Star Trek Head Teases Announcements Coming Soon: "We Have Quite a Few Plans"

With Star Trek: Picard in its final season and Star Trek: Discovery ending in 2024, one might think that Star Trek is entering a period of contraction, but that may not be the case. In an interview with SFX, Alex Kurtzman confirmed that he and his colleagues remain excited about the Michelle Yeoh-led Star Trek: Discovery spinoff project focusing on Section 31. Kurtzman also revealed that he continues to talk to the Star Trek: Picard cast about a potential movie, and that character-focused spinoff shows aren't out of the question. In fact, Kurtzman says there's still plenty of new Star Trek in the works and fans may hear about them soon. 

"[W]e have plans for new things… there's quite a few plans, and you'll hear about them soon," Kurtzman said. "We will continue to expand the Star Trek universe, absolutely."

Star Trek Series In Development

As mentioned, the Star Trek: Discovery spinoff about Section 31 is still in development. Paramount had set the pilot to film in 2020, immediately after Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 wrapped, but the COVID-19 pandemic squashed those plans and the show fell in priority. Yeoh, who would reprise her role as Phillipa Georgiou, has described the series as Mission: Impossible meets Guardians of the Galaxy.

Another project that's been rumored since Kurtzman took over as head of Star Trek television is a Star Trek series about the Starfleet Academy. Kurtzman officially acknowledged the project during a New York Times interview, though he offered no further details. Some wonder if Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) taking a position at the Starfleet Academy of the 32nd Century (taking Wiseman from series regular to recurring guest star) set the stage for the new Star Trek show, though it could occur at almost any point in the Star Trek timeline.

When will new Star Trek announcements happen?

While Kurtzman is teasing announcements soon, it's unclear what that means, exactly. The next obvious possible date is First Contact Day on April 5th, the holiday from the Star Trek universe that Paramount+ has begun encouraging fans to observe in real life. In 2021, they scheduled a whole online event around it. The 2022 celebration was more low-key but did bring the announcement that the entire Star Trek: The Next Generation cast would be back for Star Trek: Picard Season 3. There are no official plans for First Contact Day this year other than the Star Trek: The Next Generation movies releasing on 4k UHD Blu-ray for the first time around that same date (including, appropriately enough, Star Trek: First Contact), but the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast return came as surprise announcement last year. The same could happen this year.

If not First Contact Day, there's always Star Trek Day on September 8th, which has been a big event for the Star Trek franchise regularly for years. And of course, there's no reason that announcements couldn't come at San Diego Comic-Con or New York Comic Con, or during another Paramount event, or at any other time during the year.