"Star Trek: Discovery" showrunner Alex Kurtzman signed a five-year, $25 million deal to expand the CBS "Star Trek" franchise for television, according to a report in Variety. This could include a sequel to "Star Trek: The Next Generation", the Hollywood Reporter adds.
Variety says there are four new shows in development, on top of Kurtzman's successful "Star Trek: Discovery", which has been picked up for a second season that will likely begin in 2019. (Kurtzman is now the sole producer on "Discovery", after Aaron Harberts and Gretchen Berg were fired, according to the Hollywood Reporter.)
Variety says these new shows include:
- A series taking place at Starfleet Academy. The concept is created by Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz, who are known for "Gossip Girl" and "Runaways."
- A limited series based on the "Wrath of Khan" story, which was portrayed multiple times in "Star Trek" history. Ricardo Montalbán portrayed Khan in the "Star Trek: The Original Series" episode "Space Seed", and reprised the role in the 1982 film "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan." Benedict Cumberbatch also played the character in the 2013 film "Star Trek: Into Darkness." (io9 adds there have been reports for a while that "Wrath of Khan" director Nicholas Meyer was heading the project.
- A limited series with confidential plot details.
- An animated series whose plot details are also confidential.
One of the limited series could be a sequel to "Star Trek: The Next Generation", which ran between 1987 and 1994. The Hollywood Reporter says this could even include participation from the series star, Patrick Stewart (who played Captain Jean-Luc Picard.)
Besides "Discovery", Kurtzman is also known for his work on the movies "Star Trek" (2009) and "Star Trek Into Darkness" (2013).
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