Following the major shakeup of Star Trek: Discovery, Alex Kurtzman is with CBS Television Studios for the long haul.
Kurtzman, Discovery‘s new showrunner, just got cleared for a major five-year contract with CBS. Despite his previous contract being up, Kurtzman will begin making around $5 million annually until 2023. You could buy the USS Enterprise with that kind of dough.
In addition to running Discovery, Kurtzman was tasked to create new series, miniseries, and other content including animation. There were whispers of a Patrick Stewart-led series reprisal that would focus on his iconic character Jean-Luc Picard, so Kurtzman’s “new series” responsibilities just might be a lot more classic than we thought. Of course, CBS is remaining tight-lipped on the matter, but no one can crush the hope of this thirsty fandom.
According to David Stapf, CBS TV Studios president,“There is a very short list of writer-producer-directors that every film and television studio wants to be associated with, and Alex and his Secret Hideout team are always at the top. His talent, taste, and ability to shepherd a successful project is unparalleled.”
Despite multiple showrunner shakeups, Discovery must be doing well to warrant this kind of massive expansion to the franchise. The second season is well underway with a 2019 expected release date.