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Naveen Andrews and Wrenn Schmidt join ‘Star Trek: Khan’

The Star Trek franchise continues to expand with Star Trek: Khan, the latest addition to the popular sci-fi world. The audio series features the voices of Naveen Andrews (The Dropout) as Khan and Wrenn Schmidt (For All Mankind) as Lt. Marla McGivers, a former Starfleet historian who followed Khan into exile on Ceti Alpha V.

The audio series is expected to be released on podcast platforms later this year. Kirsten Beyer and David Mack wrote the series, based on a story by Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan‘s writer and director Nicholas Meyer. Fred Greenhalgh directed, and Rod Roddenberry, Alex Kurtzman, Aaron Baiers, Kirsten Beyer, Molly Barton, Fred Greenhalgh, and Trevor Roth served as executive producers.

CBS Studios offered this description of the audio series:

“The exciting expansion of the Star Trek universe will explore the dramatic untold events...

‘Star Trek: Khan’ has officially announced its lead voice cast. The new scripted audio series will be available on all major podcast platforms in late 2025.

Naveen Andrews (Lost) will voice the legendary Khan Noonien Singh, while Wrenn Schmidt (For All Mankind) will play his wife, Marla McGivers. Recording for the series has now been completed, and more cast members will be revealed later.

The story is based on an idea by Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan writer and director Nicholas Meyer. Writers Kirsten Beyer and David Mack will bring the script to life.

Related: ‘Star Trek: Picard’: What Happened to Wesley Crusher?

The series will explore what happened on the harsh planet of Ceti Alpha V after Captain Kirk left Khan and his followers stranded there. It will show how Khan changed from a powerful leader with great ambitions to the vengeful villain seen in The Wrath of Khan.

Roberto Orci, a writer and producer known for his work on Star Trek, Transformers, and Hawaii Five-0, died at his home in Los Angeles on February 25 due to complications from kidney disease. He was 51.

Born in Mexico City, Orci moved to the United States as a child. His early career in television included writing and producing on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess, and Alias. He formed a long-running creative partnership with Alex Kurtzman, leading to some of the most commercially successful action-adventure films of the 2000s.

Their work included Transformers (2007) and Star Trek (2009), both of which became box office hits. Orci once spoke about how the relationship between Kirk and Spock in Star Trek reflected his and Kurtzman’s dynamic. “We’re from different worlds,” he said in 2009. “Alex was born here, and I was born in Mexico City. Kirk and Spock are opposites from two worlds. That’s us in a nutshell.

Bollywood Mascot: The entertainment world has lost one of its most influential creative minds, as screenwriter and producer Roberto Orci has passed away at the age of 51. A visionary behind some of the most successful sci-fi and action franchises, Orci left an indelible mark on Hollywood through his work on Star Trek, Transformers, and Fringe. His untimely demise has left fans and colleagues mourning the loss of a storyteller who helped redefine the genre.

A Prolific Career in Film and Television

Born on July 20, 1973, in Mexico City, Roberto Orci began his career in television before making a lasting impact on Hollywood blockbusters. He, along with his longtime writing partner Alex Kurtzman, worked on a series of hit TV shows, including Alias, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, and Xena: Warrior Princess. However, it was their co-creation of Fringe in 2008 that truly established Orci as a force in the world of science fiction television.

Hollywood screenwriter Roberto Orci, whose many credits included co-creating Fox’s Fringe and Sleepy Hollow and CBS’ Hawaii Five-0, has died at the age of 51, TVLine has confirmed. Orci died Tuesday at his Los Angeles home following a battle with kidney disease.

“He was a visionary storyteller with a boundless heart and a beautiful soul,” Orci’s brother J.R. Orci said in a statement to our sister site Deadline. “But beyond his creative talents, he was a compassionate friend who would put his life on hold to help a stranger and find room in his home for the most overlooked pup at the shelter.

Roberto Orci, the writer and producer behind franchises like Star Trek, Hawaii Five-0 and Transformers, has died. He was 51.

Orci died Tuesday in his home in Los Angeles following a battle with kidney disease, his manager told The Hollywood Reporter.

Orci began his career as a writer on Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys in the late 1990s.

For a time, Orci was among the hottest screenwriters in Hollywood. He and partner Alex Kurtzman had hands in multiple franchises, with the duo earning credit on J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), Michael’s Bay’s Transformers (2009) and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014).

The duo was also entrusted to expand Sony’s Spider-Man universe on films that never came to fruition, such as Amazing Spider-Man 3 that would have starred Andrew Garfield and a Venom movie that was scrapped before Tom Hardy’s incarnation.

It’s been announced that Roberto Orci, the writer/producer behind Star Trek and Transformers, is dead at the age of 51 after a battle with kidney disease.

