Star Trek's future is once again in doubt due to Paramount Global dragging their feet

Star Trek looked like it was poised to benefit from a new ownership group that knew the product and what fans wanted out of it. Sadly, that may no longer be the case. Skydance had reached a deal with Paramount Global to merge with the brand and create one new outfit. The deal was for $8 billion and everything seemed set.

That is until Paramount expanded the window of negotiation with other avenues without Skydance's approval. Originally, Paramount had 45 days after agreeing to the deal to find anyone else who could match the deal or beat it. They couldn't in the window given, but they opened the window further to bring in an offer from Edgar Bronfman Jr.

Bronfam's collective is offering roughly a $6 billion deal, significantly less than Skydance, but the difference here is that Bronfam is looking to buy the brand, not merge. Essentially, the reason why Paramount would consider this deal is because of optics. Skydance isn't valued high enough by those in the know to keep the stocks that Paramount has as high as they are. There is concern that the merger will hurt the value of the Paramount stocks.

There isn't as much of a concern with this new bid from Bronfam. This has, however, caused some serious issues with Skydance, who now threatening to withdraw their bid completely from the conversation. That would hurt Paramount's negotiation power, as Bronfam would no longer need to offer up nearly as much to buy the company.

As far as how this affects Star Trek, there was hope that Skydance, who worked with the brand before, would emphasize them. There is no hope for such with Bronfam, who may just sell off pieces and parts to the highest bidder. If that ends up being the case, who knows what happens to Star Trek going forward?

It could also be a good thing with Star Trek, as rumors have Bronfam wanting to work with other digital distributors to further grow their brand's reach. That isn't a unique thing, however, as Skydance had similar hopes.