At the Strange New Worlds premiere event, TrekMovie had an exclusive chat with co-creator Alex Kurtzman. The focus of our brief conversation was on what comes next in the growing Star Trek Universe, where he revealed there is more coming—and not just TV shows.
Looking forward at the big picture, with Picard officially wrapping up, when should we expect an announcement for what show is coming next?
I can’t tell you exactly when. But I can tell you that there are several things that are in the pipeline right now. And it’s exciting. It’s really exciting!… I don’t want to rush them. I think it’s very important that each show has its own unique identity and has a reason to be told. It’s weird because we’ve been putting them out so frequently. But I think we’ve been as discerning as we can be, in thinking about what makes each show unique. Why is Picard different than Discovery? Why is Strange New Worlds different than Picard? Why is Lower Decks… and so on
And I think a lot of it has to do with each creator’s interpretation of the vision of Star Trek. And when I hear or feel a unique interpretation coming on, that’s when all the nerve endings in my body go, ‘Yes, yes, we have to do that!’ So that’s what we are waiting for. But there’s a couple of things that are in development right now that I’m really excited about.
Is Paramount Plus still committed to having three live-action television series?
I think Paramount Plus is committed to having as many shows as make sense. I don’t think they put a number to it. They haven’t said, “Let’s do three” or “Let’s do ten.” They’ve just said, “Let’s do great shows.” So as many as we can give them that they’re excited about, I think that’s what we’ll get away with.
We’ve been hearing about Starfleet Academy and Section 31, so you are working on more shows than that?
There are some things that are in conversation. And not just in the medium of television. There are other kinds of storytelling that are now being discussed. But yeah, those two are the ones that we are focusing on right now.
Michelle Yeoh as Georgiou
And when you say other things…
Games, podcasts, things like that. You might hear some interesting announcements coming up soon.
Dramatic podcasts?
Possibly, yeah.
Are there any conversations going on between you and [Paramount Pictures CEO] Brian Robbins in terms of connecting the movies and the TV shows?
There have not been of late, no.
Alex Kurtzman at Strange New Worlds NYC premiere
More NYC SNW interviews to come
Stay tuned all week as we share more gold carpet interviews from the New York premiere of Strange New Worlds with the cast and creatives. Check out our earlier interview with Strange New Worlds co-showrunner Henry Alonso Myers.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds debuts on Thursday, May 5 exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., Latin America, Australia and the Nordics. The series will air on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and stream on Crave in Canada. In New Zealand, it will be available on TVNZ, and in India on Voot Select. Strange New Worlds will arrive via Paramount+ in select countries in Europe when the service launches later this year, starting with the UK this summer.
Find more stories on the Star Trek Universe.
Is it weird that Paramount does not just hand the movies over to Kurtzman? Why would they not do that?
I suspect it has to do with contractual obligations that predate the merger. It’s also possible his contract keeps him exclusive to producing content for the streaming service.
The contractual commitment to Bad Robot seems to be a significant constraint.
While it seemed as though the repeated failures to launch a fourth Kelvin movie where going to lead to that contract running out it’s time limit and the relationship dying a natural death, it seems that it’s had a deathbed revival.
Kurtzman’s response to the question about talks about linking the television and movie parts of the franchise is telling. “…not lately” implies that such talks were happening but that the decision to go on with a Kelvin feature have squelched anything in development in that direction.
Sigh.
In honesty his work in TV trek in terms of output and volume is fantastic, however the shows are really poorly pulled together in terms of story and delivery that they will not trust him with quarter billion dollars to make a film.
“Why is Picard different than Discovery?”
Well, you used to be able to say, “Picard is good, at least season 2 is, and Disco sucks,” but except for the first two episodes of Picard season 2, now that show pretty much sucks too.
He wrote the first two Kelvin movies.He and Orci defined the Kelvin universe which they are sticking with. He mainly got involved with the shows because he was already attached to Star Trek that way. They obviously trusted him then, not sure why they wouldn’t now.
I wonder, maybe it could be because movies are increasingly becoming BIG Marvel sized events akin to theme park attractions without room for mid-level success, and Star Trek at the movies has been, let’s face it, for the most part a mid-tier franchise better suited to TV.
Sure, I know they keep holding out that carrot of a new movie, but I have my doubts. Not just about Star Trek movies but movies period. At least the way we used to know them.
Oh yeah I agree! I always have to make this clear, I know Paramount WANTS to make a movie. I don’t doubt that at all. But it does seem to be a question of if they SHOULD do one given the fact they know it’s probably not going to bring in a lot of money when compared to Marvel or Star Wars. And many might just be afraid the next one could simply fail like Beyond did.
