Amazon Is Making a New Stargate TV Show. Here's Why That Matters
Amazon has decided to make a new television series based on Stargate, the science fiction franchise that has been around since the 1990s. The show will stream on Prime Video, Amazon's platform for original television series. Martin Gero, a writer and producer with experience running other TV shows, is leading the project.
Amazon owns Stargate because it bought MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer), the old Hollywood studio that owns the franchise. Stargate has been adapted many times before—as a 1994 film, and later as shows like Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis—so it has an existing audience of fans who know and care about the property.
Why Amazon Wants This Franchise
Amazon has been buying up old movie and television properties through MGM in order to build up its library of shows and films. Stargate fits that strategy: it has name recognition among audiences, people are willing to watch it, and there's potential to sell merchandise based on it. These are the kinds of established franchises that can keep people subscribing to a streaming service over time.
The decision to create a brand-new version of Stargate, rather than continue the old storylines, gives the creative team more freedom. They are not locked into plots or characters from the previous shows. Instead, they can start fresh while still using the Stargate name and basic concept.
How Streaming Changes Things
When a show is made for a streaming platform like Prime Video, it needs to work whether people are watching on a phone, a tablet, or a large television. Science fiction shows are particularly expensive to produce because they require detailed visual effects and elaborate set design.
Amazon has an advantage here because of its cloud computing division, AWS. AWS has the technology and infrastructure to help with the visual effects work and to get the finished show out to viewers all over the world at the same time. This is one way that Amazon's size gives it an edge over smaller studios.
What This Means for Streaming
The broader context here is that all the major streaming services are competing hard for your subscription money. Science fiction tends to attract loyal, engaged viewers across different age groups—something that streaming companies measure carefully because those viewers are more likely to stay subscribed.
Amazon has been cancelling some shows that do not perform well with audiences, such as Cruel Intentions, while greenlighting others like Stargate. This reflects how streaming companies now make decisions based on data about what people actually watch, rather than relying only on gut instinct or a star's name.
We have seen this pattern before, when Disney bought Marvel and Star Wars, then created new movies and shows that used those familiar names but told new stories aimed at modern audiences. Amazon is following a similar playbook: take properties that people recognize, give them fresh creative treatment, and use them to attract and keep subscribers.
What Happens Next
There is no official release date yet for the new Stargate series. Making a science fiction show typically takes 18 to 24 months from the moment it gets the green light—time needed for writing, planning, filming, and adding all the visual effects.
Amazon is also developing other science fiction properties through MGM at the same time. The Stargate project is part of a broader plan to fill Prime Video with different kinds of shows that appeal to different audiences and keep them coming back season after season.
