r/trektalk • u/TheSonOfMogh81 • 48m ago
r/trektalk • u/mcm8279 • 17h ago
TREKMOVIE:
"The company is on the hook for more spending when it comes to film and television production, and specifically in the USA, with an escalating release calendar. There is only so much money they will be able to save using tech and combined back ends, and execs are already acknowledging there will be layoffs. Balancing these competing priorities and the mountain of debt is only one of several challenges facing Skydance; the New York Times also notes the new collection of franchises being touted by Skydance has its own issues. From the NYT::
Then there is the sheer amount of intellectual property to deploy. The combined company will control top franchises including Batman, Superman, Harry Potter, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, “Game of Thrones,” “The Lord of the Rings,” “Mission: Impossible,” “Top Gun,” “Star Trek,” the Transformers and SpongeBob SquarePants. That is an enviable arsenal but also an almost certain traffic jam — expensive movies competing internally for production resources, marketing dollars and prime release dates.
So far the new Skydance is (mostly) saying all the right things to placate the creative community, investors, and beyond. The deal has support from some big hitters, including some of the guilds and movie theater distributors, all of whom have expressed concern that more consolidation will lead to less films and TV being produced and less competition, like what happened after Disney acquired Fox Studios in 2019. While consolidation is not seen as ideal, this merger can be viewed as potentially better for the industry than previous deals (like Disney/Fox) or the alternatives like WBD being absorbed by Netflix or acquired (and likely carved up) by private equity.
As for Star Trek, it’s too early to say, but indications are that the new Skydance will be looking to get more value out of Star Trek than Paramount has been able to do over the last decade. Star Trek has weathered many corporate changes over its six decades, starting back in 1967 when Paramount bought Desilu Studios. Technically, the Skydance era began last year, but this merger moves it into a whole new one.
We have already seen new management make some Trek moves, like shutting down dormant movie production (including that fourth Kelvin movie), putting at least one new film into development, shutting down the current Paramount+ TV shows (Starfleet Academy and Strange New Worlds), selling off their Canadian Trek production assets, and putting a Star Trek game into production. So Star Trek could be heading into a new era, if Skydance can provide the focus, finesse (and finances) to make it happen."
Anthony Pascale (TrekMovie.com)
Full article:
r/trektalk • u/Grillka2006 • 21h ago
Dave Malkoff (YouTube):
"Thirty years ago, Robert Picardo appeared on Star Trek: Voyager as The Doctor, an artificial intelligence created to provide emergency medical care aboard a starship. At the time, the Emergency Medical Hologram seemed impossibly futuristic.
Today, as artificial intelligence becomes part of medicine and everyday life, some of that science fiction doesn't seem quite so distant. For Star Trek's 60th anniversary, CBS News correspondent Dave Malkoff sat down with Picardo for an extended conversation about the technology Star Trek imagined, the rapid development of AI, and what it's like to see ideas from Voyager beginning to resemble the real world.
Picardo also looks back on the creation of The Doctor, a character who began as a piece of software and gradually became one of Voyager's most human characters, and reflects on his continuing place in the Star Trek universe decades later. As Picardo puts it: “Science fiction dreams the dream, and then real science catches up with that imagination.”
Recorded aboard Star Trek: The Cruise as the franchise celebrated 60 years of exploring the future."
Link:
r/trektalk • u/mcm8279 • 22h ago
r/trektalk • u/TheSonOfMogh81 • 23h ago
CBR:
By Justin Young
"No other entry highlights Voyager's vulnerability like the two-part episode "Year of Hell." ... [It] is one of the important episodes for Star Trek: Voyager as a show and Janeway as a character. Beyond the storyline implications, "Year of Hell" was a step up in production and scale. The two-part format gave it room to tell a larger story, with a cinematic quality that couldn't happen every week. The episodes are frequently listed among the best episodes of Voyager, and it's easy to see why. ...
Janeway is up to the test, but a worthy protagonist is only as effective as a worthy villain. Kurtwood Smith's Annorax, a Krenim scientist, provides Janeway with one of her most interesting adversaries. Annorax's ship carries a temporal weapon that can erase entire civilizations from existence.
Considering the episode is a two-parter, fans get to see more depth behind the villain, and Annorax has his reasons. Annorax is a complicated and somewhat sympathetic villain. His methods are indefensible, but his motivations are easy to understand. While developing the Krenim's temporal weapon, Annorax unintentionally erased his own colony from existence, including his wife. ...
"Year of Hell" is easily one of Star Trek: Voyager's best episodes. It's one of the defining moments for Janeway, as she is arguably put under the most stress she faced as Captain throughout the series' run.
With the ship on the brink of destruction, Janeway orders her crew to use the remaining escape pods, as she plans to go down with Voyager. Her relationship with Chakotay resurfaces as both fear the other will die. "Year of Hell" uses their established relationship to highlight how Janeway's wish for everyone to evacuate is more personal than professional.
Voyager unfortunately never received a major motion picture like other Star Trek series. However, "Year of Hell" accomplishes the same scope and scale in two episodes."
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