It may all work out and it’s suppose to start filming soon but if they still haven’t signed on the cast they announced over 2 months ago now, it can’t just be because the script is not finished yet. If you said you’re going to make the movie, then you’re going to make the movie right? There is going to be a script of some kind as there always is. So I don’t buy that as a reason.
They are probably still trying to figure it out or even if they will actually do it. It didn’t take them months to get the gang from Mission Impossible to sign not one but two more films. And the regulars from the prior films signed on before they had a script. In fact, I think the last three films were already cast and started rolling before a script was even finished. That was certainly the case with the last two. Because everyone knows those movies are going to make money no matter what and want to get them in the theaters ASAP!
Not the case with Star Trek unfortunately and why six years on we’re probably still waiting.
Yeah, I agree.
I kinda wonder if maybe now the only way to achieve big success at the box office is to pull a Spider-Man and throw ALL the Star Trek actors past and present into one movie. Some sort of multiverse crossover event. Probably a good guess that more of that will be happening in the future with many different franchises.
And once that particular novelty wears off, I’m not sure where movies go from there.
It would certainly get fandom more excited but I imagine that would increase the budget to an even crazier level. That said, they got the whole TNG cast back for a season so I imagine most would be reasonable if they could appear in a movie again.
Some fans are even convinced this movie will be a big multiverse crossover story. I’m not at all, I think it will just be a light adventure story with the regular cast like the first three and nothing too complicated.
But I have to imagine they are thinking about something like that down the line, especially now that the TV and movie division is one and the same again. And if I’m being honest, you have to provide a bigger hook for a movie beyond ‘here is another Star Trek movie’ when you now have multiple Star Trek shows on and where most fans are more devoted too, especially if you only care about the Prime Universe and those characters. The last three movies it was only the KU, but that’s no longer the case obviously.
If they going to do a multiverse film now would be the time riding the coat tails of MCU/DCU while its still a fresh novel idea. And the expense might not be as much of a problem as youd think. I mean they get them all together for conventions and like Expendables in their 1980s/90s hey day bringing together the likes of Sly Arnie Bruce JCVD Dolph in one film would be unthinkable and undoable due to cost/egos by the time they were all in their 60s/70s less in demand,less expensive, matured personalities etc it was possible,
I mean, he did co-write two of the last three films.
Kurtzman is in movie jail after The Mummy. It is hard to overstate how bad a career gets damaged when a writer/directoy is handed a big franchise, a huge budget and Tom Cruise(!!), and bombs so bad it not only kills the franchise but an entire cinematic universe
Huh, I didn’t even realize that Kurtman produced and directed The Mummy?
Yeh, like the way Frakes got a life sentence without parole for Thunderbirds. Strangely enough The Mummy didn’t really bomb, 410m ww which was similar to the previous 3 Mummy’s (unadjusted). But it didnt do great domestic (rest of world it did OK as it was Tom Cruise in a Mummy flick). It could be argued Universal should’ve just continued with the Dark Universe – DU versions of Wolfman, Frankenstein, Dracula, Invisible Man etc (and Cruise could’ve come back years later for an Universal Monsters ‘Avengers’ type movie.. maybe that could still happen idk..)
Have read a few things indicating that Cruise’s creative input did to that what Stewart’s helped do to INSURRECTION.
Yeah sort of like what happened with Johnathan Frakes when his last movie bombed. With Kurtzman the Mummy was so bad it destroyed a potential shared universe before it could even start. There is an actually an interview going around recently where he talked about the movie and said it was the worst professional experience of his life.
But yeah the guy is doing OK lol. I been watching his new show The Man Who Fell to Earth on Showtime and it’s good (so far). He’s actually wrote and directed the first two episodes which I thought were very good. So TV is clearly keeping him super busy as it is. I always wonder how people like this find the time to do all this stuff lol. The guy is running five Star Trek shows but still producing, directing and writing other stuff too. He’s basically a mega-producer at this point.
Makes sense to me…I think we would get a better set of movies.
Secret Hideout doesn’t have the same clout as Bad Robot. JJ Abrams is a more desirable production partner.
Despite the actual product that Bad Robot puts out.
I’m not in the “everything Bad Robot is awful” camp, but I don’t find it up to the amount of $s and IP investors and partners are willing risk with them.
