Alex Kurtzman Hired to Five-Year Deal to Expand 'Star Trek' TV Franchise

The Star Trek television universe is about to get even bigger.

CBS today announced that it Alex Kurtzman has extended his production agreement with CBS Television Studios through 2023. The new deal gives CBS Television Studios the exclusive rights to all television content produced by Kurtzman and his production banner, Secret Hideout.

What should be of great interest to Star Trek fans is that Kurtzman's deal also sets him to supervise the expansion of CBS's Star Trek television franchise. This includes the development of new series, mini-series and "other content opportunities."

Kurtzman co-created and has executive produces Star Trek: Discovery, the first new Star Trek television series in 12 years and the first to launch on a streaming platform. He is also stepping in as the new Discovery showrunner following the departure of previous showrunners Aaron Harberts and Gretchen J. Berg. Kurtzman directed Discovery's season two premiere episode.

In addition, Secret Hideout will develop additional, non-Star Trek programming for broadcast, cable, and streaming platforms.

"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."

What do you think about Alex Kurtzman's new deal? Are you excited to hear that more Star Trek television projects are being put into development? Let us know in the comments!

The first season of Star Trek: Discovery is available to stream in its entirety on CBS All Access in the United States, through CraveTV in Canada, and through Netflix in other international markets. Star Trek: Discovery Season Two is now filming in Toronto.