Star Trek legacy star Patrick Stewart is pushing for Paramount to bring Star Trek: Picard to the big screen.
Speaking about the third and final season of Picard with Time Magazine, Stewart shared his desire to bring Captain Jean-Luc Picard back to cinemas alongside the Enterprise crew from Star Trek: The Next Generation. The catch is that Stewart wants something completely different from the previous movies featuring the TNG cast.
“I am gently pushing Paramount to let us do one single Picard movie. Not a Next Generation movie, as we have already done four of those,” Stewart said. “This would be an expansion and deepening of the universe as we’ve seen it in Star Trek: Picard. I’ve discussed this with Jonathan [Frakes], Brent [Spiner], and LeVar [Burton], and they are all game.”
Stewart and the TNG cast headlined the Star Trek movies on the big screen beginning with 1994’s Star Trek: Generations which saw Capt. Picard have his long-awaited meeting with Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner). Its follow-up Star Trek: First Contact in 1996 was the biggest financial success in the franchise since 1986’s Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and earned praise for Jonathan Frakes’ direction. The last two TNG installments, 1998’s Star Trek: Insurrection and 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis, saw diminishing box office returns as the popularity of the franchise became limited to hardcore Trek fans. Should a new TNG movie get made, Stewart wants Frakes back in the director’s chair.
How Patrick Stewart nearly prevented a TNG reunion from happening
Initially, Stewart was against bringing back the entire TNG crew on Picard when the idea was brought up by showrunner Terry Matalas during the second season. But the long-lasting friendships were too much to resist a reunion. “They said, ‘No, we’re never going to do that.’ But along the way, I think Patrick warmed up to the idea,” Matalas said. “The more his friends came back to the show, Jonathan [and] Marina came back, de Lancie came back, and Whoopi came back… Those days on set were so warm and so happy for him, that he started to say by the end, ‘We gotta have everybody.’”
Star Trek’s future on the big screen remains up in the air. While Paramount intends to make the franchise a top priority after the SAG-AFTRA strike ends, there are conflicting reports about plans for a continuation of J.J. Abrams’ Kelvin timeline and a complete reboot of Star Trek. For now, Star Trek remains active on the small screen with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and the animated Star Trek: Lower Decks. Both shows and all three seasons of Star Trek: Picard are currently streaming on Paramount+.