Before SNW was even greenlit, I was speaking to a published Trek author in Baltimore. He wasn’t friends with AK, per se, but “Alex answers his phone, when I call him.” Trek fans were LOBBYING hard, for a Pike series. When I asked said author, “why doesn’t Kurtzman just do this series? The fans want it.” The author’s opinion was that “Alex’s staff was a bit too thin, to ramp up production on a new series.” You need physical space to house sets, not to mention building them. You need to hire showrunners, executive producers, a writers room, and cast the main characters. This, and you need CBS/Par+ to pony up another $100 million to fund it. As Trek is behind a paywall, would the existing subscriber base support another expensive star trek show? Yes, I know. CBS has a parking lot with dump trucks full of cash. As it’s show business, they want a return on their investments, especially with how expensive Trek is, compared to other shows.
No questions on why the Picard storyline is muddled and incoherent?
They did, they mentioned that it’s all a matter of subjective taste, and specifically called you out for your rude attitude. I believe the interview is available on Twitter.
Can’t tell if you’re joking, but what interview are you referring to?
omg
That was a joke.
I believe he’s talking about this one.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iik25wqIuFo
Hahha, nice! I love when whiney Karens expect their all-important gripes to be taken directly to the top
They wouldn’t want access to be cut off no matter how fair such a question would be (Picard is a catastrophe) or how politely or sensitively they framed it.
A catastrophe? Jesus Christ, don’t you think that’s an overreaction?
Nope – I think it’s pretty accurate. Even if you try to watch Picard forgetting about Star Trek or science fiction… or even storytelling… it’s a jumbled, incoherent, cheaply produced mess.
I suppose anything can be when you’re determined to interpret it as such.
I’ll give you jumbled, I’ll even add flawed. I don’t think it’s incoherent or a cheaply produced mess.
Yeah, I think it’s been pretty excellent–and def far from incoherent, they’re very consistently dealing each week with the themes set up in the beginning That’s, like, the most coherent thing to do.
It is amazing how people can watch the exact same thing but come away with completely different thoughts and conclusions over it.
If you think it’s great, then its great. For me however, it’s SO badly written, it’s almost like high school kids wrote it. Sure it’s ‘coherent’ in the sense you can follow it from A to B, but it’s the details where it’s a total mess IMO. So many ridiculous things happens on this show I literally can’t believe it got approved. It’s Star Trek, we’re always suspending our disbelief but this show takes it to a ridiculous level. There are so many things wrong with it, I can list several dozen at this point.
But I find it crazy, just as an example, that they give a 21st century doctor an advance medical device not once but TWICE and expect her to know what to do even do with it. The second device was freaking Romulan, an alien device. but she uses it like she uses any tool in her clinic. Give someone from a hundred years ago an iPhone today and see how well they could work that in the 1920s. Now tell them to use it as a medical device in literally minutes.
This season is just so dumb.
These are poor complaints, IMO. In your second example with the Romulan device, we don’t actually see her really “use” or have to figure out anything. She opens it up and then we see that it automatically produces an x ray of Rios’ body. We don’t see her operating it or pressing buttons as if she knows how it works.
The brain device example is silly as it was presented, but again it seemed like all she had to do was wave it in from of Picard’s head and knowledge of how it worked wasn’t needed.
That’s a subjective interpretation, isn’t it? This has been my favorite season of Trek in many years.
No trained journalist would have asked a question like that.
True, but a good journalist could ask probing questions that would get at precisely those issues.
It’s tougher to do in media journalism as compared to, say, a scrum with a politician. Media interviews tend to have to balance the fawning with the tough queries.
However, given that Akiva Goldsman has said in interviews late 2020 and early 2021 that this season season would benefit from having been written in full before production started, there’s a loss of asking the EPs about how that worked out.
There were apparently some COVID issues (characters now having to be paired up in smaller pods, COVID shutdowns, losing a filming location they had rented) that seemed to affect production. I’d be more interested in learning what had to change from the story they had planned.
They said to tell you that perhaps you will appreciate the series’ more once you pass through Middle School. ;-)
There’s an insane amount of Trek news lately – thank you Trekmovie for covering it all!
A proper send off for the Enterprise NX-01 Crew could heal some old wounds !
I don’t mind waiting until Bakula et al are in their 80s and a proper showrunner is in charge rather than letting Kurtzman destroy even more beloved characters.
Seriously. Of all the unnecessary shows this guy wants to foist on us, why doesn’t he think of the one a lot of people *do* want?
Who knows, it may happen! Akiva Goldsman mentioned a possible anthology series and used Archer as an example of a character they could do for a season. It was just him throwing out an idea but I do have a feeling by him just saying that, they know there is a bigger groundswell from fans to return to Enterprise. I definitely would want that over the Academy show or any Section 31 show starring Space Hitler. I think a lot of people would.
“Let’s do great shows”… still waiting for one, Alex. Still waiting…
Here’s hoping the wait is over on Thursday
‘the wait is over..’
Here’s hoping too, but Goldsman’s heavy involvement isn’t causing me to hold my breath!
