Paramount+ Drops Star Trek Content After Luring Star Trek Fans There To Watch it
A lot of Star Trek content has jumped ship.
This article is more than 2 years old
From blockbuster films to action-packed series, Star Trek is one of the most influential sci-fi franchises in pop culture. The franchise boasts an extensive catalog of television, film, and animated iterations that are as strong as ever. And due to its unique legacy, the franchise has a long-time, passionate cult following that spans generations.
After the release of 2017’s Star Trek: Discovery, the sci-fi universe became one of the highlights of original programming on Paramount+. And over the last couple of months, the streamer started to expand the franchise’s movie offerings, making twelve of the thirteen films available in July.
The move made Paramount+ the perfect hub for all things Star Trek. Fans were excited and expected the catalog to be complete shortly. But as August approached, all the previous content including The Next Generation movies disappeared. The six Original Series films and almost all the Next Generation movies are now available exclusively on the AMC+ streaming service. Star Trek: Generations also left Paramount+ but is now not available to stream anywhere.
However, the decision to remove the Star Trek content shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. In July Paramount+ did say that the movies had a limited time on the service. The low-key announcement was made via a social media post that stated that the movies can be streamed till the end of the month. As such, only Star Trek: Beyond and Star Trek: Into Darkness remain on Paramount+.
Moreover, having the streaming rights to movies and series move from one service to another is nothing new. And it’s definitely not unique to Paramount+ or the Star Trek franchise which have been housed at some of the most popular streaming sites over the years. Fortunately, this does not affect all the television series which have always been part of the service since it began as CBS All Access.
The series are expected to remain in perpetuity, along with new exclusive original Star Trek television shows. As per TrekMovie.com, the brand is a vital commodity for ViacomCBS. This is evidenced by the latest $160 million deal for producer Alex Kurtzman to continue expanding the franchise’s universe, with two films in development at Paramount Pictures.
Sadly, it appears that previously agreed-upon deals are getting in the way of Paramount+ being the only home for everything Star Trek-related. But there is some good news for Star Trek fans on Paramount+. The streamer seems to be developing a series focused on the famous Starfleet Academy.
Rumors about the series have been doing the rounds for a while, but The New York Times appears to have officially confirmed its existence. The outlet states that a series built around the Starfleet Academy is currently in the works. While the publication explains that the Starfleet Academy series will be made with younger viewers in mind, it doesn’t specify if the show will be live-action or animated like Star Trek: Lower Decks.
