While speaking to investors at the UBS Global Technology, Media, and Telecommunications Conference, ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish said that two new Star Trek movies are officially in development. This news may come as a bit surprising to Star Trek fans, especially after the series' history of diminishing returns at the box office. Earlier this year, it seemed as though Star Trek 4 was still far away from production and had some big hurdles to overcome.
In 2009, a full reboot of the original story was released under the direction of J.J. Abrams. CBS and Viacom merged earlier this year, allowing Star Trek to have new productions with more money and less restrictions.
The CEO of the newly-merged ViacomCBS Bob Bakish had much to say to investors at the UBS Global Technology, Media, and Telecommunications Conference, first reported by The Hollywood Reporter. In talking about the potential for corporate synergy across studios, Bakish says:
"Through the combination of CBS’ and Viacom’s complementary assets, capabilities and talented teams, ViacomCBS will create and deliver content for its own platforms and for others, while providing innovative solutions for rs and distributors globally."
One example of such content is Star Trek, now wholly owned by ViacomCBS. Bakish suggests that the merger will allow ViacomCBS to broaden their horizons, so to speak, and build brand synergy across markets. Instead of having two isolated Star Trek properties between TV and film, they can now coalesce. Importantly, The Hollywood Reporter also announced "Bakish said there are currently two new Star Trek films in development," leaving many fans to wonder just exactly how new Star Trek movies could interact with currently-running Star Trek shows.
It's only been three years since the release of Star Trek Beyond, but they have been a long three years. There has been constant speculation as to what the future of Star Trek on the big screen will look like, but now it seems to finally be clear: ViacomCBS is developing two new Star Trek movies and planning to synergize them with their television projects. How the company begins to do so is entirely unknown, but it could be said they aim to boldly go where few mega-merger studios have gone before.
Source: THR