Yeah that’s where I’m at too. I want to be excited for SNW and I am, but seeing how badly Discovery and Picard has been handled by this guy gives me major pause.
Lower Decks and Prodigy!
Please consider more Short Treks and short-form series like Disney is doing with Marvel — complete series consisting of six or eight episodes only.
Can’t amortize that approach unless you’re reusing standing sets and other pre-existing assets.
At this point, CBS Studios has a lot of available sets, costumes and props in Toronto that can be redressed.
Also, as the experience with the AR Walls increases, there will be more scope for using them to create different environments.
There are more being built in Toronto, including one that is intended for short term clients.
The question is really at what point there will be critical mass that makes more Short Treks, limited series and made for streaming movies a natural part of the franchise.
From what Kurtzman is saying, what may be needed is an EP that can champion the model, and writers room that’s dedicated to these kinds of limited projects.
I still have no idea why they stopped doing the short treks. It was an excellent concept and was emmy nominated as well if I remember correctly. They could have introduced so many more things and grew the universe even more with Short Treks.
I feel like Kurtzman is holding Trek to ransom. In regards to a lot of content, I believe quality is better than quantity. 1 or 2 good shows is better than 5 or 6 terrible to mediocre shows.
When he talks I really wonder if he gets Trek or is he just taking his knowledge from pop culture rather than actually knowing the show.
Say what you will about Rick Berman, working with Gene he understood the ideals of Trek, perhaps he was rigid at times in maintaining it but he understood it, Kurtzman is more Star Wars with a pop culture understanding of Trek.
Trek once invited debate about the issue raised in the episodes, but today it comes more of as left is right and right is wrong, where I think today, like a lot of television, has gone ultra left to the point that anyone with centre or right views is wrong. I mean apart from establish characters, white males are either portrayed as arrogant twats or villains. I mean the ICE were too cartoony and one dimensional, where as on the DS9 episode Past Tense the guards were sympathetic by the end of it and they admitted they felt helpless, they did not relish their job, as I am sure not every person in ICE is that sadistic.
Star Trek taught me to respect everyone we are all the same and we are stronger together, this is something I strongly believe is more important to remember today than ever. I don’t want to feel ashamed to be a white male.
Any who, I don’t want to cause offence but just to say my two cents, I embrace the ideals as always but the way it is being executed on modern shows is a bit uneven.
I think that’s enough about the plight of the white man today. Thread closed
Trump bad, immigration good, climate change bad, gays good, black people very good, women amazing, men stupid, white people bad.
This is Star Trek now, almost every scene needs to relay at least one of these ideas, directly or not directly. Can’t wait for some more badly written propaganda.
Ted Cruz, is that you?
Warning for trolling
An interesting title to this article. I assume you mean ‘Expanding His [Interpretation on the] Star Trek Universe Beyond Television.’
We must aspire to be accurate and precise lest Vaal get angry and cause the storms to rise :)
Careful, that might get you the same kind of response awarded to Kfir and Stringer … Totally with Stringer, BTW, on his read of PAST TENSE and how it showed dimension to the characters on each side of the equation (except maybe the rich guy — which may be the truest part, that the rich guys don’t have to have character because they ‘settle’ for owning what they can’t understand. Then again, TNG did have the rich dead guy at end of s1 who while a jackass, was still smart enough to see what Picard didn’t about the Roms, which is still more depth than I see or read about with current incarnations.)
Kfir and Stringer were being racist and this person isn’t so I don’t see how they’re gonna get thread closed?
I don’t see Stringer as being racist at all, just calling out the qualitative differences in writing. What are you seeing that I’m not?
If you don’t see what they said as racist, well, you’re part of the problem.
Star Trek taught me to respect everyone we are all the same and we are stronger together, this is something I strongly believe is more important to remember today than ever.
Not seeing what is wrong with that statement makes ME part of the problem? Who the hell are you and when did you graduate with honors from Highhanded Jackass University?
The people that are part of the problem are the ones leading us on a headlong rush to PAST TENSE happening for real and right damn quick.
It wasn’t that statement, it was the ones prior that pulled the plug on it – bemoning the repressed status of the white male in society. His last “yeah, but” statement doesn’t sanitize the racist trope prior.
The “apology” below doesn’t help.
Phil, I agree!
kmart, to me his post does come across as lamenting on white males in Trek, which I not only find offensive, but I also find it to be totally bizarre when here in SNW we have a white male captain just like he’s calling for, for Christ’s sake (i.e. shouldn’t Neill be doing a Trumper “victory lap” on that instead of whining?)…that being said, I get where you are coming from in your post above where you pushed back and I know you don’t support that line of thinking — no worries.