“He was a visionary storyteller with a boundless heart and a beautiful soul,” Orci’s brother, J.R. Orci said. “But beyond his creative talents, he was a compassionate friend who would put his life on hold to help a stranger and find room in his home for the most overlooked pup at the shelter.“

Together with his writing partner Alex Kurtzman, Orci was involved in some of the biggest sci-fi/adventure movies and TV shows of the first two decades of the 2000s. After getting his start as a writer on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess, Orci made his big-screen writing debut on Michael Bay’s The Island, which he co-wrote with Kurtzman. The pair went on to write The Legend of Zorro,...

Roberto Orci, the writer-producer behind the late 2000s reboots of “Star Trek” and “Transformers” and creator of “Fringe,” died Tuesday in his Los Angeles home from kidney disease, Variety has confirmed. He was 51.

With partner Alex Kurtzman, Orci co-wrote projects including 2007’s “Transformers” and 2009’s “Star Trek.” Orci’s other credits include producing work on the “Now You See Me” franchise, “Ender’s Game” and “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” as well as writing credits on “Mission Impossible 3.” On the TV side, Orci and Kurtzman developed the 2010 reboot of “Hawaii Five-0” which ran for over 200 episodes. He also created “Sleepy Hollow” and “Fringe” for Fox.

Born in Mexico, Orci attended Crossroads School in Los Angeles where he met fellow movie lover Kurtzman. They would go on to partner on numerous projects, starting with writing scripts for “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys,” and became showrunners at the age of 24. They went on to write for J.

Roberto “Bob” Gaston Orci, best known for writing the “Transformers” and “Star Trek” movies, died at his home in Los Angeles on Tuesday after a battle with kidney disease. He was 51.

A prolific writer, Orci was also known for his work on “Hawaii Five-0.”

“He was a visionary storyteller with a boundless heart and a beautiful soul,” Orci’s brother, J.R. Orci said. “But beyond his creative talents, he was a compassionate friend who would put his life on hold to help a stranger and find room in his home for the most overlooked pup at the shelter.”

Orci was known for his long collaboration with Alex Kurtzman, whom he met when they were in their teens at Crossroads, a private school in Santa Monica.

They began their their writing collaboration with the 1995 series “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.” In 2008, they teamed up with J.J. Abrams for the Fox sci-fi series “Fringe,...

Roberto “Bob” Gaston Orci, a writer-producer who worked on some of the biggest action-adventure and sci-fi movies and television shows from the first two decades of the century, died at his home in Los Angeles today, Feb. 25, after a battle with kidney disease. He was 51.

Born and raised in Mexico City, Orci moved to the United States with his family when he was 10. He started off as a writer on Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and for most of his career was partnered with Alex Kurtzman.

Orci was co-writer/producer on the 2009 Star Trek movie reboot and its two sequels as well as on the 2007 Transformers movie and the 2009 followup Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Orci’s feature credits also include writing work on Mission Impossible III and producing on the Now You See Me franchise, The Proposal as well as The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which he also co-wrote.

William Shatner will turn 94 in March, but the acting icon seems to be as busy as ever. He's set to appear in the Jason Priestley-directed hockey comedy "Keeper of the Cup," and recently provided the voice of Keldor on the animated series "Masters of the Universe: Revolution." Must be that clean Canadian living.

Since he's still plugging away, you might be tempted to wonder if he could make one last visit to the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. If so, you must not be a "Star Trek" fan, because as anyone up on the franchise's overarching narrative knows, Kirk is, canonically, quite dead. He was killed on the planet Veridian III by a falling bridge while battling the villain Soran (Malcolm McDowell) alongside Patrick Stewart's Captain Jean-Luc Picard, and there's no "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" scenario -- which cost us a Khan spinoff -- through which he could be resurrected.

In the coming months, we hope to hear news about the next two Star Trek films. We're supposed to get two of them and while neither have official names yet, we've been referring to them as Star Trek 4 and Star Trek: Origins. However, both names will likely be changed in time.

The theatrical films have long been a source of enjoyment for fans, with the series producing more good films than bad. Albeit the film franchise is far from perfect. Still, the last three films were successful to a degree, with it peaking financially with Star Trek 2009, only for things to come crashing back down with Star Trek: Beyond. The latest film in the modern franchise was praised for a lot of reasons, but the trailer did seem to turn off a lot of potential fans before the film even came out.

It was one of the worst-performing films of the modern era.

The story of the making of "Star Trek: Discovery" is well-known to Trekkies with a smattering of inside-baseball knowledge. Bryan Fuller was asked to create a new "Star Trek" series by the higher-ups at CBS, and he was eager to do so. He loved "Star Trek," having written scripts for "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and "Star Trek: Voyager." He and Alex Kurtzman began assembling a new series, as CBS didn't yet have an idea of what they wanted. Fuller had a novel idea: a "Star Trek" anthology series. He envisioned a series of multiple 10-episode seasons, each one set at a different time within the future history of "Star Trek." The first season would take place shortly before the events of the original "Star Trek," the second would run concurrently with the original "Star Trek," the third during the age of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," and so on,...

