Sci-fi is currently experiencing a renaissance with the popular Star Trek and Star Wars franchises bringing the genre back to public consciousness.
In the TV spin-off Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Anson Mount stars as Christopher Pike, the captain of the USS Enterprise, alongside Ethan Peck as Spock and Rebecca Romijn as Number One. Meanwhile, in the latest Star Wars TV spin-off Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ewan McGregor reprises his role from the three Star Wars prequels.
With sci-fi movies and TV shows proving highly popular, it is no surprise to see a wide range of sci-fi-themed games available in the online casino sector. Slot games such as Space Wars, Invaders from the Planet Moolah, and Space Hunter: Shoot for Cash can be found at a range of reputable online casino sites and new players can test these out by taking advantage of free spin offers. The popularity of sci-fi movies and TV shows has clearly contributed to the success of these sci-fi slot titles.
How it all began
The Star Trek franchise began in 1966 as Star Trek: The Original Series, with William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk, Leonard Nimoy as Spock, and DeForest Kelley as Leonard H. "Bones" McCoy. There were also six movies inspired by the series from the late seventies to the early nineties.
In 1987, the franchise continued with the TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation, starring Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard, which was accompanied by four movies. In the past decade, there has been a series of spin-offs from the franchise, including Picard, Lower Decks, and now Strange New Worlds.
Star Wars fans have been treated to a similar blitz of movies since the franchise began with Star Wars in 1977, though fans had to be patient, as there was a 16-year gap between Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, the final movie of the original trilogy released in 1983, and Episode I: The Phantom Menace, the first movie of the series of prequels, which was released in 1999.
Eagerly awaited spin-offs
More recently, the various Star Wars spin-off shows have looked at the adventures of individual characters such as The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, and this phenomenon continues with Obi-Wan Kenobi.
The appetite for these two popular franchises seems insatiable. Both spin-offs were listed amongst Variety’s 40 most anticipated new TV shows of 2022. This popularity is reflected in their box office success. Both are amongst the top ten most financially successful sci-fi movie franchises of all time. The Star Wars movies have grossed $10.3 billion, while the Star Trek movie franchise has made $2.3 billion.
Star Trek and Star Wars remain highly popular and the appetite for spin-offs of the two sci-fi franchises is as big as ever. Both franchises have also recognized the advantage to be gained by developing the storylines of peripheral characters and there are plenty of fertile plots for the franchises to develop in the years to come.
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