Paramount Studios is resting everything on the Star Trek IP. As the Paramount+ streaming service moves overseas, the studio is working on even more Trek-based shows to withhold subscribers. The latest: Starfleet Academy, a student-focused series in the Trek universe.
Reported by Deadline, the show is yet another Star Trek launch in Paramount’s extensive library. The show joins the likes of Star Trek: Discovery, Picard, Strange New Worlds, Prodigy and the still-in-development Section 31.
What is Starfleet Academy?
Derived from the 1997 video game of the same name, Starfleet Academy will follow a series of cadets in an episodic format. The show’s premise states the it will follow a “college of cadets mentored for leadership roles in the United Federation of Planets space force."
Deadline reports that the show will be helped by Absentia co-creator Gaia Violo. Violo has been reported as “currently working on a take for the project” which is “expected to get a pick up soon”. While not confirmed, it sounds like Paramount is happy with the direction of the series.
The upcoming series is reportedly planned to release after Section 31 as it’s “next in the Star Trek developmental pipeline”. Announced in 2019, the show stars Michelle Yeoh as former emperor of the Terran Empire, Philippa Georgiou. The character was brought into the “Prime Reality” from the Mirror Universe in Star Trek: Discovery.
Starfleet Academy has been teased for a while by reporters close to the studio. The New York Times reported last year that there was a show “built around the... Academy” in development. It was also claimed that the show would be “aimed at a younger audience. “
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Star Trek for all audiences
Starfleet Academy is part of Paramount’s extensive plans to make the Star Trek IP appeal to a far wider audience. This has already started with more mainstream shows like Discovery, but also children with the animated Star Trek: Prodigy.
Academy appears to target a different audience, yet again: teenagers. Similar to Young Adult novels, Starfleet Academy will likely be hyper-focused on that audience. That's not a bad thing, it's just different. Additionally, teenagers that grow up with Starfleet may be inclined to check out other Trek shows and movies later in life.
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