Star Trek: Picard producer Alex Kurtzman discusses how the highly-anticipated new series will differ from the classic series, Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The upcoming new series set to premiere exclusively on CBS All Access features the return of Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Sir Patrick Stewart in his iconic role as Jean-Luc Picard, a now-retired admiral and former Captain of the USS Stargazer. This will mark the return of Picard after nearly 20 years.
Kurtzman spoke with Trek Core to discuss how Star Trek: Picard will differ from Star Trek: The Next Generation:
“You know, we feel a tremendous responsibility to the fans who have loved [the Picard character], and Patrick himself, who took a massive leap of faith with us in choosing to come back and play Picard [after] he said he was done forever.
He also said, ‘I want to make sure if I come back, if you loved TNG, you’ll feel we’re honoring it, but this is a very different experience.’ This is really a very different experience. It looks incredibly different, the kind of storytelling is different, but if you’re someone who’s never watched it at all, it’s been built for you to come into it and get to be dropped into this very emotional story about this captain who’s in the late stage of his life and is dealing with the sum total of all his choices.”
Based on Kurtzman’s comments, the approach to bringing Star Trek: Picard to life aims to appeal to new viewers who have not seen Star Trek: The Next Generation just as much as it does appeal to hardcore Trekkies.
Star Trek: The Next Generation was on the air from 1987-1994 and ran for a total of 178 episodes.
The last time we saw Picard, he appeared in the 2000 film Star Trek: Nemesis, which was the fourth and final film featuring the cast of The Next Generation. the The new series will take place 20 years after the events of that film, where Picard is shown to be mourning Data’s death and dealing with the repercussions of the destruction of Romulus as seen in Star Trek (2009).
Are you excited to see Patrick Stewart reprise his role in Star Trek: Picard? How do you think it will compare to The Next Generation? Sound off in the comments below, and be sure to continue following Heroic Hollywood for all the latest news in the Star Trek franchise including the original series and The Next Generation.
Star Trek: Picard stars Patrick Stewart, Alison Pill, Michelle Hurd, Evan Evagora, Isa Briones, Santiago Cabrera, and Harry Treadaway. The series will be produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment. Alex Kurtzman, Michael Chabon, Akiva Goldsman, James Duff, Patrick Stewart, Heather Kadin, Rod Roddenberry, and Trevor Roth are on board as executive producers. Aaron Baiers (Secret Hideout) serves as co-executive producer with Kirsten Beyer as supervising producer.
Star Trek: Picard will premiere on CBS All Access on January 23, 2020.
Source: Trek Core
