The newest behind-the-scenes Star Trek book is arriving this month, as the final look at the making of Star Trek: Picard beams down to highligh the artistry behind the three-season series.
Arriving February 27, Star Trek: Picard — The Art and Making of the Series by Joe Fordham is Titan Books’ latest in-depth book, this time focused on the creation of the Patrick Stewart-helmed show, from the early days of costume design to the resurrection of the Enterprise-D for Season 3.
Star Trek: Picard stars Patrick Stewart, reprising his role as Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation. The book explores each of the three separate season-long narratives, which tell the story of Picard in later years, as he is brought out of retirement on his family chateau to face old enemies such as the Borg, take command of a new starship, and ultimately reconcile with his past.
New characters such as Doctor Jurati (Alison Pill), Cristóbal Rios (Santiago Cabrera), Soji (Isa Briones) and Elnor (Evan Evagora) feature alongside appearances by old enemies and friends, such as Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), the Borg Queen (Annie Wersching), Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg), Data (Brent Spiner), and Q (John de Lancie). Season 3 sees a full-scale Next Generation reunion, featuring Worf (Michael Dorn), Dr. Beverley Crusher (Gates McFadden), and Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton).
Alongside interviews with showrunners, writers, cast, and crew, discussing concepts and character arcs, “Spotlight” features explore makeup, costumes, art, and visual effects. A final section features reflections on the much-beloved character from its original incarnation in Star Trek: Next Generation through to its final satisfying conclusion.
This beautifully illustrated hardback, featuring behind-the-scenes and on-set photography, and a range of production art, is an in-depth exploration of a hugely popular and seminal Star Trek character.
Thanks to Titan Books, we can bring you five exclusive pages from The Art and Making of the Series, with imagery from the first and second season of Picard.
After five long years, the upcoming Star Trek: Section 31 movie — starting Oscar-winning actor Michelle Yeoh — has finally commenced production.
Reprising her role from Star Trek: Discovery, Yeoh will return Terran emperor-turned-Section 31-agent Philippa Georgiou in the upcoming Paramount+ film which kicked off filming this week up in Toronto under the direction of longtime Discovery executive producer Olatunde Osunsanmi.
“Tasked with protecting the United Federation of Planets, she also must face the sins of her past” says the official press release for Star Trek: Section 31, a film written by Craig Sweeney.
Here’s a first behind-the-scenes image taken on the Section 31 set, featuring Yeoh and a stylized new logo for the film.
Michelle Yeoh on the STAR TREK: SECTION 31 set. (Jan Thijs/Paramount+)
Trek boss Alex Kurtzman commented:
“And we’re off to the races! Thrilled to report principal photography has started on STAR TREK: SECTION 31. We welcome our incredible cast of new characters as they join our beloved Michelle Yeoh on her next wild adventure across the ‘Trek’ universe.”
Additional cast for Section 31 includes Emmy winner Sam Richardson (Ted Lasso, Veep), Omari Hardwick (Power), Kacey Rohl (Hannibal), Sven Ruygrok (One Piece), Robert Kazinsky (Pacific Rim), Humberly Gonzalez (Ginny & Georgia) and James Hiroyuki Liao (Barry).
The SECTION 31 supporting cast (top row) — Omari Hardwick (credit: Warwick Saint), Kacey Rohl (credit: Kristine Cofsky), Sam Richardson (credit: Abita Jefferson), Sven Ruygrok (credit: Justin Munitz). Bottom row: Robert Kazinsky (credit: Eric Blackmon), Humberly Gonzalez (credit: Kristina Ruddick), James Hiroyuki Liao (credit: Joshua Monesson).
Here’s the full press release from Paramount+ about today’s announcement.
January 30, 2024 –Paramount+ today announced that production has begun in Toronto on STAR TREK: SECTION 31, an original movie event starring Academy Award® winner Michelle Yeoh. In STAR TREK: SECTION 31, Yeoh will reprise her fan-favorite role as Emperor Philippa Georgiou – a character she played in STAR TREK: DISCOVERY’s first season – who joins a secret division of Starfleet. Tasked with protecting the United Federation of Planets, she also must face the sins of her past.
