After months of on-again/off-again negotiations, a deal has finally been struck between Paramount Global, owner of the Star Trek franchise, and Skydance Media. The deal was officially announced by Paramount Global late Sunday night, after the corporation’s board approved the deal. The new leadership team laid out their plans for the new Paramount this morning, including some mentions of Star Trek.
It’s a new Paramount
Today, Paramount Global announced that Shari Redstone’s National Amusements (which owns a controlling share of Paramount) will be sold to David Ellison’s Skydance Media and RedBird Capital for $2.4 billion, leading to a $4.5 billion merger of Paramount Global with Skydance. The deal will offer voting and non-voting shareholders a premium on their stock as well as inject billions into “New Paramount” coffers to help pay off debt. A new leadership team has been announced, with Skydance’s David Ellison to be Chairman and Chief Executive Officer with RedBird exec (and former NBCUniversal chief) Jeff Shell named as president.
David Ellison said in a statement: “This is a defining and transformative time for our industry and the storytellers, content creators and financial stakeholders who are invested in the Paramount legacy and the longevity of the entertainment economy. I am incredibly grateful to Shari Redstone and her family who have agreed to entrust us with the opportunity to lead Paramount. We are committed to energizing the business and bolstering Paramount with contemporary technology, new leadership and a creative discipline that aims to enrich generations to come.”
According to today’s announcement, the transaction agreement includes a 45-day “go-shop period” during which Paramount Global can evaluate “alternative acquisition proposals.” Industry analysts see this provision as a way to protect Redstone and the board from any concerns over shareholder litigation by allowing a period when other bidders are open to present offers for the company. Of course with any large corporate merger, the deal will be subject to regulatory approval, although this deal doesn’t have any obvious hurdles to that process.
The iconic gate to the historic Paramount lot in Hollywood (Getty)
Star Trek executive producer to run Paramount
Since the 1960s when Desilu was purchased by Paramount, the Star Trek franchise has seen its way through multiple corporate changes. It is too early to know what this announcement means for the Star Trek franchise, but this deal was seen as one of the better potential outcomes. Unlike other potential bidders, Skydance is committed to keeping Paramount relatively intact, avoiding any potential division of the Star Trek rights that occurred during the Viacom/CBS corporate split years before they were remerged in 2019. The most positive indication for Star Trek is that Skydance previously partnered with Paramount on the production of the last two Trek feature films, and they were committed to backing the next movie currently in development. Skydance CEO David Ellison, who will run the new Paramount, was credited as an executive producer for both Into Darkness and Beyond. These movies were mentioned by Ellison in a call with investors this morning.
Skydance founder David Ellison (R) with Paramount exec Rob Moore and actor Chris Pine at Star Trek Into Darkness premiere
Paramount franchises to be reevaluated
Today’s announcement and investor call also commits the new Paramount to “rebuild” Paramount+, the streaming home of Star Trek, with “best-in-class technology and modernized infrastructure.” The new plan calls to evaluate investment in Paramount+ “with a focus on profitability and partnerships in the rapidly changing environment,” which is consistent with Paramount’s previously announced plan to find a joint venture partner for the streaming service. During today’s call, incoming Paramount president Jeff Shell talked about seeing Paramount+ as part of an “ultimate bundle.” He also indicated they will be looking at more licensing deals and “windowing” strategies for Paramount-owned content, which could lead to Star Trek streaming originals showing up beyond Paramount+. Today’s investor presentation noted Star Trek as one of the key franchises for the new Paramount, including a plan to “reevaluate” franchises to fuel a “powerful and repeatable IP ecosystem.” Today Ellison also talked about unifying franchises across TV, film, and interactive media, which could potentially lead to a more comprehensive Star Trek Universe. It should also be noted that the new leadership said they had identified $2 billion in cost-saving across Paramount Global to get the company’s debt under control.
From the July 8 investor presentation
So, in theory, the new Paramount could now have a new focus and more capital to support the Star Trek franchise across the board, but as of now, no specifics have been announced.
Keep up with all the corporate news that can impact Star Trek here at TrekMovie.com.
Two Thumbs up~~!
I hope they move forward with movies based on VALIANT comics too. Last I recall, Paramount had the rights to Harbinger and Faith. It would be awesome to see streaming series based on VALIANT comics on Paramount+.
David Ellison seems bigger on movies than TV…I’m concerned they may jettison Trek shows and go all in on Trek movies.
Speaking as someone who got into Star Trek through the movies (and loves most of them), I think TV is Star Trek’s “first, best destiny.” It’s where it was born and where it thrives.
The Kelvin-verse proved Trek movies have a ceiling. They tried chasing big blockbuster numbers with mixed results.
I am not saying they should abandon making Star Trek movies, it just shouldn’t come at the expense of TV shows.
Honestly, I agree. I hope they do both, since each side could add a lot to Star Trek in their own way. But I’d hate it if they cut back on shows in favor of movies.
I agree with you. What I’d like to see is movies made with actors and based on characters from expiring Star Trek shows. In other words I love to see a Star Trek Discovery movie.
They have built a streaming Trek architecture that is functioning well from a business and ratings perspective. I don’t see why anybody would mess with that. It is very had to build something like that.
I mean there is Skydance Television, which among others has produced sci-fi shows like Foundation and Altered Carbon.
Gotta say I love both those series this could be very good news for Star trek.
Series can help bolster the movies and vice versa but not if they have two Kirks and two Spocks. That kind of incoherence is bad for the franchise.
The smartest thing they can do now is put new Star Trek series on Netflix after a “window” on Paramount+. If you’re really gung ho you subscribe to Paramount+ for “first run” but Netflix gives Star Trek a much bigger potential audience.
