All Under One Roof

The significance of the above image may not immediately mean anything but for the first time since 2006 both the movie and TV licences will be owned by the SAME business as Viacom and CBS are set to reunite after a series of recent murmurings. 

But what does this all mean for the franchise powerhouse?

Simply put it means that the TV and movie opportunities can once again be properly intertwined. No longer will Viacom need to tread their own path, spin out into alternate universes, reboot and boldly go differently. It offers the possibility that one day Discovery or one of the subsequent franchise behemoths could venture onto the big screen beyond the confines of TV and it’s smaller scope. 

Estimated to bring about a company worth $28 billion, ViacomCBS will Control every aspect of Star Trek - but will they pass it all under Alex Kurtzman’s guidance or will he remain solely in command of its televised adventures? For the eagle-eyed of course there's a certain iron that Kurtzman - one of the guys behind the movie reboot over on Viacom/Paramount etc should be the one who is now at the helm of the franchise's future on the CBS lot. Could this have been the Big Plan all along so he will be in overall control of Star Trek's direction for the foreseeable future?

What also of the Quentin Tarantino movie which remains the focus of much speculation and excitement? What names might this draw in and will he now have the option to dig into the rich TV past of Star Trek to utilise it’s toybox of characters and events to add a more mature aspect to the universe? How long will it be now before there's an announcement about the future of Star Trek on a cinematic scale?

These are, I’m sure you would agree, very exciting times for the franchise - to know that everything has been reunited and managed in one hub. If the future for Star Trek was already looking bright with the range of series coming then this must be almost blinding in comparison. 

There's also been speculation that Star Trek could become the next Marvel Cinematic Universe. I honestly don't think so. As a concept yes in terms of having both movie and TV entries in its collection but in relation to box office numbers and hype I'd err on the side of caution. Star Trek will not draw in that kind of attention. Yes, it has lasted over half a century but it's not as big a draw and nor will Star Trek be pumping out three or four movies a year plus TV content. Already we're discussing saturation with at least five series in some stage of work (two animated, Discovery, Picard and Section 31) without even considering what the movie arm of the universe might be doing.

That's the thing though - this truly is now the Star Trek Universe - all aspects controlled in one place, one home. It all seems to be coming together rather well at the moment wouldn't you agree...?

Happy to see the franchise reunited after so long? What would you want to see as the result of this reunification?

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Analysis: The Discovery Trailer

Two and a half minutes of new Star Trek just dropped and don't it look good!!!

The wait is finally almost nearly over maybe for the arrival of Discovery with our first good look at the new show which will debut this Fall (Autumn) on CBS All Access and around the rest of the world on Netflix.

"Captain where are we going? We have no map. You can't set a course without a star."

Today we've been teased with a couple of promo pics from the trailer of Captain Phillipa Georgiou and Lieutenant Commander Michael Burnham on a desert planet and another of Burnham in her spacesuit but this evening the big reel dropped and Discovery truly arrived. I'm not going to go through the trailer in sequence as the CBS and the Netflix versions have large variations in order (and a couple of sneaky changes) so here goes...

"It's hard to imagine you've served under me for seven years....Commander Burnham I think it is time we talked about you having your own command"

Kicking us off on that desert planet we have Georgiou and Burnham trekking through the sand with the commanding officer declaring that they must discuss her sub-ordinate taking her own command. She flips open a communicator and a beam effect begins...

Desert worlds are not a new thing to Star Trek and I was immediately reminded of Sisko, Ezri and Jake searching for a lost Orb in Shadows and Symbols from Deep Space Nine's final year or Archer and T'Pol crossing the Forge in Enterprise. However, their journey didn't end with a shot of a starship breaking cloud cover but this has to be the Shenzhou and why? Because there's a glimpse of the all-important ship registry as NCC-1227 which means this is a newer ship than the title vessel. So how does Burnham end up on the older Discovery? What happens to land her there? Is the sugggestion of her needing a promotion after seven years actually going to be rejected after some sort of terrible incident. I'm hedging bets that Burnham actually gets demoted after an "incident" (more on that in a bit) and ends up on NCC-1031.  Even at a distance at this time you can clearly see the familiar design elements and it resembles the wire model from the earlier behind the scenes trailer.

