Borg To Assimilate Train in Las Vegas

Paramount Parks will give Star Trek greater visibility in Las Vegas this spring by sponsoring a train and the Las Vegas Hilton station for the city's new monorail.

The Casino City Times carried a Las Vegas Sun report that Paramount Parks had opted to extend the Star Trek presence beyond the Las Vegas Hilton, where Borg Invasion 4D opens on March 18th and where the Star Trek Experience has been located for years.

Promethean Partners has asked for $1 million a year to sponsor a train and $2 million a year for a station in past deals, though the exact terms of the deal were not disclosed. Paramount Parks' parent company Viacom has signed train sponsorship deals for Paramount Pictures and CBS Television as well. The Viacom companies are expected to promote their current television shows and movies in presentations on board the monorail.

"The 'Star Trek' franchise is a huge franchise for the studio," said Brett Petit, senior vice president of marketing for Paramount Parks. "The fact that we are spending millions of dollars reinvigorating the enterprise shows that we are not abandoning it."

He promised a train that would be "light years ahead" in design, painted to resemble a ship in the midst of Borg assimilation.

"We plan to make it so compelling on the inside that even if [the riders] don't know about the Borg or about 'Star Trek' that they'll want to see the attraction once they get off the train," he added. The train is expected to be ready when the monorail system comes online for passenger service, though no starting date has been announced.

The Hollywood Reporter has a story on the hope that the new Las Vegas Star Trek attractions could reinvigorate the franchise despite declining ratings and box office.

The original item on the train is here.

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