Star Trek: The Next Generation Reboot With Patrick Stewart Reportedly in Development
Rumors of the Picard-centric reboot come amid Alex Kurtzman extending his CBS contract for a planned expansion of the Star Trek TV universe.
According to a THR article, there are unconfirmed rumors that CBS TV Studios is developing a Star Trek reboot starring Patrick Stewart in which he would reprise his The Next Generation role as Captain Jean-Luc Picard. According to THR's sources, Alex Kurtzman and Akiva Goldsman are attached to the potential reboot. Not only is this an unconfirmed project, but THR's sources also say that the deal is far from complete and might not happen. Still, this would be huge news for Star Trek fandom—however you might feel about a Picard-centric reboot.
The rumors of the Picard reboot come amidst Kurtzman renewing his overall deal with CBS Television Studios, extending his contract by five years. This will keep him in partnership with the studio through 2023, for a reported $5 million per year.
Kurtzman was recently made sole showrunner of Star Trek: Discovery following the dismissal of previous co-showrunners Aaron Harberts and Gretchen Berg who left amidst reports of bullying behavior in the writers room. Goldsman, who served as an executive producer on Season 1 of Discovery, also left the show, reportedly due to a clash with the writing staff in terms of management style and personality, so it's interesting that he is still attached to the potential Picard-centric reboot.
In addition to his work on Star Trek: Discovery, Kurtzman's extended deal with CBS Television Studios will include an expansion of the Star Trek franchise on the small screen, including the development of new series, miniseries, and other content, including animation.
While this generally seems like good news for the Star Trek universe, it may also be disappointing, depending on what kind of Star Trek fan you are. While the move represents a reinvestment in the Star Trek TV universe, Kurtzman is not known for critical success. Previously, he has co-written the scripts for Transformers, Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. More recently, he directed and co-wrote The Mummy. Not exactly the kind of nuanced science fiction writing Star Trek has, at its best, historically represented.
More news on the expanded Star Trek TV universe as we hear it. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Mennonite:
Christ, I didn't know there were going to be spoilers. I watched the interview at the beginning then skipped ahead to Seven shooting some chick. I can only assume that either the uploader has never seen In the Pale Moonlight, or the chick that got shot was named Optimism.
Since we’re on the topic, this is one of my favourite endings to any episode of television ever.
Originally Posted by keg in kc:
Kind of weird for me of all people to be the dissenting voice, but every week I keep waiting for this show to get good, and afterwards I'm always left thinking 'well, that was okay, I guess.'. And if we're propping it up against the Kelvin timeline treks, then maybe it is 'good' by that measure. But put it against something like Altered Carbon on Netflix, which I just binged as a refresher for season 2, and it's not even close. The worst episode of AC (not that there was a bad one really...) is better than any Picard episode. And against something like The Expanse, and, well, it's like Picard is the JV show and The Expanse is the Varsity. So I guess Picard is just a let-down for me so far. Maybe I expected too much.
I think it’s exceeded my own expectations so far (I was fearful it could have been a mess). It was never going to be on the same level as peak TNG or peak DS9, but it’s fine for what it is. [Reply]
Originally Posted by KC_Connection:
I think it’s exceeded my own expectations so far (I was fearful it could have been a mess). It was never going to be on the same level as peak TNG or peak DS9, but it’s fine for what it is.
TNG and DS9 were shit all after 5 episodes. [Reply]
Originally Posted by keg in kc:
But put it against something like Altered Carbon on Netflix, which I just binged as a refresher for season 2, and it's not even close. The worst episode of AC (not that there was a bad one really...) is better than any Picard episode.
Yeah, LOL, you're nuts. I watched AC. I enjoyed the series well enough to be interested in season two. But it's second rate compared to what we've seen of Picard already. In fact the weaker episodes of AC are crap by comparison. [Reply]
I was annoyed when it looked like the show was going to have Seven beam out without killing psycho bitch, then appeased when I saw the device placed on the transporter control because I knew what that meant, then chuckling when Seven decided to fuck the place up walking out instead of beaming right back up. Bad ass anti-hero move. Very nice.
For some reason I knew that scrunchy face girl was going to kill Maddox as soon as that scene started (maybe because my thinking was that there would be no other reason for that scene to take place)-but was still riveted because I wanted to find out why she was going to to do it. Well written and well acted even if you could see it coming a mile away.
The criticism that Picard betrays the ideals of Star Trek isn't the same as saying it's too dark. The darkness in DS9 was different, it showed the cracks in the facade, but it never actually broke it. Picard breaks it. Sure, old Trek went to the "rogue bad admiral" well a lot, but it served a purpose. Starfleet and the Federation were still good, and once the bad admiral was exposed, he was defeated. In Picard it seems like Starfleet is nothing but bad admirals. At least so far.
That said, I am enjoying the show. I'd definitely rather have it than not. And I'm a sucker for the deep cut continuity porn. [Reply]
I'm not going to disagree with you, Jamie, because I've only watched the first episode, but the "badmirals" have outnumbered the admirals 10 to 1 in Trek for a long time.
One thing I hated about the novel continuity is that they made Section 31 be led by an evil super computer/a.i. Which is kinda lame, but what really sucked is that they retconned a bunch of Federation history so that you find out a good chunk of Trek has all been part of the a.i.'s master plan. So it's been all badmirals and section 31 from the start. I think Discovery used at least part of this concept, but I haven't watched those particular episodes.
Speaking of the novels, this book is supposed to have some backstory on what Picard has been up to:
No idea if it's any good or not. The author wrote a great DS9 story years ago, but I haven't enjoyed her subsequent novels. [Reply]
Originally Posted by listopencil:
Yeah, LOL, you're nuts. I watched AC. I enjoyed the series well enough to be interested in season two. But it's second rate compared to what we've seen of Picard already. In fact the weaker episodes of AC are crap by comparison.
If you haven't read Altered Carbon yet, you sincerely should. The show is good to very good in spots, but the book is fantastic. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Mennonite:
One thing I hated about the novel continuity is that they made Section 31 be led by an evil super computer/a.i. Which is kinda lame, but what really sucked is that they retconned a bunch of Federation history so that you find out a good chunk of Trek has all been part of the a.i.'s master plan. So it's been all badmirals and section 31 from the start. I think Discovery used at least part of this concept, but I haven't watched those particular episodes.
Spoiler!
Yes Discovery gets into detail with that re-imagining of S31 in Season 2.
Interesting. One of the authors of the Voyager novels, Kirsten Beyer, is involved with the current Trek shows in some capacity. Maybe she's the one incorporating some of the novel-verse stuff into canon. [Reply]
Originally Posted by KC_Connection:
Yeah, they were plain bad at that point.
I agree with you about In the Pale Moonlight, but I actually think the first season of DS9 is very underrated. I think there are only two truly bad episodes in that season. The pilot was strong and Duet is a classic. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Mennonite:
I agree with you about In the Pale Moonlight, but I actually think the first season of DS9 is very underrated. I think there are only two truly bad episodes in that season. The pilot was strong and Duet is a classic.
Perhaps you are right (the pilot is good enough, I came across it a few weeks back on TV), but Duet was at the end of that season. I'm talking like the first 5-10 episodes or so. [Reply]