We get to see the new bridge design for the Shenzhou (still no Discovery) and there's more than a few echoes across to the Vengeance bridge from Into Darkness and certainly to the bridge of the Kelvin from the 2009 reboot. It's dark, metallic, functional and not a bit like the Enterprise-D. I would even go so far as to say that it's not too far from the Enterprise-E bridge we saw from First Contact although it seems a lot more cramped and with a much lower ceiling. Note that the forward consoles have a very familiar design to them which would be more at home on Sovereign Class starship than something pre-Kirk. Interesting point to note here as well is that the bridge of the Shenzhou is actually slung under the ship rather than above. Check out the structure of the bridge versus that "upside down" shot of the ship and you can see this new twist on the design. Kinda makes more sense defensibly...

"Great unifiers are few and far between but they do come. Often such leaders will need a profound cause for their followers to rally around."

Sarek (James Frain) shows up as a hologram and giving rather grim Vulcan stoicism. This attitude is more in line with the vision of the green-blooded race from Enterprise than The Original Series. There seems to be a darker tone to Sarek's words, a more disdainful approach to the human race than in The Original Series for instance. Even his later soundbyte sounds stark and against humanity's exploration of the stars.

"What have you done out there on the edge of Federation space."

It makes me wonder if he's integral to the pilot or the season but each time he's a little chilling and direct. Here he could be scorning anyone and Frain's portrayal seems even more stark than Mark Lenard's in Journey to Babel. How they'll explore the character transition will be good to see. Is Sarek going to be the disapproving type of Vulcan we saw in Enterprise, still disgruntled that the humans are stepping out of their comfort zone. What kind of relationship does the Vulcan ambassador have with Starfleet? Is it a personal one with Burnham or something more general? To whom is he talking?

"You will never learn Vulcan, your tongue is too human."

Those familiar with the original "making of" teaser will obviously spot the new uniforms too. So we were completely wrong and the blue with the added piping are actually the duty uniforms and NOT as I suggested, the dress uniforms. They seem very functional and one-piece regardless of male, female or alien. Very form-fitting from what we can tell although there does seem to be a short-sleeved version on show during one shot of a ship corridor. 

Gold braiding indicates Command therefore with silver for Sciences and bronze for Engineering and the other Support Services. Also Georgiou has additional braiding on her shoulders to mark her out as the captain. Wondering about the ranks? Well they're etched into the left-hand facing spike of the delta in the style of The Next Generation's pips rather than The Original Series' stripes. Nice touch. I've included a nice big pic of Doug Jones in character at the bottom of this article so you can see the ranks more clearly!

"What am I looking at?"
"Object of unknown origin."

That hint of the final frontier comes across in the reveal of a mysterious graphic that the starship is scanning and Burnham's enthusiasm to get to grips with something new. It's probably their first sign of real exploration we've seen since the end of Enterprise and certainly pushes hope that this will be a series taking us to new extremes.

"We've come all this way captain. It would be irresponsible to leave whatever that is unknown."

A few shots around the bridge give us the tech contrast of gunmetal to blue displays but we also are visually introduced to two new species of alien - one with some form of cybernetic implants either side of his temples and a second blue-skinned figure with a type of crystalline pattern down one side of his face. There is a third who has more to say in the trailer than anyone else and I'm convinced that this is Doug Jones. Buried beneath a ton of makeup he might be but that voice is quite distinctive. Now, the Netflix variant drops a couple of these shots to add in some others later on.

Jones' alien is another new race to the franchise with a pronounced skeletal structure around the face and piercing blue eyes. Now unless my eyes are playing tricks, the braiding around the edges of his uniform are silver so this has to be the way of distinguishing departments rather than gold, blue and red as we've been led before.

