Patrick Stewart Rumored to Return as Jean-Luc Picard in 'Star Trek' Reboot

06/20/2018 12:24 am EDT

It sounds like Patrick Stewart may be returning to the captain's chair as his beloved Star Trek: The Next Generation character, Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

CBS today announced a new deal with Star Trek: Discovery co-creator Alex Kurtzman and his production banner Secret Hideout to expand the Star Trek television franchise. An additional report suggests that one of the projects currently in motion will see Stewart return to Starfleet as Captain Picard.

The report says that Kurtzman is working on the project with producer Akiva Goldsman. The report also refers to the project as a "reboot," leaving it unclear as to whether this project could be a reboot - more likely a continuation - of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

However, fans shouldn't get ahead of themselves. The report from The Hollywood Reporter states that CBS declined to comment and that project is far from finalized, indicated that there's still a lot of negotiating to do be done before Stewart actually signs on to return and that he may still decline to return at all. However, if its any consolation, Stewart did recently hint that he may need to catch up on his Star Trek homework, indicated that he may soon have cause to watch Star Trek: Discovery.

Stewart played Picard for seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation as well as in four Star Trek movies. Star Trek: Nemesis, released in 2002, was his final outing as Picard.

Kurtzman's deal includes the development of new Star Trek series, mini-series and "other content opportunities."

"There is a very short list of writer-producer-directors that every film and television studio wants to be associated with, and Alex and his Secret Hideout team are always at the top," said David Stapf, President, CBS Television Studios, in a press release. "His talent, taste and ability to shepherd a successful project is unparalleled. Alex has done remarkable work for our Studio, dating back seven years to the launch of Hawaii Five-0, and we are thrilled that he, Heather and their team will be partnering with us for a long time to come."

"Heather, Aaron and I are thrilled to continue Secret Hideout's amazing partnership with CBS Television Studios," said Alex Kurtzman. "Since our first collaboration with Hawaii Five-0 almost a decade ago, Les, David and the full team at CBS Studios have been our foremost collaborators and champions, treating each project with integrity, supporting the creative visions and working breathlessly to make each episode of every show the best it can be. CBS has also allowed us the great pleasure of reintroducing the world of Star Trek audiences new and old, and we are very excited to keep working alongside them to expand that world."

Would you like to see Patrick Stewart return as Captain Jean-Luc Picard? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

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