Three big stories have broken in recent weeks in the Trek Area of influence. Time to step up and take a look around.
A second season has been made so…
Firstly, Picard has received the strongest sign yet that the show will return for its second season, as Deadline has confirmed that the show has received a massive tax incentive. Not the first sign of these plans, Patrick Stewart was previously quoted as saying the show was planned to go for three seasons. The issue of a show runner would need to be resolved, as Michael Chabon, season 1’s show runner is moving on.
ANALYSIS: While CBS have yet to officially comment, this probably comes as a surprise to no-one. If Discovery is anything to go by, this announcement is early, but only slightly. Seasons 2 and 3 were announced around a month after the previous season premiered, acting as a kind of promotion for the current season of the show. Maybe CBS wait until the numbers come in from the early weeks before making the offers to the cast Maybe the decisions have all been made and they just need rubber stamping from year to year. Regardless, it makes sense. Much like Star Wars 43 years ago, the success of the Mandalorian for Disney + shows that nostalgia is a powerful tool for streaming services to hang their proverbial hats on This is looking very good indeed.
The Kelvin Universe Lives, but without Tarantino in the director’s chair.
A few more details are coming out about the future of the Kelvin universe. Following rumours that Pine was unable to come to terms with the studio over his pay, news sources are suggesting that a new director is in play, actors are back in negotiation for the roles.
Meanwhile, director Quentin Tarantino has publicly distanced himself from the director’s seat of a new, R-Rated production to feature the Kelvin universe cast. There is nothing to say that he wouldn’t remain as a producer, particularly as another writing crew has been brought in
ANALYSIS: With the remerger between CBS and Paramount, they have a tremendous opportunity to cross promote Trek. Once again, with another Star Wars Behemoth on the big screen, it seems unrealistic to expect Paramount not to try to exploit the franchise in cinemas.
Some say that an R rating would be a massive departure fir Trek, I don’t think it would be. There hae been “colourful metaphors” in Star Trek since the Wrath of Kahn. Star Trek 6 had a few bloody scenes, particularly the assassination of Gorkon. It was only the clever idea of turning the blood purple that they were able to avoid the fury of the censors.
It is interesting to see that there is an appetite for these movies to continue. We have almost flipped the script to where we were ten years ago, when the new movies were in production, but fans wanted a TV series. Now we have new TV (well streaming) productions coming out of our shuttlebays, but people also want the big screen Trek.
In sad news, Rene Auberjonois passed away last week.
Thoughts: Rene was a very versatile actor, with a body of work that dwarfs his contributions to Trek, which didn’t start and end as Odo. In Star Trek VI, he played Colonel West, a conspirator that played a significant role in the extended cuts of the movie, and as Ezral in Star Trek Epnteprise.
Even as “Odo” in DS9 as well as the rich layered character himself, we got some interesting variations from Rene. From the sinister Mirror Universe counterpart, the larger than life Curzon inhabiting Odo’s body, the cowardly Pabst in Far Beyond the Stars, and the future Odo from “Children of Time”.
However, away from the screen, Rene was very much a popular guest at conventions. Much like Aron Eisenberg, memories of him at conventions have been filling social media.