It was during San Diego Comic-Con back in 2014 when Star Trek fans first got to see PRELUDE TO AXANAR. Now in 2026, twelve years later(!!!), the first of the two Axanar sequels, THE GATHERING STORM, will make its debut with a special press screening in San Diego on July 26, the Sunday of this year’s Comic-Con!
The venue will be the Digital Gym Cinema—one of the only nearby theaters available for rental—which is located less than a mile from the San Diego Convention Center where Comic-Con happens. The first press screening will start around 2pm (and yes, I plan to be there!) with additional screenings taking place afterwards to allow more people into the 54-seat auditorium. Showings of Prelude to Axanar and The Gathering Storm will run continuously between 2pm and 6pm and will be free for anyone who shows up. Members of the cast and production crew will be in attendance, as well, hanging out to talk with donors, supporters, fans, or anyone who decides to show up.
Back in January of this year, after attending a sound-mixing session for The Gathering Storm in Encino, CA (northwest of L.A.), I confidently blogged that the first of the completed Axanar sequels would finally be released before springtime. The observant amongst you may have realized that July 26 is not the beginning of spring. So what the heck happened?
I decided to ask Alec Peters directly…
JONATHAN – Alec, you told me that the release of The Gathering Storm would happen in early March. I saw the entire fan film completed during the audio mixing session. It was frickin’ DONE, Alec! Why the extra four-month delay?
ALEC – We had some delays in the color correction process, which should have been two weeks, and it turned into three months! Our post-production pipeline wasn’t really efficient, and so we basically started over. And thankfully, DANA WAGNER once again came through for us and took over the color correction, and it worked out great in the end.
JONATHAN: And it’s really, really done, right? It’s a two-hour drive from L.A. down to San Diego—and there’s gonna be ridiculous traffic because of Comic-Con. Each way! This could be 6-7 hours in my car that day! Please tell me I’m not gonna make that drive just to be disappointed…
ALEC – Oh, trust me, you will NOT be disappointed. Yes, The Gathering Storm is completely done. And yes, the theater has been rented and the contracts signed.
JONATHAN – Yay…finally!!! But I heard there might be some issues with releasing The Gathering Storm onto YouTube. I thought you had a legal settlement with CBS and Paramount. What’s the issue?
ALEC – I don’t want to go into too much detail because there are lawyers involved, but those lawyers are being a-holes. And yes, we have a settlement agreement. And it looks like Paramount is happy to honor that agreement, but certain people on the CBS side are deciding to be pricks.
JONATHAN – Are you trying to resolve it?
ALEC – Yes, but I can’t go into specifics just yet.
JONATHAN – What if you can’t get permission to post The Gathering Storm on YouTube or Vimeo or the other online video platforms by July 26? How will fans and supporters and donors be able to finally see it?
ALEC – We will be uploading The Gathering Storm and give it away as a free download to EVERYONE. We are starting to do that with the two other films CBS illegally had taken down last year: THE ICARUS MANEUVER and DAEDALUS. CBS can’t remove it from a site that we ourselves own.
Don’t worry, fans will be able to see this amazing film online. It just might take a little extra time for it to get to YouTube.
JONATHAN – Speaking of time, what about the second of the two sequels? What’s that one going to be called, and when will fans have an opportunity to see it?
ALEC – The final installment in the Axanar trilogy will be calle CRUCIBLE. Prelude to Axanar was episode 3 of “The Four Years War”; The Gathering Storm is episode 4; and this final one will be episode 5. And before anyone asks, there is no episode 1 or 2. When we made Prelude, it was supposed to be a proof-of-concept one-off. So we pretended it was one of a series of documentaries detailing the events of the Four Years War between the Federation and the Klingons, which culminated with the Battle of Axanar. But since we’re only allowed to make two more Axanar fan films, we decided that episodes 1 and 2 will just have to be left to people’s imaginations.
As for a date of release, we’re hoping for December of this year. But nothing is set in stone yet. I will say that all of the actor footage for that film is in the can, but we’re still working on compositing and the VFX shots. That finale is going to blow people away with how much VFX is in it!
