There are lots of new Star Trek: Discovery details, including confirmation of the setting and much more!
The new Star Trek TV series — Star Trek: Discovery — is marching along, and should begin production in Toronto soon. As a result, information about the still untitled new Star Trek TV show is still a little scarce, but it's adding to its behind-the-scenes crew as we speak...and soon we'll have news about those in front of the camera, as well.
Star Trek: Discovery — Latest News
Speaking at this part weekend's Star Trek: Mission New York conference (via Comic Book Resources), Bryan Fuller explained a bit more why he chose "Discovery" as a ship name...
This ship is called the Discovery for a few reasons. Not the least of which is Stanley Kubrick's contribution to the Discovery on 2001: A Space Odyssey [the ship in the film is called Discovery One], NASA's vessel the Discovery, and also the sense of discovery.
Fuller elaborated on that last point, emphasizing the fact that — though we would see familiar aliens, ships, and technology — there would be plenty of "discovery" to be experience through the introduction of totally new elements to the Star Trek universe.
Speaking about the choice to make the main viewpoint character in the ensemble show a not-captain, Fuller said: "There have been six series all from the captains' perspective, and it felt like, for this new iteration of Star Trek, we need to look at life on a Starfleet vessel from a new perspective."
In other news, the first three episodes of the Star Trek: Discovery TV show have already been written. Speaking to Nerd World Report (via TrekCore), Fuller confirmed that the show's pilot would be a two-part episode. Fuller and Alex Kurtzman will pen the first hour, and Nicholas Meyer will write the second hour. (It's unclear whether both episodes will air on CBS or just the first, with the second half available via CBS All-Access.)
Past that, script outlines have been started for the fourth and fifth episodes, with the entire story arc for the first season already fleshed out.
On the casting front, Fuller said he hoped that Star Trek: Discovery would have something to announce in October, but that nothing was official.
Star Trek: Discovery Characters
Bryan Fuller revealed a number of important Star Trek: Discovery details at the TCAs (which we have here courtesy of TV Line).
Perhaps the most important detail here is that the series will have a female lead, and while she's human she won't be the Captain (as we previously and mistakenly reported). The Hollywood Reporteralso had word that this role might be "diverse."
TrekCore has further reported that the female lead will be referred to as "Number One," in honor of Majel Barrett's character in the original pilot, "The Cage."
Speaking to Nerd World Report with Hop and Herc, Fuller said:
As we were first talking about the series and talking to CBS, we said, 'Initially, we will only call this character Number One, because in the 60’s, in the first pilot, Gene Roddenberry was very progressive, and he had a female first officer, and CBS [NBC] executives at the time said America is not ready for a female in a command position.'
At some point during the first season, we will learn the given name of Number One.
And to answer a question that has long plagued Star Trek fans, Mr. Fuller also confirmed “We’re absolutely having a gay character.” In fact, overall, you can expect a diverse cast, in terms of both human diversity and with how many aliens there will be represented. "We wanted to paint a picture of StarFleet that's indicative of encountering people who are much more different than we are."
THR also has word that other characters will include "a female admiral, a male Klingon captain, a male admiral, a male adviser and a British male doctor."
Star Trek: Discovery Aliens
Speaking with Nerd World Report, Fuller also divulged that Discovery would be putting "a new spin" on some of the different alien species we've previously seen in the Star Trek universe. Though he wouldn't comment on whether or not Klingons will have forehead ridges and/or look like they did in The Original Series, Fuller did have this to say about the overlook of the show:
We’re going to try to achieve a new look for Star Trek that is very much Star Trek, but also our interpretation of Star Trek. And I love [for] each of the shows I work on to have a distinct aesthetic. So being able to apply the color palette of some of these, whether it’s Hannibal or Pushing Daisies, and going a different direction with science fiction, it just felt like it was a good place to start our signature look for the Star Trek universe and work our way forward as we continue to tell stories.
Earlier this month, Bryan Fuller shared a photo of what looks like an Andorian on Twitter, tagging the pic "Makeup test" and "#StarTrekDisco." It's unclear whether Fuller is just trolling all of us or if he really is teasing that there will be Andorians on Star Trek: Discovery. Here's the photo in question...
Though Andorians first appeared on The Original Series, they were most prominently featured on Star Trek: Enterprise. The Andorians depicted so far in the Star Trek universe have blue skin, so the photo above could be a different, new alien — or it could simply be a kind of Andorian we have yet to meet.