Gene Roddenberry’s positive view of the future is what made Star Trek stand apart from other sci-fi franchises. The original series may have starred William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, but the importance given to non-white actors like Nichelle Nichols and George Takei because of how he felt 300 years in the future would make the show very important.

Nichols played the character of Uhura and was one of the most important actresses on TV at the time. She was one of the few African-American actresses who had such a huge and non-stereotypical role in TV at the time. However, she reportedly considered leaving the show after the first season and would not heed Roddenberry’s pleas to stay on.

Gene Roddenberry begged Nichelle Nichols to not quit Star Trek after one season Nichelle Nichols in Star Trek | Credits: Paramount

Gene Roddenberry set Star Trek years in the future and went...

"Star Trek" hasn't always been on the smoothest of journeys. "The Original Series," the best of "Trek," only lasted three seasons on NBC before the network axed it due to low ratings. Fans were bereft, but they kept the flame burning for a decade (and made do with two seasons of "The Animated Series"), and celebrated when director Robert Wise brought the crew of the Starship Enterprise back for "Star Trek: The Motion Picture." But when the movie failed to perform up to Paramount Pictures' box office expectations (grossing $83 million in the United States on a budget of $44 million), the franchise appeared to be on the ropes again.

Fortunately, director Nicholas Meyer came along and righted the starship with the more sensibly budgeted "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan," which grossed $79 million in the U.S. and set the franchise on a profitable course that made "The Next Generation" viable; from there,...

Star Trek is at a crossroads. The franchise has seen three series underperform to some degree to kick off the Nu Trek era of the franchise, all while burning through money that Paramount+ will likely no longer be giving to any one show or film ever again. What little success the franchise has had was due to going back to basics, like with Star Trek: Prodigy and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

Both shows fully embrace the classic Star Trek approach to storytelling and to great effect. Even then, however, shows like Prodigy weren't safe as Paramount+ canceled the show after the toy line attached to the series failed to turn enough money. Since then, everything has been lean.

Ever since reports came out that investors and banks wanted returns on investment for streaming services, Paramount+ has been cutting costs across the board, as has Paramount Global. When the money facets turned off,...

One of the least-expected, most welcome, and coolest surprises on Star Trek: Discovery was the ongoing, recurring presence of David Cronenberg as the mysterious character, Dr. Kovich, who first popped up in season three of the show. Cronenberg has acted on occasion over the years but is far, far better known as the director of such features as The Brood, Scanners, Videodrome, The Dead Zone, The Fly, Dead Ringers, Crash, Eastern Promises, Cosmopolis, and Crimes of the Future. And now he’s back in the director’s chair for The Shrouds, which, nearly a year after premiering at the Cannes Film Festival, will open in the United States on April 25.

Sideshow and Janus Films, which will release the film, just dropped a brief synopsis and a short teaser trailer. The synopsis reads, “Karsh (Vincent Cassel) is a prominent businessman. Inconsolable since the death of his wife, he invents GraveTech, a...

Star Trek fans may not have to wait too much longer for a new comedy series, that is if Tawny Newsome has anything to say about it. The actress who starred in Star Trek: Lower Decks as Beckett Mariner, was tasked with coming up with a new live-action comedy series. Alongside Justin Simien, the pair were given the lead on a new series that would focus on the crew of a pleasure planet.

Think The Office meets Star Trek but with a non-Starfleet main cast. It's one of those show concepts that really only exists because of Alex Kurtzman and his need to have as many different types of Star Trek shows as possible. A live-action, comedy, set as a workplace comedy? I'm not sure anyone is really asking for that kind of content for Star Trek.

Yet, here we are. Following the failure of Star Trek: Section 31, it's...

The first TV film from the Star Trek franchise i.e. Section 31 opened to overwhelming negative reviews from fans. The Michelle Yeoh starrer saw her reprise her role as Philippa Georgiou in the film. Set between The Original Series and The Next Generation, the film was criticized for its incomplete plot and direction.

While the franchise has long moved away from Gene Roddenberry’s rules and regulations for Star Trek, executive producer Alex Kurtzman has defended the film for adhering to the creator’s ultimate vision. The producer mentioned that the setting and its direction were in line with Roddenberry’s intention with Star Trek.

Alex Kurtzman stands for Star Trek: Section 31 despite negative reviews A still from Star Trek: Section 31 | Credits: Paramount

Alex Kurtzman has been working non-stop in the Star Trek franchise since the recent surge of revivals and reboots. After co-writing the scripts for the...