Visually we get a huge treat as Sonequa Martin-Green tries out an environmental suit fitted with rockets taking her out into the galaxy. This has to be the most advanced spacesuit created for the show and you can see that from the use of internal displays and the ability to move itself around.

"Computer; ignitors."

This and the earlier desert scenes demonstrate the care and attention that has been sunk into the show. No desert sets in a studio - we're talking full location shoot in Jordan and a lot of money thrown at making space scenes look breathtakingly real.


"Captain warp signatures detected!"


Back on the bridge and Sam Vartholomeos is getting all worried with the apparent arrival of a lot of ships. Georgiou has to state the obvious as a load of familiar triple-pointed blood red emblems appear and it looks like war is on. 

"Contact Starfleet Command....we have engaged the Klingons."

I get the sense that this is going to be a very action-orientated Star Trek and even from the visual style we've seen here it's nowhere near as clean and polished as we experienced through the '80's and '90's Star Trek shows. This has dirt under its nails and is getting grubbier. Nor does it seem to have any light touches (no sign of Mudd yet so hold a breath for that) but this feels like it's going to be a heavy journey from start to finish - a finish that we know will now have two additional episodes making season one 15 chapters long rather than the original projected 13.

"I'm trying to save you...I'm trying to save all of you."

Take another note of how this trailer is highlighting Georgiou, Burnham and Doug Jones' alien character. He gets a decent amount of screentime in here as well as some lines. I'm suggesting he is going to be one of the main characters in the show alongside Martin-Green's lead. Who we are saving...hmmm...could be the Klingons themselves?

"Target it's neck, cut off its head."

But let's talk about the other major element present in the Discovery trailer before we get bogged down in gold and silver braid, hairstyles and lens flare (oh yes there is....) and go Klingon.

These guys look badass. The reveal of the Klingon look for the show is far closer to the JJ Abrams vision from Into Darkness than to the Prime Universe. Clearly the uniforms we were teased were those designed for the warrior race with the spikes and the intensive skeletal structure. These are very different Klingons. The ridges are still there but as with JJ's interpretation they're bald and oddly remind me more of the Xindi Reptilians from Enterprise than what they are supposed to.

Chris Obi's character does actually appear to be more regal in golden finery but that could just be ceremonial since we do see some sort of sarcophagus being lifted away and the Klingon death howl conducted. Now, could this be the result of a Starfleet attack? Could Discovery firing first cause this death and therefore plunge the quadrant into all out war? What if that's not a sarcophagus at all but some form of super weapon? After all we do see Burnham standing one some form of expanding structure at a later stage and facing off against Obi's Klingon "king". What is the nature of the attack we see with all the crew clutching their ears as a white light explodes across the screen?

Oh - and as for changes CBS vs Netflix, the latter includes a shot of a clawed, metal clad Klingon hand and a close up of a Klingon dagger (included at the bottom of the article for reference).

"Starfleet doesn't fire first."
"We have to!"

Indeed, is it Burnham herself who is the reason that the war starts? Does she push for the attack? Is this the reason that Jason Isaacs character will arrive because Burnham gets most of the crew of Shenzhou killed in a retaliatory attack from the Klingons? Will this be that incident I mentioned earlier that drops Burnham from potential promotion to an older ship with little prospect of going further for some time? Is the captain going to become a disposable character? Honestly as I wrote that I then thought - hang on - what the hell is going on?!? Gotta love a good, vague trailer to make you ask questions.

"My people were biologically determined for one purpose alone; to sense the coming of death. I sense it coming now."

I know I'm coming back to Doug Jones' alien again but if we want to talk haunting moments this has to be the one. I mean, this guy can sense death?! That's going to be something to dread going forward and might be pulled out when the cast starts going through changes? We have to assume that the majority of the players here are going to be disposable to some degree because that's the nature of more "realistic" TV these days. Characters en-masse don't tend to stick around for the whole lifespan of a show anymore. I would think that we will have a very different line up by the end of Discovery than we do now and I personally feel this will be a journey for Burnham as we see her evolve as a character from lieutenant commander through to captain with a lot of bumps in the road to overcome.

