Patrick Stewart on Resurrecting Picard

CANNES, France — After playing Captain Jean-Luc Picard for 15 years, Patrick Stewart never imagined returning to the role that made him a pop culture icon. During his Thursday session at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Stewart was joined by David Stapf, President of CBS Studios, in a session moderated by CBS News anchor, Vladimir Duthiers, to talk about why the Star Trek universe continues to resonate with a multigenerational audience. When Stewart was first approached by writers Alex Kurtzman (Star Trek 2009, Star Trek Into Darkness) and Akiva Goldsman (Cinderella Man, A Beautiful Mind) with an idea for a revival of his classic Star Trek character, he was excited to meet with them, but already had his rejection planned out. "I felt that I had nothing more to say. I felt that all the stories that we might tell, we had told," said Stewart, adding “I wanted to meet with them because I respect these people so much. I wanted to tell them face to face why I am turning them down.” Initially, Stewart planned to turn the writers of Star Trek: Picard down. But Stewart did not turn them down. In fact, when Kurtzman and Goldsman pitched him Star Trek: Picard, which is set 14 years after Picard retires from Starfleet and is living a quiet and lonely life on his family vineyard, Stewart got “on board.” Picard is the second Star Trek series created by Kurtzman for CBS Studios. Star Trek: Discovery debuted in 2017 on Paramount+ and was an instant hit for the platform. It was followed by Star Trek: Picard in 2020, which along with Kurtzman and Goldsman was co-created by Kirsten Beyer and Michael Chabon. Kurtzman and company have kept busy building out their expanded universe with the latest editions to the franchise, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy all now available on Paramount+. In his first meeting with Kurtzman, it was clear to Stapf that he had a vision for the franchise. “He said, it's not just one show. It's a universe and it's untapped and it's time to bring it back. And in that first meeting, he literally identified not one show, not two, but many. And, to sort of steal from the best, we decided to Marvelize it.” When asked about any potential pushback from fans with the introduction of diverse characters and same-sex couples in these new Star Trek shows, Stapf was surprised at how audiences reacted. As Paramount+ becomes available in more countries, Stapf says they have no plans to slow down on expanding the Star Trek universe. “Alex and I spoke about this at great length in the beginning on Discovery that we had an opportunity to underline what Gene Roddenberry had set out to do, which was to portray a more Poly-utopian, but inclusive accepting world. So the discussion early on was, what if at the center of Discovery was an African American woman? Why not? Then it went from there—and I think that the audience encouraged that and allowed that and we really didn't get pushed back.” As Paramount+ becomes available in more countries, Stapf explained that they have no plans to slow down on expanding the Star Trek universe. First Star Trek Film Remastered for Paramount+ Release “We're just at the beginning of the expansion of what we want to do with this franchise—and what we know for a fact is the show does travel well. It does appeal to global audiences. So we want to continue that and—fortunately—with the advent of Paramount+ International and all these different markets, we'll be able to do that. " Season 2 of Star Trek: Picard is now streaming on Paramount+.

Cannes Lions

Patrick Stewart on Resurrecting Picard and Building Fandoms

The legendary stage and screen actor discusses why he made his grand return to Star Trek

Al Mannarino

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Al Mannarino