Stargate Atlantis movie - on hold?

Have read a couple very brief mentions that the Stargate Atlantis movie has been 'temporarily shelved' due to the finanial climate. Apparently Kavan Smith told fans this at the Pegasus 4 convention. Anybody have any more details? Thanks!!

Jan 26, 7pm -update - More (or less) from Mallozzi at http://wraithfodder.livejournal.com/301100.html

Michael Shanks and Stargate Universe

Hmm, now this 'stuntcasting' would draw in a LOT of SG1 fans....


SciFi Wire posted today... MICHAEL SHANKS HAS A SURPRISE ABOUT STARGATE UNIVERSE

"I talked to [executive producer] Brad Wright a couple of weeks ago, and he asked me if I'd be interested in doing a cameo in the Universe pilot, and I of course said I would be," Shanks said in an exclusive interview. "And there's a great deal of talk about [it]. ... They've got a script going and everything like that."

Shanks added that he hasn't put Dr. Jackson away completely yet. "There will be a Stargate SG-1 movie [for DVD], probably filmed around the same time the [Stargate] Atlantis movie is filmed this coming summer," he added. "So that's all going to be going on."

Shanks played Jackson on and off for a decade in Stargate SG-1, as well as on the spinoff series Stargate Atlantis and in the made-for-DVD movies The Ark of Truth and Continuum.

The next SG-1 movie, "as far as I know, is pretty Rick-heavy [as in Richard Dean Anderson], pretty O'Neill [Anderson]-heavy," Shanks said. "So I don't know much more than that, but I will most definitely be involved in it."  ....

Shanks explained that it's the ideal situation to be able to stay in the Stargate game without being tied to it as an everyday job. "It's great," he said. "After 10 years and getting not picked up or canceled or whatever you want to call it, it feels almost a little bit odd, because you're so used to the process. But going away from it, it's great to be able to explore other opportunities. When you're doing a show for nine months a year, you always want to shake it up and do other things, but you don't have the time. Now, it's the best of both worlds. We can get on with it and have other experiences and still revisit the franchise and the great family environment that we have with the cast and crew. 'The further adventures of ...' is a nice treat."

REST AT http://scifiwire.com/2009/01/michael-shanks-has-a-surprise-about-stargate-universe.php

 

More (or less) on the Stargate Atlantis movie

Wow, Joe Mallozzi posted in his blog before midnight!

http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/2009/01/26/january-26-2009-city-of-saints-and-madmen-by-jeff-vandermeer/

"So what, many of you have been asking, IS happening with the SG-1 and SGA movies? Well, at last report, Carl was about 20 pages away from a first pass of the script which will then find it’s way onto Brad’s laptop where he will do his pass. The Atlantis movie is still an outline but Paul and I will be starting work on the script in the coming weeks and hope to have it completed by April. An official production start date for either movie has yet to be announced. More detailed discussions on both movies will be taking place in the coming weeks and, hopefully, I’ll have more definitive news for you then regarding everything from actor participation to a preliminary schedule."

So, an answer, but not an answer, as even he doesn't know. So, maybe around Sweeps Weeks we'll know something? Who knows.

Gah, clueless television producers

Someone posted this link on their LJ - http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117998604.html?categoryid=3521&cs=1# -

"We want people to come to this who've never heard of 'Battlestar Galactica,' " explains Sci Fi prexy Dave Howe, whose network has ordered 20 hours of the new series. "I think there was a barrier to entry for some viewers (for 'Galactica'), since it had the backdrop of space and spaceships."

Moore concurs, saying "We had viewers say that if they were able to trick their wives or girlfriends into watching 'Galactica,' they loved it."

But with the name "Battlestar Galactica" "screaming science fiction," he adds, "there was just such a high hurdle to get female viewers to even try it."

Did they think that women didn't watch scifi? Do they not realize how many women do watch scifi? I mean, gah, go to a convention sometime! And Stargate Atlantis and SG-1 seem to have lots of female fans. Maybe they just didn't, er, like BSG? Good grief, if space and spaceships were a 'barrier', then why did Star Trek succeed so well? Hmm...

Meanwhile, I have this feeling they will somehow tag-team Caprica with Stargate Universe after reading about Carpica... "You can just feel it running out of control, with its youth culture and its moral choices. There's doom in the air, but not doom in terms of the human spirit," Moore says.

Eh, kevetching done ;)