Stargate is a military science fiction media franchise owned by Amazon MGM Studios. It is based on the film directed by Roland Emmerich, which he co-wrote with producer Dean Devlin; production company StudioCanal owns the rights to the original film. The franchise is based on the idea of an alien wormhole (specifically an Einstein–Rosen bridge) device (the Stargate) that enables nearly instantaneous travel across the cosmos. The franchise began with the film Stargate, released on October 28, 1994, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Carolco, which grossed US$197 million worldwide. In 1997, Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner created a television series titled Stargate SG-1 as a sequel to the film. This show was joined by Stargate Atlantis in 2004, Stargate Universe in 2009, and a prequel web series, Stargate Origins, in 2018. Also consistent with the same story are a variety of books, video games and comic books, as well as the direct-to-DVD movies Stargate: Children of the Gods, Stargate: The Ark of Truth, and Stargate: Continuum, which concluded the first television show after 10 seasons. In 2011, Stargate Universe, the last Stargate program on television, ended its run. Brad Wright announced that there were no more plans to continue the same story in further productions. In 2016, comic publisher American Mythology acquired the rights to publish new Stargate Atlantis stories set within the established franchise canon. This was expanded in 2017 to include new Stargate Universe comics as well, resolving the cliffhanger that ended the show. The predominant story arc thus ran for more than 15 years, including 18 seasons (364 episodes) of programming, and 22 comic book issues as of January 2020. However, a variety of other media either ignore this main continuity or reset it, while maintaining essential elements that define the franchise (mainly, the inclusion of a Stargate device). These include the 2002 animated series Stargate Infinity.
Premise
The Stargate franchise is built around the in-universe titular device of the Stargate, a ring-shaped device built by an ancient intergalactic race of beings that allows almost instantaneous travel across vast distances via wormholes that can be "dialed" between any two Stargates on the network. The shows themselves are typically set contemporaneous to when they were made, featuring real-world or "realistic" technologies in an otherwise science-fiction setting. Most incarnations of the franchise follow a similar structure, following the exploits of the lead expeditionary team of the show's setting on various one-off or season-arc continuing episodes, with major differences being the principal setting and main villains faced.
Franchise releases Due to multiple developers working separately and independently on the franchise over the years, the various Stargate productions are not entirely consistent with each other; and while no set of works forms an official canon, the largest following exists for the three live-action series.
Media releases
Films
Television
Documentaries and specials
Game releases
Stargate: Timekeepers is a live strategy video game which began development in May 2021 and released January 23, 2024 for the PC from Slitherine and CreativeForge Games. Stargate SG-1: Unleashed is an adventure game featuring the original SG-1 team for Android and iOS developed by MGM and Arkalis Interactive. Stargate: Resistance is an online, third-person shooter. It was released February 10, 2010. It has since been cancelled due to contracts with MGM. It is still downloadable, however. Stargate Worlds was a Stargate-universe massively multiplayer online role-playing game in development before its cancellation. The writers and producers of Stargate viewed Stargate Worlds as running side by side with the show in complete canon. Stargate SG-1: The Alliance was a computer game based on the Stargate universe, which was due to be released in late 2005, but was canceled. A Stargate Trading Card game was released in May 2007. It is available in both Online and Print forms. Designed by Sony Online Entertainment – who also run the Online version of the game – and published by Comic Images. A Stargate Role-Playing Game (RPG) was produced by Alderac Entertainment. It was considered canon by both the publishers, and the staff of MGM. However, when Sony bought MGM, they lost the license to produce Stargate RPG products and the RPG license was unassigned. In 2021, Wyvern Gaming produced another Stargate SG-1 RPG, built on the Dungeons & Dragons 5e system. Similar to the Alderac-produced game, it and the adventure modules published for it were considered canon, but again a purchase - this time Amazon Studios' purchase of MGM - interrupted or killed the licensing and subsequent development of game expansions. Two video games based on the film were published by Acclaim Entertainment: a 1995 eponymous side-scrolling platform game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis, and a Tetris-like puzzle video game for the Game Gear and Game Boy. There are three simulator-style amusement park rides named Stargate SG-3000 located at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, Six Flags Great America, and Six Flags Marine World. A Stargate pinball game was produced by Gottlieb.
Stargate franchise timeline
Theatrical films
Stargate
The titular 1994 film Stargate, directed by Roland Emmerich and co-written by Emmerich and Dean Devlin, focuses on the initial "re-discovery" of the Stargate on Earth and the first expedition off-world. The film sees a team led by Colonel Jack O'Neil (Kurt Russell) and including Egyptologist Daniel Jackson (James Spader) venture through the Stargate to the planet of Abydos, finding a society of ancient Egyptian-speaking humans ruled by a space-faring alien (Jaye Davidson) posing in the role of the ancient Egyptian sun god Ra. The expedition eventually liberates the society from the control of the alien, killing it in the process, before the survivors (bar Daniel, who had ingrained himself with the locals) return to Earth.
Television
SG-1
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