Star Trek TV Franchise Expansion Planned Through 2027

The expansion of the Star Trek universe isn't slowing down any time soon. Since Alex Kurtzman and his colleagues at Secret Hideout took the helm of the Star Trek television universe, six new Star Trek series have emerged. It began with Star Trek: Discovery, continued with Star Trek: Picard, and progressed further with Star Trek: Lower Decks. Still to come are Star Trek: Discovery spinoffs Section 31 and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, as well as kids animated series Star Trek: Prodigy with Kate Mulgrew returning as Capt. Janeway from Star Trek: Voyager. But that's just the start. Kurtzman tells The Hollywood Reporter's TV's Top 5 podcast that there are loose plans in place to continue expanding the franchise through 2027.

"Heather Kaden and Aaron Baiers, who work with me at Secret Hideout — we literally just got off a call with the network mapping out with us through 2027," Kurtzman said. "Now when I say that, it's not like it's set in stone. It's just, 'Here's a plan. Here's what we're looking at. Here's how the different shows are going to drop.' Consider the fact that it takes a year from inception — from starting production — to airing, you have to plan way, way, way in advance to get these things done, and you have to stay on top of the zeitgeists and make sure that what you're doing is relevant. So you have to plan so far in advance now in different kinds of ways [like safety and budget] to seem loose and improvisational, but there's nothing loose and improvisational about it."

That future includes several more seasons of Star Trek: Discovery beyond its third, which premieres on CBS All Access on Thursday. "I'm going to say, in all honesty, there are years and years left on Discovery," Kurtzman said. "I think that because Star Trek, in general, has had a long history of going something like seven seasons minimum, and we just jumped into the future… it's not that it's a brand new show, but it's a whole new set of variables with a whole new set of ideas and stories, and I don't think we limit ourselves to thinking, 'Oh, we're capped at this place.' I'll tell you when the show starts to feel stale to us, we will be rallying to stop it — but for now, it doesn't feel like we are running into a shortage of stories."

Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, and Star Trek: Lower Decks are streaming now on CBS All Access.