And then make movies that tap into the series. That huge Netflix audience then buys movie tickets.
I really like this idea. In fact that’s what Sony is doing with the Spider Man universe movies and they have a deal with Netflix and Disney+ to put those movies on Netflix first for a few months but ultimately ends up at Disney+.
Put the shows on P+ and have the hardcore like us watch it there for 3-6 months but move them eventually to Netflix to give them a bigger audience as you said. I’m convinced way more people are watching Prodigy on Netflix than they ever did on P+.
And we all know most fans drop their P+ subscriptions when a season ends anyway and this would be a way to keep making more money and get all the people who don’t or literally can’t get P+ a way to watch them.
Well we know before the proposed merger in the post streaming world the plan was to go with 1 – 2 active TV shows and the rest streaming movies like Sec 31, the latter of which they aren’t crazy enough to cancel. I suppose the fate of Academy, SNW, and LD are up for debate?
Should the people working on the Trek prequel origin movie be nervous? Whenever Paramount changes regimes, the recent history has been that Trek movies in development get cancelled. I realize that Skydance helped produce Kelvin movies, but it seems like they are still talking about doing a thorough house cleaning of the previous management’s creative decisions.
Maybe, but this deal won’t get final approved until 2025, probably. There’s a 45 day shipping period which may involve a bidding war, then the government has to evaluate. Anything still in development/pre-pro by then will get reevaluated.
There should be a nagging worry that the incoming Skydance regime will get reshuffled though at some point. They controversially picked up two executives previously let go under clouds for sexual harassment – Jeff Shell and John Lassetter. It’s going to have to navigate being a bigger company with way more corporate politics.
I kind of hope it does, because we don’t need a prequel for the prequel.
Onward and forward … with a LEGACY.
Considering the history of ‘development’ of Trek movies in the last eight years I’m pretty sure they know their chances of the movie actually making it to production was already under 50%.
With this news who knows. Or maybe the opposite will happen and it gets fast tracked.
I would shelve that and make the 4th Kelvin with Pine and the full reboot cast, just my own opinion. They’d have to do it soon to make the 60th which seems impossible.
“The most positive indication for Star Trek is that Skydance previously partnered with Paramount on the production of the last two Trek feature films, and they were committed to backing the next movie currently in development.”
This is only positive if you thought the last two Star Trek movies were any good. Which apparently you did.
I didn’t. But I’m still hoping this is a good move for Stat Trek
It’s positive for anyone who thinks investing in a Star Trek movie is better than not making one. I’d like them all to be amazing and successful, but this aspect of the franchise can’t improve if it’s not attended to at all.
My problem with the movie franchise is that they always expect blockbuster numbers and that’s never going to happen. I honestly think they need to scale down expectations OR stick to direct to streaming movies.
Here’s the way to make a blockbuster Star Trek movie. Put new Star Trek series on Netflix and build the customer base. Make sure the movies are tied into the series.
Please cite one example when a TV series on Netflix led to a blockbuster movie that outperformed the Kelvin films.
Because Miss Marvel did so much to make The Marvels a hit?
And Netflix has an itchy trigger finger when it comes to canceling shows.
They couldn’t use the cast to promote it during last year’s actor strike so lost a key asset.
I honestly think they all know the score now and why the next Kelvin movie has been in development hell all this time. Its why they wanted Pine and Hemsworth to take a pay cut for the next one.
My feeling when and whatever the next Teek movie is it’s going to be a much lower budget. And financial failures like Beyond is why the studio was in the mess it was in the first place. They been spending ridiculous amount of money on big films with a small ROI for years and the theater business is no longer as robust as it used to be. Honestly all the studios should be scaling back these days.
WB and Disney should take note since neither DC and Marvel are doing as well as they used to on the big screen.
That might be Superhero Exhaustion, though. I think the world has finally had enough of Superhero movies, at least for a while. Flooding the market with mediocrity like The Marvels, Black Adam, Shazam 2, and Blue Beetle last year certainly didn’t change anyone’s mind.
Mostly DC flops since 2020
TBH DC hasn’t been really relevant since TDK trilogy.
DCEU collapsed last year and now is been revived as DCU by James gunn
I was worried when they said the original deal was struck down after the fact, since this was the one I was hoping for the most. Either way, I knew that there’d be changes, and I’m very cautious about what that could mean in the future. But I’m also hopeful that they’ll treat their different properties (Star Trek being a big one obviously, but also a number of others I’m interested in).
It’s interesting that they specify Star Trek for potential licensing to other places. We’ve seen Paramount already attempting this with Prodigy, which seems to be gaining momentum beyond what they saw on Paramount+, so who shows with even bigger audiences could thrive even more. I just hope it’s not too spread out, with shows on Netflix, Amazon, and any number of different services that we’d have to keep up with. The two I named would be fine with me, since I have them already, but either way it would be a pain to have releases spread out like that.
One potential benefit from this deal specifically are the movies. It’s been a running issue with Star Trek for a while now where there always seems to be some kind of talk of movies in production, but it never seems to go anywhere. But Skydance having been involved with the recent movies, maybe they’ll do a better job pushing those through now.
Anyway, it’s all still a “wait and see” situation right now. There’s still a chance they will find another option (hopefully nothing worse if they do), and if it does go through, nothing’s certain about the future. I’m just glad we’re finally reaching the end of this period of uncertainty, and that the option they went with still seems to be interested in keeping a lot of things in tact rather than gutting the company like some others may have done.
yeah this is a big deal for trek… IMO best possible new owners… selling trek reruns to other outlets is the best way to build the fanbase and for people to discover (no pun intended) how good old and old old and new old and new trek series are. the best example is when ds9 ended up on netflix years ago and found a whole new audience after many 90s trek fans turned their heads from it then it sat on a shelf for the most part afte that. imagine seeing lower decks on adult swim? something like that would be great.