In addition, it was announced that Omari Hardwick (Power), Kacey Rohl (Hannibal), Emmy® winner Sam Richardson (Ted Lasso), Sven Ruygrok (One Piece), Robert Kazinsky (Pacific Rim), Humberly Gonzalez (Ginny & Georgia) and James Hiroyuki Liao (Barry) have joined the cast of the original movie event.
“And we’re off to the races! Thrilled to report principal photography has started on STAR TREK: SECTION 31,” said executive producer Alex Kurtzman. “We welcome our incredible cast of new characters as they join our beloved Michelle Yeoh on her next wild adventure across the ‘Trek’ universe.”
Hardwick is best known for his lead role of James ‘Ghost’ St. Patrick in the hit series Power, which earned him critical acclaim and back-to-back Image Awards (NAACP) for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series. Following his success in Power, Hardwick starred opposite Jennifer Lopez in the thriller The Mother. Hardwick also starred in the limited series Pieces of Her and Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead. Next, Hardwick will star in Xeno, from Kevin Hart’s Heartbeat production company. In addition to acting, Hardwick founded the film and production company Bravelife in 2010. A talented actor, Hardwick also is a poet and musical artist; his debut album “Concrete & Whiskey” is on the horizon.
Rohl’s first on-screen appearance was in 2010 in the reboot of the series V. She’s best known for her role of Abigail Hobbs in Hannibal and as Sterling Fitch in The Killing. She played Prudence in the 2011 Warner Bros feature Red Riding Hood, opposite Amanda Seyfried, and portrayed Kerry Campbell in Wayward Pines, Alena in Arrow and Marina in The Magicians. After starring in the series Fortunate Son, she led the cast of the Toronto Film Festival’s buzzy White Lie, which garnered her a spot among TIFF’s Rising Stars platform in 2019.
Richardson is best known for his standout role as Richard Splett on Veep. He most recently earned two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, winning his first Emmy for his role in Ted Lasso. His diverse career includes starring in The Afterparty, Hocus Pocus 2 and Velma and voicing Uncle Brill in DreamWorks’ Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken. His notable filmography includes Good Boys, Game Over Man, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, Neighbors 2, Senior Year, The Tomorrow War, Werewolves Within, Superintelligence, Detroiters, and Office Christmas Party. On television, he’s been seen in The Office, New Girl, Arrested Development and I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson. Richardson is an alumnus of Second City Chicago MainStage.
Ruygrok is a dynamic South African actor who is well-known for his role as Rambo in the Spud film franchise alongside John Cleese, Troye Sivan and Caspar Lee. His other films include City of Violence, The Empty Man, Bring It On and Inside Man: Most Wanted. His most recent works include lead roles in The Good Life and Breathing In (in post-production), and he can be seen as Cabaji in the hit TV series One Piece.
Kazinsky can be seen in the Russo Brothers-directed film The Gray Man, starring Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans and Ana de Armas, and in the drama Second Chance. He starred opposite Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson in Captain Marvel; opposite Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara in Hot Pursuit, directed by Anne Fletcher; and opposite Alexander Skarsgård and Paul Rudd in Mute for director Duncan Jones and Liberty Films. Kazinsky also appeared in the feature Warcraft for Jones. Previously, Kazinsky starred in Guillermo del Toro’s film Pacific Rim, opposite Charlie Hunnam and Idris Elba, and was the mysterious love interest to Anna Paquin in True Blood.
Gonzalez next will play a lead in the feature Horrorscope. She stars in the new Star Wars video game Star Wars: Outlaws, stars in the hit series Ginny & Georgia and was recently seen in Jupiter’s Legacy. She starred in Nobody, opposite Bob Odenkirk and Connie Nielson; Slumberland, opposite Jason Momoa; and the indie A Hundred Lies. She played the lead role in the mini-series Utopia Falls and recurred on the series Nurses. Last year, Humberly played the fan-favorite role of Vanessa on the series In the Dark. Her previous credits include Orphan Black, Saving Hope, Workin’ Moms and The Detail. Humberly is a graduate of the prestigious CFC Conservatory program in Toronto and the National Theatre School in Montreal.