I despise Donald Trump and I find this comment extremely hurtful.
I apologize that my comment has come across as racist. It was not my intention. It was simply a matter of what I saw as canon being altered.
I will retract my comment as it was not meant as an insult and I apologise.
Thanks for the retraction. And I apologize if my response was over-the-top.
Sorry, but you’re protesting too much. You sprinkled this comment on a few threads hoping to illicit a response, and you got one. Just not the one you wanted.
Enough said….
Look my comments were not intended to be racist. I find racism disgusting but if calling out the current issues I have with the writing is racist in your eyes then I apologise. This was definitely not my intention.
Diversity is important but not divisiveness.
It was just a reading of a trend I have been noticing on TV and I am sorry if noticing it seems to make me sound racist. That was not intention. In fact it’s getting more scary to voice an opinion that differs from the majority.
Got Fauxpology?
Regarding your last line: it gets easier with practice. (At least that is my experience when defending some aspects of ST TFF and critiquing the crap out of most recent Bond movies.)
That’s a distinction without a difference. Every incarnation since TOS has been the show runner’s interpretation along with the writer’s room, networks and fans who all influence the outcome.
I’m just glad there’s an audience for Star Trek again. After the “Trek Peak” in the 90’s and the death of Enterprise after Nemesis, beyond the JJTrek movies, I figured Trek was dead.
I’ll take “flawed” Trek over No Trek.
I first thought that was what I also wanted. I mean, it’s not as if every past trek has been good. There have been different levels of good to mediocre. But the Alex Kurtzman Trek is SO bad that I’d rather have no Trek at all then further vandalization existing characters or ideas. I actually stopped watching Discovery after season 3 because I could not take it anymore. Season 2 of Picard started promising, but it the same mess as Discovery. I really REALLY hope New Worlds is any better.
It’s not just because something is new that I hate it. It’s not because it’s not exactly the Star Trek I remembered. It’s because from a writing and character building perspective it’s just one complete mess with horrible pacing, incoherent choices, weird decissions, uninterresting characters, a lot of filling with stuff that does nothing to further the plot and yes….also because it’s also not Star Trek in tone. And like some people mentioned, it sometimes seems that ‘the message’ comes first, the story comes second, where it should be the other way around.
You’d rather have no Trek at all? Good news! There’s a button in your remote labeled OFF. You should use it. And NO MORE TREK! ;-)
That doesn’t do anything about the problem, which is not getting any good trek. It’s like deciding you don’t like a candidate and on that basis, throwing away your ballot.
No, because Trek is not going to preside over anyone. It is a ridiculous comparison. You can choose to watch it or not watch it. Your call. And there is a lot of people that are just fine watching the new shows. Maybe you shouldn’t take them for you. And, above all, you shouldn’t translate “I don’t like it” for “It shouldn’t exist”. That’s the kind of radical thought that brings so many sparks these days. Live AND LET LIVE. You don’t like the new shows, you can still watch the old ones. And respect those that want to watch the new ones, instead of wishing they were out of shows to watch just because YOU don’t like them.
It’s the general dumbing-down that creates new norms for acceptability. This isn’t even specifically about TREK, which is just a symptom of same. The standards for visual credibility have taken a hit (in general, not overall, as there have been gains as well) with wholesale use and overuse of CGI; the strange use of digital intermediates to destroy ‘normal’ color values is another. Setting the bar this low just makes crap the norm, and while that makes good shows stand out that much more in relief, it doesn’t address the aspire-to-something-more quality that most good entertainment includes in its DNA.
I’m not deriding all mediocre programming; there’s a place for crap. I just watched SST DEATH FLIGHT — now just called DEATH FLIGHT — on streaming for the first time in something like 45 years, and I enjoyed hell out of it, even though there’s not a jot of originality or anything innovative or even much good about it. It was just jaw-droppingly stupid, same as it ever was. But it never aspired to be anything more than a programmer, so where’s the damage, outside of wasting one’s time? But presumably people expect a little more than from TREK.
And if you think Trek doesn’t impact things in the real world and politics, all I need to point to is a letter-writing campaign — not in the progressive 60s, but in the meMeME!70s — to get the President of the United States to rename our first shuttle ENTERPRISE, while even GR preferred it to remain CONSTITUTION (the latter is especially significant, given how this morning’s info about the Supreme Court seems to have put a giant stake through any pretense of political neutrality on their part, probably now and forever.)
If people had rejected the Abrams barely-in-name Treks, we probaby wouldn’t have gotten KurtzmanTrek, and I think it likely (but no means certain) we’d have gotten something better.
