A whole lot of sci-fi fans have been bummed ever since the most recent Stargate series, Universe, went off the air a few years ago. Well, we have some good news: The franchise is coming back to the big screen.

But it won’t be a continuation of Stargate SG-1, Atlantis or Universe. Heck, it won’t even be connected to the original 1994 film that started it all. Get ready for a reboot.

Director Roland Emmerich has revealed that he is prepping a trilogy of new Stargate films meant to reboot the franchise. Originally Emmerich had envisioned Stargate as the first part of a trilogy — but MGM opted to make Stargate SG-1 instead, which ran for a decade and led to the two additional TV spinoffs.

Now that the franchise has been dormant a few years, Emmerich decided it was time to come back and give it another shot. Though the rebooted trilogy could borrow from some of his original plans, Emmerich was quick to point out that the new films will not be connected to the original Stargate film, noting “the actors look totally different ... it would not work.”

The films will almost certainly not connect to the SG-1 universe, either, since Emmerich has never really been a huge fan of the small-screen version of the franchise. To this day, he maintains it is not a “canon” continuation from his film.

Here’s what he told Digital Spy:

“We went to MGM, who has the rights, and proposed to them to do a sequel, but as a reboot... and reboot it as a movie and then do three parts. Pretty soon we'll have to look for a writer and start.”

For Stargate fans, this news could come as bittersweet. Yes, the ‘gate will be spinning again, but it won’t be the long-delayed Atlantis or SG-1 spinoff films fans have been waiting on. But Emmerich is the man who helped create the whole thing to begin with — and we’re cautiously optimistic to see where he wants to take the story.

What do you think? Are you glad Emmerich is making a reboot, or would you like to see a true sequel to the original film (or even a new series set in the SG-1 universe)?

(Via Digital Spy)