Star Trek’s 60th Anniversary Documentary Is Heading to Regal Cinemas This October

Star Trek is celebrating 60 years in a pretty fitting way: by taking fans back through the history of the franchise with the people who helped build it.

The Sixty-Year Mission: How Star Trek Changed Television And The World will arrive in theaters on October 9, 2026, with an exclusive run at 126 Regal Cinemas locations across the country. The new feature documentary comes from Galaxie Pictures and executive producer William Shatner, with writer and director Mark A. Altman taking on six decades of Trek history, from the rocky beginnings of the original series to the massive franchise it has become today.

Rather than simply looking back at favorite episodes or revisiting the franchise’s biggest moments, The Sixty-Year Missionis digging into how Star Trek managed to survive, evolve, and remain relevant for generations of fans. The documentary will explore some of the artistic risks, behind-the-scenes conflicts, and creative decisions that shaped the series, while also looking at the way Star Trek used science fiction to talk about real-world issues. From its earliest days, the franchise has never been afraid to tackle subjects like prejudice, war, politics, technology, and what humanity’s future could look like, even when those conversations were disguised behind alien planets and futuristic storylines.

Of course, you cannot tell the story of Star Trek without bringing in the people who were there. William Shatner appears in the documentary alongside fellow original series stars George Takei and Walter Koenig. Fans will also hear from Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, Gates McFadden, Denise Crosby, Nana Visitor, Robert Picardo, Ethan Peck, Christina Chong, Gene Roddenberry Jr., and many more actors, writers, producers, directors, critics, and celebrity fans connected to the franchise.

For convention fans, that lineup should sound especially familiar. Many of the stars featured in The Sixty-Year Mission have spent years meeting fans at conventions, including GalaxyCon events, where stories from behind the scenes have become just as much a part of the experience as autographs and photo opportunities. Galaxie Pictures chairman Michael S. Broder is also the founder of GalaxyCon, so it makes sense that the theatrical release is leaning into that community aspect instead of treating this as a standard documentary screening.

Select theaters will host live Q&A events featuring Star Trek talent, although specific locations and guests have not been announced yet. Broder described the screenings as part of the larger anniversary celebration, saying that “every birthday deserves a party” and that key members of the Star Trek family will be brought to theaters for special Q&As. For fans who are used to hearing these actors tell stories on convention stages, the added events could make some of the screenings feel like a smaller Trek convention built around the documentary.

Writer and director Mark A. Altman is also a fitting person to take on a project this large. Altman previously co-authored The Fifty-Year Mission, an extensive oral history of Star Trek told through the actors, writers, producers, and creatives who worked on the franchise. With another ten years of Trek history now added to the mix, the new documentary has plenty more ground to cover.

What makes this anniversary particularly interesting is just how much Star Trek has changed while still remaining recognizable. The franchise has moved from the original Enterprise crew to The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, Discovery, Picard, Strange New Worlds, films, games, books, conventions, and countless other pieces of fandom. Every generation seems to have its own entry point, whether that was watching Kirk and Spock on television, growing up with Captain Picard, discovering the franchise through one of the movies, or jumping into one of the newer streaming series.

That lasting fandom may ultimately be the most interesting story The Sixty-Year Mission has to tell. Plenty of television series have been influential, but very few have built a universe that fans are still actively expanding, debating, celebrating, and introducing to new viewers 60 years later.

The Sixty-Year Mission: How Star Trek Changed Television And The World will begin screening exclusively at Regal Cinemas on October 9, 2026. The initial release will include 126 theaters nationwide, with additional information about participating locations and special Q&A screenings expected closer to release.