Universal Studios may be planning a Star Trek-themed land for their new rumored park in Orlando, FL. It seems that the long-time rivalry between Star Trek and Star Wars may soon carry over into the world of theme parks.
At the moment, Disney Parks is gearing up to open their Star Wars-themed land next year, Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. The themed-land has been in development for several years now and it's finally scheduled to open in Disneyland in summer 2019 and Walt Disney World a few months later in fall 2019. So, now that Disney Parks is set to open their Star Wars-themed lands soon, it looks like Universal wants to get in on the fun with a science-fiction land of their own.
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Disney and More reports that an all-new Star Trek Land is being fast-tracked to compete directly with Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. Plans for a Star Trek-themed park have floated around for years, and Universal Studios did purchase a large amount of land in Orlando recently, so there's certainly plausibility to this report. There has been no official word on their plans, but rumors suggest the land will be located in their new park. While everything's speculation at this point, it does make sense that this possible fourth park could become home to an immersive Star Trek attraction.
It wouldn't be the first time that Universal featured a Star Trek attraction. There was the live-action stage show, Star Trek Adventures, that launched in the late '80s. It was an interactive experience that used hand-picked audience members to help plot out the story. Later, there were plans to build a full-sized Starship Enterprise in downtown Las Vegas. The project eventually fell through, but Sin City was later home to Star Trek: The Experience - a museum-like exhibit located in the Las Vegas Hilton that shut its doors back in 2008.
Meanwhile, the Star Trek franchise is alive and well on the big and small screen. J.J. Abrams' 2009 reboot was met with critical and commercial success, and spawned two sequels. Likewise, Star Trek: Discovery just wrapped up its first season on CBS All Access, with a second season on the way. There are some new Trek projects in the works as well. Last month at CinemaCon, Paramount Pictures CEO Jim Gianopulos announced they were developing two new Star Trek movies, though details on those projects were scarce. One of these possible projects could be Quentin Tarantino's Star Trek movie, which was revealed last year, but it's unclear what's happening on that front.
Overall, there's plenty of opportunity for a Star Trek Land at a Universal Studios park, whether it be at Universal Orlando Resort or Universal Studios Hollywood. And it seems that Universal as a company has seen the success The Wizarding World of Harry Potter brought them and would like to take that success to the next level, while also competing directly with Disney... and Star Wars.
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Source: Disney and More