It’s a good time to be a Trekkie (or Trekker, as is the preferred nomenclature these days). Gene Roddenberry’s landmark franchise celebrates its 50th anniversary this year; the thirteenth film, Star Trek Beyond, is nearing release; Kirk and Spock are currently adorning the front cover of the galaxy’s biggest movie magazine; and a brand new TV show is on the way. Now word has come on our communicators that streaming giant Netflix will be beaming the new Trek internationally when it arrives next year.
Until now, all we’d heard about the new series, first announced last November, was that it would air on CBS All Access, the digital subscription arm of the US TV network. We had heard nothing of its worldwide rollout. But now it seems CBS has struck a deal with Netflix to show each episode of the new series “within 24 hours” of its premiere.
“The launch of the new Star Trek will truly be a global television event,” said CBS Studios CEO Armando Nuñez, and indeed, the new show will be available in 188 countries – though notably, it won’t be available on Netflix in the US (where it would cannabalise CBS) or Canada (where a deal with Bell Media, which owns CTV, has been arranged).
Netflix is positioning itself as the prime destination for Trekkers: in addition to the new series, it also plans to add all 727 existing episodes of the various Star Trek TV shows from the past half-century – from The Original Series to Enterprise, and everything in between – around the world by the end of the year. UK Netflixers can already enjoy such fruits. (Yes, even the animated series.)
Alex Kurtzman and Bryan Fuller are captains aboard the new Trek ship, which is due to begin filming in Toronto this September, ahead of a January 2017 premiere. The show, which will feature a new ship with brand new characters, is said to be following a single story across thirteen episodes.
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