I eventually took your ‘live and let live’ POV for the Bond series for a short while, but realized it was basically turning a blind eye to the creative massacre of the Craig era (not that the previous few films had been much better, but they were at least not massively injurious to the character of Bond.) So being oil not sand is not a responsible attitude, because maybe we need those sparks you seem worried about, and certainly radicalism seems the way to go in my opinion on so many things in the real world right now because the center keeps slipping as the ground gets jerked so hard to the right by seemingly unconstitutional and definitely unethical minority viewpoints being rammed down all our collective non-consenting throats like something out of ALIEN.
Settling for crap or settling for ignoring crap and letting it fester is the fastest formula to see it becoming the new McDonald’s with a killer foothold everywhere. Not saying you have to go to town hall over everything, but find some things that matter to make a stand on and don’t just tune out because somebody else doesn’t like your informed minority opinion.
If you don’t like them you should just stop watching and get over it until there is a Trek show you like. I stopped watching both Voyager and Enterprise when they were on because I didn’t like them. I didn’t hate watch and then go on message boards to complain about them.
It’s your opinion the new shows are crap while I enjoy all of them and am happy they are being made. As far as I’m concerned Kurtzman is doing a good show and has saved the TV franchise.
I DID stop watching VOY and ENT early on because I didn’t like them. But you’d better believe I still complained about their failings and TNG’s (and the failings on TOS and DS9 – the only shows I really dig), because if you don’t say anything you are just going to get more of the same (or worse, which is what we did get with Abrams and now this bunch.)
I never thought Trek was dead after Enterprise. I always knew we would get more, it was just a matter of when and what form. I did think it needed to take a break, but maybe 5 years tops. And of course that didn’t even happen lol.
And people seem to forget the first Abrams movie was announced less than a year after Enterprise was cancelled. So the people making it clearly didn’t think it was dead, just needed a new direction which I agreed with. Unfortunately it stayed off TV waaay longer than I think any of us expected but I think mostly because Les Moonves was in charge and didn’t really see a need to make another Star Trek show and CBS isn’t exactly known for being a science fiction show network. I think he was just happy licensing the old shows to other networks and streaming services because it was guaranteed revenue without any effort. I do wonder if it wasn’t for All Access how long it would’ve taken to get another show with him in charge. Thankfully we finally got one even if the results were mixed at best.
I never believed in the idea that Trek would truly be dead ever. I mean if you think about it, it is such a cool, imaginative science-fiction concept that there was no way in hell that it wouldn’t return in some kind of form. So I really can’t understand the people who worry about Trek dying. It is one of the biggest science-fiction franchises in the world and there will always be money made from Trek. So no I won’t take any “flawed” trek over no Trek because I don’t for a second believe that there will be a time with no Trek. I mean think about about there has literally been a Trek product every decade since the 60s.
Exactly! It’s not going anywhere. Yes, after 2005 things looked more hazy but did people really think we wouldn’t see another movie or TV show for the next 20 years? TV shows get cancelled, films bombs, it doesn’t mean the franchise as a whole is no longer viable.
Again, there was only 4 years between Enterprise and the 09 movie. Star Trek never really went anywhere. There was a minor break basically.
A 12-year hiatus on TV is a little more than just a “minor break”. Yeah, there were the KT movies but after the first one was such a success, they should have instantly done TV shows again. One movie every 3-4 years just isn’t enough. Especially when you look at the competition. Those were the days the MCU took off, the Arrowverse took off, even the Walking Dead began to thrive… I was so utterly jealous :-)
When Trek ended its glorious run with ENT in 2005, Trek WAS the number one media franchise in existence (if you don’t count animated series). Heck, there even was an ENT trailer promoting Trek as the biggest franchise ever and it was… But a 12-year intermission gave the two CB multiverses plenty of time to overtake Trek by a longshot… Neither the TV branch nor the bigscreen branch of Trek stand any chance now reconquering the top spot as far as quantity is concerned… Even Star Wars came dangerously close at dethrowning Trek.
It wasn’t just a “minor break”, it was an EPIC FAIL, sacrificing the top spot, mostly due to studio politics and an absurd concept known as “franchise fatigue”…
It’s weird how people don’t count the KT movies as real Star Trek or something. Yes we had Star Trek back in 09. That’s a four year break. And actually would’ve been closer to a 3 year break if Paramount didn’t decide to move the film December 08 to summer 09 (but a very smart move). I’m just talking about having new Star Trek in general as opposed to people saying we wouldn’t see ANYTHING for at least 10 years. When the TOS movies were around, we had no new shows again until 1987. But the movies still counted as more Star Trek, right?