The danger is in giving Netflix and the tech companies outsized influence. Already Netflix is domineering and not using all its power for good, working to squeeze the life out of the theatrical distribution model and raising prices only because they think they’ve reached the status of being an essential service people take for granted. Paramount+ may still be too small to compete with that and Paramount Global was ill-equipped to fund a competitor, but the idea of Hollywood companies being more selective in what they license to this beast is a sound one. Paramount+ with Peacock and/or Max is probably for the best, even though these partnerships still usually lead to someone buying out the others. If Netflix has no strong competitors then consumers lose in the end.
Like it or not, Netflix has 4x the subscriber base of Paramount+. If they want to kickstart the fanbase for Star Trek, licensing shows to Netflix is the way to do that. And not just old shows.
Put new series on Paramount+ first, for a “window,” and then license to Netflix, to build the fanbase. Make sure the movies and series connect.
Completely agree! Trek got a second life not just when it got licensed to Netflix, but also Amazon Prime and Hulu. It wasn’t JUST on Netflix for years it was on multiple sites and it got exposed in a way it never has because Trek wasn’t just on two of the biggest streaming sites in the world, but in countries where Trek barely existed. People in countries now had access to 700 hours of it on streaming sites most already had. It was literally why Discovery got approved because of how well Trek was doing on Netflix and Amazon.
I was originally all in on the idea that being exclusive to one site would be a good idea, but yeah I was wrong. And I think the studios are realizing that as well and that having your big IP exclusive to your streaming site alone will only get you so many eyeballs when you can license it to other places.
I been saying this for awhile but I do see a future where both the old and new Trek shows and films will eventually be licensed to other streamers. The movies still are. Even the Kelvin movies are on YouTube right now that you can watch free with ads. Lower Decks first season is being run there. Discovery was run on YT during its final season and SNW first season was aired there during its second season.
And with Prodigy now on Netflix and IF it gets another season there can bold well for other projects going there. So we may see this as the beginning of where this all ends up.
Agreed! Although, I love the idea of someone calling for the next Star Trek series to be the first since the original animated series to air on NBC.
Start production on Legacy after the merger is complete….
I thought the same thing, but Mr. Matalas is currently tied up with the MCU Vision show and the reboot of Enemy Mine. I do NOT want a Legacy without Terry Matalas as the top showrunner.
I have only a mild interest in LEGACY, but actually think it might be better w/o Matalas the big cheese. Somebody else might be able to take it and run with it in a different and more interesting direction and not be so beholden to The Nostalgia Syndrome. And given that Trek’s powers that be seem to be less than effusive in their prase, to the point of coming off lukewarm about the guy (probably jealous of his relative success?), I could imagine them getting a little kick out of elbowing him out of the way, sort of the way Par was happy to turn GR into a consultant on the films after TMP.
Reading this gave me a thought… If season 2 of Prodigy ends up being the last season (which I *really* hope it isn’t), maybe they could give the show to those writers. Honestly, I feel like Prodigy does the mix of new characters and nostalgia really well, to the point where it has become my own gold standard for fan service in a show. One thing I love about it is how they’re able to give those aspects the weight they deserve, while not having them overshadow the new characters and stories.
Hmmm….no offense to those showrunners and what they have done with Prodigy but it’s not the same thing. It’s like comparing apples and oranges. The tone for one thing is way different. So it’s so hard for me to say yes or no to this idea.
Then again I tend to view the nostalgia on season 3 as acceptable. After all it was for most of the TNG cast members their swan song. I thought the show was moving, funny and exciting. I genuinely enjoyed every episode. I get though it’s a polarizing aspect of the last season so to each their own. I personally don’t care much for who the showrunner is as long as they do good work. So for example, I don’t need Matalas but I liked how passionate he was about Star Trek.
The entire concept of Legacy is a couple seasons of The Nostalgia Syndrome. I suspect that management knows they caught lightening in a bottle with season three of Picard. As far as making wishes go, I’d prefer to see Ron Moore back on board, as long as we ignore Generations….
The fact that TBTB weren’t willing to crawl naked on elbows and knees over shards of dilithium to get Moore aboard in any creative capacity is proof enough that they are terrified of genuine quality that also is a privately and publicly known commodity.
There’s no question in my mind that Moore could have made all the difference in the world with recenTrek.
+1
Star Trek needs new fans, the last thing management should do is waste money on a boomer show.
I think the Academy series is going to be Paramount’s attempt to attract new and younger fans to Trek.
Their line of thinking is probably that the Academy series will be more accessible to new viewers by not being bogged down by heavy continuity of the TNG era by being set in the far future of the 32nd century and the only series it will directly have to pay attention to continuity-wise is Discovery.
You’re 100% correct. It’s time for Trek to move on.
And good luck getting them. Trek has been trying to get ‘new and younger fans’ since Enterprise debut back in 2001. Its all been just a marginal success at best. Prodigy was designed to get the youngest group ever and it was canceled after one season. Maybe it’s doing a better job being on Netflix though.
And I still have little faith the Academy show is going to suddenly bring in a sizeable group of teens and college kids. It’s probably going to be mostly us watching it as we have been the ones watching all these new shows.
But maybe I will be proven wrong.
You always are.
Oh yeah I gotten TONS of things wrong. I used to constantly say we’ll never get a post Nemesis show because clearly no one wanted that. Who under the age of 60 wants to see that?
