By Chris Kavan - 04/01/15 at 03:33 PM CT
I knew it was only a matter of time. Once Disney announced they had taken over the Star Wars franchise, I'm sure the second step in their master plan was already in motion. In a multibillion dollar deal with Paramount, Disney has secured the rights to the Star Trek franchise and promises a new cinematic universe to be unveiled following the release of Star Wars: Episode IX in 2019.
The deal promises to bring together to two largest (and most divisive) fandoms in sci-fi history. In these early stages, there is obviously no announcement on story or characters as of yet, though one has to think that J.J. Abrams, who brought us Star Trek in 2009 and the upcoming The Force Awakens, will be involved on the production, if not as director, then certainly in some other aspect.
It is unknown whether, like the Star Wars Expanded Universe, if they are going to rewrite history in regards to the vast Star Trek universe, but coming as a fan who was deep into said expanded universe, I would say be prepared for a major rewrite. Now we can throw away petty arguments about the Enterprise vs. the Millennium Falcon or Lightsabers vs. Phasers - it's all going to be part of one, giant family. Whether this gives Disney was too much power, I don't know - but this will obviously rival the Marvel Cinematic universe in terms of depth and scope.
Details are forthcoming but you can read about the latest announcement here.
