There are movie geeks and then there are “movie” geeks.
For the latter, Christmas is coming to town next week, almost four months early, when a Stargate convention transports into Richmond for five days.
Gatecon 2022, as it’s called, opens Thursday, Sept. 1 at the Sheraton Vancouver Airport Hotel and runs through to Labour Day on Sept. 5.
For the uninitiated, Stargate was a hit sci-fi movie back in 1994 – starring James Spader and Kurt Russell – followed by a number of successful TV spin-offs.
It follows the story of an Ancient Egyptian stone device which transports you to a parallel universe full of humans and futuristic mythical characters.
And next week for the first time, one of the convention participants, Empire Movie Memorabilia, will have on display a mammoth 1,500-square-foot Ancient Egyptian tomb, complete with a working stargate, 40-foot-long Egyptian walls on both sides and 10, eight-foot-tall stone-effect pillars.
There will also be screen-used props from the Stargate 1994 movie, Stargate TV series and Stargate Origins mini-series, as well as more than 40 Stargate guest stars attending from the TV series and movie.
Stargate exhibit looks real
“When you’re standing in front of the stargate, it really looks like the one in the movie; it looks like the water is moving,” said Richard Johns, of Kelowna-based Empire Movie Memorabilia, who has been collecting movie and TV props for 25 years.
“It’s made of Styrofoam. We had a custom projector made to create the effect. In the movie and on TV, it was all done on CCG. We had to do it in real life.”
Johns said his exhibit will be different from what people see at a lot of similar conventions, such as props on tables, behind glass or on mannequins.
“What we want to do is help people experience what it might be like to be in the movie,” added Johns.
“So with Stargate, we brought all these props together and built the set for an Egyptian tomb, so it feels like you are in there.
“No one has seen this display as we have taken several years to complete it and are debuting at this convention.”
Stargate actor inspired collector to go big
Johns said he was inspired to go big with his displays after one of the Stargate actors, Gary Jones, saw his stargate and advised him to think outside of the box.
“He was very impressed. He couldn’t believe it,” Johns said of Jones’ reaction.
“He gave us a bit of advice. He said think big, think San Diego Comic-con.
“We took that advice and upgraded all the displays, including the Stargate one. We also built a life-size drug lab for a Breaking Bad convention.”
Gatecon goes Sept. 1 to 5 at the Sheraton Vancouver Airport Hotel.
For tickets, go to http://www.gatecon.com/celebration2022/ticket-information