Liao, a Juilliard-trained character actor, is known for his roles as Edmond Ku in the award-winning series The Dropout and Albert Nguyen in the Emmy-winning series Barry. He is set to appear in the upcoming limited series Presumed Innocent and the first season of Orphan Black: Echoes and continues his recurring role of Lt. Fleming in the new season of Blue Bloods. Liao’s recent credits include Cowboy Bebop, opposite John Cho, and Paramount Pictures’ Snake Eyes with Henry Golding. Other notable roles include Michael Pak in the film Lost Girls and voicing Toshiaki in Tim Burton’s animated film Frankenweenie. Liao has a diverse range; he’s tackled everything from battling aliens in Battle Los Angeles to displaying his comedic skills in Management with Jennifer Aniston, Woody Harrelson and Steve Zahn. His television presence includes recurring roles in Paramount+’s SEAL TEAM, Prison Break, CSI and 24, along with guest appearances on shows like Manifest, Iron Fist and Law & Order.
Written by Craig Sweeny and directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi, STAR TREK: SECTION 31 is executive produced by Alex Kurtzman, Craig Sweeny, Aaron Baiers, Olatunde Osunsanmi, Frank Siracusa, John Weber, Rod Roddenberry, Trevor Roth and Michelle Yeoh and is produced by CBS Studios in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment.
STAR TREK: SECTION 31 will be available to stream exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and in all international markets where the service is available. The movie is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.
No release date has been announced for when fans can see Star Trek: Section 31 on Paramount+, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted once more scheduling details have been released on this upcoming project.
Keep checking back to TrekCore for all the latest Star Trek franchise news!
Following Vice Press’ first steps into the final frontier, the UK-based art group is once again bringing one of Star Trek‘s most iconic posters into the modern era as the spotlight shifts to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Following an original Khan poster design by artist Florey(which sold out quickly in November), Ferguson has worked to restore the theatrical Star Trek II one-sheet for release in a new pair of Vice Press prints — even going as far as remaking the title treatment from scratch for the project.
The ‘standard’ Vice Press print of Star Trek II’s one-sheet poster will be available for a limited time — with sales open from February 1 through February 7 — and a short-run reflective foil variant will be limited to a total number of 300 prints. Each will measure 24″ x 36″ and sales will begin at 6PM (GMT) / 1PM (ET) / 10AM (PT) on February 1.
The standard WRATH OF KHAN poster. (Vice Press)The reflective-foil WRATH OF KHAN poster. (Vice Press)
The artist noted that Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country was “a lost cause” for a while due to lack of original resources, but through a great deal of effort is approaching a satisfactory update to the original Star Trek VI key art poster.
I’m so happy to be able to do this to preserve the artwork as best as I can. Lots of research, purchases of one sheets, scanning, colour correcting, cleaning up and painting. Combining the best elements of multiple sources. It will all be released soon through Vice Press.
Somewhere. But the estate doesn’t have it and the scans at the studio that I’ve got access to aren’t the best. So I see it as my duty do try and get them to a place where they can be preserved before they are lost.
As a reminder, the new Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan poster releases will launch at the Vice Press website this Thursday, February 1, at 6PM (GMT) / 1PM (ET) / 10AM (PT) on February 1.
Come back to TrekCore often for all the latest in Star Trek merchandise news!
FEBRUARY 3 UPDATE: We’re excited to announce that thanks to 179 of our readers, we’ve successfully hit our fundraiser goals! We expect that the site should be able to keep running ad-free for about two years.
TrekCore has always been a labor of love, and we can’t thank you enough for your support!
Our site has remained proudly ad-free for its entire history, and we’re working hard to keep it that way for as long as we can going forward… and as the Star Trek universe continues to expand, so has our coverage and readership. From the ever-growing television universe on Paramount+ to more new products and merchandise announcements each month, there’s still a long road ahead of us all!
