Paramount+ is on the hunt for the next Star Trek series. Speaking to Deadline, Jane Wiseman, EVP & Head of Originals for Paramount+, addressed the future of the franchise, saying it's "imperative" the streamer figure out its next chapter.
"Well, it’s one of the reasons why Chris is here as the resident number one fan of the Star Trek franchise," Wiseman said, referring to the hiring of Chris Parnell as EVP for Paramount+ Originals. The former Apple TV+ creative executive and co-president of Sony Pictures TV Studios joined Paramount+ last year with one of the goals being to expand the Star Trek original content.
"And there’s so many people in this building, by the way, that are," Wiseman continued. "It is our goal and it is our job to figure out what the next bounce of Star Trek is."
"We’re talking to a lot of writers, we are leaning on CBS Studios, and it is imperative that we figure out what the next iteration is in this franchise because it’s just too important," Wiseman revealed. "We also are in touch with Paramount Pictures, they have a Star Trek movie that’s in development."
The Star Trek franchise is at a bit of a crossroads right now, with both Strange New Worlds and Starfleet Academy coming to an end and no new series currently in active development. It marks the first time in nearly a decade that there hasn't been a new Star Trek series in the pipeline.
Paramount hasn't publicly addressed the situation in detail, but reports point to a combination of factors, including a corporate reset following the Skydance merger, potential franchise fatigue, questions about the audience performance of some of its recent series, uncertainty surrounding Alex Kurtzman — who has been the architect of the modern Star Trek TV universe — and a broader rethink of what the future of Star Trek should look like.
Paramount CEO David Ellison confirmed in April that a new Star Trek movie is in development, though details surrounding the project remain a mystery. Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, the writers/directors of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, are writing, directing, and producing it. At San DIego Comic-Con in July, they revealed it will be set "a little further into the future than we've been before."
Beyond the movie, the near future of Star Trek is the end of Strange New Worlds, which is currently airing Season 4 and will conclude with a truncated fifth season that has already been filmed. There's also a second season of Starfleet Academy coming, but that series struggled to reach mainstream popularity.