The Orville is one of the best pieces of science fiction going today. Whether or not it gets a fourth season, the show's legacy has been cemented. It's funny, it's poignant and it's not afraid to do what Star Trek used to do quite a bit, and tackle serious questions. Topics like gender-affirming care, social media's toxic influence, addiction, and so many other conversations have all been had in this show. A show that is quite honestly a parody, and love-letter to the world of Star Trek.

It's actually one of the biggest compliments that the show routinely gets from Star Trek fans; it feels like a Star Trek show. That's not by accident, they've intentionally brought on numerous figures both behind the scenes and in front of the camera to come in and help with the franchise. Due to that, it has a very Star Trek vibe. Well, the...

Star Trek: Section 31 is not a movie people like. We won't know anytime soon, if ever, how it performed with regards to the total amount of people who watched, or how it did with total hours streamed but we do know fans haven't been happy with it. Currently, with over 1,000 reviews, the fans of Rotten Tomatoes have given it a 17%. While bad films are pretty obvious, sometimes critics can't help themselves and buck against trends and narratives.

Even in this case, the critics can't deny how bad the film is. Usually, Nu Trek shows do well with the critics, but this film was destroyed by the Rotten Tomatoes critics. With nearly 40 reviews in, the film has a critics score of 22%. Made even worse, IMDb's scores have been updated and as predicted, the film is sitting at just 4.0 out of 10.

This film was a disaster and was one we all saw coming.

For fans still recovering from what they'd hoped would be a wonderful return for Michelle Yeoh to the Star Trek universe, it's easy to point the finger at Alex Kurtzman, who has been running the franchise for over eight years now. Section 31 was originally going to be a series, but that was changed to a movie, and as it turns out, that wasn't Kurtzman's decision.

In a brief interview with CinemaBlend before the premiere of Section 31, Kurtzman was asked why the series got jettisoned for a movie instead, and he said, "I actually have nothing to do with that is the truth. Those decisions are made by people above my pay grade." He did admit, though, that making Section 31 into a movie made sense because of Covid, Michelle Yeoh's schedule after winning an Oscar, and what he called "a million different things."

But Kurtzman made it clear that the movies were outside his purview.

"Star Trek: Section 31" boldly explores where no other movie or TV show in the sci-fi saga has gone before. The story takes place beyond the parameters of the Federation, introducing viewers to a sleazier side of the universe. The main characters aren't all goody two-shoes types either, as Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) is an eyeball-eating sociopath who occupies the grey area between heroic and evil. "Star Trek: Section 31" is straight-up B-movie trash, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Of course, with great change comes an army of upset critics who have their own ideas of what "Star Trek" should be. The early reactions to "Star Trek: Section 31" were brutal, with many naysayers arguing that the film barely embraces the ethos on which the franchise was built. However, during a press day for the event, producer Alex Kurtzman told /Film's Jacob Hall that the Paramount+ film was...

[Warning: The below contains Major spoilers for Star Trek: Section 31.] How could we not want to see more of this team — Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh), Alok (Omari Hardwick), Rachel Garrett (Kacey Rohl), Quasi (Sam Richardson), and Wisp (Sven Ruygrok) — after the end of the Star Trek: Section 31 movie showed them not only finding ways to work together but also introduced Jamie Lee Curtis as Control?! Well, everyone — the cast along with executive producer Alex Kurtzman and executive producer and director Olatunde Osunsanmi — wants to do another movie, so that bodes well. It’s a very enthusiastic “yes” from Yeoh. “First of all, I love this character and there are so many adventures to be had because that’s Section 31. It can be a standalone story because it’s a standalone adventure. It doesn’t have to be one that stretches for eight episodes or something like that,” she tells TV Insider. “And I think it...

Star Trek is in a weird limbo state. Most of the shows have been canceled, the long-gestating Star Trek 4 is nowhere to be seen, Star Trek: Section 31 was an utter disaster, the toy line they were so keen on failed, and they are all under the umbrella of a company that is struggling.

That said, they have two shows on the air a third in the works (Starfleet Academy), and rumors of not one, but two theatrical films on the way. All is not lost. The franchise is not as well off as it was heading into 2022 when it had five shows in development or on the air, but it's not failing. We went 12 years between Star Trek's Enterprise and Discovery.

We went 18 years between The Next Generation and Star Trek's original series. We've had worse stretches of time for Star Trek fans. We're not at...

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Section 31, the Paramount+ movie streaming now.

Let me start by saying I never like writing negative reviews. I always try to find something positive about a movie or a series or even a particularly bad episode. And I started watching Section 31, the new Paramount+ movie starring Michelle Yeoh, with that intention. I had high hopes for the movie based upon everything I'd read from the director, from Alex Kurtzman, and even the actors. Unfortunately, I struggled to find the positives in this almost one and a half hour film.

