Kurtzman and Kadin Confirm Star Trek: Picard Season Two, and No Plans for Star Trek Films (Yet)
Photo by Sue Kisenwether
As the week treks on (pun intended), more interviews from Star Trek’s big weekend in New York keep appearing. Yesterday, TrekCore.com published their interview with Alex Kurtzman, Heather Kadin and Michelle Paradise, from the red carpet at PaleyFest New York.
The excellently meaty interview covered a number of subjects across the franchise, and gave us some of the most concrete information yet about the progress of Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Discovery and the upcoming animated series.
When TrekCore asked about where production was on Star Trek: Discovery season 3, Kadin said, “We’re shooting episode 6.” Kurtzman went on to confirm that there will be thirteen episodes in the season. When TrekCore asked whether that might be extended, as it was in both seasons one and two, he replied, “Not this year. I think we’re going [stick to] thirteen this year.”
The topic moved on to the two animated series in production. While we’ve heard a fair amount from producer Mike McMahan and the writers of Star Trek: Lower Decks, we haven’t heard much lately about the Nickelodeon-distributed show we know is being produced by The Hageman Brothers. When TrekCore enquired whether we might see the new show in 2021, Kadin said, “Looooonger. I was surprised! As someone who makes big, live-action shows, I heard how long it was going to take and I was like, ‘What?!’” Kadin went on to explain that part of the reason for the time was that the show will be 3D animation, similar to The Hageman Brothers’ prior projects, Ninjago and Trollhunters, and that that style takes longer to produce than “cartoon” animation.
Looking a bit further ahead, Kurtzman also addressed the speculation that with the upcoming CBS/Viacom merger, fans might get to see a unified Star Trek, on both the small and big screen. Kurtzman didn’t rule out producing films at some point, but he was cautious to emphasize that it’s not something they’re currently looking at. He said, “It’s very business-as-usual for us. It has not impacted our plans at all. We have a slate of shows that’s going to take us easily through the next five years. So that’s the plan looking forward, and if movies come into play then we’ll be ready.” Speaking specifically about Discovery and how the series already aims to blur the lines between film and television, he continued, “I wouldn’t rule anything out, but I also feel like we have to keep forging new ground, and Discovery is such a great place now that we would have to have a reason that inspires us to want us to take it to the big screen.”
Finally, the big star of the weekend’s Star Trek programming was Star Trek: Picard, so TrekCore had to ask whether they’re working on season two. Kurtzman’s answer? “Definitely. Already in the works.”
You can read the full interview, plus watch the video of Kurtzman confirming Picard season two, on TrekCore.com.
