Looking ahead to the next generation of Star Trek shows, Paramount and Secret Hideout have already began announcing new cast members to lead the Starfleet Academy series coming to the streaming platform in the near future.
Based in the 32nd century following Discovery, Starfleet Academy will focus on a group of cadets coming together to rekindle the academy spirit and find hope in a world still recovering from The Burn. Following in the spirit of Discovery’s mission to bring hope to a slowly restored Federation, Academy will bring everything back to Earth to rebuild the long-lost Academy.
News of the show has already turned heads with notes that the new academy campus will be the largest seen on TV so far, being filmed in Pinewood’;s largest stage in Canada, though in terms of what to fully expect from the young adult drama, things are largely being kept under Red Directive secrecy. However we now at least know who will be leading the new class ahead of the shows production…
Announced first was multiple Oscar winner Holly Hunter as a huge surprise tot he line up. Winning her first Oscar for Broadcast News in 1988, Hunter is a veteran of stage and screen making her film debut in The Burning after trading in Broadway for LA in 1981.
In recent years Hunters career has continued to flourish in a variety of leading roles including 2012’s Jackie, 2003’s Thirteen and as Helen Parr, otherwise known as Elastigirl, in Pixar series The Incredibles. In the world of Television she led detective drama Saving Grace in the title role, recently appeared as a powerful CEO in HBO drama Succession and more recently starred alongside Den Danson for two seasons of Tina Fey production Mr Mayor.
Hunter’s latest project, Hurricana, see’s her star as the therapist of Anna Nicole Smith in her final days though soon enough we’ll see her join the world of Starfleet as part of Academy!
Last month Paramount+ released the news that Holly Hunter will be leading the cast as the new Starfleet Academy Chancellor helping to build the facility back up in the 32nd century following the events of the Burn.
Heralded by producer Alex Kurtzman, his statement read “To have her extraordinary authenticity, fearlessness, sense of humour and across the board brilliance leading her charge on Starfleet Academy is a gift to all of us.”
Joining Hunter in the new San Fransisco campus is the instantly recognisable Paul Giamatti. In film Giamatti’s breakout role came in 2004’s Sideways, which not only highlighted the actors charm and talents, but earned him his first of six big award nominations. In film, Giamatti had several small parts since the early 90’s before breaking through alongside Howard Stern in a film depicting the latters rise to fame, and again in another biopic where he portrayed writer and comedian Bob Zmuda alongside Jim Carey as Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon.
After a number of supporting roles, Giamatti took he lead in 2003’s American Splendor before gaining mainstream attention – and a golden globe nomination, the following year with comedy Sideways. Since then his star has risen further having prominent roles in films such as 12 Years a Slave and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, to going back to theatre, animation and starring roles in TV – including starring as Chuck Rhoades in Billions for all seven seasons.
While not part of the regular cast, Giamatti has been announced as a recurring character on the new show and the seasons villain. In the past Giamatti had joked about wanting to be a Klingon and, while the 322ndd century might give scope for the new character to come with some ridges, no information has been revealed – other than some nice casting for the bad guy!
Currently in pre production, Academy is set to start filming this Summer with the first two parter kick off episodes being directed by Alex Kurtzman. Tau and Tom Swift writer Noga Landau will co-run the show alongside Kurtzman while Gaia Violo is credited as writer on the first episodes.
It’s expected, though far confirmed, that the show will launch in 2026. Until then we still have plenty of Star Trek to keep us going following the closure of Discovery as Lower Decks final season is expected next year with Strange New Worlds third season to launch next year.
Star Trek Prodigy is also available on Netflix from July 1st while all other series is exclusive to Paramount+.[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”12350″][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]Our latest issue of Comms takes a look at the last year of Star Trek, sci fi, superheropes and more!! With the usual features including What If, Fistful Of Data and more, the “All Good Things” issue of Comms is available as part of SFCQ2’s free membership! To find out more visit our Comms preview or Enlist Today![/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_row_inner css=”.vc_custom_1618165085813{background-image: url(https://sfcq2.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/backing-2.png?id=11299) !important;}”][vc_column_inner][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”cs-hub-notices”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”gp-standard-sidebar”][news widget_title=”On Screen” post_association=”disabled” size=”blog-small-size” per_page=”3″ image_width=”80″ image_height=”60″ excerpt_length=”0″ cats=”402″][vc_column_text]▷ MORE[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”15px”][news widget_title=”Fleet Alert!” post_association=”disabled” size=”blog-small-size” per_page=”3″ image_width=”80″ image_height=”60″ excerpt_length=”0″ cats=”1″][vc_column_text]▷ MORE[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”15px”][news widget_title=”Features” post_association=”disabled” size=”blog-small-size” per_page=”3″ image_width=”80″ image_height=”60″ excerpt_length=”0″ cats=”444″][vc_column_text]▷ MORE[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
About the author
[Treknology] Clearing The Way: The Deflector
Over the decades the technologies of Star Trek have become so popularised and well known that even someone who's never seen an episode knows what a phaser is, or that warp drive goes really, really fast. Even if someone couldn't tell you what a transporter does, “Beam Me Up” is still a phrase you can say and people will just know what it means.But when you look at ships like the Enterprise, there's one big feature built into every design since that might not be as well known as the saucer, the bridge or the glowing warp nacelles, but is one of the most vital parts of any and all starships flying from planet to planet. When you think of space, you imagine this big empty void of nothingness. But while there is a huge expanse of distance between locations […]
Them From That Thing: Sally Kellerman
Building an eclectic career with over sixty years in film, television, music and theatre, Sally Kellerman is fondly remembered by a whole generation as the original Hotlips Houlihan in the film adaption of MASH. Her part in the world of Star Trek helped introduce the world to the little sci fi show that began it's own franchise of entertainment. Starting her acting career in the late 50's after turning down a contract with Verve Records, Kellerman was a familiar face on television by the time Star Trek came around. With appearances on Bonanza, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour and the Twilight Zone among others, Kellerman was able to gain a wide range of experience that helped establish an adaptability that would carry her career forward in playing anything from a glamorous and sophisticated character, to intense and eccentric parts. Kellerman’s appearance […]
Who is David Marcus?