I even said if they did make one I would never watch it. Silly me. Silly Silly Silly.
I also remember saying that a Pike show would never happen. Never! Nope, Nana, no chance. And look at that wrong again.
I even remember saying after if it did get announced that Discovery would be more popular than it. Like WHAT WAS I THINKING lol. I had to be a real moron to assume that. True class idiot since SNW is beloved with much higher viewer ratings.
But of course the biggest thing I was wrong about was that Discovery would be a beloved show in the fandom. I could not have been MORE wrong on that one. Wow I do I feel foolish today thinking the show would be popular and well liked. I must’ve been drunk for years to believe that one.
So it looks like you got me. Now go run along now. Shoo…
I sense a bit of sarcasm there…
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Maybe a little. ;)
🤣 You’re too easy Tiger. I’m the Puppet Master.
I see you didn’t disagree with anything. Go away troll.
Me too but that man is SO BUSY these days!!!
I dont think Legacy would have as much cheesiness as PIC S3. The PIC and TNG characters are not there and while I’m sure Stewart and Mulgrew would make appearances the plot wouldn’t be focused around them.
Legacy is happening in the form of Starfleet Academy. They will bring in holo instructors from across the franchise. Same general setup as Legacy.
“Holo-instructors.” Please, no.
Unless it means the return of the Doctor Backup Copy.
I too would love to see a Leagcy show or movie! However, I am not sure if this buyout or a streaming merger would increase those odds? I would also take a show in the time period with just cameos from characters we have come to know. I am not optimistic though about either option. Most of the show runners seem more focused on the 31st century.
I do think it’s more likely we will see Star Trek shows sold to other streaming services to make money. Like others have said that would be a great way to increase audience viewership which can only benefit the future of the franchise. Ultimately we will all have to wait and see what the future holds.
Actually I think it very much can, especially if there is serious talk about licensing shows to other services as you said. I think there are lots of people champing at the bit to make their own Star Trek shows. That’s probably the better future in the end. But maybe if Paramount+ gets merged with another service that will be a positive step to bring in more Trek shows since it’s been currently…dwindling.
LOL.
I think that’s probably a bit too optimistic lol. But I still believe the Legacy show is not an if but a when. Picard season 3 is currently the highest rated season on IMDB and the finale was the highest rated on the Nielsens chart for a Star Trek show thus far. It’s also has the biggest petition signed, literally twice as many as SNW before that show got the green light.
Talk about the biggest nobrainer ever. I’m not going to say it’s now in the bag, but if they are serious about making more Trek shows, I don’t see why this wouldn’t be on the table now with some influx of cash the studio desperately needed. So we’ll see what the future brings.
I would support it if they got rid of Raffi. Keep the main trio as Seven, Jack Crusher and Sidney La Forge.
I would’ve agreed with you after the first two seasons but season 3 made me see her in a much better light. I loved her and Worf together.
But I wouldn’t lose sleep if she wasn’t there either.
Agreed, whether with or with Terry Matalas, as long as it’s without Alex Kurtzman’s involvement. I hope Robert Meyer Burnett and/or Jonathan “Two Takes” Frakes would be the showrunner in case Terry Matalas is busy with “Vision.”
As long as they love Star Trek I’m good
They love money more
That’s true whether the merger goes through or not.
This is good, and the best possible news.
It’s not the same home of star trek anymore since prodigy is elsewhere.
On Netflix in most of the planet, yes.
There’s that 45 day “go shop” provision that could throw a wrench in the works. Assuming that clears, then the new owners get to examine their own due diligence, and the inevitable cost cutting that will follow. It’s way to early to assume new ownership is just going to shovel money into the Trek IP. At this moment, it’s just as likely that they’ll sell it, or license it out.
I have two words for the future of the Star Trek franchise: Terry. Matalas.
Disney already nabbed him.
It’s not an exclusive deal though and Metalss can still work with other studios and companies.
I have three words.
GOD HELL NO
I have two words for Terry Matalas. Fan service.
It’s great when it’s fresh, and only used once, but it has a really short shelf life.
I been saying Legacy is not an if but when…and I still believe that. 😉
Perhaps. But, in what format? Many of the actors will simply have moved on by then.
Well we don’t really know that and frankly as long as they get Jeri Ryan back they can work around everyone else IMO.
And look it’s been eight years since the last Kelvin movie and yet the cast keeps saying every year they still want to do it and a few of them are real bonified stars now.
My guess is it won’t be much difference with this cast outside of scheduling issues if they are already committed to another show or movie. That’s total speculation on my part obviously but look around, they had zero problems bringing anyone back so far from all the past shows…minus Avery Brooks maybe lol.
Star Trek is very lucrative for actors and why they keep returning. Most know it even typecast them in future roles and they still have no problem having actors lining up for a role.
I 100% agree!
More Terry Trek with a cherry on top! 🙂🖖
I’m down for that, but I have three words: Robert Meyer Burnett.
Ellison is a big Kelvin cast fan so that’s great news for the next movie! Mega budget more of the same with JJ attached most likely! Current TV Trek is garbage scow level so no great loss if he ditches the lot of that!
Strange New Worlds is good at least. The Kelvin movies have run aground. Since SNW is the best Trek they have currently, they should rebuild from that. And make sure the series and movies aren’t in two different realities. That’s incoherent and no way to build a fanbase.
Not when the last movie lost money. I cam see another Kelvin movie happening but it will still be with caution.
And I don’t think the shows are going anywhere since most seem more popular than the movies.
Well 09 and ID both did turn a decent profit so to say the Kelvin movies have “run aground” may not be entirely accurate. But it is very true to say that a businessman will watch the purse strings for a foruth go ’round.