This is definitely not the Star Trek your parents knew and not the series spin-offs we saw 25 years ago. Look at the visual style - it's big, grandiose, expensive and on location. How you can say they haven't thrown a lot of money at this beyond question. This is big screen Star Trek done for the small screen. Check out some of those camera angles especially around Sarek and you get that immediate reminder of Star Trek from 2009. There's a majestically epic feel to Discovery that the trailer lavishes over in every frame and I'm really excited for it. No hint whether this is going to be a more graphic, violent and more adult Star Trek than before but there's some seriously impressive random aliens dropped in there too which does add to the sense that comedy episodes will not be on the menu.

However, there has to be substance beneath the gloss and that's where the 13 - now extended to 15 - episode run will come into play. There's room for expansion, exploration and adventure to blast from every second of the show. I don't care if the Klingons are a bit different, I don't mind that the bridge looks a bit JJ-style (and frankly it could be set in the Kelvin timeline as long as it's decent) but there has to be meat on the bone. This has to look good for today's audience expectations and there has to be a step up to encourage not just Star Trek fans but general sci-fi fans to take a chance and watch. Netflix might have stumped up such a large amount that it paid for season one but there has to be a return on investment especially from the CBS All Access platform.

These two and a bit minutes of Discovery ooze quality and give little away. There are some wonderful touches and teases in there and some notable faces cleverly missing (Isaacs) which indicates a ton of stuff to come - and to be honest I don't even think we've seen the ship properly. I did try to squint a bit at some of those visuals but trying to work out what ship they are from was a nightmare. Everything - by that I mean the gory details - seems to have been cleverly omitted to keep fans guessing right up to the premiere.

Add to al this that we will have a companion programme to follow each episode called Talking Trek that will help expand the background and help us get to know the nitty gritty of the show. For us behind the scenes lovers I can't wait for this new addition to the franchise.

I suppose it's also a wise point to note the new poster that's arrived. Now aside from Sonequa Martin-Green being the cover girl and the customary Vulcan salute taking a lot of space, just get close and spot that starship right in the middle. If anything confirmed we haven't seen the finished Discovery yet, this has to be it. The lines are similar to that original tease and not to the ship we have pictured above from the latest trailer. I think there's a lot going to be happening in this first episode we haven't even seen a shred of yet.

Autumn is coming, fellow Star Trek fans and this just makes you want it a bit quicker...

All images from CBS All Access and Netflix trailers.

Still excited? Anything in the trailer getting you hyped up?

Check out the whole Discovery story with our archive!

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The Second Trailer Has Gone Beyond

After what seems like an eternity the second trailer for Star Trek Beyond has landed, premiering at a fan event in the US in the early hours of Saturday morning, UK time. 

Initially my thoughts on the new footage is that there has been a distinct move away from the action adventure and big explosions feel that pounded through every frame of the first trailer released many moons ago.

This is much more about character, about the crew and about a story than the first and the more subtle soundtrack works a treat to emphasise the direction.

"My dad joined Starfleet because he believed in it. I joined on a dare. You joined to see if you could live up to him...You spend all this time trying to be your father now you're wondering just what it means to be you." - McCoy

So the trailer opens on McCoy giving a heart to heart with Kirk about his position in Starfleet and what has led him to this point.  There's a stunning little sequence of the Enterprise at warp as it pushes through the universe like never before and Kirk framed with the glow of a red alert hinting at the danger to come. From there we get a glimpse of what might be some giant starbase structure which resembles a city and the USS Enterprise docking with it. This is overlaid with a voiceover from Shoreh Agadashloo who only joined the cast during reshoots. We do get what may be an interior shot of that structure too and keep your eyes peeled for the Federation and Starfleet pennants that are at the bottom of the screen.