The fact that the Andorians were one of four races that formed the Federation could potentially come into play in Star Trek: Discovery and potentially be another clue that that Discovery will be set between The Original Series and Enterprise, as has been most recently speculated. Or Bryan Fuller is just having some fun and this has no relevance on the new series...
Star Trek: Discovery Setting
Number One will play an integral role in the overall structure and setting of the ensemble series, which takes place ten years before the original Star Trek series. Make no mistake, though, this series is set firmly in the original timeline, not that of the new movies.
“There’s an incident, an event in Star Trek history in the history of Starfleet that had been talked about but never fully explored," Mr. Fuller said, explaining that Star Trek: Discovery tells "that story through a character who is on a journey that is going to teach her how to get along with others in the galaxy.”
That event isn't the Romulan War, though.
Star Trek: Discovery Uniforms
Though Discovery will be influenced by "The Cage" in some ways, Fuller confirmed that the uniforms in Discovery will not look like the ones from the original Star Trek pilot, but rather be an amalgamation of Star Trek uniforms over the years. Fuller teased...
I think that when you see it [the uniform] I can tell you specifically what the influences are, and that the styles that [they adopted] a transporter accident in their approach. A happy transporter accident. I think when you see the design, you’ll say, 'It’s a little bit of this, it’s a little bit of that.'
Star Trek: Discovery Trailer
Paramount and CBS debuted a teaser for Star Trek: Discovery at San Diego Comic Con. Though we don't learn much about the new series from this concept art-y trailer, frankly, it's just nice to see a TV starship again and to know that the Star Trek TV show is on its way. Check out the full trailer for yourself...
We also have this initial teaser, which gives us even less visual detail, but does promise “new crews, new villains, new heroes, new worlds.” So that's something! Check it out...
Star Trek: Discovery Premiere Date
There's no actual premiere date just yet, but the new Star Trek TV series will arrive in January 2017 on the CBS All Access streaming service.
The first episode will also broadcast on CBS. I'd suspect if it's a huge ratings getter, they'll add more episodes, but right now, this sounds like they want to drive traffic to CBS All Access, which you can get for $5.99 per month.
The third movie in the rebooted Star Trekfranchise, Star Trek Beyond is due in summer of 2016, which also marks the franchise's 50th anniversary year, and a fourth film is already being penciled in for 2019.
Star Trek: Discovery Story
I don't even know if this counts as an official synopsis, but this is what they're giving us, so here it is...
The brand-new Star Trek will introduce new characters seeking imaginative new worlds and new civilizations, while exploring the dramatic contemporary themes that have been a signature of the franchise since its inception in 1966.
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Bryan Fuller told Ain't It Cool News, "There’s a big clue in the number of the ship [NCC-1031] that indicates when we’re set," in the new trailer from SDCC 2016. Most of the Internet has surmised that the "NCC-1301," visible on the U.S.S. Discovery in the new trailer, means Star Trek: Discovery will take place before Star Trek: The Original Series, as the number is lower than the original series' Enterprise "NCC-1701."
In other news, it looks like we're getting the full "prestige drama" treatment for the new Star Trek TV series. The folks at Collider spoke with Bryan Fuller, who confirmed that the new show will have a 13 episode season. Historically, Star Trek seasons were the more traditional, longer broadcast network model, the better to do "mission of the week" stories with. But not this time.
"We’ve got the arc of the first season entirely written, or arced out," Mr. Fuller told Collider, "and we’ve got the first six episodes entirely broken." He also confirmed that it's one season long story arc.
Star Trek: Discovery Music
Speaking about the music for Star Trek: Discovery, Fuller said that he would love to play homage to earlier scores and themes, but that the theme song and credits had yet to be written, adding:
I think there’s a lot of interesting things happening here musically. We absolutely have to have orchestral elements of the show [performed by] live orchestras. If we don’t have a live orchestra for the show we would be the first Star Trek television series [not to do so].
But you look at how some interesting new hybridizations of synth and orchestral scores have serviced Star Trek…First Contact had some very fantastic mixed pieces, and I look at what Hans Zimmer does, and I love his score for Interstellar. So it’s interesting to take a bit of a mix with our approach. And we’ll see when we get to that level of production, but I’m very excited about the music. Music is incredibly important.
Star Trek: Discovery Production
Bryan Fuller is a very busy man. While many are still mourning the loss of Hannibal, Mr. Fuller is intimately involved with a number of other genre franchises that should make everyone happy. For one thing, there's American Gods for Starz, the adaptation of the beloved Neil Gaiman novel. And then there's his proposed revival of sci-fi anthology Amazing Stories.
