Development and writing
Mallozzi and Mullie began working on their story during the production of the fifth season of Atlantis in 2008 and were initially treating it as though it may be either a two-part season opener, or a film. [3] With the decision to make it a film, Mallozzi noted this meant they would now be able to "tell our story on a much bigger, visual effects-laden, character-centered canvas" than had it been a regular episode of television. [10] [21] During writing, the film was given the working title Project Twilight. [22] [23] In writing, Mallozzi was treating the story as a "special event", rather than "another big-budget episode of the show" and although he believed this first film would not be Stargate Atlantis' last adventure, his approach was to "attack this script like it may well be". [24] By October 2008, Mallozzi had completed his beat sheet, then the following month both he a Mullie spun "a general idea" for their story with fellow Stargate writers and executive producers Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper. [25] [26] By December 2008 Mullie & Mallozzi had completed their outline. [27]
Writing the script began in early 2009, with the pair also giving their time to writing and producing for the new spinoff series Stargate Universe, which was entering production in February. [28] The first draft of the script was completed in April 2009, with Mallozzi anticipating that filming would commence in fall that year, along with the third SG-1 film. [29] Mullie wrote the first sixty pages of the script and Mallozzi wrote the last forty, tweaking each others passes as they worked. [26] According to Mallozzi, the film would resolve some storylines from the series, whilst leaving others open for future movies. [29] A real injury actor Jason Momoa had sustained to his face gave the writers the opportunity to write a bar-fight sequence involving his character Ronon Dex. [17] The following month, the script was handed over to the other Stargate writers and executives in order for them to give feedback, with writer Carl Binder offering notes and pitching scenes. Suggestions on casting for a new role were also underway. [30] [26] By May 2009, the script had been given a new working title; Stargate: Extinction. [31] [32]
Most of the main characters from the series were included in their script, including John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex, Richard Woolsey, Jennifer Keller and Carson Beckett all returning. Supporting characters such as Todd the Wraith, Radek Zelenka, Evan Lorne, Amelia Banks would also feature. [29] Samantha Carter, Paul Davis and a new character called Kara were also set to feature. [16] [17] [33] Long-time Stargate director Andy Mikita was reported in early 2009 to be onboard to direct. [34] [35] Actors including Paul McGillion, Amanda Tapping, Robert Picardo were amongst those who had been approached by the producers to check if they'd be interested in reprising their roles, however no official offers were ever made. [36] [37] [38] The story would have involved two versions of Todd the Wraith and a descendant of Teyla, with Rachel Luttrell playing two roles. [3]
Delays
By April 2009, Wright was reporting that the downturn in the DVD market was delaying the production of Extinction, but could "almost guarantee" the third SG-1 movie would film that year. [39] Despite the uncertainty surrounding Extinction, Wright expressed his belief that "MGM does not leave multimillion dollar sets up and pay the rent on multimillion dollar stages" if it was not their intention to make the movie, referring to the fact the Atlantis sets were still in place at The Bridge Studios. [13] There were also complications due to the question of whether the film would air on Sci-Fi before it's home video release. [13] [39] By August 2009, Cooper reported that both the scripts for Revolution and Extinction were ready, however the continued decline in DVD sales meant there was still no green light for either enter production. [40]
Mallozzi had been reluctant to having the characters from Atlantis appear in the spinoff series Stargate Universe , feeling "it would step on the timing of the SGA movie", which would have originally taken place around the time of Universe' first episode - "Air". [41] [42] With delays to the film continuing Richard Woolsey and Rodney McKay, portrayed by Robert Picardo and David Hewlett crossed over, appearing in the Stargate Universe season 2 episode "Seizure". Mallozzi noted that as such, Extinction would require some rewrites. [41]
