When Amazon closed its $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM in 2022, much of the drive for the sale was tied to the library. Alongside James Bond, the deal handed the streamer thousands of catalog titles and a handful of dormant franchises that executives openly talked about reviving, with Stargate consistently near the top of that list. Four years on, the relationship between Amazon and that particular property has become one of the more frustrating stories in sci-fi fandom. The studio announced a new Stargate series in November 2025 from franchise veteran Martin Gero, brought on major department heads including Dune production designer Nathan Crowley, and then scrapped the project in June 2026 before filming began. The stated concern, per Variety’s reporting, was that the show “would not have broad appeal beyond the franchise’s already dedicated fanbase.” Since then, that same fanbase has spent months trying to argue otherwise, with the #SaveStargate petition reportedly passing 120,000 signatures over DragonCon weekend. Now the franchise may be helping make that argument on Amazon’s own charts.
Stargate Atlantis Is Suddenly Leading MGM+
Stargate Atlantis, the 2004 spin-off that ended its five-season run in 2009, is currently the No. 1 show on MGM+ worldwide, per FlixPatrol. The show it dethroned is The Westies, the Titus Welliver and J.K. Simmons crime drama that had been MGM+’s biggest original of the year and had held the top spot for more than 45 consecutive days. Atlantis didn’t arrive alone, either: Stargate Universe and Stargate SG-1 are both sitting in the platform’s top five alongside it, meaning three shows from a franchise Amazon deemed too niche to revive are currently performing unusually well on an Amazon-owned service.
Stargate Atlantis Remains a Strong Entry Point Into The Franchise
For viewers who never got especially deep into SG-1, Atlantis may be the easier entry point. The series follows an international expedition to the Pegasus galaxy, where a team takes up residence in the lost city of the Ancients and ends up awakening the Wraith, a dormant species that feeds on human life. Compared with its parent show, Atlantis leaned more heavily into serialized ensemble storytelling, and Joe Flanigan and David Hewlett’s chemistry is often cited as one of its strengths. Audience response also appears to have held up well over time, with the show’s Popcornmeter scores on Rotten Tomatoes running well ahead of its original critical reception, including a 93% audience score for Season 2 against Season 1’s 67% Tomatometer.
All three Stargate series are streaming now on MGM+.
Stargate
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