But what's even better than that? Bryan Fuller has been named as the co-creator and executive producer of the new Star Trek series coming in 2017. Mr. Fuller has a history with the franchise, having written for both Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. Fuller said in a statement:
My very first experience of Star Trek is my oldest brother turning off all the lights in the house and flying his model of a D7 Class Klingon Battle Cruiser through the darkened halls. Before seeing a frame of the television series, the Star Trek universe lit my imagination on fire. It is without exaggeration a dream come true to be crafting a brand new iteration of Star Trek with fellow franchise alum Alex Kurtzman and boldly going where no Star Trek series has gone before.
Here Fuller is chatting Star Trek at San Diego Comic Con...
Fuller will be joined by non-writing executive producer Heather Kadin, who also had some things to say about the importance of women behind-the-scenes in genre TV at San Diego Comic Con...
Alex Kurtzman will also executive produce the new show, and had this to say about the process:
Bringing Star Trek back to television means returning it to its roots, and for years those roots flourished under Bryan’s devoted care. His encyclopedic knowledge of Trek canon is surpassed only by his love for Gene Roddenberry’s optimistic future, a vision that continues to guide us as we explore strange new worlds.
Kurtzman was previously one of the masterminds of the recent Star Trek films that were directed by J.J. Abrams. He co-wrote Star Trek (2009) with Roberto Orci, and he also co-wrote Star Trek into Darkness (2013) with Orci and Damon Lindelof. There have been rumblings about a new Star Trek TV show for nearly a year now, and there's finally official confirmation. It also will mark the first series develped exclusively for the new CBS streaming service, CBS All Access (though the first episode of the Star Trek series will premiere on the CBS network).
Speculation aside, it is not yet clear which Trektimeline that this series will take place in, although it would seem sensible to try and expand the universe of the new franchise, which has so far been forced to rely on references and in-jokes to Classic Trek. Since Star Trek has always thrived in the longer form playground afforded by TV, then this might be just the trick to give things some needed heft.
“There is no better time to give Star Trek fans a new series than on the heels of the original show’s 50th anniversary celebration,” said David Stapf, President, CBS Television Studios in a statement. “Everyone here has great respect for this storied franchise, and we’re excited to launch its next television chapter in the creative mind and skilled hands of Alex Kurtzman, someone who knows this world and its audience intimately.”
On the directorial side, Deadline reports that David Semel (The Man in the High Castle) will direct the pilot for the new Star Trek TV series.
Star Trek: Discovery Filming
The new Star Trek TV series will boldly go where no other Star Trek TV series has gone before: Toronto. Confirmed by Trek Core, the upcoming TV/on demand series will film in the Canadian city, making it the first live-action Star Trek TV show not to film in Southern California.
This location news isn't all that surprising given that the showrunner behind the series, Bryan Fuller (Hannibal, Pushing Daisies), filmed all three seasons of Hannibal in the city, and is currently filming Starz' adaptation of Neil Gaiman's American Gods.
In the best piece of Star Trek news since Bryan Fuller was announced as showunner(which in itself was the best Star Trek news in at least a decade), Nicholas Meyer will report for duty in Starfleet when the new TV series launches.
Nicholas Meyer, who directed Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, and co-wrote Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (he also co-wrote those other two entries), will be part of the new Star Trek series' writing staff. Mr. Meyer will also serve as consulting producer.
"Nicholas Meyer chased Kirk and Khan 'round the Mutara Nebula and 'round Genesis' flames, he saved the whales with the Enterprise and its crew, and waged war and peace between Klingons and the Federation. We are thrilled to announce that one ofStar Trek's greatest storytellers will be boldly returning as Nicholas Meyer beams aboard the new Trek writing staff," said Executive Producer Bryan Fuller in a statement.
If you're in the mood for an interesting piece of non-Trek sci-fi from Mr. Meyer, check out Time After Time, a wonderful time travel movie that pits H.G. Wells against Jack the Ripper in 1970s San Francisco. It will help kill some time until the new Trek series launches in 2017.
TrekMovie got the word from Trek authority Larry Nemecek that Star Trek All-Access (we don't know what else to call it at the moment) has just added two new writers: Aron Coleite (Heroes) and Joe Menosky (a Trek veteran with episodes of Next Generation, Voyager, and Deep Space Nine to his name).
Coleite and Menosky join a team that already includes Bryan Fuller as showrunner and Nicolas Meyer (Wrath of Khan, The Undisovered Country) as writer. There's something about the names being selected here that seems to point towards a more "classic Trek" vibe than what the movies have been pursuing.