"It isn't uncommon you know. It's easy to get lost in the vastness of space. There's only yourself, your ship, your crew." - Shoreh Agadashloo

Insert shot of Kirk, McCoy and Spock looking up at what I can only surmise to either be the  Enterprise repaired or its replacement with the doctor asking "So you really want to head back out there huh?". Given their outfits this definitely has to be from a later stage of the movie either the end or when they are (possibly) given the Franklin to rescue the crew. I'd plump for the former as they look way too happy for the latter!

Cue shot of Enterprise (from a rather unusual angle) heading out from what might be that starbase structure we see a few times in this trailer. You can just see it in a fraction of a second in the background. Suddenly though that calm is shattered by a sudden and seemingly unexpected attack on the Enterprise by a horde of ships that turn the starship into Swiss cheese in a matter of moments. Shots of Kirk, Scotty and Uhura declaring they are being boarded snap between flurries of starship destruction which push home the no-coming-back for the NCC-1701.  We get our first look here at the alien armour worn by Krall's army as they board the starship firing as they go and just watch how that door is ripped open as they get onto the Enterprise. These guys are serious. Deadly serious.

We're treated to shots of Sulu, Chekov and McCoy making good their escape in one-man escape pods although Sulu's pod is picked up by one of those attacking ships. Looking at the fact we have most of the crew captured it could indicate this is how a lot of them are captured either before planetfall or while escaping.

Going from there we're shown the barren wasteland which is where the Enterprise crew are apparently marooned and it looks like a starship graveyard full of crumbling wreckage so the arrival of the Starfleet ship may not be unexpected to Krall.

"I know why you're here; why we are all here." - Jaylah

This brings in Jaylah (Sophia Boutella) as seen in the first trailer. She appears to team up with Scotty during her initial appearance and knows more than the trailer is letting us see. There's a reason everyone ends up on what I'll term as Krall's World and no one leaves it alive. There's a repeat of her combat skills from trailer one as well as a couple of nice character shots. The two aliens that she's fighting - of you freeze-frame - are the two that were pictured with director Justin Lin in one of the first promo shots for Beyond. Her scene with Scotty is revisited later when he reminds her that they can't be leaving his friends behind and also notes (on the Franklin bridge) that "everyone who goes there he [Krall] kills."

It does seem that the movie is being marketed with Jaylah very prominently part of the promotion at Cannes as well as on a limited edition poster given out at the fan event where the trailer was launched (which has close similarities to the poster for The Motion Picture). Spot later in the trailer where she's taking on Krall within the structure at the centre of that quarry-like prison camp. It's also the same one that Krall is examining data on Kirk on a matter of seconds after about 1:48 into the trailer. Minor reference that the Kirk in the holopic is wearing a uniform from the first two reboot movies with the lower collar. It also has his full name on there

Jaylah also gets the "last laugh" in the trailer, dropping herself on the captain's chair of the Franklin with no apparent respect for the chain of command. For note it's interesting how many comments I've seen that are getting excited about an NX Class ship being in the trailer. Similiar yes but not that class, the USS Franklin was unveiled (almost by accident) on a poster donors could receive for the competition to walk on the set last year. How that dynamic with Jaylah/Kirk will work has yet to be explored since any dialogue she's had has been with Scotty. 

"Our captain will come for us. Mercy will be the last thing on his mind." - Uhura 

"I'm counting on it." - Krall

Uhura's encounter with Krall and her insistence that Kirk will come back for those he has left behind is very striking and emphasises that Zoe Saldana is still recognised as a major asset to the reboot. As with Jaylah she's been a strong component of the early marketing campaign and her romance is still on with Spock telling from the lingering kiss at 1:54. What race Krall is has not been announced. Suggestions so far have included Reman but I am inclined to suggest he's something new specifically for this movie. Good makeup though as I'd never guess it's Idris Elba under all that!

