The Enterprise captain will return as part of the expanded CBS All Access Trek universe
Since an announcement earlier this summer that four new Star Trek series were in the works for CBS’ streaming service All Access, word leaked that the network was actively courting Star Trek: The Next Generation star Sir Patrick Stewart back to the Federation cloth for another voyage of boldly going where no one has gone before. Sources told Polygon that the casting decision might come down to a paycheck. Now, confirmed at this year’s Star Trek convention, we know CBS bosses said: “Make it so.”
Announced at William Shatner’s panel, Stewart announced the official return of Captain Jean-Luc Picard to the franchise. He’ll once again assume the role that made him an American household name, in an untitled new Trek series set to debut on CBS All Access.
“I look forward to working with our brilliant creative as we endeavor to bring a fresh, unexpected and pertinent story to life,” Stewart wrote in a simultaneous announcement on Twitter.
It is an unexpected but delightful surprise to find myself excited and invigorated to be returning to Jean-Luc Picard and to explore new dimensions within him. Read my full statement in the photo. #StarTrek @cbsallaccess Photo: @shervinfoto pic.twitter.com/8Ynuj3RBNm
— Patrick Stewart (@SirPatStew) August 4, 2018
In June, news broke that four new Trek series were actively in development at the network, presumably as programming for CBS All Access, the streaming-only service that premiered Star Trek Discovery in late 2017. Alex Kurtzman, whose credits include the Star Trek Kelvinverse films, several Transformers movies, and the recent “Dark Universe” reboot of The Mummy, is supervising all of the shows in development, as well as taking over showrunner duties on Discovery season two, which will see the return of Spock. Kurtzman will also shepherd a new micro-anthology series between now and the release of the second season, titled Short Treks.
No other information was announced for Stewart’s series. At the panel, the actor admitted to at first declining the part, but that after a rewatch of The Next Generation, he felt compelled to sign on.
Source: Polygon – Full