JONATHAN – Will you be having a special theatrical premiere for that release, as well?
ALEC – Yes, but we’re not sure where yet. It’s possible it won’t even be in the U.S. As you know, Axanar fans are international. But we’ll see.
JONATHAN – You mentioned in a recent podcast that the incredible USS Ares bridge set will finally be coming down after nearly a decade. Why now?
ALEC – Over the last twelve years, I’ve put hundreds of thousands of dollars of my own money into this project on top of what we raised from fans. And we’ve had our amazing angel producers, DAVE LANYON and GUDNI GUDNASON generously helping Axanar get over the finish line. But the studio itself still has monthly rent in the thousands that I have to pay out of pocket, and with the project finally completed, I just can’t justify the ongoing expense of keeping Ares Studios open.
JONATHAN – So what will happen to these awesome set pieces? Is there any way to save them? Or are they all going into the dumpster or some big bonfire?
ALEC – I’m not sure yet, honestly. Maybe someone wants to take them off my hands and will pay to transport them somewhere they can store them. Maybe I’ll try to keep just a small portion of the set pieces so fans can film the helm, captain’s chair, and a few of the back consoles and turbolift. But we won’t have space to keep an entire 360-degree bridge set intact, I’m sorry to say. All good things…
JONATHAN – Okay, to finish up, from inception in 2010 until now, this project has has taken up nearly one-quarter of your 65-year life, Alec. With all of the emotions that I’m sure you’ve felt over these past dozen years, how does it feel to finally be able to say to everyone, “Yeah, it’s finally done…”?
ALEC – Short answer: it feels great. As you said, this has been like a mythical quest for the last twelve years, with mountains to climb, dragons to slay, and two Fortune 500 corporations suing us for a full year trying to kill our production. We had to deal with a move across the country, finishing construction on the bridge set, a COVID shutdown, two fired directors, and more obstacles than I can count. But through it all, I never gave up on the dream, and neither did you or thousands of fans and supporters all over the world. And now, all of that patience and dedication and hard work is coming to a completion.
Prelude to Axanar set the Star Trek world on fire in 2014 when there was no official Star Trek on TV anymore. With the end of the divisive ALEX KURTZMAN era at hand, I think the next two installments of Axanar are coming out at the perfect time. I truly believe that people will watch these two sequel films and be reminded of how good Star Trek can be.
And that, to me, is the thing that matters the most at the end of this long journey.
As I posted on facebook- Thank you for posting this discussion with Alec Peters. Hopefully the conclusion of the Axanar saga will be cathartic for fandom- a generation of whom have grown up (or grown old!) with this hanging over people’s heads.
We’ll see, but:
1. Something doesn’t quite add up in relation to the planned distribution, and CBS’ supposed objections. The Terms of Settlement EXPRESSLY provide for the process of distribution, being:
– by Youtube;
– at Film Festivals; or
– Conventions
(clause 5.10 of the settlement agreement, if anyone cares.)
On what basis is CBS objecting to Youtube? Unless the segments don’t comply with the guidelines? Or unless CBS has decided that Interlude and/ or the Icarus Manouver count as the 2 segments?
2. I don’t suppose, as a technical matter, that renting a theater near ComiCon counts as being ‘distributed or exhibited’ AT a film festival or convention- it’s ‘convention adjacent’ at best, surely.
3. It SEEMS that Axanar is concluding with a whimper, not a bang- from a Comicon panel in 2015 and 7000 donors, to a 54-seat auditorium and a Google Drive distribution model.
Maybe, though, this is about where fan films are supposed to be? Occupying a peer to peer model, shared with joy and more of a hobby than a profession? Screening your work for family and friends, not trying to be a giant IP?
I, for one, will be very curious to see what is put out there, and hope that it brings the 12 year mission to a better end.
