New 'Star Trek' TV series to begin filming next year

With the initial work for the new “Star Trek” TV series starring Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard) underway, news has finally arrived about the scheduled start of production. Cameras will reportedly start rolling by April next year for this highly anticipated TV series.

In an interview with TrekMovie at the recently held New York Comic Con, Executive Producers Alex Kurtzman and Heather Kadin confirmed that they are planning a multi-season TV series with Jean-Luc Picard. The fans, however, will not see the character back as a captain, as the new show will bring the character back in a new avatar, in a different phase of his life.

Stewart had previously teased a picture of the writer’s room, with his team busy working on the new script. Kurtzman confirmed that the writers have been working together on the project for about four weeks now.

The production of the new “Star Trek” TV series is expected to begin by April 2019, giving the producers enough time to get the script and the casting in place. It will take at least a few months to film the first season, and the show is expected to premiere by sometime in 2020.

The “Star Trek” universe is expanding. With the movies, the hit “Discovery” series, and now the Jean-Luc Picard series, the fans will be spoilt for choice. However, the producers are conscious about the shows not cannibalising the market share by competing for viewers.

Kadin confirmed that they are going to make sure that different “Star Trek” projects don’t overlap. They are also planning to have some gap between two projects to build the anticipation of the fans.

More details about the new “Star Trek” TV series may be revealed after the script is ready and the casting begins. It will be interesting to see if the show will introduce new versions of familiar aliens like the Klingons.