New Star Trek series to launch in 2017
Star Trek has proven its ability to live long and prosper, as the cult sci-fi franchise will return for a new TV series in 2017.
CBS Television Studios has confirmed that the new instalment of the show – which will be the first new Star Trek series since the cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise in 2005 – is currently being developed, and will blast off in January 2017 on CBS before the rest of the series airs exclusively online at CBS All Access. This means that it will also be the first TV series designed specifically for CBS’ online platform. CBS All Access already offers every episode of all previous Star Trek television series.
Star Trek movies producer and co-writer Alex Kurtzman is reportedly working on the project, however further details are currently scarce.
The announcement of the new series comes just in time for Star Trek‘s 50th anniversary. The original Star Trek spawned a dozen feature films and five successful television series, so we’re excited to see what comes out from it next.
“There is no better time to give Star Trek fans a new series than on the heels of the original show’s 50th anniversary celebration,” said David Stapf, President, CBS Television Studios. “Everyone here has great respect for this storied franchise, and we’re excited to launch its next television chapter in the creative mind and skilled hands of Alex Kurtzman, someone who knows this world and its audience intimately”.
“This new series will premiere to the national CBS audience, then boldly go where no first-run Star Trek series has gone before – directly to its millions of fans through CBS All Access,” said Marc DeBevoise, Executive Vice President/General Manager at CBS Digital Media. “We’ve experienced terrific growth for CBS All Access, expanding the service across affiliates and devices in a very short time. We now have an incredible opportunity to accelerate this growth with the iconic Star Trek, and its devoted and passionate fan base, as our first original series”.
Trekkies will next be treated by the upcoming feature film Star Trek Beyond, which stars Zachary Quinto, Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana and Idris Elba, and is slated for a summer 2016 release. However, the new TV series is said not to be connected to the current film franchise.