I’ve always said if Beyond was made for $40 million less than it did we probably would’ve had another movie years ago.
I do believe they can make another Kelvin movie and yes it can be successful. But at this point they have to simply be realistic with their expectations. If they still want a $500+ million movie, sorry but those days are over. I don’t know how much that was even realistic although STID got close. But if they expect a $3-400 million movie, then that’s very doable and you simply have to build a budget around that figure. But that’s the problem with Hollywood these days, that figure is seen as too low but yeah that’s exactly what two out of the three movies made, right?
The movies can be profitable if they make one with a $100-130 million budget and keep expectations in check. If they put out another $200 million movie, then expect another disaster when even their last Mission Impossible and Transformers movies barely made a profit with that kind of budget.
Transformers was the movie franchise that made two billion dollar movies back to back and now it’s barely getting over $400 million. It’s a different movie era now.
JJ verse has set the movie franchise back by literally 8 years and counting now. They were never big hits and everyone knows the next one could bomb as hard as Beyond did.
They keep telling us another movie will be made. Maybe it’s possible now but trying to make another bloated JJ verse movie will be the same disaster Paramount got itself in the first place throwing blockbuster money at middle tier franchises. Hopefully they will be smarter than that at least.
Well said.
As said I don’t doubt the next movie, or ANY movie can’t be profitable since 11 out of 13 movies made money or very least broke even at the theaters.
The problem is they want billion dollar movies but when your once actual billion dollar movie franchise is struggling to make half that today you have to rethink your strategy across the board. They should’ve done it with the third film but they didn’t and here we are today.
I’m hoping Skydance will be smarter, especially since it helped produce these movies and understand the reality where things are today.
Problem is ST movies are not big enough at worldwide box office to justify a big spend on production
Exactly. Its Paramount who doesn’t seem to get that though.
They could make another Kelvin movie and stream it. Worst of both worlds. >;>}
Lol!
If JJ is involved it will be prob in name only. He has his hands full with DC
Wait does he??? I been hearing about all the DC plans with the new Superman movie, Penguin show, Joker sequel etc, but I have not heard Abrams name attached to any of those.
In fact I don’t really understand they threw Abrams all that money to make DC shows and movies but it doesn’t sound like he has any involvement with James Gunn and those projects.
Until this post I forgot he was involved in DC at all.
Yup. Currently he doing the new Superman and Batman cartoons. He will be then doing Superman Legacy (no pun intended lol). So he is pretty involved with DC and James Gunn right now. That doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen tho.
Oh also, I don’t know his involvement with Disney’s new plans for the Star Wars movie with Daisy Ridley.
Wait they gave that guy $250 million to produce streaming cartoons?
Mike McMahon and the Hageman Brothers needs better agents, seriously.
I know it’s supposed to be for other things but if this is his only output so far, that’s pretty low.
Why isn’t he involved with any of the bigger live action stuff like the new DCU or whatever they are calling it now?
This us the guy who revived Star Wars. It’s odd he doesn’t have any bigger projects after all this time.
Well, I think that money encompasses multiple project including movies. I don’t know for sure of course.
Definitely but here is the crazy thing: it was only a five year deal and it ends this year. AFAIK these are the only projects that actually got the greenlight. Maybe there are others I don’t know about or other projects still waiting to happen. But from what I can see WB just threw a lot of money down the drain when 5 years later not a single movie or show has made it into production minus those two projects; which are probably modest productions if they are going straight to streaming.
Maybe they will extend his deal but if so this is the real problem with Hollywood. And JJ Abrams used to be the guy who could get 6 TV shows on the air in a year inbetween directing or producing movies. Looking at his IMDB page it’s very bare these days.
Maybe it was Star Wars that did it but his star has fallen quite a bit since.
This is not a shock to me because the shine has finally rubbed off from Abrams once they realize A. He’s not the amazing story teller that people bought for years and B. His projects are ridiculously expensive and the return on investment is probably not what it used to be.
One of those projects he was supposed to make was a show that would’ve cost, wait for it, $200 million for the first season with a whopping 8 episodes and went through 3 different show runners before someone at WB sobered up from their weekend drug binge (probably how Abrams got it approved in the first place haha) and said no way. That’s GOT level of spending and on an unknown entity.
IIRC he has pitched other shows and movies they just kept turning it down. But if you were paid $250 million to produce new movies and shows that they keep saying no to what does that tell you?
I’m not trying to put down Abrams. If the guy never produce a single thing in Hollywood again he still has a huge library of iconic stuff and money he can coast on for the next 50 years. I would trade places with him in a second. But he’s still the guy who singlehandedly destroyed two of my favorite franchises, Star Trek and Star Wars because he doesn’t have a real vision or creative bone in his body. And TROS finally proved he’s not the golden boy director people saw him as back in the mid 2000s, but someone with no real vision or even basic story telling skills when left to his own devices. I will never understand how STID or TROS ever got the greenlight? That’s right because the people running these studios had the same problem apparently.
As for as the DC stuff, that was always more of a side thing and not really involved in what James Gunn is doing with the main universe. I think he was involved in a Green Latern movie but like so many IP stuff these days who knows? I also think he was involved in a Superman movie as well. It may still be happening but that was announced four years ago and before Gunn came on board.
So maybe one of these big projects will happen but it’s obvious the big move to WB has been mostly a dud.
Whatever, just stay far away from Star Trek, creatively at least. That’s all I ask.
JJ Abrams at DC? Sorry to hear that. They have enough problems.
Put new Star Trek series on Netflix to build the fanbase. Netflix has the biggest reach. End the disconnection between series and movies. Use the series to bolster the movies and vice versa.
