Roland Emmerich didn’t used to be a household name, unless you lived in Roland Emmerich’s house we suppose. He had a modest hit in 1992 with Universal Soldier, that movie about dueling zombie Vietnam veterans played by Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren, but the movie that shot him to the Hollywood A-list was 1994’s Stargate, a completely ridiculous but otherwise nifty sci-fi flick that claimed that aliens built the pyramids but hadn’t changed a single thing about their culture for thousands of years afterwards. If Hollywood is any indication, our culture won’t be the tiniest bit different millennia from now either: we’ll still be remaking Stargate every 20 years.
Yes, it was only a matter of time before Hollywood got around to rebooting Stargate, but rather than infuse the franchise with fresh blood they’re using their original stock: director Roland Emmerich will once again direct, and producer Dean Devlin will once again produce. The new film will be the first in a trilogy, because of course it is.
“Stargate created an expansive cinematic universe that has engaged fans for two decades,” said Warner Bros. overseer Greg Silverman in an article at The Wrap. “Under the guidance of Roland and Dean, these new films will build upon the creativity and popularity of the first film, while delivering an original film-going experience for fans and those new to the franchise.”
In other words, it would appear that although the many Stargate TV series are largely responsible for keeping interest in the original film alive, the new films will pretty much ignore them in favor of revisiting Roland Emmerich’s masterpiece, or whatever you’d like to call it.
Stargate was fun and all but it’s also – be honest – pretty honking silly, and “silly” is something that Roland Emmerich has pretty much mastered in the years that followed the original film’s release. So maybe this reboot will turn out okay. Maybe. Eh… probably not.
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and the host of The B-Movies Podcast and The Blue Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
