This week on Priority One --- things are already beginning to shake up with Star Trek Picard; Tarantino starts to put some distance between himself and Star Trek; and Paramount places bets on VR. In Gaming News, the mobile game Fleet Command is getting a huge update; then, we wrap our year with TWO interviews with Cryptic Studios to discuss 2019 milestones and take a glimpse into 2020…. Featuring an interview with Executive Producer Andre Emerson.
Of course, as always, before we wrap up the show, we’ll open hailing frequencies for your incoming messages
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This Weeks Community Question Is:
CQ: If “Star Trek Development Project #2” isn’t a film directed by Tarantino, what do you hope it is?
TREK IT OUTby Shane Hoover
Picard NewsThe hype shuttle for Star Trek: Picard has definitely hit maximum warp, Captains. In fact, Picard is the number one most anticipated TV show of the coming year. At least according to metrics compiled and reported by the website IMDB. And if this week’s news reported by Deadline is any indication, CBS is well aware of the hype. The new series doesn’t even premiere until January 23rd, but Season Two has already been budgeted with over $20.4 million in tax incentives by the state of California. For reference sake, Deadline reports that Picard’s $20 million incentive is “the most any small screen project has ever been awarded in the California Film Commission program since then Governor Jerry Brown officially expanded the credits to $330 million a year”. So while the cast and crew have been cagey when asked about a potential Season Two, it’s hard to argue with $20 million in tax appropriations.
Plenty of questions still hang over Season Two speculation, though. One big uncertainty for fans is the role that Season One showrunner Michael Chabon may occupy. On December 10th, Variety reported that the Pulitzer Prize winning author and his wife, producing partner Ayelet Waldman, inked a deal with ViacomCBS property Showtime to adapt his novel “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay”. The pair will serve the new project as Executive Producers and joint-showrunners. Now surely, Chabon will remain creatively connected to Picard Season Two, but it seems likely these other commitments will see him step down as showrunner.
With lots to still speculate about, only one thing seems certain after the Season Two news.
My previous prediction that Star Trek: Picard would be a single season swansong for the great Captain… well just maybe I was wrong. Unless! What if they still send off Jean-Luc in the first season finale, and the show carries on the adventures of the rest of the cast aboard the U.S.S. Picard? It could happen.
Trekantino On The Rocks?While we’re in the mood for speculation, let’s revisit some news we shared last episode. If you recall, we discussed recent statements from new ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish, and among those was his confirmation that two new Star Trek films are currently in development. The obvious contenders at the time were the Kelvin Timeline’s Star Trek 4 and the much discussed Quentin Tarantino Star Trek project. But comments made by Tarantino this week are casting doubt on whether his Star Trek project may proceed at all. The Oscar-winning writer/director sat down for an interview with ConsequenceOfSound.net as their Filmmaker of the Year. In the far reaching interview, Tarantino once again echoed his commitment to walk away from filmmaking after 10 films. And when questioned whether Star Trek represented that 10th film, he answered, “I think I’m steering away from Star Trek, but I haven’t had an official conversation with those guys yet.” He went on to add “But in a weird way, it actually kind of freed me up. I mean, I have no idea what the story of the next one’s going to be. I don’t even have a clue.”
Paramount VR DealParamount Pictures and VR platform service Bigscreen, Inc. have announced a new partnership. Under the new arrangement, Bigscreen’s virtual theater platform will distribute classic Paramount movies in 10 countries around the world. Starting December 16th 2019, Bigscreen will show four new movies every week, with each movie run lasting one week. Showtimes will begin every 30 minutes as live pay-per-view events. Captains, you’ll be happy to hear that the Kelvin Star Trek films are among the titles in the December lineup.
The virtual screenings will include 2D movies as well as select 3D movies rendered to create a unique 3D experience for Virtual Reality viewers. Besides just watching the films, Bigscreen offers users a virtual lobby with personal avatars and voice chat to add a social aspect to the experience. CEO and Founder of Bigscreen, Darshan Shankar, says “We are excited to enable fans around the world to chat and watch films together in our virtual movie theater.”
