Executive Producer Alex Kurtzman would love to see “continuity and unification” between Star Trek films and TV series

STAR TREK: DISCOVERY SEASON 3 -- KEY ART -- Photo Cr: James Dimmock/CBS © 2020 CBS Interactive. All Rights Reserved. Star Trek Beyond image Paramount Pictures.

OCTOBER 15, 2020 - Star Trek boss Alex Kurtzman has given a new interview in which he talks about potential shooting schedules for future Trek series, and his views on the Star Trek film franchise.

TrekMovie.com highlighted the Star Trek: Discovery-focused cover story of the most recent SFX Magazine, in which they interviewed Kurtzman, as well as the cast, director Jonathan Frakes, and more. According to TrekMovie, while the story was comprehensive, it didn’t drop any major hints about Discovery season three, except to say that the Borg “will not be playing a part”.

The last Star Trek that was shot was just before pandemic lockdowns went into effect in March, and that was the end of Star Trek: Discovery season three. So when will production pick back up again? In the SFX piece, Kurtzman said, “Things are just starting to shoot again. We would have been in production already on Picard [season two], but we couldn’t be because of COVID. It’s pushed our Discovery and Strange New Worlds dates just a little bit, but I think we’re actually planning on staying on track for those.” It’s worth noting, as TrekMovie pointed out, that Kurtzman here is talking about a Discovery season four, which hasn’t officially been announced by CBS All Access (yet). It is, however, listed along with Strange New Worlds on the “Current Productions” page of the Toronto IATSE local website. According to that site, Discovery season four could shoot from November, and Strange New Worlds could shoot from February. At this point, neither seem likely to air before CBS All Access rebrands as Paramount+ in Q1 of 2021.

With the current uncertainty of the Star Trek film franchise that’s currently going on at Paramount Pictures, Kurtzman’s interview with SFX predictably turned to his thoughts on the films, especially as he co-wrote Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness. Kurtzman emphasized that he has no involvement in current Trek films. But he did say, “Having done two of those films, I loved them so much, and I really would love to see continuity and unification between the features and the TV side, because I think it’s what’s good for Star Trek, and that can be done any number of ways.”

TrekMovie did not say whether Kurtzman elaborated on what any of those “ways” might be.

You can read the full Kurtzman interview, as well as the rest of SFX Magazine’s 10-page Discovery special, by picking up the latest issue from newsstands now. Or find out how to order a physical copy online by heading to gamesradar.com/sfx.