In a very disappointing piece of news, it has been revealed today that Bryan Fuller is stepping down as Star Trek: Discovery’s showrunner. The decision was apparently made last week by CBS when it became apparent that his commitments to American Gods and Amazing Stories were significantly slowing down his work on the upcoming TV series.
Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts are taking over from Fuller, but he’ll remain on as an executive producer and is expected to still play a role in breaking stories. Akiva Goldsman however is now expected to board Star Trek: Discovery in a creative role of some sort.
CBS has already delayed the premiere from January to next May, and with the show’s female lead still not cast, it clearly became apparent to the network that they had to speed things up, especially as production is currently expected to begin in Toronto some time next month.
“We are extremely happy with the creative direction of ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ and the strong foundation that Bryan Fuller has helped us create for the series,” said CBS Television Studios. “Due to Bryan’s other projects, he is no longer able to oversee the day-to-day of ‘Star Trek,’ but he remains an executive producer, and will continue to map out the story arc for the entire season…Bryan is a brilliant creative talent and passionate ‘Star Trek’ fan, who has helped us chart an exciting course for the series. We are all committed to seeing this vision through and look forward to premiering ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ this coming May 2017.”
Star Trek: Discovery is a big gamble for CBS, especially as it’s launching on their exclusive streaming service. Plus, rumour has it that the budget is $6-7 million per episode…
