Joseph Mallozzi Talks Stargate Atlantis Movie and Universe

Longtime Stargate producer Joseph Mallozzi recently sat down to talk with About.com on all things he did right, wrong, and wished he could have done when it comes to the canceled Atlantis TV show. If you’re a fan of the show, I recommend reading the full interview, it’s quite the read. But what about the proposed Atlantis DVD movies and the future of the Stargate TV universe, in particular the upcoming Stargate: Universe? Mallozzi had lots to say about those as well.

About the Atlantis movie:

We have a detailed pitch and we’re going to be having an official discussion probably next week about how we want to proceed. And then Paul and I are probably going to start work on the script very soon. I’ve just got to get this Universe script out of the way, my first Universe script. I’m late into the fourth act at this point. By next week we should probably get started.

On Universe:

But on the other hand, it’s going to be a little bit more — I don’t want to use the word “space opera,” but it is more relationship-based, it is more arc-driven, it’s less monster- or situation-of-the-week. We’re focusing less on — in fact, we’re not even focusing at all on going to the planets and meeting the humanoid, English-speaking aliens. It’s less that focus on Our Hero and more on an ensemble cast. The past month or so have just been watching endless, endless auditions trying to cast these parts. We’re almost there — at this point we’re casting a dozen or more major roles. It’s exciting, introducing new characters, and starting something in a sense similar, but fresh as well.

That’s one of the things that Stargate did well in the past, and even though we still will be arc-driven, we will always take pains to ensure that first-time viewers will always be able to jump on at a certain point and get caught up fairly quickly, and be able to enjoy the show from there.

I want to liken it to something on TV, but I can’t really — I guess you can liken it to Battlestar Galactica, in that it’s science-fiction and it’s more arc-driven, but in terms of tone, in terms of situation, in fact in terms of the story it is very unlike Battlestar. I’d say it’s more Lost than Battlestar, but even then I’m reluctant to make that comparison.

He also talks about the overwhelmingly negative fan reaction to news of Atlantis’ premature cancellation and all the Stargate 90210 elements we’ve heard, read, or seen of the new Stargate show. It’s a good read, and I would recommend it for fans of the franchise.