Multichannel News is reporting that “Stargate: Atlantis” will cease production after the conclusion of its fifth season which will end in January.

Like “Stargate SG-1″ before it, however, the series will continue on with at least one 2-hour movie that will air after the conclusion of the final season of the show.

So is this the end of the “Stargate” tv series franchise? If Sci-Fi does not introduce a new “Stargate” in 2009 it will be first time since 1997 that first-run “Stargate” episodes have not been in production. That’s an impressive 12 year run, out matched only by “Star Trek’s” 18 year run of first-production shows.

There is a possibility that the franchise will continue with another series, however. Earlier this year the creative team behind “Atlantis” developed a concept called “Stargate Universe”. Currently the show hasn’t been given a green light, but that might change now that “Atlantis” is off the schedule.