This edition of the Geek News Brief includes stories about Alex Kurtzman's future with Star Trek series, the delay of Horizon Forbidden West, and Taika Waititi's animated Flash Gordon movie switching to live-action.

Host: Rob Logan [Twitter] [Twitch]

Alex Kurtzman’s Star Trek future, Horizon Forbidden West delayed, & Flash Gordon movie – 2021-08-02

Alex Kurtzman will continue producing Star Trek shows through 2026

CBS Studios has signed a deal that will have Alex Kurtzman and his Secret Hideout unit exclusively producing shows for Paramount+ and other platforms through 2026. He’ll continue to lead Star Trek efforts for the next six years.

Kurtzman has no less than six Star Trek shows underway, including existing productions Discovery, Picard, and Lower Decks as well as upcoming efforts like Strange New Worlds, Prodigy, and the currently unnamed Section 31 spinoff. He’s also responsible for Showtime offerings like the upcoming The Man Who Fell to Earth TV remake, and has Secret Hideout working on projects like a Stephen King short story adaptation of “The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates.”

It’s not surprising that CBS would pay a premium for Kurtzman as a result. While he’s not the only one creating well-known shows for Paramount+, losing him and Secret Hideout would risk leaving a giant gap in CBS’ streaming strategy. The risk, of course, is that CBS is further tying its fate to one person and one production company — Paramount+ might be in a tough spot if there are ever major problems with Kurtzman’s shows.

Horizon Forbidden West delayed to 2022

According to Bloomberg, PlayStation fans will have to wait until 2022 to play Horizon Forbidden West. The outlet reports the company has delayed its next big PS5 and PS4 exclusive to next year, pushing it back from its current 2021 holiday release timeframe.

If Sony does in fact delay Forbidden West, it won’t be the only first-party exclusive to miss its previously announced 2021 release date. Earlier in the year, the company delayed both Gran Turismo 7 and the next God of War entry to 2022.

Taika Waititi’s animated Flash Gordon movie is now live-action

Two years ago, Taika Waititi was hired to take a crack at an animated Flash Gordon movie, but in a recent interview timed to the release of Disney’s Jungle Cruise, producer John Davis told Collider that the project is now being developed as a live-action film.

“Taika is writing it. It was a movie that was a huge influence on him growing up. It is one of his favorite movies. He initially said to me, ‘Let’s do it animated.’ I said, ‘Okay.’ Then we got into it and started developing it and he said, ‘No, let’s do it live-action.’ I said, ‘Even better.'”

Disney and 20th Century Studios originally hired Waititi to update Flash Gordon in 2019. Back then, it was reported that Taika was only going to “crack” the film. However, Davis indicated that Waititi is now writing the script and driving the project forward.

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Rob Logan

Rob is a movie buff, computer whiz, gamer, huge Batman fan, and above all... a geek. In addition to being the Founder and Host of The Geek Generation, he is also a photographer, graphic designer, certified clinical hypnotherapist, a former professional wrestler, and a current superhero.

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