New 'Star Trek' TV Series In The Works At CBS All Access [UPDATED]

The Star Trek franchise is heading back to the small screen. A new TV series is in development from Alex Kurtzman, who wrote 2009's Star Trek and its 2013 follow-up Star Trek Into Darkness. The project will aim to land in early 2017. More details on the new Star Trek TV series after the jump.  

CBS announced the new Star Trek TV series this morning. The show will premiere in January 2017 on CBS. Subsequent episodes of the series will be available in the U.S. exclusively on the CBS All Access digital subscription streaming service. The Star Trek TV series will be the first original series developed specifically for CBS All Access.

CBS Television Studios is producing with Kurtzman's Secret Hideout. Heather Kadin (Limitless, Sleepy Hollow) will serve as executive producer alongside Kurtzman. Roberto Orci, Kurtzman's longtime partner, is not involved.

Rumors of a new Star Trek TV series have been swirling for years, but this announcement finally makes it official. Plot details have not been given. According to THR, "The new Star Trek will introduce new characters seeking imaginative new worlds and new civilizations, while exploring the dramatic contemporary themes that have been a signature of the franchise since its inception in 1966." So it's a Star Trek show, in other words.

Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the original Star Trek series starring William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, which premiered on September 8, 1966. The show only ran for three seasons, but launched a sprawling franchise that has so far yielded an animated series, four more live-action series (The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise), and twelve feature films.

The thirteenth Star Trek movie, the Justin Lin-directed Star Trek Beyond, is slated to hit theaters July 22, 2016. And Paramount is already making plans for a fourteenth Star Trek movie, with actors Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto confirmed to star. The new Star Trek TV series will not be related to Star Trek Beyond.

[Additional source: Deadline]