Follow that up with an attack by (what must be) Krall's armada on a Starfleet facility which could be that same starbase from earlier. It would tie everything together nicely and if you look in the background there are some rising structures that would support that theory. It's also see n later as a big space structure with what I can only describe as an atmosphere bubble as the Franklin approaches. That bubble might burst or be damaged which is why Kirk is airborne. That would hold up as if you look in the background of that scene there's a yellow shirt also flailing around in the sky. Result of an attack by Krall's ships? Definitely. I also think that the reason for his attack is that this starbase has encroached into territory that Starfleet have "claimed" and offers a secure position away from Earth for deep space explorers to return to rather than heading back to the home planet.

The situation is once again grim but luckily we're not needing the Beastie Boys not too much motor bike quarry jumping to heighten the excitement of this trailer. What is that effect that happens to Kirk on the bike though? Is that a time warp or is it a funky transporter? While it remains fairly scarce in detail and certainly chops around the sequence that the movie will come in there are some huge payout moments and a couple that are well worth rewinding and watching again.

Check out for instance the parts where Kirk is seemingly flying through the air to clutch at some sort of device above a cityscape. Is this Starfleet HQ? Is this also the same cityscape we see shortly after? Would that again be the same that we saw earlier in the trailer and if so, check out the logo at the top centre because it's embossed with the name Yorktown (credit to TheIrishTrekkie for noting this beauty!) Now that's a blatant homage to the original name for the Enterprise but I'd go as far to say it's the name of the space station structure that the Enterprise is docking with. 

"Death is what keeps us alive." - McCoy

Next up some brilliant shots of Kirk and Chekov escaping through the viewscreen of the crashed Enterprise saucer which we then get to see on fire as the pair have a sliding phaser fight down the primary hull.

Now here's a thing. Another shot of that cityscape has something being built above it and I'm going to make a bit of a leap here. Look at the angle of that arm. It seems like a white version of the Vengeance warp engine? Could the new Enterprise be something similar to that behemoth vessel from the 2013 movie? Maybe. It would also make sense that McCoy, Kirk and Spock are looking at it in that "get out there" clip right at the beginning of the trailer. How else would they pick up a ship so quickly?

"Unity is not your strength it is your weakness." - Krall

Also as the trailer runs to its end we have a planet fall of a circular object which could either be the Enterprise saucer on its way down or potentially the Franklin going atmospheric. Anyone else reminded of Generations with that part of the trailer?

The Franklin shows up quite a bit at the close of the trailer following a group standoff in the quarry (has to be the rescue since Spock is in his Franklin jacket and he's a slo injured) and we get to see the small starship skimming through the atmosphere and making its escape.

Close to credits and spot the fact that only Simon Pegg and Doug Jung are credited with writing this movie. Looks like all of the previous input was totally ditched then.

So, a great trailer that's more about Kirk finding himself and fully understanding his role as a captain rather than being the fish out of water we've had in 2009 and Into Darkness. From what I've see reaction to the trailer has been very positive and I think that the fan event that premiered it and 15 minutes of footage was key to build that belated excitement.

The event welcomed fans to a session where they were an audience to JJ Abrams, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Justin Lin. Plus at the even we discovered that the lawsuit against Axanar is being settled not dropped with some pushing from the Beyond director to make it happen. There will be consequences and conditions going forward however. Also the event saw a street at Paramount Pictures named after Leonard Nimoy and closed with the reveal of the first official Star Trek Beyond poster. Wow. What an event and certainly different to the overkill we received for the 2013 Khan reboot.

I'm definitely optimistic after this trailer as opposed to my feelings after trailer one. Good but still not blowing my mind. It seems to be heading in the right direction so with all the 50th anniversary announcements and our first teases of the 2017 series this is going to be a real big rollercoaster of a year for Star Trek and its fans.

What did you think to the trailer? What did you spot?

All images taken from Paramount Pictures trailer

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Axanar Battles Off-Screen

Usually on New Years Eve I drop a post looking forward to the best of Star Trek in 2016 but the last 24 hours have left something of a bitter taste.

If you've been strolling around the corridors of Twitter and Facebook in particular then the news that CBS/Paramount are suing Axanar will come as no surprise. What is a surprise is that it's happening in the first place.

