New Sci-Fi Series Outshines Fallout & Stranger Things – Hollywood Blockbuster or Disaster?

Having spent a decade of his life in this universe, actor Michael Shanks, known for his role as the famous Dr. Daniel Jackson in the earlier “Stargate” series, has shared his insights into the methods used by Prime Video during the production of the new “Stargate” series. These methods have apparently become the standard in today’s streaming world!

Productions Shrouded in Secrecy

During an interview with the YouTube channel Dial the Gate, on which he spoke about the new series he is not a part of, Shanks explained that Amazon (and streaming platforms in general) now only provide actors with bits of scenes, never revealing the complete script or even the overall direction of the story. While he understands the rationale behind this approach to “keep the audience in the dark,” he believes that such processes make the job of the actors considerably more challenging:

“I am not sure if it’s necessarily the best approach when it comes to actors, not really telling them what they are working on. […] When I acted in a […] sci-fi series on Netflix, I never saw the script. […] I had no clue what was going on in the series. […] We would just film, and I would just read my scenes that I received a week in advance. […] I remember saying at the time: “I look forward to watching the series to find out what we are all doing in it!”

Hollywood-Inspired Techniques

These work methods are not new to big studios. Kevin Feige, the head of Marvel Studios, recently admitted to our colleagues at the Hollywood Reporter that the film “Avengers: Doomsday” was shot with an incomplete script that was constantly being rewritten, and sometimes with an actor alone in front of a green screen, so he would not know who he was responding to: all to prevent leaks.

The importation of this culture of secrecy onto the sets of series reinforces the notion that Hollywood studios no longer make any real distinctions between blockbusters meant for the cinema and those destined for the small screen. When we see the budget allocated to Prime Video’s “The Rings of Power” ($465 million) or Netflix’s latest season of “Stranger Things” (between $400 and $480 million), equivalent to that of “Avatar: The Way of Water”, it seems clear that the competition posed by streaming to cinema is far from over.

The “Stargate” series will be available soon on Prime Video.

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