While we know how to stretch a dollar, sharing these terabytes of Trek treasures isn’t cheap — but in the two years since our last fundraiser, our costs have nearly doubled, with site management expenses now topping $2500 per year. Our fundraising goal is to build at least two years of funding through your generous contributions.
If you love our site as much as we do, please donate today — big or small, any contribution helps to extend the life of this site and the resources we offer to Star Trek fans. Thank you as always for your ongoing support of our work!
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TrekCore.com and the WeeklyTrek podcast are entirely volunteer-run, not-for-profit projects owned by Trapezoid Media LLC, and are not endorsed, sponsored or affiliated with Paramount, CBS Studios, or the Star Trek franchise.
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In addition, stick around to hear Sam’s comments on recent reporting about the potential sale of Paramount to other corporate buyers, and Alex’s wish for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 to have a Trek ’09tie-in.
WeeklyTrek is available to subscribe and download each week on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify— and we’ll be sharing the details of each new episode right here on TrekCore each week if you’re simply just looking to listen in from the web.
Do you have a wish or theory you’d like to share on the show? Tweet to Alex at @WeeklyTrek, or email us with your thoughts about wishes, theories, or anything else about the latest in Star Trek news!
EXO-6 this week revealed their fourth entry in the growing line of 1:6-scale Star Trek: The Next Generation figures — the chief engineer of the Enterprise-D, Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge.
(Photo: EXO-6)
Modeled after actor LeVar Burton’s appearance in the later seasons of The Next Generation, this new La Forge figure measures approximately 11.25 inches tall and includes a screen-accurate operations-division gold Starfleet uniform, complete with miniature combadge and rank pips.
The figure itself was constructed with more than 30 parts of articulation for the usual range of posing options, and features a VISOR which reveals the character’s blind eyes when removed. Along with a collection of interchangeable hands, the engineer comes with a Starfleet Type II phaser (with holster), Mark VII science tricorder (with holster), data padd — plus a collection of Starfleet engineering tools in housed in his familiar grey carrying case.
The Star Trek: Enterprise cast lost one of its prominent recurrent guest stars this week, after actor Gary Graham passed away January 22 at age 73.
Announced on Facebook by Graham’s ex-wife Susan Lavelle, the actor rose to sci-fi promenance first in 1989’s futuristic fighting film Robot Jox, then as Detective Matthew Sikes in the television adaptation of Alien Nation. That series aired on the FOX network from 1989-1990, and was followed by a series of Alien Nation television movies which aired between 1994 and 1997.
Graham made his first venture into the Star Trek franchise as Tanis, a treacherous Ocampan who attempted to exploit Kes’ nascent mental abilities in the Season 2 Star Trek: Voyager episode “Cold Fire.”
Graham (right) with frequent scene partner Vaughn Armstrong (Admiral Forrest). (CBS Studios)
Six years after his Voyager appearance, Graham joined the recurring Star Trek: Enterprise cast as Vulcan ambassador Soval, the leading representative of Vulcan’s diplomatic relationship with Earth.
The actor appeared in twelve episodes over the show’s four-season run (including one appearance as Soval’s Mirror Universe counterpart in “In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II”), gradually shifting the ambassador from one of Captain Archer’s harshest critics to a strong supporter of Earth and the newly-formed Coalition of Planets.
Since then, the actor had been a frequent face at Creation Entertainment’s Star Trek conventions, both as a celebrity guest and as frontman for the band “Sons of Kirk,” often seen on stage at the annual Las Vegas event.
Gary Graham is survived by his wife Becky Hopkins and daughter Haleyee Graham, who shared her own comments on Twitter following the news of his passing.
Thank you all for your kind words and condolences. My dad was an amazing actor, father, and husband… he was full of faith, humor, charisma and gratitude for being alive. He loved such a beautiful life and loved and cherished all his fans so, so much
Issue #10 of Star Trek Explorer,the official magazine for the Star Trek Universe, beams down to subscribers next week — and we’ve got an exclusive look at a new feature diving into the creation of the very first Original Series pilot episode, “The Cage.”
