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Patrick Stewart is returning to Star Trek with a new series

Patrick Stewart is returning to Star Trek with a new series

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The series will focus on ‘the next chapter of Picard’s life’

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Image: CBS

Sir Patrick Stewart will reprise his iconic role as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in a new Star Trek series for CBS All Access. Stewart made the announcement today at this year’s Star Trek convention in Las Vegas.

In June, CBS signed a five-year deal with Star Trek: Discovery showrunner Alex Kurtzman to oversee all of the network’s efforts with the franchise. The deal included several shows in development, including a Starfleet Academy series, a series based on Wrath of Khan, a limited series, and an animated series. At the time, there were rumors that the franchise would return to the Next Generation era, with Stewart rumored to return.

In a statement, Stewart noted that when he filmed Star Trek: Nemesis in 2002, he felt that his “time with Star Trek had run its natural course. It is, therefore, an unexpected but delightful surprise to find myself excited and invigorated to be returning to Jean-Luc Picard and to explore new dimensions within him.” Stewart first took on the role of the iconic Star Trek captain in 1987, and remained on the show over the duration of its seven-year run through 1994, and starred in the four films that followed it — Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek: Nemesis. This series was the long-awaited follow-up to the original Star Trek series of the 1960s, and is set in 2364, 99 years after the adventures of Captain James Kirk and the Enterprise.

The series will focus on the “next chapter” of Picard’s life

According to Deadline, this new show won’t be a reboot of the series, but an exploration of “the next chapter of Picard’s life.” At the convention, Stewart indicated that none of the scripts for the show have been written yet, and that it “will be something very different but it will come to you with the same passion.”

Kurtzman will oversee the show, and will be assisted by Star Trek: Discovery executive producer James Duff, former Discovery executive producer Akiva Goldsman, writer Michael Chabon, and Discovery writer Kirsten Beyer. The network didn’t announce when the show would begin streaming on CBS All Access.

The show will join CBS’s other big Star Trek projects: Star Trek: Discovery, set a decade before the original series, premiered on All Access last year, while at San Diego Comic-Con, the network announced that it would release a series of standalone episodes featuring characters from Discovery.

Update: August 4th, 2018 5:20PM ET: Updated to add statement from Stewart that no scripts have been written yet.