A new “Star Trek” TV series will launch on CBS in 2017, CBS Television Studios announced Monday.
Alex Kurtzman will serve as executive producer for the new “Star Trek” TV series. Kurtzman co-wrote and produced the blockbuster 2009 film “Star Trek” with Roberto Orci, and co-wrote 2013’s “Star Trek Into Darkness” with Orci and Damon Lindelof. Both films were produced and directed by J.J. Abrams.
The series will not be related to the third installment in the franchise, “Star Trek Beyond,” which is scheduled to be distributed by Paramount Pictures in summer 2016. It will instead focus on new characters boldly going where no one has gone before.
The new series will premiere off with a special preview broadcast on CBS. The premiere episode and all subsequent first-run episodes will then be available exclusively in the U.S. on CBS All Access, the network’s digital subscription video on demand and live streaming service.
This marks the first original series developed specifically for U.S. audiences for CBS All Access.
The new series will be produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout. Kurtzman and Heather Kadin will serve as executive producers.
Kurtzman is also an executive producer for the hit CBS television series “Scorpion” and “Limitless”, along with Kadin and Orci, and for “Hawaii Five-O” with Orci.
“Star Trek,” which will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2016, is one of the most successful entertainment franchises of all time. The original “Star Trek” spawned a dozen feature films and five successful television series.
“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 of 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.”