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Can Paramount+ Succeed? One Producer Hopes to Make It So. - The New York Times

Can Paramount+ Succeed? One Producer Hopes to Make It So. - The New York Times

Can Paramount+ Succeed? One Producer Hopes to Make It So. - The New York Times
Aug 01, 2021 2 mins, 14 secs

“He’s our future,” one CBS Studios executive said of Alex Kurtzman, who has a lucrative contract to expand the “Star Trek” universe — and with it the streaming service’s audience.

Under the $160 million, five-and-a-half-year agreement, he will continue to shepherd the growing “Star Trek” television universe for ViacomCBS’s Paramount+ streaming platform.

He will also create shows, including a limited series based on “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” which he will direct for Showtime, and the long-awaited adaptation of Michael Chabon’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.” That limited series is likely to be sold to an outside streaming service.

“From the first meeting I had with Alex, it was so obvious to me that he’s our future,” George Cheeks, the president and chief executive of CBS, said in an interview.

“I do believe that the line between movies and television is gone now, and that to me is a tremendous opportunity,” he said in an interview.

In 2017, he began reimagining the “Star Trek” universe for the company, building on his familiarity with the franchise after co-writing the two J.J.

Abrams-directed “Star Trek” movies several years earlier?

They are “Star Trek: Discovery”; “Star Trek: Picard”; “Star Trek: Lower Decks”; “Star Trek: Prodigy,” which will debut in the fall; and “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” set for release in 2022.

ViacomCBS says “Star Trek: Discovery” and “Star Trek: Picard” are among the most watched original series on Paramount+.

But how much “Star Trek” does one planet need.

Kurtzman said.

Kurtzman said he loved the experience of working on the series, buoyed by the fact that the pandemic allowed him and his writing partner, Jenny Lumet, the opportunity to complete all the episodes before production began.

“All he wanted to do was talk about tiny moments, tiny real moments in movies and tiny moments in television shows, and he was so gentle and willing to listen,” she said.

The two have worked on everything from “Star Trek: Discovery” and “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” to the short-lived “Clarice” and “The Man Who Fell to Earth.” Next, they plan to tackle the story of Ms.

Kurtzman credit his early experience in television (“Alias,” “Fringe,” “Sleepy Hollow”) for giving him the ability to manage multiple projects at one time without appearing to be overwhelmed.

That led him to consider “Star Trek” in the same expansive terms that Marvel Studios views its cinematic universe.

David Stapf, president of CBS Studios, points to “Star Trek: Prodigy” as an example.

The animated show, one of the first animated “Star Trek” shows geared at children, is set to debut in the fall on Paramount+ before moving to Nickelodeon.

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