While the original series brought the idea of Star Trek to life, it's film sequels did a lot to flesh out and develop the characters in the next era of their life, with new characters coming on board the Enterprise to both challenge the leading crew and give us a new perspective of the world saving heroes of the Federation. One of the most impactful appeared in only two of the six films, but left a lasting impression on Captain James T Kirk... Working with his mother Carol, David Marcus was one of the lead scientists on the Genesis project. Based on a remote space station, David's part in the project was both what helped it succeed, as well as cause it's downfall. Genesis was an experimental, and highly secret, project to terraform barren planets and manufacture life. While Starfleet […]
Across The Universe And Back To Strange New Worlds!
Time has certainly flown by as Strange New Worlds penultimate season is just days away. Things have been a little guarded since the show was announced to be ending with a shortened 5th season, but it gave the production plenty of warning to wrap things up and bring an end to the original Captain and his crew! With some cast announcements for Season 5 seeing new additions including Thomas Jane as Leonard McCoy, as well as knowing it'll a shorter season to bring the show to a close, the fourth instalment feels a little bittersweet. But from recent hype from Paramount, we might just be in for a fun time. Season 4 Episode Titles Ahead of the series launch, the Star Trek social media team have been hard at work with some teases including short clips of each of the […]
Behind the Viewscreen: Jerry Goldsmith
Across a long career writing music for some of Hollywoods most celebrated films, Jerry Goldsmith's mark can be heard in a huge range of genre's from The Omen, to LA Confidential, from Patton to Planet of the Apes. But even when it comes to his science fiction scores including Alien and Total Recall, none have left as iconic a mark as his contributions to Star Trek. During the reinvention of Star Trek for cinema, director Robert Wise knew the challenge. Turn a small sci fi show into a cinematic epic. The success of that has often came up for debate, but no matter the opinion on the Motion Picture, the one celebrated element was the music Goldsmith delivered and the new template he build for the sound of Star Trek. Blending classic orchestra with electronic synthesizers and complex rhythmic patterns, […]
Across The Universe…. into the Holodeck…?
As the Star Trek Online world is celebrating it's annual Summer event on Risa, the wider gaming world is adding some new dimensions to the gamers of the fandom as we see even more games announced within the Star Trek Universe following some already surprise additions in the past year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YK_Fw4_kLk OUTPOSTS UNKNOWN Set in the 23rd Century era of Strange New Worlds, Outposts Unknown comes from Magic Fuel Games, made up of former developers of various simulations including The Sims and Sim City and delivers exactly what you'd expect from them! The player takes command of the USS Resonant as the core of a new outpost building game where you lead a crew across a newly found system and build your perfect colonies with a mysterious force building up in the background... Sim City meets Strange New Worlds is […]
Related
Starfleet Academy Welcomes It’s First Class!
The first batch of cast announcements for Academy focused on veteran actors Paul Giamatti and Holly Hunter, the latter in the role of the new Academy Commandant, but now we're getting a full look at the shows first class of cadets as the first five are ready to enlist!
Starfleet Academy Series Announced
An idea teased and thrown around for decades will finally come to life as Paramount+ confirmed the next venture of Star Trek. As Picard and Discovery come to an end, we'll see a new brand of hero come to the forefront in Starfleet Academy in the near future.
JJ Abrams Announces A Return To The Kelvin Timeline
Way back in 2016 during Star Trek Beyond's red carpet premiere in London, JJ Abrams confirmed there'd be a follow up to the Kelvin Timeline's Enterprise crew with expectations on Beyond being quite high. Despite it being one of the few earners that year for Paramount, it didn't quite meet financial expectations for it's budget.
