s nothing, I’m totally cool with that because the original
story stands on its own just fine. I’m not lobbying for it, I’m not
asking fans to write in about it (nor should you) because such
campaigns never really have much impact…that’s simply the position
I’ve taken up here. Lord knows I don’t lack for other things to do
these days. I’m busier on more prestige projects with terrific people
and great film-makers than at any other time in my career.

At the end of the day, for me, it’s not just a matter of getting more
B5. It’s a matter of getting more *good* B5 that respects what came
before it and doesn’t have to compromise visually or in terms of
action. The original show deserves better than that, the surviving
cast members deserve better than that, and the fans who have supported
it over the years definitely deserve better than that. A lot better.

So, barring a big-budget movie, which is pretty unlikely, Babylon 5 will see no more stories. That’s a shame, because JMS had created a universe rich with story-telling potential, and there’s a lot left that could be done. But then again, aside from the vast potential snuffed out in Crusade, I’d have to agree that the other efforts suffered greatly when compared to the original series. He’s right in saying that the 5-year story stands on its own. And if it has to end, then I’m okay with that.

And as he says, he’s got plenty of other stuff to keep him busy.

Still… I wouldn’t mind a couple more book trilogies…

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Lots of news and some rumors hitting the net lately… here are the best of the bunch for Sci-Fi and comics lovers:

The next Stargate SG-1 film titled Stargate: Continuum now has a July 29 DVD release date.

Marvel has announced that Iron Man 2 has been confirmed for release in 2010, in addition to a movie about Thor. Also reported: the Avengers and Captain America (with Matthew McConaughey as the lead?) in 2011.

Also announced by Marvel: an Ant Man movie, though the timeline for the film is unknown. (This is where they start to lose me… Ant Man? Seriously? I think they’re stretching to reach a mainstream audience with that one. My guess is his popularity in the Avengers movie will determine if this one really gets made.)

Iron Man, Tony Stark, will make a cameo in The Incredible Hulk.

Superman: Man of Steel will now not be delayed due to the “Justice League of America” film but is geared up for a 2009 release with Brandon Routh back as Superman.

Both Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and The Dark Knight will run over 140 minutes. In fact, The Dark Knight may run close to three hours.

Speaking of The Dark Knight, director Christopher Nolan has signed on for a third Batman feature, and Christian Bale has expressed interest as well. Details of plot are even starting to circulate - apparently the film will focus on Two-Face and may introduce Robin, following the plot of the graphic novels “The Long Halloween” and “Dark Victory” for a rough outline.

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Hicks Picks 9 - Slice of Scifi

AUGH! This is annoying.

“Stargate” movies delayed

The direct-to-home-theater “Stargate” movies are coming–but it’s going to take a bit longer than expected.

20th Century Fox told Gateworld that the first movie, “Stargate: The Ark of Truth” has been pushed back until early 2008 and that the next film “Stargate: Continuum” will also be delayed. Tentative release dates are now March and October of next year, respectively.

“Ark of Truth” is set to resolve the two-year long story arc concerning the Ori and was eagerly anticipated by “Stargate” fans. No official word yet on why the movies have been delayed. “The Ark of Truth” has been in post-production for several weeks now and “Continuum” just finished up principal filming a few weeks ago.

There is some good news for SG-1 fans. On his TV Guide Blog, actor Michael Shanks stated that should the movies perform well, the studio is interested in producing two direct-to-home-theater “Stargate SG-1″ films a year. Shanks told fans to “cross their fingers.” It probably wouldn’t hurt to buy the disc when it comes out either.

There is some speculation that the studio could order a third direct-to-home-theater “SG-1″ movie before the release of the “The Ark of Truth.”

We’ll keep our eyes and ears open for any details and firm release dates as they become available.

What the delay may do, though, is provide some room in the Atlantis scripts for ‘teasers’ about the movies - just little mentions here and there about what’s going on in the Ori fight, potentially drumming up some further demand. That could be cool.

And if it gives them time for another “direct to home theater” project, I’m okay with that, too. Though I have no idea what format “direct to home theater” refers to.

Technorati Tags: Stargate SG-1, Ori, Atlantis, direct to DVD

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I was really hoping this movie would be better than it was. Alas, it wasn’t.

After a promising beginning, dealing with the “death” of Captain America, and setting up some multi-decade intrigue, the movie’s plot devolved into nothing more than, “here’s a character, here’s his/her power, he/she isn’t a team player, now everybody get together and fight something.”

They did attempt a small bit of character development, especially with Captain America and Bruce Banner/Hulk, but it was really not handled well. And the villains were not developed at all! With the promising set-up in the World War II setting, there was a lot of mystery surrounding these guys. The writers obviously wanted to do something with it, but either couldn’t figure it out, or it got cut completely out of the movie. Early on, one character even asks, “Why are they still here?” and the response is all we ever get about it: “We don’t know.” That’s it.

The real answer, of course, is so the good guys have someone to fight. But that’s not really helpful, plot-wise.

It’s a shame, because reading about some of these same characters in the current Marvel “Civil War” event in the comic books, it’s obvious that there is a lot of excellent character development and interesting story to draw from. It’s really disappointing that they chose to make this release so unsatisfyingly formulaic. I’ve seen better story arcs in many of the Marvel cartoons (like the X-Men and Spiderman cartoons that aired on U.S. TV in the 1990’s).

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