Star Trek and Guardians of the Galaxy star Zoe Saldana to executive produce Dark Star Squadron, new anime for Crunchyroll

Zoe Saldana as Uhura in Star Trek (left); Crunchyroll (right)

AUGUST 8, 2021 - Star Trek and Guardians of the Galaxy star Zoe Saldana is launching back into space with her latest project, Dark Star Squadron. Late last week, Deadline reported the new partnership between anime streaming service Crunchyroll and Saldana’s company Cinestar Pictures.

Described as an “epic animated space opera”, Dark Star Squadron will follow the story of four academy cadets who, after a joyride in a starship, discover their academy in ruins. Without knowing who attacked the school, or why, they set out to find the missing students and discover the truth behind the attack.

Saldana will executive produce the film alongside her sisters, Cinestar executives Cicely and Mariel Saldana. Additional producers include Sonia A. Gambaro and Maytal Gilbo, with Voltron: Legendary Defender writer Todd Ludy set to pen the film.

In a joint statement, the Saldana sisters said, “As true animation and anime fans ourselves, we are so excited for the opportunity to partner with Crunchyroll to bring ‘Dark Star Squadron’ to a wide audience [...] We can’t wait for everyone to meet the crew and follow the journey of our unlikely heroes.”

Having recently hit five million subscribers, Crunchyroll is home to more than 1,000 anime titles and over 30,000 episodes, with streaming available in more than 200 countries. Crunchyroll General Manager Joanne Waage believes the streaming service will be the right home for Dark Star Squadron. “The tremendous growth of our streaming service is indicative of the growing love for anime and its deserved spotlight in popular culture,” Waage said, “Zoe and her team are bringing their own anime fandom to their storytelling and we’re excited to be a part of it.”

There’s no word yet on when Dark Star Squadron will be released. It is reasonable to assume the film won’t be available until late 2021 or 2022 at the earliest.