Summary
Perhaps no one is as influential in modernStar Trekas Alex Kurtzman. Not only did he help create and conceptualize Paramount+‘sStar Trekfranchise, but he also penned the screenplays for J.J. Abrams’ first twoTrekfilms.Star Trek(2009) helped introduce a new era of fans to the world ofStar Trekand proved to studios that the franchise could still be successful. With his production company, Secret Hideout,Kurtzman helped bringStar Trekinto the age of streaming televisionwith the premiere ofStar Trek: Discoveryin 2017.
Alex Kurtzman officially began his entertainment career as a writer onHercules: The Legendary Journeysand its spin-off,Xena: Warrior Princess. Alex went on to work on the television showAliasand wrote the screenplays forMission Impossible IIIand the first twoTransformersfilms. Kurtzman also co-createdFringewith J. J. Abrams and Roberto Orci andSleepy Hollowwith Roberto Orci, Phillip Iscove, and Len Wiseman. After working together onFringe, Kurtzman teamed up with Roberto Orci and J.J. Abrams again forStar Trek(2009), his first official foray into theStar Trekuniverse.Here is Alex Kurtzman’s growingStar Treklegacy.
In 2018, Alex Kurtzman signed a five-year deal with CBS Television Studios to oversee and continue to expandStar Trekas a franchise. Kurtzman’s production company, Secret Hideout, recently extended this deal through 2026.
Every Upcoming Star Trek Movie & TV Show
Star Trek is ending series like Discovery and Lower Decks but renewed Strange New Worlds while setting up new streaming and theatrical movies.
9Star Trek (2009)
Co-screenwriter with Roberto Orci
Written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, and directed by J. J. Abrams,Star Trek(2009) reinvigorated theStar Trekfranchise,introducing a whole new generation to the voyages of the USS Enterprise.Star Trek(2009) begins with the destruction of the USS Kelvin, the death of Lt. George Kirk (Chris Hemsworth), and the birth of James T. Kirk (Chris Pine). Having traveled back in time and out for revenge, the Romulan Nero (Eric Bana) wreaks enough havoc to create the alternate Kelvin timeline.
Star Trek(2009) centers on the future Captain James T. Kirk as he attends Starfleet Academy, where he meets Dr. Leonard McCoy (Karl Urban), Nyota Uhura (Zoe Saldaña), and Spock (Zachary Quinto). The Starship Enterprise later faces off against Nero, saving Earth, but is unable to prevent the destruction of Vulcan.With its action-packed plot and a solid cast,Star Trek(2009) became a box office hit,ensuring thatStar Trekremained a fixture of popular culture for years to come.
8Star Trek Into Darkness
Co-screenwriter with Roberto Orci and Damon Lindelof
In the sequel toStar Trek(2009),Star Trek Into Darknessadapts the storyof one of the most popular originalStar Trekfilms,Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Aboard the USS Enterprise,Kirk and Spock embark on a mission to apprehend Commander John Harrison(Benedict Cumberbatch), who turns out to actually be the notorious tyrant, Khan Noonien-Singh.
10 J.J. Abrams Star Trek Movie Positives You Only Notice On Rewatch
J.J Abrams rebooted Star Trek in 2009 with a new USS Enterprise crew & the creation of the Kelvin Timeline, ushering in a new era of modern Star Trek.
Captain Kirk eventually sacrifices himself to save the Enterprise just as Leonard Nimoy’s Spock did inWrath of Khan,but is revived using Khan’s blood.LikeStar Trek(2009),Into Darknessleans into blockbuster sci-fi action,forgoing the more cerebral aspects ofTrek. With a screenplay by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof, thecontroversialStar Trek Into Darknessdid well at the box office (though not quite as well as its predecessor) and received mostly positive reviews from critics, though mixed reviews fromStar Trekfans.
7Star Trek: Discovery
Executive Producer, Showrunner
Star Trek: Discoverybrought the franchise into the era of streaming television, opening with a dark, heavily serialized season that was unlike anythingStar Trekhad done before. Beginning as a prequel toStar Trek: The Original Series,Discoveryhad plenty forTrekfans to loveand also introduced countless new fans to the franchise. Centering on Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green),Star Trek: Discoveryfeatured a newstarship with an experimental spore driveand a cast of incredibly compelling characters.
Alex Kurtzman helped createStar Trek: Discoveryalong with Bryan Fuller, and Kurtzman served as showrunner from the second season on. He was joined by Michelle Paradise as co-showrunner beginning withDiscoveryseason 3.
Star Trek: Discovery’s5 seasonsexperimented with genres and tone but always managed to feel likeStar Trek. At the end ofStar Trek:Discoveryseason 2,the USS Discovery traveled over 900 years into the future, farther than any otherTrekshow had before.This allowedStar Trek: Discoveryto move away from established canon and tell new stories about the Federation of the 32nd century.
Executive Producer
Thanks to the success ofStar Trek: Discovery,theStar Trekfranchise continued to expand, beginning with a series bringing backStar Trek: The Next Generation’s beloved Patrick Stewart as Admiral Jean-Luc Picard. Picking up about 20 years afterStar Trek: Nemesisleft off,Star Trek:Picardfinds Jean-Luc living out his retirement in his family’s vineyard.Picard then gets pulled back into a dangerous adventure involving human-like androids, former Borg drones, and undercover Romulans.
Star Trek: Picardcontinued to expand intoStar Trek’s 25th-century era.