And if it was up to Paramount, we probably would’ve had a lot more movies in a faster click. They originally wanted the sequel to 09 to come out in 2011 but Abrams was busy with other stuff and why it took twice that long to get the second film out. But if things worked out with those movies both in openings and BO, we probably would’ve had 5 of those films by now.
And yes I understand it took 12 years to get another show which was crazy long. But also cited in my other post above this one that was also just due to Les Moonves not wanting to put another show on more than anything. But other people wanted to do it, he simply shot them down. He actually said in one interview both Netflix and Amazon wanted to make their own Star Trek shows for years but he wanted it to stay with CBS and then All Access was born and the rest was history.
My ultimate point though still stands. Star Trek wasn’t dead. The KT movies, at least the first two, got tons of hype. It proved that Trek fans still cared about Star Trek and wanted more. That’s what I’m also talking about. I have no doubt if they launched a new show sooner (and it was GOOD from the start unlike Enterprise) it would’ve been a big hit. I do think Star Trek needed a break. It was nearly 20 years of non-stop Star Trek. Every franchise needs a break at some point, but after 2-3 years they could’ve made anything after that people would’ve been on board as the 09 film proved.
I’m not talking about other franchises or how it falls into those. I’m strictly just discussing Star Trek here.
“It’s weird how people don’t count the KT movies as real Star Trek or something.”
Not my point. The KT movies are real Trek but they came out in rather long intervals… It doesn’t help getting one movie every 3-4 years if other franchises churn out 3-4 movies every year!
“I’m not talking about other franchises or how it falls into those.”
I always compare. Not so much quality but yeah, quantity! I’m a numbers person. I’m obsessed with numbers, statistics etc… And yes, it does matter to me that Trek doesn’t stand a chance keeping up with the MCU or DC these days. Back in 2005, Trek would have had that chance. Trek could be FAR BIGGER than Marvel and DC combined if they hadn’t taken that hiatus. KT reboot PLUS additional TNG movies PLUS DS9 movies, VOY movies, ENT movies etc… PLUS 3-4 ongoing TV Shows animated or live-action. We could still be Number One.
Well, it’s too late for that I guess.
“I’ll take “flawed” Trek over No Trek.”
So true. There have been nearly 20 DC TV shows over the last couple of years, most of them just being “mediocre” at best. But they were made, they exist, they count.
Trek has blatantly sacrificed its superb position as the world’s number one media franchise just because of lazy studio politics and an illfated misconception of “franchise fatigue”… And THAT made the rise of Marvel and DC even more painful.
Life long Trek fan here, but I don’t think it’s ever been the world’s number one media franchise. I don’t even think anyone can say it’s been the USA’s number one media franchise. DS9 and ENT were low rated shows. Voyager wasn’t all that much better. The movies were doing poorly. Insurrection bombed, Nemesis bombed, First Contact made money but it wasn’t a top 10 grosser for the year, neither was generations (17), or Undiscovered Country (21).
Wish someone would have the balls to ask him difficult questions at conventions , about the inconsistency of the shows, delivery, writing etc. There are many things right with Picard for example (I e. The cast) but some fundamental flaws to leave it in the ‘average to occasionally good’ category.
Guess that person will have to be me…I’ll even ask Patrick Stewart!
That would be exceptionally rude. Nobody involved in the production owes you a personal explanation as to why what they made wasn’t what you wanted to see. The entitlement in your statement is to the point of disbelief.
They’re public figures and are absolutely fair game for legitimate and probing questions about their failings as well as any positives. There’s no entitlement in that other statement, just somebody wanting an accounting, the same as a voter has when addressing the failings of a politician.
I don’t disagree but a red carpet event is not really the place for that. I think in a proper interview, sure, but this is an event where you have a few minutes at best to ask any questions and it’s usually to help promote that event more than anything.
To be fair, these premiere events are really just meant to promote the new show or movie. It’s softball questions for a reason because it’s suppose to be a celebration, not really a place to hash out issues. It’s like going to a wedding, you’re there to be positive and celebrate the occasion and not talk about the groom’s drinking problem or that they are only getting married because the bride got pregnant. You just put your best foot forward for these kind of events.
But yes it is fun when you have someone break protocol and tell you what they really think. Mark Hamil and his appearances on the red carpet for TLJ comes to mind lol.
True, but if you think about it from a different perspective what humans are doing is basically being dishonest just to celebrate something to be a part of a certain social structure. Sometimes this reminds me of the Jim Carrey film Liar, Liar and how that would actually go down in real life with some of these situations. Also, absolutely agree with you about Mark Hamill, that guy is a legend and needs to be appreciated more. I personally found his honesty refreshing and was kind of disgusted the way TPTB made him “retract” those statements. I mean no product, nothing should be above a persons dignity, but this is just my opinion.