I’d also love it to see schlockmeister Kurtzman fired. The best Star Trek direction currently is Strange New Worlds but even that is hampered by being too episodic and having too many unkillable canon characters.
We need Star Trek Anime !
Wow, one thing I actually agree with you :))
Agreed as well. The animated shows have been my favorites of this era, and I need more. It would be interesting to see how they’d give it its own spin on the franchise, while hopefully maintaining the bigger Star Trek themes.
When I say Anime, I’m talking about getting an Anime production house to make the show and they should be allowed to ignore cannon and do whatever they want.
I am not totally against that idea. It could be its own thing. I just want to see Trek in anime form something close to Miyazaki.
I think Bandai, who makes Gundam would be a perfect fit for Trek.
This is a huge opportunity for the fans to again light the fire on a campaign to bring us Star Trek Legacy, and direct the campaign directly at Ellison, through social media, even written letters, planes with Legacy banners over Skydance Hq,…
When “You’d better hurry, we aren’t getting any younger” is your only selling feature, you don’t have much of a product to build that campaign around….
Phil for the 100th time, the TNG cast is NOT part of the Legacy show. Not a single actor has said they would be part of it. Matalas has said multiple times the show is about the next NEXT generation. The only characters we know that will most likely be a part of it warped away on the Enterprise G with Captain Seven. I didn’t see Crusher, Worf or Data on the ship. I saw a lot of younger faces heading out into the unknown.
It amazes me how I see so much of the same regurgitated disinformation on the internet time day in and day out but then I see places like here with obviously very smart and informed people also keep repeating something that’s not remotely true.
Legacy isn’t a TNG sequel, it’s a TNG era sequel. Hence why Seven is Captain and not Geordi.
Exactly. Next next generation. That’s where it’s at.
That’s sounds like Star Trek Academy
900 years into the future? That is not the next next generation. A Legacy series would hopefully feature the continued stories of the Alpha and Gamma quadrant, 30 years after Deep Space Nine. This would follow the natural progression of TOS -> TNG -> Voy -> DS9. Picard Season 3 was just a bridge from one generation to another, much like The Undiscovered Country was a bridge between TOS and TNG. This is where the franchise, in my opinion, needs to be. Lower Decks and Prodigy already exist here. Put the live show here as well.
It’s time for Trek the start fresh. Trek needs new young fans that don’t have time to watch old 90’s trek.
“old 90’s trek”. HA HA HA HA HA. That’s funny.
Exactly. That’s what most fans want more than anything. Of course TNG era characters will appear as they done for multiple shows now but it will mostly be about new characters as we have seen with LDS, Prodigy and the first two seasons of Picard obviously.
Yes exactly. Should be 20-30y on from TNG/DS9/VOY era (and ENT) a true “Legacy” series featuring the odd guest star from those shows popping up every now and then, sequels to old iconic episodes etc..
Basically like the SW sequel trilogy (despite how that turned out) .
Choosing a 33rd century Academy series (with A list actors) over that seems bizarre when really Disco only went there on a whim to please fans who were aghast at the blatent continuity/canon errors setting Disco just prior to TOS
We don’t want it.
Who is “We?”
The humans. The real ones that live on the moon.
He’s a troll. It doesn’t matter. Just someone bored in his life.
My lost puppy is back. Stop gate keeping.
Really? The new adventures of Nepo Jack and his funky sidekicks dies quickly, without frequent TNG guest stars, or Q popping in to torment the fruit of Jean Luc’s loins. This is why the pushback to Legacy continues, it’s supporters insisting that a handful of sh**ty one dimensial supporting characters is someting a streamer should be throwing 100MM dollars at just defies logic.
Paramount + is going to be merged with another streamer when all this is done. If Netflix wants to order up a season, great. That no one has even approached P+ about it up to this point really should be telling you something…..Matalas’ back door plot is lacking substance.
If the lack of TNG characters doesn’t attract people then how has ANY of these Star Trek shows survived???
This is just bizarre logic. People will watch because most fans just want a continuation of the 25th century and to build on those storylines. Sure there will be TNG characters who will pop in and say hello from time to time but it won’t be about them. It will be about this new group of characters on the Enterprise G seeking out new life and civilizations. And Seven is a highly popular character in herself. It’s why she is there in the first place.
And Matalas has said he would bring Shaw back as well and IIRC was a very popular character and shockingly didn’t come from TNG, but oddly enough people really liked him anyway. And here is another shocker…the show will probably introduce even more new characters. I know I’m talking crazy but yeah it’s true.
And dude if you think a post Nemesis show based on new characters starring a nepo baby wouldn’t work then explain Lower Decks then? It got to five seasons and it’s an animated comedy. And it’s not even on an Enterprise lol.
The Legacy show would probably be as big as SNW IF its good. Certainly bigger than Discovery and SFA IMO. Could I be wrong, sure, but the fact more fans are pushing for it as much as they pushed for SNW suggests I’m not.
Does it mean everyone wants it, of course not. Look how many don’t want the Academy show and yet it’s happening anyway which I’m happy about. But it’s no question which show will be more popular, at least in the outset. There is a passion for the Legacy show. Very little for SFA thus far.
“And dude if you think a post Nemesis show based on new characters starring a nepo baby wouldn’t work then explain Lower Decks then? It got to five seasons and it’s an animated comedy. And it’s not even on an Enterprise lol.”
OMG, this is hilarious but so true! 🤣
But seriously this a strange argument to me too since LDS is adored and also stars a nepo baby lol.
And I’m not a big fan of Jack either.
