Paramount Merges With Skydance: What That Means For ‘Star Trek’
Star Trek changes hands from time to time. Desilu, CBS Television, Paramount, and now Skydance Media. But what does the latest merger mean?
Paramount Plus, like many of its streaming contemporaries, is not in the best shape. This is something Star Trek fans notice due to the cancellation of Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Discovery, and Star Trek: Lower Decks. The financial difficulties are arguably most noticeable with the shift of Star Trek: Prodigy from Paramount Plus to Netflix. In short: money is tight and sci-fi is expensive.
The (potentially) good news is that, after a lot of back and forth, a new merger with Skydance Media is officially in the books. The particulars are as exciting as you think they are. Shari Redstone’s National Amusements (who owns a controlling interest in Paramount) has been bought by Skydance for $2.4 billion which means a $4.5 billion merger between Paramount Global and Skydance.
On the financial level this means Paramount can get out of some debt! But obviously there’s also a brand new time at the helm of this latest iteration of Paramount. Skydance’s David Ellison will take on the roles of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer while RedBird executive Jeff Shell will act as president.
But what does all of this mean for the future of Star Trek?
Courtesy of Paramount Plus
Star Trek and Paramount Right Now
Let’s begin with a quick refresher on the current state of Star Trek at Paramount. At this moment, the fifth and final season of Star Trek: Lower Decks will air in 2024. Between 2024 and 2025 a Section 31 streaming film starring Michelle Yeoh will air as will the third season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Strange New Worlds also has an order for a fourth season. And there’s a forthcoming Star Trek: Starfleet Academy on the horizon starring Holly Hunter and Paul Giamatti.
Outside of Paramount’s immediate ecosystem, there’s Star Trek: Prodigy. That show’s second season is on Netflix right now. The possibility of a third season is very much up in the air and is mostly dependent upon viewership within the show’s first few weeks of release. There’s also the possibility of Star Trek: Lower Decks finding a new streaming platform. Showrunner Mike McMahan wants that but Paramount has said nothing on the topic officially thus far.
There’s also been some early talk of new feature Star Trek films. Will the Skydance merger with Paramount stymy those conversations or hasten them? In fact, will Skydance want to keep any of these plans in motion?
Courtesy of CBS Television
Set a Course For Pragmatism
Let’s try to take our Star Trek fandom hats off and focus on the practicalities for a moment. As an acquisition, there are two reason to believe Skydance will continue producing Star Trek media. The first reason is that they’ve said as much. In a presentation regarding the merger, a slide shows Star Trek (along with Yellowstone, South Park, and Mission Impossible) as examples of properties Skydance sees as valuable.
And the second reason we assume Skydance will continue Star Trek is because they’ve already financed two Star Trek films in the past: Star Into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond. The real question is: what shape will the continuation take? Part of the answer involves looking at those other IPs named during the merger.
Mission Impossible is brand driven vis a vie Tom Cruise. Similarly, the Yellowstone shows each have big-name actors driving interest towards them as well. We’ll come back to South Park in a moment.
Both Section 31 and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy are proving grounds. Each features big name, award-winning actors. Will that type of branding drive Star Trek into the stratosphere or the mud? That’s the big question. With Section 31 already in the can and Starfleet Academy well on its way towards production, it’s safe to say that Skydance will give both a solid airing. These are worth the financial risk. But they don’t guarantee anything beyond one movie and one season.
Courtesy of Paramount Plus
Skydance and Current Star Trek
Briefly placing our Star Trek fan hats back on—BUT WHAT ABOUT STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS? The good news is that the third season of SNW is more or less ready to go. It’s basically a guarantee that we will see ten new episodes with Pike, Spock, and the crew of the Enterprise.
However, there’s a real possibility that Strange New Worlds won’t see a fourth season. Yes, the show is already greenlit for season four. No, that doesn’t guarantee anything. SNW doesn’t have a big name to carry its branding the way the other two Trek IPs do, so it doesn’t fit what may be the future mold for the franchise.
Bottom line: Strange New Worlds likely has to be one of the most-viewed shows during its third season run across all streaming services if its going to survive. If it isn’t, Skydance may consider it cheaper to pay out contracts and move on rather than commit to a fourth season.
As for Star Trek: Lower Decks—animation is not as costly as live action. And while Paramount has already axed LD, like Star Trek: Prodigy, it’s possible Skydance may attempt to license the series out elsewhere, provided its fifth season performs well enough to garner interest. Skydance did show interest in licensing strategies during their presentation.
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
The Future
While Paramount getting out of debt through its merger with Skydance may be good, it’s important to steel ourselves as fans for an uncertain future. It’s entirely possible that none of the current or future crop of Star Trek shows hits Skydance’s expectations. In fact, there’s always the possibility that the new bosses simply clean house, as new bosses are often wont to do.
Skydance’s previous experience with Star Trek is movies. And in the long term what we may see is more of that. Rather than spending money on ongoing series, Skydance may ultimately decide to switch to a film strategy, utilizing big name actors as the focus first and the franchise’s name recognition second. That’s a very real possibility.
The streaming market is in a state of shake up so things may change significantly in the next few years. However, it seems very unlikely in this moment that Skydance will continue things as they are now. In other words: don’t expect Star Trek: Legacy any time soon. But do prepare for the possibility of a big screen Star Trek: The Next Generation reboot.