Vina (Susan Oliver) and Pike (Jeffrey Hunter) on planet Talos IV. (“The Cage”)
Writer Joe Nazzaro explores the development of “The Cage” in the upcoming issue, speaking to episode director Robert Butler (in an interview conducted before his passing in November 2023).
There’s a nineteenth century French quote that loosely translates into ‘The more things change, the more they stay the same.’ As long-time science fiction fans will attest, that phrase certainly applies to the original 1965 Star Trek pilot, “The Cage”. Although it was rejected by the network and eventually repurposed into a two-part episode of the new series, “The Cage” has become a pivotal back-story element in the new Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
One of the architects behind “The Cage” was award-winning director Robert Butler, who throughout the sixties, seventies and eighties was responsible for some of the most distinguished pilots in TV history, including Batman, Hogan’s Heroes, Remington Steele, and Hill Street Blues. An associate director in 1950’s live television, Butler began directing with the half-hour Jackie Cooper series Hennessey and never stopped working after that.
Another early series was The Lieutenant, created by writer Gene Rodenberry, which led to Butler’s directing gig on “The Cage.”
“I had done two or three episodes of the series, which was about a marine lieutenant in peacetime, and that was an hour series that ran a season or two, and Gene liked what I had done, so when he created Star Trek, he asked me to do it.”
Butler, a virtual novice to science fiction, recalls reading the script and wondering if perhaps there was a bit too much in it to pull off. “It was just stuffed with SF [SciFi] elements. I remember saying to my wife, ‘This thing is going to be hard for the audience to follow; it’s too jam-packed!’
“She suggested I do it anyway and maybe it would clear up, so I shot it, but remember NBC saying, ‘We like it, we believe it, but we don’t understand it; do it again!’
Oliver, Gene Roddenberry, Robert Butler, and Bob Justman during production of “The Cage.”
So how does one even begin to deal with a jam-packed science fiction script full of effects that had rarely been done on a television schedule or budget?
“You just give the elephant a spoonful at a time,” responds Butler. “You work on the moment at hand to make it as convincing and believable as you can, so in pre-production, you try and support those moments in preparation; getting the right costumes, getting the right special effects and the right design; inch by inch and a spoonful at a time.
“I remember the old woman who reverts to being an old hag for example, that was a stock SF trick. At the time, instead of morphing, which one would do now, what you did was time-lapse photography. There would be a head brace for her to hold her head in an appropriate position, you would shoot a piece of the scene and then she would go change makeup, and then shoot another piece. A lot of the execution was actually standard science fiction execution.”
Maybe so, but in the mid-1960s, such effects were hardly standard fare in weekly television. “That’s true, and of course a pilot takes even more time and money to work these things out, such as the beaming up and beaming down, which we had to invent for the pilot, which was basically an old disappearance magic trick. They later added the Tinkerbell dust, but it was essentially the same trick.
“During rehearsal, I remember consciously thinking about The Thing, specifically about the performances and I was bored at that time with the ‘exclamation points.’ All SF, fantasy and enlarged melodrama was played in an excited tone: ‘My God, I just saw him, and you’ve got to be careful!’ The Thing was so dry and quiet because they were afraid the beast would overhear them. We tried that for maybe two days, and I talked to the cast about declaiming and exclaiming and I said ‘Let’s make this thing dry and realistic!’ I wanted to add vérité to our science fiction.”
Needless to say, that approach did not work.
The newsstand and subscriber-exclusive covers of STAR TREK EXPLORER #10.
You can read the full interview with Butler — along interviews with Susanna Thompson, Penny Johnson Jerald and Derek Tyler Attico, a guide to Strange New Worlds’ first season, and new Star Trek short fiction stores — when Star Trek Explorer #10 goes on sale January 23.