Michelle Yeoh is back as Emperor Philippa Georgiou, and yet, she isn't. She bears little resemblance to the Georgiou we met in the Terran Empire during Star Trek: Discovery. Physically, of course, she still looks the same, but, in all other ways, she is a shell of the fearsome character that made everyone shake in their boots.

[Warning: The below contains Major spoilers for Star Trek: Section 31.] What was once in development as a TV show packs quite a bit into a feature film. Star Trek: Section 31 brings Michelle Yeoh back in her Discovery role of Philippa Georgiou, working alongside, albeit reluctantly, the black ops unit. Their mission: to stop whoever’s after a weapon that Georgiou created in her (Terran) universe, one that will wipe out quite a number of planets and beings. Along the way, the unit discovers it has a mole, loses members, and actually, by the end of the film, seems ready to continue working together. But for Georgiou, there’s a heartbreaking revelation: the man behind it all is her childhood love San (James Hiroyuki Liao), with whom she has a very complicated past. Below, the cast — Yeoh, Omari Hardwick (Alok), Kacey Rohl (Rachel Garrett), Robert Kazinsky (Zeph), Liao, and Miku Martineau (young Georgiou) — executive producer Alex Kurtzman,...

After a big finale to the first Star Trek film in nearly a decade, there are a lot of questions left for the franchise to explore. While Star Trek: Section 31 returns Michelle Yeoh to the popular franchise, it also opens an important door for Alex Kurtzman’s expanding universe. The various shows have never had trouble recruiting top-tier talent. You can see it most clearly in the deep cast around Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. However, this might be one of the more significant finales of Kurtzman’s tenure.

Olatunde Osunsanmi on the set of Star Trek: Section 31, streaming on Paramount+, 2025. Photo Credit: Jan Thijs/Paramount+ What happened at the end of Star Trek: Section 31?

Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) is forced to address her past in the most literal way possible. After putting herself face-to-face with San (James Hiroyuki Liao), the two engage...

[Warning: The below contains Major spoilers for Star Trek: Section 31.] You can thank Michelle Yeoh for that major cameo in Star Trek: Section 31. As first heard, then finally seen at the end of the movie, Yeoh’s friend and Everything Everywhere All at Once costar Jamie Lee Curtis makes a cameo as Control. “When they said, ‘We need someone who’s going to come right at the end, and she’s the admiral,’ has to be someone that we all go, ‘Oh, wow, right away, Jamie Lee Curtis,'” Yeoh tells TV Insider in the video interview above. “Yeah, no-brainer.” She admits she didn’t want to feel like she was taking advantage of her “darling friend,” but Curtis’ manager encouraged her to reach out. “Bless Jamie. If she doesn’t believe in something, she won’t do it. But she loves Star Trek and she loves me.” Executive producer Alex Kurtzman adds that Curtis was “so gracious. She...

Starfleet Academy is the newest Star Trek series coming to Paramount+. It will center around the first class of cadets in over 100 years as they work their way toward a career in Starfleet. Set in the 32nd century, the series will also bring back the emergency medical hologram [Robert Picardo] from Star Trek: Voyager as well as Tig Notaro from Star Trek: Discovery on a regular basis. Mary Wiseman [Sylvia Tilly] and Oded Fehr [Admiral Vance] will be recurring characters as well.

Now here's the exciting news. Starfleet Academy season one is two weeks away from completing production, according to Alex Kurtzman in an interview he gave Trekmovie. That means it could possibly release on Paramount before the end of 2025 as most series don't need nearly eleven months to complete post-production.

While we could see the first season this year, production for the second season is underway as the scripts are being written in the writers' room.

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From low-budget romps to high-energy blockbuster films, Star Trek has become one of the most influential sci-fi franchises of all time. While Trek has decades worth of TV, film, and animated iterations that might rival Star Wars, it also has its own unique legacy and long-time, passionate cult following (and merch).

In the past few years, the Trek television universe has become one of the highlights of original programming on Paramount+.

Section 31, debuting January 24th on Paramount+, is the first Star Trek streaming movie. The only other Star Trek movies we've seen have been theatrical releases. Those, as we all know, take a long time and a lot of money. But streaming movies can open up doors for stories we want Star Trek to tell. And according to Alex Kurtzman, in an interview with Trekmovie, "It would be wonderful" to create a Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy movie and even, possibly, a follow-up movie for season three of Star Trek: Picard.

While Kurtzman hasn't had any conversations with Skydance CEO and incoming Paramount chairman and CEO David Ellison about Star Trek as of yet, he said that Ellison is "a huge, huge fan of Star Trek. He was one of the producers on the films that we made, and he loves it. He loves it a lot. So...

What if the Star Trek franchise made a swift turn like The Good Place and it turned out that everything good that they tried to do was backfiring in the real world? Well, it seems that Michelle Yeoh might be onto with her upcoming film.

