Stargate: Extinction

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Stargate: Extinction

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Stargate: Extinction
Written by	Joseph Mallozzi & Paul Mullie
Released date(s)	Shelved Indefinitely
Continuity	Atlantis canon
Preceded by	"Enemy at the Gate"

Stargate: Extinction, previously known as Project Twilight, was the production name for the first movie based on Stargate: Atlantis, which would have followed the series' fifth season. Stargate: Extinction was to air in 2009, and would have been followed by more adventures from the lost city of the Ancients if it had been a success.

The film would have played into the established mythology of Stargate: Atlantis, but the story would not have had the burden of tying up loose story threads from the television series. It would have been more like Continuum than Ark of Truth in that it would continue the story of Atlantis in a one-off offering. While the adventure would have been stand-alone, the character moments would certainly draw on past experiences and future potential. While there was certainly potential for crossovers by SG-1 actors, executive producer Joseph Mallozzi hoped that the two series of movies would remain distinct.

According to Joseph Mallozzi, "It's not so much an arc-driven movie as an adventure that incorporates a lot of the back-story elements that we've presented up to this point, including the city itself, our characters, and some recurring characters. The movie will be better than season five." Todd was going to be in the movie.

Potential plot

Atlantis was moved from Earth to Earth's Moon and its Stargate had been offline since its return to Earth. Under pressure from the IOA, the decision is made to bring it back online, supersede Earth's stargate, and establish Atlantis as a permanent lunar base. Dr. Rodney McKay and Richard P. Woolsey point out that they still have a responsibility to the people of the Pegasus galaxy but the IOA aren't moved.

Amelia Banks and Major Evan Lorne take a walk on the surface of the moon, and a shuttle carrying Sam Carter and a group of dignitaries arrives. Within the city's atmospherically shielded confines, Carter and her guests meet up with the science team headed by McKay who's frustrated by the interruption to his ongoing research. An alarm sounds and McKay, Carter and Radek Zelenka investigate. When the gate was brought online, there was a buildup of energy in the capacitors. They realize too late that the Ancients put a failsafe in place in the event Atlantis was moved. McKay realizes that the city will self-destruct unless it returns to Pegasus. Woolsey transports John Sheppard and Ronon Dex from a hospital where they were being treated after a bar fight and John gets Todd out of Area 51 against the protests of the IOA.

The plan is to use the wormhole drive to execute a series of jumps to Pegasus, but the drive burns out partway through their journey, stranding them in the Triangulum galaxy, some 3 million light years from home. They manage to muster up enough power for one, final short-range jump, putting them within range of a subspace anomaly they detected. There's then an adventure that involves a mysterious civilization tapping the limitless potential of the accretion streams between two stars, time travel, and a race against time to avert not only the destruction of Atlantis but the extinction of an entire race.

Sheppard gets trapped on an enemy mothership. He falls back to a room that held tech that the enemy stolen from Atlantis. The enemy surround the locked chamber but before they can storm it, the door is blown off, revealing Sheppard in one of the Asgard's Armored exoskeletons. He, Teyla, and Ronon move out fighting, while Atlantis and the mothership exchange blows.

Todd risks it all to ambush a future version of himself aboard the enemy mothership's bridge, which saves Atlantis from a final, devestating attack. The two Todds battle, with the future Todd stating, "So young an impetuous" which other Todd counters with, "So old and foolish". Future Todd ends up getting the upper hand and pins the other. When he raises his dagger to deliver the finishing blow, Rodney reaches in and grabs his wrist, giving Todd an opportunity to turn the tides.

Enemy fighters are scrambled. Dr. Carson Beckett takes the Control chair. The city takes significant damage.

Ultimately, Atlantis returns to Pegasus and Todd is given his freedom. Dr. Carson Beckett assumes a permanent position as Atlantis's new head of medical R&D, and gets his turtles back from Rodney. Sheppard comforts a grieving Teyla, who suffered a terrible loss, and is aware, given the revelations of time travel, that they are destined to be together.

Production

Statements by Joseph Mallozzi:

• "I can't predict whether an ongoing series of Atlantis-based movies will prove successful...However, if the performance of the two SG-1 movies is anything to go by, the audience is out there."
• "While I like the idea of some crossover, I think SG-1 movies should be SG-1 movies and Atlantis movies Atlantis movies...Two movies of each a year would be a true best case scenario." No comment was made on the idea of Stargate: Universe movies.
• "The number of Stargate movies produced each year will depend in part on scheduling...I think that we could produce as many as three Stargate (either SG-1 or Atlantis) movies a year...Four is a long-shot, but very possible."
• He confirmed on the June 13th 2010 blog entry that the information found on the film's IMDB page, including writers and a possible release date, is "wishful thinking".
• "I'm sorry to say but the cancellation [of Stargate Universe] puts the brakes on whatever progress the SGA movie had made in the past month, shelving it indefinitely. ... Contrary to what some may think, the cancellation of SGU is very bad news for those looking forward to an Atlantis movie."
• "For what it's worth, it involved a return mission to Pegasus, the tragic end of one relationship, the beginning of another, and a surprising progression in the alliance between one man and one Wraith."
• A further comment by Mallozzi in his blog states that it would have been revealed that the moonbase mentioned in Stargate: Continuum was the relocated Atlantis.

Notes

• Amanda Tapping confirmed that she agreed to appear in the Atlantis movie.
• Andy Mikita was set to direct the movie.
• According to Joseph Mallozzi: "Weir's story ended in Ghost in the Machine. The character will not be appearing in the movie."
• According to Joseph Mallozzi, Ronon getting fixed up after a bar fight was an opportunity to write in the scar Jason Momoa had received at the time.

Links and navigation

• Weblog page about the intended storyline of Extinction
• Stargate: Extinction on GateWorld