When Does The Next Star Trek Show Come Out? Executive Producer Offers Starfleet Academy Update

Star Trek executive producer Alex Kurtzman gives a major update on the status of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, and when the new Star Trek show could premiere on Paramount+. Announced in April 2023, Starfleet Academy’s co-showrunners are Kurtzman and Noga Landau (Nancy Drew). Reportedly a YA-themed series about young Starfleet Cadets, Starfleet Academy is presumably a spinoff of Star Trek: Discovery set in the 32nd century.

In an interview with Collider at SXSW to promote Star Trek: Discovery season 5, executive producer Alex Kurtzman confirmed that Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is “halfway through the writer’s room now,” and that the series will consist of 10 episodes. Kurtzman also revealed new information about when Star Trek: Starfleet Academy could arrive on Paramount+. Check out his quote below:

It could end up not airing until 2026. We don’t know. But by starting [shooting in late summer], just building the sets alone is a massive endeavor, then six months of shooting, then six to eight months of post. If you recall, there was all this noise around Season 1 and Season 2 of Discovery because the streaming service, they were like, ‘Oh, it’s like a turnaround on a cop show.’ I’m like, ‘No, you don’t understand. It’s eight months of visual effects turnaround, and we’re not gonna rush that.’ So, it’ll come out, but it’ll come out when it’s done.

More Details About Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Revealed By Alex Kurtzman

The next Star Trek show “reinforces all the things we love about Starfleet”

Alex Kurtzman dropped even more information to Collider about the themes of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. The upcoming series about young Starfleet hopefuls asking “fundamental Star Trek questions” will eventually reinforce what fans love about Starfleet, according to Kurtzman. Read his quote below:

There’s a lot of different kids from a lot of different places. Some of them want to be there, some of them don’t want to be there. It’s gonna be a fundamental reinforcement of all the things we love about Starfleet, in general. You always want to ask yourself, ‘Why this show now?’ I think that one of the big things that certainly my 17-year-old son is facing, which is kind of a fundamental ‘Star Trek’ question, is, ‘How did we get here? How has this generation inherited the mistakes from previous generations? And what are we gonna do to fix it, to build that optimistic future that is Roddenberry’s essential vision?’ That is very much going to be at the heart of Starfleet Academy.

Star Trek: Discovery season 4 set up the reopening of Starfleet Academy after a hundred years of its doors being closed because of The Burn. Many behind-the-scenes crew members are moving from Star Trek: Discovery to work on Starfleet Academy, but it’s unclear if any cast members will appear in the new series, although Lt. Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) is a possibility since she has become a Starfleet Academy instructor. Star Trek on Paramount+ plans to take its time producing Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, but that does mean it may still be another two years before season 1 premieres.