Star Trek: Starfleet Academy‘s Robert Picardo addresses the Star Trek franchise’s mysterious TV and film future. Picardo originated The Physician on Star Trek: Voyager, and returned in live-action because the irascible Emergency Medical Hologram in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy after voicing his legendary character on Star Trek: Prodigy.
Star Trek celebrates its sixtieth anniversary in 2026, and the enduring sci-fi franchise created by Gene Roddenberry was honored on the 53rd annual Saturn Awards. Star Trek obtained the Corridor of Fame award, as Star Trek: Unusual New Worlds competed for 4 Saturns (arising quick), and Star Trek: Picard season 3 showrunner Terry Matalas was honored with the Robert Forster Artist’s Award.
ScreenRant‘s Ash Crossan caught up with Robert Picardo on the Saturn Awards pink carpet. Picardo was one in every of many Star Trek luminaries in attendance, together with Star Trek government producer Alex Kurtzman, and Bob’s Star Trek: Starfleet Academy co-stars Kerrice Brooks and Bella Shepard. Picardo ran down what he is aware of about Star Trek’s films and TV future and addressed on-line fan discourse. Learn Bob’s quotes beneath:
Robert Picardo: I’ve heard that the film franchise goes to be completely reinvented with all new characters. That’ll be nice to see and fascinating. I do not suppose we have ever completed that earlier than. You realize what I imply? Even after they rebooted the unique characters within the films with Chris Pine a dozen years in the past or no matter it was, they have been nonetheless acquainted characters. Now we will see presumably all-new Star Trek characters. That’ll be fascinating.
After which for the subsequent present — I imply, Starfleet Academy is an concept that has been talked about without end, and so they simply had to determine how one can do it. And the crucial response to the present has been wonderful, with virtually 95% optimistic evaluations. These days, in fact, everybody’s a critic. So on social media, there is a vigorous dialogue about what Star Trek ought to be.
I see followers who say, “We personal the IP. We personal the property as a result of we have watched it for therefore a few years.” Which is sort of not likely true. The property is sort of owned by the studio, and the studio decides to spend money on a selected pitch and a author. And if you are able to do higher, then I encourage any Star Trek fan that has a imaginative and prescient for Star Trek sooner or later — by golly, come to Hollywood, go in and pitch CBS Paramount along with your imaginative and prescient for Star Trek, and positively write an element for me. That is all. That is my greatest recommendation.
Paramount Skydance, which owns the Star Trek IP, introduced a brand new theatrical characteristic movie from Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Amongst Thieves filmmakers John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein that might reportedly be unconnected to earlier Star Trek films and TV exhibits.
Robert Picardo is correct that each previous Star Trek film was based mostly on current characters, and a reboot about all-new Starfleet heroes could be a franchise first. Nevertheless, there was no information about this Star Trek film because it was first reported in November.
In the meantime, Star Trek TV manufacturing has come to a halt in the intervening time. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 2 wrapped filming two weeks in the past, and Star Trek: Unusual New Worlds‘ fifth and remaining season accomplished filming final Christmas.
Whereas there are nonetheless 3 seasons and 26 episodes mixed of Star Trek: Unusual New Worlds and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy but to premiere on Paramount+, there may be at present no new Star Trek in manufacturing or greenlit for the primary time in a decade. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy hopes to be greenlit for season 3 (and 4 for the present cadets to graduate).
The contracts for Alex Kurtzman and Secret Hideout, who’ve overseen Star Trek on Paramount+ since 2016, are reportedly up on the finish of this 12 months. The whole Star Trek artistic and fan group awaits whichever path Paramount Skydance will take Star Trek subsequent, together with the doable improvement of recent TV exhibits and films.
As Robert Picardo mentioned, there may be fixed chatter on-line and numerous opinions on what Star Trek is and what it ought to be going ahead. Finally, Star Trek has epitomized Gene Roddenberry’s imaginative and prescient of an optimistic, inclusive, cooperative, and progressive future, and that can hopefully proceed in no matter Star Trek comes subsequent. And if there is a half for Robert Picardo, even higher.
- Launch Date
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January 15, 2026
- Community
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Paramount+
- Showrunner
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Alex Kurtzman, Noga Landau
- Administrators
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Douglas Aarniokoski, Alex Kurtzman, Andi Armaganian, Larry Teng
- Writers
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Gaia Violo, Alex Taub, Jane Maggs, Tawny Newsome, Kirsten Beyer, Kiley Rossetter, Eric Anthony Glover