Bigscreen’s service supports the Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, Oculus Go, HTC Vive, Valve Index, SteamVR, and Microsoft Mixed Reality. To find out more, and to see a list of upcoming films, Trek out the links in our show notes.
Julien’s Auctions ResultsAuction house Julien’s Auctions held its major event “Icons & Idols: Holly” on Monday December 16th in Beverly Hills, California. Over 400 items from across Hollywood history went to the auction block. Among the items, quite a few Star Trek props and artifacts went up for sale. A Starfleet dress uniform worn by Patrick Stewart on The Next Generation sold for $28,800. Other costumes sold included Mark Lenard’s costume as Sarek at $12,500, and Spock’s Romulan disguise from TNG’s “Reunification” at $20,000. Also sold were a first season Deanna Troi jumpsuit from TNG, Michael Dorn’s Klingon baldric from TNG’s second season, a Seven of Nine costume from Voyager, and many more props and artifacts.
So, just between us, guys, what’s the most you’ve ever paid for Star Trek memorabilia?
Star Trek Online and Gaming Newsby Anthony Cox
Borg Resurgence Featured TFO EventWe MAY now know what the next featured TFO event will be…. well according to loading screens on the Tribble Test Server anyway. Prepare to be assimilated. If the updates to Tribble are to be believed, The Borg Resurgence event will include remastered versions of Infected: The Conduit, Into the Hive, and Khitomer Vortex. This event will also be the 3rd and final in the event campaign series for the Free Tier 6 ship coupon. The Tribble in game calendar has the event starting on Tuesday, January 7th and running until January 28th. And once you’ve completed the Featured TFO after 14 days you will unlock one of three separate variants of the Cyclic Modulation Ground Weapon. Sound familiar? Well, many players are pointing out the similarity in name to the Infinity Modulator from Star Trek Voyager Elite Force. This also wouldn’t be the first time the game devs have included a scifi gear inspired from other properties. *ahem* Proton Rifle, Future Flyer *ahem* Unfortunately, Cryptic has not ( officially announced this event -- not even during our interview -- so any and all details are subject to change…
Jingle Jam Charity 2019Star Trek Online and Cryptic have teamed up with YogsCast and Humble Bundle for the Jingle Jam Charity drive. By paying a minimum of $30 for December’s Humble Bundle, you get access to over 60 games and offers including a Star Trek Online Elite Federation starter pack. The pack includes a Tier 6 Reliant class, 12 Inventory slots, 12 banks slots, 2 Bridge Officer slots, a Borg bridge officer, Mark 2 very rare gear for both space and ground, and a Starfleet Academy Uniform. The Elite Federation starter pack is normally 2,000 zen or about $20 US dollars. Hurry though, the bundle is only available until December 31st. Trek out the show notes for a link.
PRIORITY ONE ARMADA NEWSThis week in Armada News:
Join us for TFO Tuesday - each tuesday we team up with other Armada members to earn marks and dilithium.
Just to show how much we appreciate our members, we are doing a Winter Giveaway every day this month. If you are in the Armada and online - you have a chance to win something.
The House of Martok is one week away from its first Tier V Colony Upgrade project completing. House of Mogh has its final Tier V Starbase project that needs provisions- Great job Houses of Martok and Mogh! Other Gaming News Star Trek Fleet Command Goes to Deep SpaceThe popular mobile game, Star Trek Fleet Command, has released another big update as the game crosses the one year mark. Along with a slew of bug fixes and updates, comes 120 new star systems to explore, 12 new ships to unlock, 60 new upgrades to research and over 400 new missions. Also added in this update is a new building called the Scrapyard. Giving players the ability to dismantle unused ships for resources. Star Trek Fleet Command is currently available on Android and IOS devices.