If people don’t like the Legacy show, that’s fine but clearly most fans in fact do want it. I mean I didn’t want Section 31: The Adolf Chronicles or SFA but I recognize others did.
And I think Legacy could ne more popular than SNW because as good as that show is it still doesn’t excite everyone because it’s a prequel.
If they make Legacy more episodic like that show but dealing with a post Dominion universe on the Enterprise people will be instantly drawn to it
It doubled SNW petitions, that’s a huge clue how much people want this show.
OK let’s put it another way, can anyone tell me an idea out there that is more popular than this one right now? If so, love to hear it. 😁
And you won’t get an answer because Legacy seems to be the only one people seem to suggest. And that’s for a reason.
But I want to make this clear, if the Legacy show never happens fine. If they find something that will excite fans more, even better.
But at the moment anyway people don’t seem very excited about what’s coming down the line and that should be a worry. Very few people seems remotely excited about SFA or the S31 movie and I support both of them.
And maybe SFA may surprise people in the way LDS did and hopefully that will be the case. But if you’re counting on a ton of new and younger fans to suddenly turn out for it and become something that doesn’t need old fans to stay alive, please don’t be this naive. 🙄
End of the day none of this stuff will survive beyond a season unless old fans are watching it in droves. Prodigy made that very very clear.
And again I support any show or movie they think will attract a new audience. But same time if they haven’t been able to do that successfully enough since Enterprise went off the air, including a trio of huge action popcorn movies designed for teenagers in mind, sorry but I remain skeptical another show will suddenly do it on a lowly watched streaming service.
People can certainly argue only old fans cares about a Legacy show but that will bring in the subs the service desperately needs because as shown there is an active and engaged fanbase for it. And more so because everyone has already seen the proof of concept and want more of it.
Right now you can’t say that about the other projects…at least not yet. It’s all a bit question mark.
But new fans alone aren’t going to sustain any of these movies or shows because frankly the property has just gotten too old and it’s always been too niche for the mainstream. It feels more niche today than it did when DS9 and VOY were on the air.
I’m not remotely convinced SFA is going to bring in a ton of new fans either. Trust me a year after the first season ends the only people talking about it here will just be the same old fans who has been here talking about every new thing since JJ verse started. People keep saying Discovery got tons of new fans, I have talked to maybe 4 people who became a fan of Trek because they watched that show first and this is in 7 years.
So maybe it did but they clearly weren’t the ones who (unfortunately) kept it on the air for 5 seasons either. We were.
But I don’t disagree either, if it does do that then that will be great. As I said I don’t care about it right now but I always stay open minded. It took 5 seasons of Discovery to finally feel like the show hasn’t been a total waste of my time but it finally happened lol.
But I want the Legacy show more than anything. But no one is losing sleep if it never happens either. The dozens of people here begging for more JJ verse seems to be doing just fine without it and it’s been 8 years so far without another one. And I got TNG, DS9, VOY, LDS, Prodigy and Picard season 3 to honestly keep me content for the rest of my life. Everything else I like like Enterprise, SNW and some of the movies are a bonus. And Prodigy being so awesome I’m begging for a third season of that and part of me would even prefer more of that over a Legacy show if it came to that. That’s how much I loved season 2.
But maybe in time I will love SFA as much as those. If nothing else it at least has to be better than Discovery. 😂🙄
Didn’t Matalas go to Disney? So does it matter what he said?
A. He can still work with other studios and not just Disney.
B. If a Legacy show happened it could be made after the Vision show.
C. Matalas doesn’t have to be the show runner, just produce it. There were several people he works with help run the show as they did with Picard. I trust all those guys.
Yep! It’s time to go hard people and let them know Legacy should be the next show they approve after SFA! I want my Captain Seven show!
I think they want to have quite distinctive settings for the shows. I suspect that’s partly why Discovery was cancelled, because it was a live action starship show while Strange New Worlds is more popular.
Unless they can come up with a specific conceit (which is harder for an Enterprise than a Titan) I think it will be hard to come up with a version of Legacy that isn’t so fundamentally similar to Strange New Worlds that they don’t feel it adds anything and is perhaps confusing to casual audiences (two Enterprises? different uniforms? but they fly around meeting aliens and exploring?).
It feels notable to me that Prodigy season 2 is partly at the Academy and is about a group of cadets. It makes me wonder whether the desire to develop Starfleet Academy wasn’t a factor in Prodigy’s cancellation – they don’t want two Academy shows.
They made Prodigy pretty distinct from what Starfleet Academy probably is though. They spent a few minutes there at the very beginning of the season, and then again at the very end. And with the set-up for season 3, it didn’t seem like there’s be any concerns for overlap if they did go forward with it.
Disc is gone so a new show and s31 movie take its place.
5 years was fine enough as with LDs.
I don’t believe that’s why Discovery was canceled. And ALL these shows takes place on a starship. Picard was the only show that wasn’t Starfleet based when it started only to make it a TNG redux in the third season. They didn’t have a problem it would be a starship heavy show when they already had SNW and Discovery along with the animated shows.
And it’s already been confirmed Starfleet Academy will take place on a starship as well. It may not be in every episode but my guess is it will be in most.
Actually I think it’s the opposite and they will find a way to make all the shows starship based because end of the day that’s what the fanbsse responds to the most. Again every time they have tried to shy away from that element eventually they bring it back, hence DS9 and the Defiant being the best example.
I won’t be too shocked the Section 31 movie takes place on a starship as well.
And Prodigy is not an Academy type show. That’s made very very clear by the end of season 2.
Yep I can’t say I am a fan of the new Enterprise but IMO any show led by Jeri Ryan would be a success.