To fill in some gaps quickly, Axanar is a fan funded production that tells the story of Garth of Izar and the battle which changed the course of war with the Klingons.  The stunning and award-winning Prelude to Axanar arrived early in 2015 but with the exception of a teaser scene in the summer we've been presented with very little else.  Now it seems that CBS aren't too happy with the production,  noting that it appears to infringe on (and I quote from the Hollywood Reporter article that broke the news) "The Axanar Works infringe Plaintiffs’ works by using innumerable copyrighted elements of Star Trek, including its settings, characters, species, and themes...", which doesn't make them too happy. Not only that but suspiciously Renegades has vanished from YouTube in the last day or so which could mean bigger things are in motion.

Question one has to be why it's taken up to now for them to realise this after the Prelude was released many months ago is worrying but let's not forget that back then there was no suggestion that a new Star Trek would be launching on CBS' subscription TV service in January 2017. Do they see Axanar as a threat?  Do they think it will ruin the landscape for their new flagship sci-fi series when they haven't been an issue in the cinematic shadow of both the '09 reboot and its muddled sequel, Into Darkness.

Fans are, understandably enraged that the much-touted movie could now never see the light of day and that almost certainly production will come to a grinding halt while legal proceedings take place. A lot of fans including myself have donated to Axanar and this shutting down of the production will most likely mean that those funds will account for nothing except a warehouse and some half-built sets. The #istandwithaxanar tag (used here as the article header but not an endorsement) has been lashed across social media as fans turn to back the project and attempt to dissuade CBS from continuing on its mission to seemingly kill off the "original vibe"  of Star Trek if you will. While there was no Star Trek on TV fan films flourished and kept the dream and the vision of Gene Roddenberry alive -  but at the smell of a new series the claws are apparently being sharpened.

But is everything OK in the Axanar camp either?  Not really. The loss of Tony Todd four months ago marked unease especially when there were suggestions of dissatisfaction between the actor and Axanar. Just reading back over tweets from Todd and also from those high in the Axanar echelons is certainly eye-opening in relation to acting abilities, time taken to produce the movie and I suspect a lot more material that hasn't entered the public domain. In fact this exchange was getting quite heated last night.

Now I totally get why fans are rising to support Axanar but do we truly know the whole story?  Was permission asked and/or granted in relation to using the Star Trek moniker (apparently yes)?  Where has all the money gone exactly? Have donors been kept truly and honestly informed?

These are just some of the very pressing questions that have been aimed at @StarTrekAxanar on Twitter in the last day with Alec Peters, Robert Meyer Burnett and others joining the conversation as it has increased in intensity to defend the production, reassure fans and express hope that there will be some form of middle ground reached so that Axanar will be completed. You can read Alec Peters' (who runs the Propworx auctions and does sell replica items from Star Trek) statement in full over on the production's Facebook page which does now suggest Axanar to be a fan film rather than an independent after all the hype indicated the former. 

But what does this all really mean?  Are series such as Continues and Phase II now in serious danger?  What of Anthology or Farragut as in all four cases I would say they are even closer to the original ethos and even the look of The Original Series.  Are these going to be told to cease and desist?  What of fan blogs, resource sites, YouTube pages and the like?  And why are they not heading after the fake merchandisers and those making revenue from the franchise with no link to CBS or permission? Why now is Axanar being made the scapegoat that is to be brought to its knees?

It definitely has an incredible vision and the Prelude took fan films to another level so that might be making CBS hot under the collar but this action as we are just days from the start of the 50th anniversary year  may well threaten the release and profits of a certain Star Trek Beyond with fans boycotting the film and turning 2016 into a terrible year for Star Trek. BUT as the article notes, Paramount and CBS have encouraged fan productions over the years but Axanar did something very different, it proclaimed itself as the first independent Star Trek movie. Certainly a bold statement and CBS/Paramount commented further stating: "Star Trek is a treasured franchise in which CBS and Paramount continue to produce new original content for its large universe of fans. The producers of Axanar are making a Star Trek picture they describe themselves as a fully professional independent Star Trek film. Their activity clearly violates our Star Trek copyrights, which, of course, we will continue to vigorously protect."