Yeoh in a still from Star Trek: Section 31 | Credits: CBS Studios

Well, the idea seems to be good if done correctly, however, the early reviews are in and it does not seem to be looking too good for Star Trek: Section 31 and executive producer Alex Kurtzman.

Alex Kurtzman wanted to hold up a mirror to the real world

This has been said before (not exactly) by The Boys creator Eric Kripke who wanted to show the ugly side of superheroes via metaphors and allegories pertaining to the real world. Although it worked for the Amazon show, it doesn’t mean that the formula will work for everyone.

In 2017, CBS decided that following the relative box office disappointment of the preceding year’s theatrical effort “Star Trek: Beyond,” then was the perfect time to bring the half-century-strong uber-franchise back onto small screens via their Paramount+ precursor CBS All Access, operating with the desire to launch something analogous to the interconnected media of Marvel’s MCU. The result, spearheaded by the King of Mixed Results Alex Kurtzman and dubbed the Star Trek Universe, would officially launch with “Star Trek: Discovery,” a prequel series set ten years before the events of “Star Trek: The Original Series” and focusing on Starfleet Commander Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), as she commandeers the USS Discovery in an effort to end a war with the Klingons, travel both through time as well as parallel universes and boldly go…you know the rest.

Continue reading ‘Star Trek: Section 31’ Review: This Spinoff Adventure Gets Lost In Space at The Playlist.

Plot: Philippa Georgiou, the parallel timeline version of the deceased USS Discovery Captain, was Emperor of the Terran Empire before coming to our timeline where she joins a secret division of Starfleet known as Section 31. Tasked with protecting the United Federation of Planets, she also must face the sins of her past.

Review: I am often an apologist when it comes to big franchises. I have overlooked a lot in Marvel, DC, and Star Wars in favor of pure, unadulterated entertainment. Since Star Trek returned to the small screen in Alex Kurtzman’s expanding portfolio of Paramount+ series with Discovery, I have found a lot to enjoy in each series. While Prodigy and Lower Decks have taken a new angle to Gene Roddenberry’s creation through animation, Picard mined nostalgia for The Next Generation. At the same time, Strange New Worlds harkened back to the heyday of The Original Series.

We’ve waited nine long years for a follow-up to Justin Lin’s Star Trek Beyond. S.J. Clarkson’s sequel faltered and failed. Noah Hawley’s reboot never got out of space dock. Even Quentin Tarantino’s unexpected foray got sucked into a pre-production black hole. So, in the absence of a big-screen voyage to please the Trekkie faithful, the franchise has since set phasers to streaming, ushering in a vibrant new era of TV Trek under the auspices of Alex Kurtzman. It’s from that side of the aisle that Paramount+ draws its first Trek TV movie, with this long-gestating spin-off from Star Trek: Discovery.

Smartly seizing upon Discovery’s most interesting character — the sociopathic former Emperor of Star Trek’s dystopian Mirror Universe, played by a now Oscar-wielding Michelle Yeoh — Section 31 weaves a surprisingly accessible (for Star Trek) story that’s part heist caper, part spaceespionage romp, drawing...

The Gene Roddenberry-created, 60-odd-year-old franchise called “Star Trek” has had its own share of ups and downs. While the franchise had been rightly praised for its thoughtful exploration of conceptual ideas and unending possibilities, its worst endeavors are sometimes comically awful and sometimes tone-deaf.

But post-2016, with the release of “Star Trek Discovery,” under the purview of Secret Hideout, there arose a clear demarcation and division of “Star Trek” and its fandom. Under Alex Kurtzman’s jurisdiction, “Star Trek” would be catering to a larger fanbase and thus would have a higher budget and a larger focus on set pieces and action-driven storytelling, rather than striving for smart, thoughtful, and subtle writing. Messaging had always been an integral aspect of the DNA of “Star Trek,” but the bluntness of the messaging would reach a fever pitch with these newer iterations of Trek, barring a few exceptions. More importantly, the...

Actor Harrison Ford has been pretty picky about his roles over the years, carefully choosing roles that suit his cocky charm, but he hasn't always made perfect choices. While the actor has dozens of truly great movies under his belt, he also has a few stinkers, like historical submarine thriller "K-19: The Widowmaker" and utopia-building drama "The Mosquito Coast," though Ford has rather thoroughly defended both. There's one box office bomb that he hasn't been as effusive about, however, in large part because he was admittedly never on the film's wavelength. 

The 2011 sci-fi action western "Cowboys & Aliens" had all of the ingredients for major blockbuster box office success. Based on Scott Mitchell Rosenberg's 2006 Platinum Studios graphic novel of the same name, "Cowboys & Aliens" was directed by Jon Favreau, fresh off the success of the first two "Iron Man" films. It starred Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde,...

