Bryan Fuller will be the co-creator and showrunner of the new Star Trek TV series that will start in January 2017.
The veteran writer and producer who used to used to write 22 episodes for Star Trek: Deep Space 9 and Star Trek: Voyager will serve as the executive producer alongside Alex Kurtzman.
"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," says Bryan Fuller in a statement.
"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".
"Bringing Star Trek back to television means returning it to its roots, and for years those roots flourished under Bryan's devoted care," says Alex Kurtzman about Bryan Fuller.
"His encyclopedic knowledge of Star 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".
"For the past 50 years Star Trek has been a groundbreaking franchise that not only changed the landscape of television, but made a significant impact on pop culture," says David Stapf, president of CBS Television Studios.
"When we began discussions about the series returning to television, we immediately knew that Bryan Fuller would be the ideal person to work alongside Alex Kurtzman to create a fresh and authentic take on this classic and timeless series".
"Bryan is not only an extremely gifted writer, but a genuine fan of Star Trek. Having someone at the helm with his gravitas who also understands and appreciates the significance of the franchise and the worldwide fan base was essential to us".
The 50th anniversary of the Gene Roddenberry's science fiction series is coming in September this year and has seen several different series and movies over the past five decades.
CBS Television Studios will produce the new Star Trek series that will be streamed on CBS' subscription video-on- demand (SVOD) service CBS All Access, but it will be sold internationally concurrently by CBS Studios International.
That means that South African viewers will most likely see the new Star Trek iteration on M-Net or M-Net Edge (DStv 102) on MultiChoice's DStv, or on the Naspers' SVOD service, ShowMax,or Netflix early in 2017.
The new Star Trek TV series is however not related to the upcoming new Star Trek film, Star Trek Beyond, that will be distributed by Paramount Pictures and which is already being panned by fans.
With the 50th Star Trek anniversary, its also possible that one of the two planned pop-up channels from M-Net Movies for MultiChoice's DStv that's being worked on, could be a Star Trek channel showing all the films and the episodes of the various TV series.
That means that South African viewers will most likely see the new Star Trek iteration on M-Net or M-Net Edge (DStv 102) on MultiChoice's DStv, or on the Naspers' SVOD service, ShowMax,or Netflix early in 2017.
The new Star Trek TV series is however not related to the upcoming new Star Trek film, Star Trek Beyond, that will be distributed by Paramount Pictures and which is already being panned by fans.
With the 50th Star Trek anniversary, its also possible that one of the two planned pop-up channels from M-Net Movies for MultiChoice's DStv that's being worked on, could be a Star Trek channel showing all the films and the episodes of the various TV series.
Star Trek: The Next Generation for instance was remastered in high definition (HD) and its 7 seasons haven't yet been seen on television in South Africa in its restored glory.