I guess I don’t understand this board but back in season one when she showed up people were hollering for a Seven show. So why is it suddenly a bad idea now?
And who is shouting for a spin off show with any of the Discovery characters? Many people seem to love Saru but I haven’t seen a single suggestion he should get a spin off.
It’s very strange that people are suggesting you shouldn’t greenlight a show fans are actually craving for? Well I guess SNW proved what a ridiculous idea that was. The nerve making a show fans want to see that has brought in a lot of views and fan acclaim. What were they thinking listening to old fans? And SNW has just as much nostalgia as Picard did. Scotty is now on the show. And at least Picard didn’t remake an old episode like SNW did with TOS to get the old fans on board. And BTW, that is still the highest rated episode of season one.
But why keep appeasing old fans if you are so desperate for new ones?
Let’s not do that because who cares about what the people who actually spends the money to watch the shows want. Instead let’s make shows for non fans that will stop watching the second they get bored of it like JJ verse if they bother to turn in at all.
No one wants boomer Trek
You think they want Teen Angst Trek?
I rather watch fresh new faces than wrinkly old prunes.
This is great news obviously. We don’t know what all of it means in the long term but we know Paramount will stay Paramount which matters more than anything instead of selling it off for parts as the other bids were suggesting. And they obviously knew that and why they kept negotiations up with Skydance because ultimately they had the best deal and wanted to keep Paramount Paramount.
Obviously we don’t know what this really means for Star Trek but it’s probably the most positive outcome it could have given how dire everything has felt in the last few years. I won’t throw out my ‘wish list’ because I don’t expect any of it to happen but I do hope we will get more shows out of this and maybe a few licensed to other services like Prodigy is with Netflix now. Maybe the Starfleet movie will actually happen and even the next Kelvin movie but I still remain very skeptical. HOWEVER if what they say is true and they are thinking bigger with the franchise, maybe we will get more movies including another TNG based movie, etc or even a multiverse movie set up. Again, just thoughts lol.
But I’m feeling more optimistic and I’m just happy to see Paramount survive as a studio more than anything.
It’ll be great news in 45 days. If Barry Diller or someone else swoops in with a bucket of money then starts auctioning off the parts there’ll be a lot of wailing and weeping in Trek land…..
I know.
Great news all around and Star Trek won’t be sold off to AMC+ or something.
NOW GIVE US THE LEGACY SHOW SKYDANCE!!!
Or at least a Legacy streaming movie like the Section 31 movie.
I think that would be the smarter way to go. Make a streaming movie since it will be cheaper. And if the reaction to that is really big and positive then it will prove how much people want a show.
Ooooo, all caps. That’ll get them off the dime.
It’ll likely take a year for this to close, assuming everything goes off without a hitch. Which, at a minimum, means a potential Legacy/TNG spinoff is three years away.
Patience is a virtue. Really.
It took literally 19 years before we got 7 of 9 back in Star Trek again. I can sleep walk 3 years if she got her own show out of it.
😎🖖
May Mr. Ellison and the new Paramount greenlight the right projects to ensure Star Trek a Prodigious Legacy.
Haha love this! 🤣
#MakeStarTrekGreatAgain
Trek doesn’t need to be associated with bigots.
Trek remains great. Associating it with the modern American Brown Shirts is a bad look.
That is great! Star Trek is about the only thing Biden hasn’t ruined yet.
Trump literally caused an Insurrection, wants to abolish the Constitution and pardon all his crimes but yeah Biden is the problem.
You sound like you work at CNN or something. Biden is a big problem, but I am sure the DNC is going to kick him to the curb shortly so we’ll see what they come up with. Now, get back to Star Trek ffs.
No Biden didn’t try to steal an election and literally tried to create a conspiracy to stay in power with others, many who are now indicted or plead guilty of the crime.
Trump is a criminal and despite everything the Supreme Court is trying to do to keep him from paying for his crimes he WILL pay for them in the end.
It’s sad his cult want to ignore and hand wave all the sick things this man is accused of doing before, during and AFTER his presidency but when you have that much blood on your hands you can’t wash it all away.
His days are coming. They already are here, hence being a convicted felon. Trump is a complete disgrace to the office and in a few years time half of you will pretend like you never voted for him.
We are supposed to be talking about SNW and TNG, not TDS. Vote for whomever you want and be happy about it, but standing on a soap box trying to convince whomever will listen to think the way that you do isn’t going anywhere.
You’re the one trolling with a weak slap at the current president. You’re free to believe what you want, but trying to make a point with a falsehood in a forum where most haven’t turned off their critical thinking skills wont endear you to anyone. The reality check is what Trek represents is anathema to anything passing for conservatism these days. So there’s that….
closing. trolling.
I hope this means the end of an uncertainty era, and that it evolves into a firm program of shows and movies, as well as better planned international releases.
Hopefully David Ellison will release Season 3 of “Picard” on 4K Blu Ray!!!
Given that the importance of physical media sales has been declining for years and that 4K discs are probably even more of a niche product I doubt that this will be far up his priority list.
I don’t even own a 4k player. Do they still make them?
I predict that streaming will die like cable did for me when they start interrupting with commercial after commercial. I was at a friend’s house, and he has all the streaming services. He wanted to watch “North by Northwest” and no service had it. So, I am sticking with physical media. Also, I enjoy the extras almost as much as the shows.
David Ellison likely isn’t making day to day retail decisions….
David Ellison was making the rounds on the business channels this morning. Optimistically, it’ll take 9-12 months to seal the deal, assuming no one rocks the boat in the next 45 day “go shop” period.
Cautiously pessimistic, as usual.
The first shareholder lawsuit landed today. Stay tuned….