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For 10 seasons, the rebooted "Hawaii Five-0" was a rock-solid Nielsen ratings performer for CBS. A combo nostalgia play for Baby Boomers who grew up watching Jack Lord and James MacArthur bust perps in and around Honolulu, and a stylish procedural targeted at fans of the network's popular "CSI" and "NCIS" franchises, "Hawaii Five-0" delivered consistently with its wildly appealing cast and storylines that explored its characters' pasts without ever getting bogged down in drawn-out story arcs. "Hawaii Five-0" knew what its fans wanted, and never deviated from its tried-and-true formula.

When a series hits the Nielsen sweet spot week in and week out, you figure the network would bend over backwards to keep it running until people stop watching. This is what Fox continues to do with "The Simpsons," now in its 36th season, and how NBC has rolled with its "Law & Order" franchise.

Writer and showrunner Terry Matalas sneakily included a backdoor pilot into the final season of "Star Trek: Picard." At the end of the series, after a grand threat from the Borg has been quelled, the action fast-forwards a year for a teary epilogue. It seems that the previously roguish Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers) had been rushed through Starfleet Academy and was now ready for his first starship assignment. His father (Patrick Stewart) and mother (Gates McFadden) accompanied him to his first ship, the U.S.S. Titan-a, the ship on which the bulk of "Picard" season 3 took place. But, in a fit of nostalgia, the Titan-a had been rechristened the Enterprise-g.

The Enterprise-g was commanded by Captain Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), who had recently been recommended for captaincy by her deceased commanding officer. Seven's first officer was her ex-girlfriend Raffi (Michelle Hurd), and her crew included numerous "Picard" supporting players,...

Akiva Goldsman has had many highs and many lows in his Hollywood screenwriting career. The scribe won an Academy Award in 2001 for writing "A Beautiful Mind," but he had previously been nominated for Razzies (honoring the worst in filmmaking) for writing the screenplays to "A Time to Kill" and the atrocious "Batman & Robin." He's been deeply involved in major blockbusters and media franchises, writing "The Da Vinci Code," 1998's "Lost in Space," and "The Divergent Series: Insurgent." He also penned "I, Robot," "I Am Legend," and most recently, "The Dark Tower." 

Since 2017, Goldsman has fallen in with the head honchos at "Star Trek," serving as one of the franchise's executive producers and writing multiple episodes of "Star Trek: Discovery," "Star Trek: Picard," and "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds." He has also directed five episodes, embracing his new place atop the "Trek" heap. Goldsman is also working on other projects...

Since 2017, the streaming service Paramount+ (originally called CBS All Access) has debuted the following "Star Trek" shows, all under the watchful eye of executive producer Alex Kurtzman: "Star Trek: Discovery," "Short Treks," "Star Trek: Picard," "Star Trek: Lower Decks," "Star Trek: Prodigy," and "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds." There was even a brief period when all of those shows were in production simultaneously. As of this writing, a TV movie called "Section 31" is due in the early months of 2025, and "Starfleet Academy" is in production. That's more trekking than we had in the 1990s.

Of course, the franchise has scaled back in recent years. All of the above series, save "Strange New Worlds," have come to an end, and it seems that the franchise aims to be a lot more modest going forward.

As the sole survivor, "Strange New Worlds" is one of the better choices to carry the torch for the property.

Tom Cruise’s 2017 reboot of The Mummy franchise may be remembered as a critical and commercial misstep, but the movie also became an internet sensation due to an unexpected behind-the-scenes blunder. A version of the movie’s trailer was shared with half the music and sound effects missing ahead of its release.

Tom Cruise in The Mummy | Credit: Universal

Stripped of its cinematic polish, the trailer was unintentionally awkward and hilarious and soon became a topic of conversation. It drew unwanted attention to the film, turning the unintentional mistake into a brief moment of accidental genius in viral marketing.

Tom Cruise’s The Mummy trailer blunder turned into a viral sensation

Tom Cruise took the lead in Alex Kurtzman’s 2017 reboot of the popular The Mummy franchise. However, before its release, the studio unexpectedly released a botched trailer of the movie, missing key sound and music effects.

A still from...

Star Trek: Lower Decks is in the books with its final episode having aired just this past week. It's being heralded as a final episode worthy of the show and one that fans have really enjoyed. With its conclusion, there are now four shows in the Star Trek pantheon that have wrapped up during the Nu Trek era.

A potential fifth could happen soon if Netflix doesn't renew Star Trek: Prodigy. Yet, until that show formally gets canceled, there are currently just four shows that have been formally canceled and brought to an end. Those four are (in order of debut) Discovery, Short Treks, Picard, and Lower Decks.

The first four shows of the Nu Trek Era. With all of them in the books for good, we're going to rank and grade each of the first four shows of the modern era of Star Trek to see not only how...

