‘Star Trek: Beyond’ Release Date and New Trailer; Where Is the Franchise Going with New ‘Star Trek’ Series on CBS?

Jul 04, 2016 09:17 AM EDT

If there is one franchise that will probably never die, it is Star Trek.  It is probably one of the oldest that has tie-ins to television, movies, video games, books, and comics, not to mention a lot of diehard fans.  Star Trek Beyond has three trailers, and the last one breaks just before the film is revealed.  Six months after the predicted blockbuster, there is going to be a new Star Trek series on CBS, and this is what is going on with the new film and TV series with release dates and new trailers. 

Star Trek Beyond's newest trailer shows off a lot of action, but as usual, there is still not a lot revealed about the plot of the film.  The voiceover of James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) reveals that this will be the last report from the Star Trek Enterprise, which could signal that the film is going to destroy the Enterprise...again. 

I mean, they destroyed the first Enterprise in Star Trek III and then the Enterprise D in Star Trek: Generations, so this is starting to be a routine thing that happens every few Star Trek films.  Hopefully it isn't used as a cheap way to ramp up the action, but since the Star Trek universe got rebooted, these newer films can destroy the Enterprise all they want. 

Within the background of the new Star Trek Beyond trailer is Rihanna's new hit "Sledgehammer", and the video for the song appears to be completely Star Trek invested.  You  can see it for yourself on VEVO, and there is some new footage on iO9.  The footage shows that Spock (Zachary Quinto) and Uhura (Zoe Saldana) are having relational problems, and then Bones (Karl Urban) steps in for some sarcastic advice. 

As far as the new Star Trek TV series is concerned, it will be headed by Bryan Fuller, who was a writer for several Star Trek episodes.  A new report from Movie Pilot reveals that Nicholas Meyer, a writer for a few even-numbered Star Trek movies, which much fans agree do not suck. 

Fuller hopes to be true to Gene Roddenberry's original vision for the show, which showed an optimistic of the future of humanity enjoying the diversity of alien races.  Fuller wants to "look at all these roles through a colorblind prism and a gender-blind prism", and he is excited. 

In fact, the captain of this new starship could be a woman of color such as Angela Bassett or Rosario Dawson.  There is a definite want for an LGBT character, as even Roddenberry wanted this back in the days of Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987. 

As for what the series will be about, there is talk that the new Star Trek show will have the spirit of Star Trek VI.  This was the last film with the entire original Star Trek crew, and it was the last mission of the Starship Enterprise.  It doesn't sound like the show will take place around the timeline of the end of that film, but it would be interesting to see the missing years in between Star Trek The Original Series in the 23rd century and Star Trek: The Next Generation of the 24th Century.  You know, something to fill in the gaps. 

Of course, that entire Star Trek universe has been rebooted, unless the new TV series wants to follow the continuity of the older TV series and not the new movies.  Expect Star Trek Beyond in theaters on July 22, 2016, and the new Star Trek TV series in early 2017.