It is excruciatingly painful to watch a franchise you love being torn apart from the inside and once more hurting fans while. Star Wars slaughters just about every box office record in existence and creates a few new ones at the same time.  But CBS must have a good case, they must have good reason to launch such a case against Axanar. It does make me increasingly dismayed with the direction that JJ Abrams, Robert Orci, Bad Robot, CBS, Paramount and everyone else on the bandwagon have decided to take Star Trek. It isn't Star Wars and it's not Guardians of the Galaxy. If I want to see either I will but what I want from Star Trek is,  fuck me,  Star Trek. No lens flares, no Fast and Furious action, no cussing Beastie Boys -  you get the picture -  and with Axanar and Renegades we at least got something that at its core wanted to exude the power of that Roddenberry vision and ensure it was nurtured,  respected and encouraged to grow into the next half century. I fear that should this case be won then the golden age of the fan series,  the fan site and everything else non-profit-making that has kept the magic of Star Trek alive will be in danger of disappearing virtually overnight.

However, saying all that and defending Axanar is all well and good but what about looking at this from the perspective of CBS/Paramount? For years, yes, fan films have flown the flag and kept the franchise alive on a shoestring budget but have Alec Peters and co gone that step too far from critiquing, honouring and commenting on Star Trek to effectively making Star Trek itself. Y'see this has always been hyped as an independent movie rather than a fan film with the team promoting the fact that this is as close to Star Trek as they could get without it actually being the real thing. Maybe there's a sense of Icarus here and Axanar and potentially Renegades have flown a little too close to that sun and have now been burnt.

I tend to think that other fan series, blogs and the like will be OK since they are not set up as the commercial business model that Axanar appears to be (heck it even had an annual report) but this may well be a warning to other productions in the future not to get too cocky and remain firmly in the fan-film circle rather than starting to play games with the "big boys". As friend of SKoST, Rob Clements noted there have been a lot of "fair use" films such as Of Gods and Men and two early episodes of Phase II which critiqued Star Trek but Axanar actually wanted to BE Star Trek. Indeed their very production was a group of fans and some camera equipment whereas Axanar went all out and even has its own Ares Studios. 

Of course if fans now turn against Paramount and CBS over this matter (and I can definitely see both angles) then at least the studios will have an argument if the third movie, Beyond, now tanks at the box office - fans boycotted the movie because of this lawsuit. To be fair though that first trailer hasn't done them any massive favours with the fanbase anyway. I doubt that it will, as I've seen on a few message boards and through the Axanar page on Facebook, "kill Star Trek" although it certainly won't be doing it any favours in the eyes of fans across the world.

The scary thing is that CBS and Paramount may actually be in the right here because of the way in which Axanar has been marketed and produced. Alec Peters has also stated in the last 24 hours that he and the team were prepared for this possibility even though he met with CBS to cover what they were doing and they seemed to be happy at that time.

It seems therefore unlikely that we'll be seeing much of Axanar in 2016 as this battle rages. Are there two sides? Is one of these parties obviously in the wrong? I think there are points that either combatant can make to justify their position but it'll be lawyers rather than starships which will be battling it out. Personally I would love to see Axanar completed and I genuinely hope that the mud-slinging and sniping can be pushed aside so that it can be made. Is there a middle ground so that, as Alec hopes, the matter can be resolved in a "fair and amicable manner". After writing this my initial thought that the studios see this as a threat has dissipated and now I believe it is more to do with the use of intellectual property and the like. I would like to think so although there may have to be concessions and I would think those will have to come from the Axanar camp rather than the studio behemoth of Paramount and CBS.

Thanks also to @robclements for his help and input with this article.

What are your thoughts on this delicate new twist to the franchise? Who is right? Is there a correct perspective or are Paramount and CBS totally within their rights to go after Axanar? 

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