'Stargate' Among Initial List Of MGM Franchises Amazon Looks To Reinvigorate With New Films And Series
Ready for round 3 of 'RoboCop'? A 'Legally Blonde' continuity without Witherspoon?
In March 2022, Amazon acquired the storied Hollywood studio MGM for $8.5 billion, giving them dominion over its extensive library of films and television series produced over the last century. In the year plus since the purchase, Amazon Studios has been giving it an extensive browse, determining its first picks of titles to develop for new television series and films. These properties are Stargate, Robocop, Legally Blonde, Barbershop, The Magnificent Seven, Pink Panther, Fame, and The Thomas Crown Affair.
Some of them, especially the bigger names are being readied for both forms, while other smaller ones will be one or the other. Stargate, a franchise with over 350 episodes of television to its name, might be returning the same way it began, as it will be one getting both, with the movie coming first. The original Stargate film was released in 1994, directed by Roland Emmerich, and starred James Spader and Kurt Russell, who were recast with Michael Shanks and Richard Dean Anderson for the follow-up Stargate SG-1 series, which also starred Amanda Tapping and Christopher Judge. That ran from 1997-2007 and had two direct-to-DVD films and three spinoff series, the last, Origins, being a 2018 streaming miniseries. Many fans have grown restless about the franchise’s relative dormancy, especially as Star Trek and Star Wars have several active television series each in the streaming age.
Legally Blonde has been trying to get a third film going for five years (with inactive periods) so this might be the impetus of forward progress it needs. It is also one of the properties with a potential TV series in play. RoboCop getting both is also being discussed in a series-first capacity. In addition to its original trilogy and 2014 first reboot, there are four television series in the franchise. That’s two animated series, one in 1988 of the same name and one ten years later subtitled Alpha Commando, and two Canadian live-action series, one in 1994 called RoboCop as aimed at children as the first animated series, and the other a 2001 miniseries subtitled Prime Directives, consisting of four feature-length episodes.
Fame, Barbershop, and even The Magnificent Seven are seeming to gear up for their second television adaptations each based on their respective original films released in 1980, 2002, and 1960 respectively (Seven Samurai origins aside). Fame’s first series starred Debbie Allen and ran for six seasons, the first on NBC and the rest in first-run syndication, totaling 136 episodes. Barbershop’s ran on Showtime for a single season in 2005, starring Omar Gooding in Ice Cube’s role of Calvin Palmer Jr. The Magnificent Seven indeed had a television series starring Michael Biehn from 1998-2000, lasting two seasons and 22 episodes. The last instance for each franchise was a remake in 2009 for Fame, while 2016 brought a remake for The Magnificent Seven and a third film installment for Barbershop, The Next Cut.
Discussions for new Thomas Crown Affair and Pink Panther movies have also occurred, with the latter possibly being animated. It is unknown whether this means a Clouseau-focused film or a film focused on the Panther character. Either way, the reboot sequel was released in 2009 and the last TV series, the animated series Pink Panther and Pals aired in 2010. However similar to Legally Blonde, it might signal forward progress on a CGI animated / live-action hybrid announced in November 2020 with Sonic the Hedgehog director Jeff Fowler directing. As for the former, the Steve McQueen-starring 1968 film was last remade in 1999 with Pierce Brosnan. Even a Poltergeist project is possible later on. A-list talent has allegedly reached out in the interest of adapting the IP they’re fans of. Amazon Studios has also been keeping its own roster of talent in the mix for other projects.
Source: Deadline