By Grabthar’s hammer, this is some crazy news. THR reports that the first trailer for Star Trek Beyond will be in front of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. J.J. Abrams’ stranglehold on the two biggest science fiction properties of the modern era has never been more apparent. It makes sense from a marketing standpoint (especially since the new Trek films aren’t for fans of the franchise, but the much broader audience that will be seeing Star Wars), but this is still a bit nuts from where I’m sitting (in my captain’s chair).
I’m not sure how many more people this will get to go see Star Wars, but considering the hype for the newest adventure in a galaxy far, far away is at astronomical levels, it will probably help the reception to a trailer that desperately needs some hype of its own. Even though the Star Trek films have done fine, they haven’t been the monster hits that Paramount wants. Maybe because they aren’t terribly memorable movies (both movies have horrendous scripts, but the first one gets by on tone) or maybe because the big screen isn’t where Star Trek really belongs. I’m sure we all can (read: will) debate this in the comments, but let’s just soak in the insanity of seeing a commercial for Star Trek in front of Star Wars. It’s kind of saddening to see the dissolution of certain things as niche, but if it leads to good stories, I guess I’m okay with that.
Maybe these Star Trek movies should start having good stories then.
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