Canceled Stargate Sequel Was Going To Be A Mythical Monster Movie
Dean Devlin had plans for two follow up Stargate films featuring Yetis and the Loch Ness Monster.
The original Stargate film was a box office success, and writer Dean Devlin revealed that he had plans for two sequel movies that never came to fruition. In an interview with Yahoo! Entertainment, Devlin (who also wrote the Will Smith action film Independence Day and the Jean-Claude Van Damme sci-fi Universal Soldier) revealed the films’ plots. The first would focus on a connection between the Mayans and the Egyptians, and the second would center around mythological creatures such as the Yeti and the Loch Ness Monster.
The Stargate series has always dabbled in providing conspiracy theory-esque sci-fi explanations for ancient mythology. The original film and Stargate-SG1 used ancient Egyptian mythology with The Goa’uld, and Stargate Atlantis included the mythology surrounding the sunken city of Atlantis (obviously). So both of these Stargate sequel films would have fit perfectly with Stargate’s general themes.
However, the third Stargate film’s focus on mythological creatures, rather than humans or humanoid species, separates the sequel from how the Stargate franchise has generally operated. While there are definitely nonhuman monsters in the Stargate franchise (such as the Bug People in Stargate: Atlantis and the flesh-eating creature in Stargate SG-1), these creatures generally had nothing to do with human mythology.
It’s not clear how exactly the Yeti and the Loch Ness Monster would have connected to the larger franchise, though it’s safe to say they almost certainly have been aliens who were brought to Earth using the titular Stargates. Discovering who brought them through the Stargate, and why they were left behind, would probably be the sequel’s main plot.
Unfortunately for Stargate fans who are nipping at the bud to see space yeti, the machinations of MGM prevented the planned sequels from ever coming to fruition. The film studio, which was originally just the distributor for the independently-produced Stargate, bought the rights to the movie from its financers. This left Dean Devlin and director Roland Emmerich completely unable to control the direction of the franchise.
With the Stargate sequels no longer possible, Dean Devlin went on to write Independence Day and the 1998 Godzilla movie, though since then, he has fallen into obscurity. He has occasionally written and directed little-known films and TV series, such as 2017’s Geostorm and 2023’s The Ark, but his credits are few and far between.
Roland Emmerich’s career post-Stargate has been more prolific than Devlin’s in the absence of Stargate sequels. Most recently, was the director of the high-budget 2022 film Moonfall (though that was a flop), along with Midway, Independence Day: Resurgence, and Stonewall. He’s also involved in directing the upcoming films Maya Lord and Those About to Die, and he’s been rumored to be involved in an upcoming Stargate film, though those rumors are far from certain.
Stargate fans still ended up with plenty of great content to enjoy, even though the planned sequel films never got made. The film spawned three TV series, two direct-to-video films, one web series, and one animated series. With Amazon potentially reviving the franchise in the near future, fans might even have something to look forward to.