Star Trek: Discovery won’t be returning to Paramount+ until sometime in April, but attendees at the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) TV and Film Festival will get the first chance to experience the Season 5 premiere.
The festival is scheduled for March 8-16 in Austin, Texas; while no specific date/time has yet been announced for the Discovery screening, the premiere episode — titled “Red Directive” per WGA listings — will debut several weeks ahead of the public release.
The SXSW announcement also brings us the first episode synopsis of Season 5, giving the first specifics about the galaxy-wide treasure hunt that will span the concluding season — and giving us context for a ship seen in July’s “look ahead” featurette.
Captain Burnham and the U.S.S. Discovery are sent to retrieve a mysterious 800-year-old Romulan vessel; until the artifact hidden inside is stolen, leading to an epic chase. Meanwhile, Saru is offered the position of a lifetime, and Tilly’s efforts to help pull her into a tangled web of secrecy.
We also got to see an extended scene from inside this derelict ship in the five-minute preview shared at San Diego Comic Con back in July:
Despite being set in the far far future, the series looks to be connecting itself back to the more well-known era of Starfleet adventures — 800 years before Discovery’s current setting (the 3190s) is the late 24th century, and if taken literally this would be a Romulan ship from the era between Star Trek: Prodigy and Star Trek: Picard.
What big Romulan event happened during that time period? Most notably, the destriuction of the Romulan homeworld after its star went supernova, as depicted in the flashback scenes of 2009’s Star Trek film; the surrounding evacuation efforts and post-nova fallout served as driving events through the first season of Star Trek: Picard.
The derelict Romulan ship (left) and a model of the Romulan science ship in TNG’s “The Next Phase.” (Paramount+)Inside what seems to be the Romulan ship. (Paramount+)
As for the rest of the episode synopsis, it seems that Saru (Doug Jones) and Tilly (Mary Wiseman) will be sharing a storyline, bringing the pair back into each others’ orbit after the young Lieutenant’s transfer to Starfleet Headquarters in Season 4.
Saru is offered the position of a lifetime, and Tilly’s efforts to help pull her into a tangled web of secrecy.
Captain Saru (Doug Jones) and Lieutenant Tilly (Mary Wiseman). (Paramount+)
As we move into the Spring there’s sure to be much more information about Season 5, so keep your sensors locked on TrekCore for all those details as they arrive — in the meantime, let us know what you think about the “Red Directive” synopsis in the comments below!
The churn of Star Trek movie developement continues to bubble over at Paramount Pictures, where today news broke that another new film is in the works to revive the theatrical arm of the franchise.
First reported by Deadline, Star Wars: Andor lead director Toby Haynes has been tapped to direct a film described as “an origin story that takes place decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film,” scripted by writer Seth Grahame-Smith (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, The Lego Batman Movie).
Deadline reports:
EXCLUSIVE: Even as they continue to develop the final chapter in its main [Kelvin Timeline] Star Trek series, Paramount is looking to expand on the IPs universe as it has tapped Toby Haynes to direct a new film that expands on the Star Trek universe with Seth Grahame-Smith penning the script.
J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot is producing and sources tell Deadline that while plot details are being kept under wraps this project is an origin story that takes place decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film. Insiders go on to add the final chapter in the [Kelvin Timeline] series, Star Trek 4, remains in active development.
While produced by J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, which brought fans the three Kelvin Timeline films (Trek ’09, Star Trek Into Darkness, and Star Trek Beyond), today’s reporting does not provide specifics on this new prequel film’s setting. This could be a tale told in past of the Kelvin Timeline itself, or perhaps decades before Kirk and Spock in the Prime Trek universe — or it may be some sort of story told independent of either, a standalone movie less tied to existing franchise continuity.
Whatever this new picture brings to the table, it won’t star Chris Pine and the rest of the Kelvin-verse Enterprise crew; both Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter note that a fourth Kelvin film — which exited Paramount’s schedule back in 2022 — is still on a separate development track within Paramount.
We’ll continue to bring you news on this new Star Trek film concept as it becomes available.
