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]
Yeah, seems to be a theme that a lot of people want the Utopia days of TNG back. While I like both the lighter and darker tones, I do agree that the action sequences were over the top and not well justified. Still, I enjoyed the show and think they were overly nitpicky on stuff like Picard's dreaming of Data and the fan service (like the Picard Day banner). I'm guessing they felt like they needed a bit of fan service after the last few years of heavily criticized shows/movies. [Reply]
I too watched it on Youtube and enjoyed it. My only nitpick is the scene with Picard and the scientist at the end; a few lines of dialog explaining why the science works the way it does would have been helpful. [Reply]
It's also streaming for free on the app. I watched it before I created an account.
I thought it was okay. I get the nostalgia appeal, and as I was 13 when TNG began, it's 'my' Star trek series, along with DS9. But it felt like it was lacking something, which I can't really quantify. I am interested to see the origin of and the direction that they take The Artifact, and I did like the introduction of the Zhat Vash. Wonder what their big secret is. So I'll definitely keep watching, even if I wasn't initially blown away. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Fish:
Never thought I'd see Droid shaming in Star Trek. Weird...
I thought that was actually a really cool concept and I'm curious to see if it's revealed who exactly reprogrammed those Synthetics to attack the Mars base.
The obvious answer would be The Romulans but maybe the Borg are involved as well.
Since Patrick Stewart said that Picard is his Logan, my money's on one more confrontation with the Borg... [Reply]
Originally Posted by Fish:
Never thought I'd see Droid shaming in Star Trek. Weird...
One of the best episodes of TNG ('The Measure of a Man') addressed the rights of artificial intelligence (which Trek has done from time to time in its different iterations). Bruce Maddox was also in the episode, who I'm sure we'll see soon enough here. [Reply]