(for specific reference, full text of the distribution provision:
Defendants will only distribute, exhibit or perform the Permitted Axanar
Segments by: (a) streaming or exhibiting them on YouTube; (b) by the distribution of recorded
copies in accordance with this Paragraph 5.10 and Paragraph 5.11 and (c) at film festivals and
conventions, provided that Defendants are not permitted to exhibit, market, or promote Permitted
Axanar Segments at any official Star Trek events or conventions; provided that any such method
of distribution as set forth in (a), (b) or (c) of this Paragraph 5.10 shall be on a completely noncommercial basis. For this purpose, non-commercial means that absolutely no money is paid to
or made by Defendants or anyone else from such distribution, including but not limited to
placement of any ads in connection with its distribution, or the collection of any ad revenue,
revenue from ticket sales, or compensation or reimbursement of expenses. Defendants agree
that the methods of distribution described in this Paragraph 5.10 and Paragraph 5.11 shall be the
only means of distribution of the Permitted Axanar Segments, and that any other form of
distribution by Defendants shall constitute copyright infringement of Plaintiffs’ copyrights. )
As I said on Facebook, Nadav…
1. I don’t have any information about CBS, its lawyers, or what issues they might have. Alec didn’t provide any specifics…possibly for legal reasons.
2. You might be splitting hairs here. I frankly doubt it’s a hill that CBS is willing to die on, as many events happen both at and around SD Comic-Con. It would be extremely hard to prove that showing Axanar close to SDCC during SDCC does not fit the stipulation of showing it “at” a convention. And hey, CBS or their attorneys might decide to make a case of it (which would require months of arbitration), but I’d think their argument would be challenging at best to try to prove…especially since so many other SDCC adjacent activities take place outside the convention center but also in proximity to it.
3. I don’t remember Axanar having a panel at SDCC in 2015, although I may be in error. Either way, I don’t think it’s either a bang or a whimper. It just is what it is. All expectations are that Axanar eventually shows up on YouTube and likely generates millions of views. But even if it doesn’t, just the fact that this project never died despite 12 years of obstacles is all that needs to be acknowledged. If you think about it, Star Trek: Renegades never really had a bang or a whimper either. Few fan films ever do. Sometimes it’s enough to just finish and release a completed film.
The perseverance involved in this project has been astonishing to me. Alec, when the dust finally settles I hope you take an outstanding vacation. You’ve more than earned it.
Good Lord Nadav. Get a life.
Alec,
Putting aside the ad hominem, are you able to explain exactly what it is that CBS are objecting to, and threatening, as you say, to block the release of the Axanar segment?
But seriously- and no sarcasm here- thank you. Your comment did give me cause to reflect on my life since Prelude’s release- on balance, I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished in these last 12 years. Three children of my own. A doctorate and an academic publishing record. Thousands of cases, including rescuing kidnapped children, one of Australia’s largest class actions and ground-breaking litigation. Thousands of students taught, many of whom have become successful lawyers in their own right.
Yes, I think in 12 years, I got a life.
If you have a life, go live it. Being a know-it-all stalker is a bad look and a waste of time.
Alec,
I truly don’t get it.
On the one hand, you want us to be following your project- you’re after eyeballs, for emotional investment and engagement over a 15 year stretch run. You’ve given dozens of interviews about it, in particular the legal aspects. You’d LIKE fans to be up in arms about CBS blocking the release, if this is, indeed, what is happening. You’d LIKE fans to then engage in some form of wildcat sharing of the film if it’s blocked. You’d LIKE donations from fans as a demonstration and to ‘show what’s what.’
But following the project is stalking? And querying what’s actually going on is somehow off limits? It seems to me, respectfully, that this is beyond a double standard; it’s a contradiction in terms.
Look, I’m as keen as anyone to see Axanar come out. The research paper that I started as a young researcher on Axanar for publication won’t be finished until the films are out, and is gathering much dust. If CBS are behaving unlawfully, let’s hear and see how! Otherwise, the dissonance just adds to a low-confidence picture, one that I can only imagine harms the promulgation, and fundraising, and feeds into a narrative which we can all see online- a claim that you are lying about this to avoid release, explain delays etc- something that, I would think, you can easily rebut if untrue.
I’ve avoided- and opposed- all ad hominem attacks on you. Up to you if this is the line that you take.