It has been 9 years because the final Star Trek movie was launched in theaters with the critically acclaimed however field workplace disappointment Star Trek Past. This marks the longest hole within the franchise’s historical past with out cinematic installments since they moved to the massive display screen and is sort of the precise period of time between Star Trek: The Unique Collection going off the air and Star Trek: The Movement Image. Nonetheless, simply because there has not been a theatrically launched Star Trek movie, that does not imply there will not be a brand new movie within the franchise. Star Trek: Part 31 is about to debut on Paramount+ on Jan. 24, 2025, and can mark the primary non-theatrically launched movie within the franchise’s historical past.
Part 31 stars Michelle Yeoh as Philippa Georgiou, a personality from Star Trek: Discovery with an extended, sophisticated backstory, who’s now the lead of her personal streaming movie. Initially conceived as a spin-off tv sequence to Star Trek: Discovery in November 2018, plans have been modified to show the challenge right into a streaming movie in late 2022 as Star Trek: Discovery showrunner Alex Kurtzman rightfully realized that Michelle Yeoh would win an Academy Award and her schedule would seemingly be too busy to slot in a tv sequence however they might use this new-found stardom to construct off an present character throughout the franchise. Star Trek: Part 31 is a sport changer for the franchise and separates Star Trek from its contemporaries just like the MCU, DCU, and Star Wars.
Star Trek’s First Streaming Film Is a Huge Transfer for the Franchise
Since tv’s creation, there was a dividing line between the medium and movie, with tv usually seen as lower than. Even when multi-media franchises had tv and movie parts, like Star Trek within the mid-80s and Nineteen Nineties, tv exhibits have been usually seen as supporting the films. Even because the Golden Age of tv took off, there was nonetheless a transparent dividing line between tv and film initiatives.
Regardless of being a extremely popular Flash, Grant Gustin was not thought-about for the films. As an alternative, Ezra Miller was solid as a result of the belief was that films wanted to be seen as separate and extra accessible. The MCU films by no means referenced the ABC and Netflix Marvel sequence, and it took till Disney+ for the strains between TV and movie to blur. Nonetheless, even then, the thought of a film appears reserved for theatrical releases, with streaming primarily for tv present enlargement. Streaming movies are sometimes reserved for smaller or mid-budget films, usually comedies or horror movies.
But Star Trek: Part 31 goes the place no multi-media franchise has gone earlier than: live-action non-theatrical films (okay, second, however do you wish to rely these 2000 Cartoon Community period live-action Scooby-Doo films?). Whereas Warner Bros. seemingly was taking place that path with deliberate DCEU entries for Max, like Batgirl and Marvel Twins, these plans and movies have been canceled. Star Trek: Part 31 can now create a brand new format for Star Trek to inform tales and for different franchises to be aware of. Perhaps it should encourage Marvel to revive the characters from long-finished tv sequence like Brokers of S.H.I.E.L.D. or The Runaways into tv movies, giving followers an opportunity to revisit fan-favorite characters with out the calls for of an extended tv sequence or the fear about how a film will attraction to a broad viewers to make a big field workplace incomes to justify its existence.
Solves an Difficulty That Plagues Fashionable Streaming Collection
One difficulty with many franchise status tv sequence is that they take ideas and pitches initially meant for movies however then stretch them out right into a tv sequence. Each The E-book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi have been initially deliberate to be Star Wars characteristic movies that have been modified to streaming sequence following the field workplace failure of Solo: A Star Wars Story and the shock success of The Mandalorian made Disney pivot Star Wars from movie to tv. The issue is that lots of the initiatives weren’t structured like tv exhibits and as a substitute are lengthy films, leaving loads of padding and never loads of ahead momentum taking place in episodes with conventional A, B, and C plots. The equation is that streaming releases equal tv sequence that damage these initiatives.
Star Trek: Part 31 is the other, taking a tv sequence and placing it into a movie. This generally is a combined bag, as seen with Moana 2 dropping the character growth of all of the aspect characters that have been deliberate when it was a Disney+ sequence. Nonetheless, Part 31 may present that simply because an idea may not have the broad attraction to a large viewers for a theatrically launched film to be a blockbuster, making an easy, self-contained streaming film is a greater different than ballooning a narrative right into a tv sequence not profiting from the tv format.
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If Star Trek: Part 31 is a success with critics and followers on Paramount+, and assuming it did not have a ridiculous finances that might make it a waste on a streaming platform, it might result in a brand new subset of smaller Star Trek movies. Whereas Paramount Photos struggles to get Star Trek 4 into theaters, a sequence of Paramount+ Star Trek streaming films might enable the creators to revisit fan-favorite characters and ideas that is perhaps too dangerous for a theatrical expertise but additionally not sufficient to help a long-form tv return.
Collection like Deep House 9, Voyager, and Enterprise by no means received the live-action movie remedy that The Subsequent Technology did as a result of they have been seen as extra area of interest sequence on the time to help theatrical movies. A Paramount+ Unique streaming movie might rectify that and provides these sequence revivals in a large-scale, self-contained format. It additionally units the stage for the brand new period of Star Trek initiatives to get movie continuations if desired. Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Unusual New Worlds, Star Trek: Decrease Decks, and Star Trek: Picard are only a few titles that would get continuations within the type of streaming movies that in any other case may not be in theatrical movies.
Paramount+ Wants Extra Star Trek
Star Trek is a serious model for Paramount and one which they’ve been very protecting of over time. It’s such a invaluable property that once they first launched their streaming service, which was then known as CBS All Entry, Star Trek: Discovery was one of many launch titles. For each CBS All Entry after which Paramount+, the objective gave the impression to be to all the time have a Star Trek sequence on. When one sequence would wrap up, one other one would start, which made Paramount+ a must have for Trekkers. Additionally they used the recognition of Star Trek to draw audiences to different titles on Paramount+.
But that age of there all the time being a Star Trek sequence, from 2021 to 2023, is over for Paramount+. Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Discovery, and Star Trek: Decrease Decks all have concluded, whereas the underrated Star Trek: Prodigy was canceled after which moved over to Netflix. Star Trek: Unusual New Worlds will return for Season 3 someday within the close to future, and there are new sequence within the works, together with Starfleet Academy and a deliberate live-action comedy.
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The Star Trek panorama on Paramount+ is reasonably empty. Whereas the streaming service now has the work of Taylor Sheridan, like Mayor of Kingstown, Landman, Tulsa King, and Lioness, to anchor its slate, it additionally wants Star Trek to provide it a little bit of range in programming. One huge Star Trek-themed streaming movie on Paramount+ may very well be an occasion just like how Physician Who Christmas Specials have turn into must-watch for followers of that sequence.
There’s a probability that Star Trek: Part 31 and a sequence of Star Trek streaming unique films might water down the significance or want for theatrical Star Trek movies, hurting the already susceptible movie franchise. But if Star Trek tv sequence should not seen as a hazard, why would a streaming film be? In some ways, Star Trek: Part 31 seems like the proper marriage of Star Trek‘s wealthy historical past on tv, on movie, and within the streaming period. Star Trek: Part 31 might change every little thing for the franchise. Star Trek: Part 31 is streaming on Paramount+ on January 24.