InStar Trek: Picardseason 2, Q (John de Lancie) returns to send Picard and his friends back into the past to help Jean-Luc work through his childhood trauma. In its final and most successful season,Picardreunited the crew fromTNGfor one last adventure on the rebuilt USS Enterprise-D.With the return of fan-favorite characters likeJeri Ryan’s Seven of Nineand the introduction of new characters like Michelle Hurd’s Raffi Musiker,Star Trek: Picardcontinued to expand intoStar Trek’s 25th-century era.
5Star Trek: Lower Decks
Star Trek’s first animated comedy that hasbecome popular with old and new fansalike,Star Trek: Lower Decksleans to a deep love of the franchise with smart writing and lovable characters. Following the lower deckers among the eclectic crew of the USS Cerritos,Star Trek: Lower Deckscrams numerous jokes and references to pastTrekinto every episode.In many ways,Lower Decksacts as a love letter to the entireStar Trekfranchise, while also being pretty greatStar Trekall on its own.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 - Everything You Need To Know
Star Trek: Lower Decks to the franchise where it had never been before with five seasons of comic antics, but sadly the show went off the air as well.
Loosely based on theTNGepisode of the same name,Lower Deckstakes place inStar Trek’s TNGera,and has connections toStar Trek: The Next Generation,Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,andStar Trek: Voyager. Lieutenants Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) and Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), in particular, are wonderful additions toStar Trek’sroster of great characters, and their adventures even crossed over to live-action onStar Trek: Strange New Worlds.
4Star Trek: Prodigy
Another first for theStar Trekfranchise,Star Trek: Prodigyis a CGI animated series geared specifically toward a younger audience. Following the ragtag crew of the USS Protostar,Prodigyserves as a sequel of sorts toStar Trek: Voyager,as a hologram of Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) helps guide the young Protostar crew. Along the way Dal R’El (Brett Gray) and his friends learn some important lessons about what it means to be a Starfleet officer.
After being canceled by Paramount+ and removed from the streaming service,Star Trek: Prodigywas picked up by Netflix for its second season. InStar Trek:Prodigyseason 2,Wil Wheaton’s Wesley Crusher made a surprise appearanceas a Traveler working to save the universe.Admiral Janeway, Captain Chakotay (Robert Beltran), and the Doctor (Robert Picardo) also played larger roles,becoming mentors for the Protostar kids. WhileStar Trek:Prodigyseason 2 brought the story full circle with a satisfying conclusion, it also left the door open for more adventures with Dal and his friends.
3Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Star Trek: Discoveryseason 2 introducedAnson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, Ethan Peck as Lt. Spock, and Rebecca Romijn as Number One.These characters proved to be so successful that they became the leads of their own spin-off,Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.Following Captain Pike and the crew of the USS Enterprise,Strange New WorldstakesStar Trekback to its roots of exploration and episodic adventures.
Star Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 2 featuredStar Trek’s first-ever musical episode.
With pitch-perfect casting and stunning visuals,Star Trek: Strange New Worldshas swung from scary Gorn stories to tragic time travel stories to musicals and crossovers and everything in between.Strange New Worldshas added depth to characters like Ensign Nyota Uhura(Celia Rose Gooding) and Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush), and introduced some truly wonderful new characters to theStar Trekuniverse as well.
Michelle Yeoh’s Emperor Philippa Georgiou became one of the best characters to come out ofStar Trek: Discovery, earning her a starring role inStar Trek’sfirst made-for-streaming movie on Paramount+. After the USS Discovery traveled to the 32nd century, Georgiou began experiencing distressing symptoms due to being displaced in both time and dimension. InStar Trek: Discoveryseason 3,the Guardian of Forever sends Georgiou back in timeto a period when the Prime Universe and Mirror Universe were aligned.
Star Trek: Section 31 - Everything You Need To Know
Academy Award-winner Michelle Yeoh headlines Star Trek: Section 31, and here’s what we know about Paramount+’s first Star Trek streaming movie.
Although much about the plot ofStar Trek: Section 31remains unknown, Georgiou appears to be working with Section 31 to recruit a team for an important mission. Set duringStar Trek’s"lost era,“Section 31also features a young Rachel Garrett (Kacey Rohl), who appeared as Captain of the USS Enterprise-CinTNG’s"Yesterday’s Enterprise.” ASection 31teaser trailerreleased during San Diego Comic-Con 2024 hints at an action-packed spy thriller unlike any other previousStar Trekproject.
1Star Trek: Starfleet Academy
Executive Producer & Co-Showrunner
In another spin-off ofStar Trek: Discovery,Star Trek: Starfleet Academywill follow a group of young cadets at the Starfleet Academy of the 32nd century. Created by Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau,Starfleet Academyalso features Tawny Newsome as one of the writers and voices behind the scenes.As Lt. Beckett Mariner onStar Trek: Lower Decks,Newsome has already proven her comedic chops and has become one of the major voices in modernStar Trek.
With Holly Hunter as the Chancellor and Paul Giamatti as an unnamed villain,Starfleet Academyalready has a stellar cast, includingseveralStar Treklegacy characters.Robert Picardo will reprise his role as the Doctor,raising the question of what exactly the Emergency Medical Hologram has been up to in the last 800 years. Mary Wiseman will also return as Lt. Sylvia Tilly, as will Tig Notaro as Commander Jett Reno and Oded Fehr as Admiral Charles Vance. TheStar Trekfranchise has become a many-headed beast since Alex Kurtzman first signed on and remains a resounding success in his more-than-capable hands.
