Joe Flanigan Breaks His Silence for #SaveStargate: "People Do Change Their Mind"
Joe Flanigan, who played Lt. Colonel John Sheppard across five seasons of Stargate Atlantis, has added his voice to the #SaveStargate campaign in a video message shared through the campaign's channels. Cosmic Book News reported the message on July 17, noting that Flanigan's own social media accounts have been dormant since 2025 — the video was arranged by Niall, one of the campaign's UK event leads, rather than posted by the actor himself.
In the message, Flanigan thanks supporters directly and tells them the effort is not wasted. "You guys' support means the world to us, all of us," he says, adding: "Who knows, with your support, people do change their mind. They just have to see what the level of commitment is with the fan base, and you need to show 'em it's real and it's big, and those things help." He closes with "don't think you're doing this in vain."
The message is addressed to the campaign's London team ahead of today's rally across from the London Eye — the "International" stop on the #SaveStargate events calendar and the campaign's first demonstration outside the United States, following June's banner flyover over Amazon MGM in Culver City and the Times Square billboards. It also closes a loop opened in June, when Robert Patrick — Colonel Marshall Sumner in the Atlantis premiere — ended a post backing the campaign by tagging Rachel Luttrell and Flanigan by name.
Flanigan's endorsement carries some unusual history: as he has recounted publicly over the years, he once attempted to buy the Stargate property outright from MGM during the studio's bankruptcy era, and later negotiated toward a long-term lease that collapsed when MGM emerged from bankruptcy. The campaign's calendar continues with #SaveStargate Day on July 25, timed to San Diego Comic-Con weekend. Amazon MGM Studios has still made no public comment on the cancellation or the campaign.