Although Fringe's viewership ratings dwindled with almost every season, it remains a popular, critically acclaimed science fiction show that will always be difficult to replace. Still, some might be surprised that one CW series comes pretty close. The Fox sci-fi TV show created by J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci follows a unique team of gifted professionals (including scientists and FBI agents) who come together to solve bizarre and unusual cases. Throughout Fringe's five seasons, the mysteries become more complex as the audience learns more about the characters' pasts (and futures).

Fringe has a 90 percent score on the Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes and an 80 percent average on the Popcornmeter (formerly known as the Audience Score).

Fringe ended in 2013 after five seasons and 100 episodes. However, even though it has been over a decade since its series finale, Fringe has been the furthest thing from being forgotten, as it's...

It’s Blumhouse‘s turn to resurrect “The Mummy.” THR reports that “Evil Dead Rise” director Lee Cronin will write and direct the latest take on the undead horror trope via New Line. James Wan‘s Atomic Monster is also in on the action, with the banner and Blumhouse co-financing the project.

Read More: Alex Kurtzman Says ‘The Mummy’ Was “Brutal,” But “The Failure Rebuilt Him Into A Tougher, Clearer Filmmaker”

Wan, Jason Blum, and John Keville produce “The Mummy,” with Cronin also producing via his Doppelgängers banner.

Continue reading ‘The Mummy’: Blumhouse Reboot Taps ‘Evil Dead Rise’ Filmmaker Lee Cronin To Direct at The Playlist.

The next classic monster to get the Blumhouse treatment is The Mummy, with “Evil Dead Rise” filmmaker Lee Cronin set to tackle the iconic character. “The Mummy” will be released on April 17, 2026 by New Line Cinema, but no other details are known.

The Irish-born Cronin most recently directed 2023’s successful horror follow-up “Evil Dead Rise,” a hit for Warner Bros. and New Line on a small budget. His feature debut was the 2019 indie “The Hole in the Ground.”

This new “Mummy” follows Blumhouse’s successful “Invisible Man” redo from Leigh Whannell that was released in 2020 and “Wolf Man,” also from Whannell, which will be released in January. Both of those films took a more scaled down approach to the monsters than previous takes, with “Invisible Man” serving as a horrifying depiction of domestic abuse starring Elisabeth Moss. “Wolf Man,” starring Christopher Abbott, similarly looks smaller scale but still heavy on frights.

Warning: Spoilers For Star Trek: Lower Decks' Series Finale - "The New Next Generation"

Star Trek: Lower Decks' finale promoted the USS Cerritos' First Officer to Captain, which elevates Jerry O'Connell's Star Trek character a rank above his wife, Rebecca Romijn. O'Connell and Romijn, who are happily married, held the unique distinction of both playing First Officers in Star Trek. Jerry voiced Commander Jack Ransom for all five seasons of Star Trek: Lower Decks, while Rebecca embodies Number One Aka Lt. Commander Una Chin-Riley on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

Commander Ransom's rise to Captain has been a low-key story throughout Star Trek: Lower Decks' five seasons. Initially disliked as an uber jock Number One, Commander Ransom was seen through the eyes of his Lower Decker nemesis, Ensign (now Lieutenant) Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome). In Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5, however, Ransom's unorthodox style as a First Officer was proven to be effective.

In a sea of science fiction series that take themselves far too seriously, “Star Trek Lower Decks” has been a sweet and funny balm, a loving parody of the iconic speculative fiction universe that celebrates and pisses on its history in equal measure. Like all good sitcoms, however, “Lower Decks” is coming to an end, and the finale promises to be…maybe, possibly, moderately serious?

The animated series will premiere the finale to its fifth and final season Thursday, December 19, on Paramount+. The episode, titled “The New Next Generation” in reference to the beloved ’80s-’90s “Star Trek” series starring Patrick Stewart, will have an extended running time, and bring back a few characters from the show’s past. Among them are Klingon brothers, Malor (voiced by Sam Witwer) and Ma’ah (Jon Curry), first seen in a previous Season 5 episode. In an exclusive clip shared with IndieWire, the duo...

Becky Lynch has joined Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, which adds a global WWE superstar to its already stacked cast. Executive produced by co-showrunners Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is currently filming in Toronto. With a cast led by Academy Award-winner Holly Hunter and Academy Award-nominee Paul Giamatti, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has already received an early season 2 renewal on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is set in the late 32nd century after the end of Star Trek: Discovery. Reopened after a century following the galactic calamity of The Burn, Starfleet Academy welcomes a new and diverse class of Starfleet hopefuls, under the guidance of Holly Hunter's Captain, who is also Starfleet Academy's Chancellor. However, a new threat to the United Federation of Planets emerges, likely tied to Paul Giamatti's recurring villain. Becky Lynch plays one of the Starfleet Officers potentially encountering this new enemy.

Not your average average Starfleet officer!