…out of the former Kurtzman/Orci team, I was always more fond of Orci. Still am. I feel like he actually ‘gets’ the franchise. My two cents.
Im hoping Orci will return for a new movie, dusting off his ST3 Days of Shatners Past script
From his own comments, I suspect that ship has sailed.
It’s still sad to me out of all the people working on Star Trek now, he’s really the only one who was a huge fan from the start. I don’t think (for better or for worse) we would have the Kelvin movies today if he wasn’t involved. It is weird how people treated him like some god at the start of this revival but now treat him like his name shouldn’t even be spoken. Moreso because of STID, but yeah Kurtzman and Abrams were right there with him.
Of course I know many fans still hate them too lol, but Orci still deserves to make more Star Trek. Even though I liked Beyond, I still think his idea probably would’ve been better received although directing was a bigger question since it would’ve been his first time.
Same time, I think a big part of him is probably happy he’s no longer involved. He probably doesn’t miss all the toxicity that comes with it.
We’ve talked this through before but yeah Orci’s ST3 was so intriguing sounding I cant see how it wouldn’t have been superior in every way to the standalone/random Beyond .. I mean Shatner back as Kirk! It would’ve been incredible! (like Nimoy in ST09 but even more so as hed have probably been more involved in the story), and the restoring timeline plot/dilemma would’ve just made alot of sense for where events would go in the kelvinverse.. real City on the Edge meets Yesterdays Enterprise stuff (and surely Spock would’ve been be hunted from all sides for his knowledge of the future, even if it was from another timeline). Id probably be still picking/obsessing over the movie and the anniversary now (like I still sort of do with VI/25th) I just wouldn’t have been able to let it go! (whereas with Beyond im just so meh/whatever over it then and now)
Thank you Mr. Kurtzman for bringing Star Trek back to us in such a big way. WELL DONE !!!
Robert April in a mini series adaption of Diane Carey’s FINAL FRONTIER please!!!!!!!
Get Chris Hemsworth to play Kirk’s Dad…. that’s a movie quality story I tell you!!!!
Current spending levels in streaming are unsustainable and Netflix stumbling is a red flag for programming development at Paramount+ and elsewhere. At some point they’ll start pulling back and narrow the focus of their content offerings on Paramount+.
Kurtzman may have a wish list but I suspect a lot of this will hit a wall over the next 18 months.
My only reservation in regard to Strange New Worlds is Akiva Goldsman being the showrunner. Every episode he directed was terrible, with Picard season 1 finale even having an out-of-context drone shot, the throwaway Riker scene,… Riker would have joined his friend on the planet, also the whole fleet warping away!?,…. I just can’t narrow it down, but to date I found the only common denominator to be Goldsman when an episode has huge flaws,…
I think there have been worse episodes of Disco and Picard that Akiva didn’t write or direct (whether it was his influence that made them bad – at least on Picard’s side we’ll never know). But there have been worse episodes of Disco made long after he left that show.
Akiva is co-showrunner of Strange New Worlds, just like he was for Picard season 2,
I remember the 90s when fandom was all “Fire Berman and Braga!” and now it’s “Fire Kurtzman!”
Anyway, the dramatic podcast thing has piqued my interest! I would love an original, Paramount-produced Star Trek dramatic podcast! Please make this happen!
That’s sadly how these things go. Remember how happy fans originally were when Disney took over Star Wars and was happy Lucas lost control? Today, that too is a different tune.
I always said I like Kurtzman and I like the direction he is taking the shows. But yeah, the execution is lacking a lot and what really needs to be improved on.
I don’t know how involved he is in the writer’s rooms. A think a lot of the execution problems seem like showrunner/writer’s room problems to me rather than Kurtzman specific. Because a lot of the bigger ideas are fine, they just aren’t executed as good as they could be.
Every time I read one of these interviews or hear Kurtzman speak, all his words just come across as corporate speak. He talks about things that I feel don’t seem to ever happen. Like the Section 31 show. Which I admit I don’t think is a good idea not one I want but it keeps getting touted.
The Mummy fiasco comes to mind, setting up future films in the first movie in a shared universe was a bad idea as the first film needs to actually be a hit first. Look at the first Iron Man, the only link to future films was the post credit scene with Nick Fury.
I would rather have one or two great shows rather than a dozen average or mediocre shows, quality over quantity.
I remember being ten and the 80s where it was all Harve Bennett / Nick Meyer – more please! And then we got ST: V and TNG.. ugh. Been a long time time since we had a producer with a director who got the whole Horatio Hornblower in space concept.
I too long for those times