The sci-fi comedy Galaxy Quest was released way, way back in 1999 to a less-than-luke-warm box office reception. Since then though, the movie has gone on to achieve something of a cult status, with the meta humour, big heart and wonderful ensemble cast lifting Galaxy Quest out of obscurity and into the pantheon of all-time greats. Though a sequel was often discussed, it sadly never came to fruition, and now said ensemble cast have been discussing why they think that is.
“We were going to a sequel series at one point. But after Alan Rickman passed, we didn’t know what to do with the story.”
This comes from Sam Rockwell, who played the hilarious supporting cast member, death-fearing ‘red shirt’ and nervous-wreck, Guy Fleegman, who cites the tragic death of fellow actor Alan Rickman as the reason why a sequel never got picked up. After a battle with pancreatic cancer in 2016, Rickman, a key player in the original film, passed away. Nevertheless, even before his death, the disease led to development difficulties, as Justin Long explained.
“I know that they were talking about shooting dates and Sam told me Alan was on board, but he was going to have to miss the first episode. This was before he knew he was as sick as he was. It would have been so fun to get everyone together again.”
Sigourney Weaver, who played the actress Gwen DeMarco playing Lieutenant Tawny Madison, states that though she never read any scripts, the series was being developed for a streaming service.
“I hadn’t read any scripts, but [director Dean Parisot] called me up and he was developing it for one of the streamers. I ran into Alan Rickman and asked him what he thought of the series, and he said that he didn’t really know.”
Though most of the actors seemed to be onboard, not everybody was, with Enrico Colantoni explaining that he was not wowed by the pitch and felt that it would be far from a worthy follow-up.
“I was given the broad strokes and it seemed to be moving forward but then Alan died and that halted things. To tell you the truth, I didn’t really like the idea. We had lightning in a bottle with the first film, and I want to have that same feeling when I hear the pitch for the next one.”
Though a sequel is what many fans have always wanted, perhaps it is for the best that it never came to be, and surely everyone can agree that it should never go ahead now that Rickman is no longer with us. The new documentary Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary goes further into what could have been.
For those unaware, Galaxy Quest follows the alumni cast of a space opera television series who have to play their roles as the real thing when an alien race needs their help. However, they also have to defend both Earth and the alien race from a reptilian warlord. The movie remains one of the best examples of both parody and celebration and if you have not seen it you should watch it immediately. This comes from The Hollywood Reporter.
