Star Trek type Movie

The upcoming Star Trek TV series has found the perfect captain.

After 15 years, Bryan Fuller (Hannibal, Pushing Daisies) is returning to command the franchise that launched his career by showrunning CBS’ new Trek series.

Fuller started his writing career on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and then moved to Star: Trek Voyager, and has advocated for the franchise to return to television for years.

“My very first experience of Star Trek is my oldest brother turning off all the lights in the house and flying his model of a D7 Class Klingon Battle Cruiser through the darkened halls,” said Fuller, who will be co-creator and executive producer on the project. “Before seeing a frame of the television series, the Star Trek universe lit my imagination on fire. It is without exaggeration a dream come true to be crafting a brand-new iteration of Star Trek with fellow franchise alum Alex Kurtzman and boldly going where no Star Trek series has gone before.”

Kurtzman, who is a writer and producer on 2009’s Star Trek and 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness, will serve as an executive producer. “Bringing Star Trek back to television means returning it to its roots, and for years those roots flourished under Bryan’s devoted care,” he said. “His encyclopedic knowledge of Trek canon is surpassed only by his love for Gene Roddenberry’s optimistic future, a vision that continues to guide us as we explore strange new worlds.”

The new series will launch in early 2017 with a preview airing on CBS, and then will shift exclusively to CBS All Access as part of the company’s effort to bolster interest in its streaming service.

Though there are not yet any official details about the story concept behind the new series, in previous interviews, Fuller has lent his thoughts on reviving Trek (which marks its 50th anniversary this year). “I would love to return to the spirit of the old series with the colors and attitude,” he said back in 2008. “One where you could go back to the spirit and color of the original Star Trek, because somehow, it got cold over the years.”

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In 2013 he teased having a “very specific idea” for a relaunch: “Having spent four years on staff and another year of freelancing before that on Star Trek, it’s a very near and dear property to my heart, and also a philosophy. I would love to create a Star Trek show, so that’s on my dream docket. I think there’s something very exciting about the new J.J. Abrams-verse, and there’s also kind of an interesting reinvention. How would The Next Generation evolve from that? Where would that be? Where would that go? But there’s also … Star Trek is such a big universe, and there are so many places to go with it. I have a very specific idea that I would love to do. We’ll see if I ever get the opportunity.”

The same year, Fuller said one idea would is to not have the show set on the Enterprise, but the U.S.S. Reliant, perhaps best known for being hijacked by Kahn in the franchise’s second feature film Star Trek: The Wrath of Kahn. “I think let that be the movies and let that be their story. I would love to do something on the Reliant … I want Angela Bassett to be the captain, that’s who I would love to have, you know Captain Angela Bassett and First Officer Rosario Dawson. I would love to do that version of the show and but that’s in the future to be told.”

Fuller’s plate is now pretty full. He’s also serving as a showrunner on Starz’s upcoming American Gods, and developing NBC’s Amazing Stories reboot.

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