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An upcoming American science fiction television film is in development for the streaming service Paramount+. It is intended to be the second television film in the Star Trek franchise and part of executive producer Alex Kurtzman's expanded Star Trek Universe. The film continues the story of the series Star Trek: Picard.

After starring in Star Trek: The Next Generation, four The Next Generation feature films, and the new series Picard, Patrick Stewart expressed interest in making another Star Trek film in November 2022. After reiterating this over the next year, he revealed that a new film was being written in January 2024.

The film is expected to be released on the streaming service Paramount+.

Background
In August 2018, Patrick Stewart announced that he would be reprising his role of Jean-Luc Picard from the series Star Trek: The Next Generation and other Star Trek media for a new series, titled Star Trek: Picard. Michael Chabon was the showrunner for the first season, which premiered on CBS All Access in January 2019. The creative team discussed not bringing back any other characters from The Next Generation to allow Picard to stand alone, but they wanted to be respectful to longtime Star Trek fans and felt they were missing opportunities by not including certain characters, so they decided to add some returning guests. Terry Matalas joined the series as an executive producer in January 2020 to fill the void that would be created by Chabon's planned departure later that year. Matalas and Akiva Goldsman took over as co-showrunners for the second season, which was released on the expanded and rebranded streaming service Paramount+. Matalas was sole showrunner for the third and final season, which he designed to be a "send off" for Picard and the rest of The Next Generation main cast who all returned for the season: LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge, Michael Dorn as Worf, Jonathan Frakes as William Riker, Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher, Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi, and Brent Spiner as Data.

Development
After several Picard cast and crew members expressed interest in making a spin-off series that continued to explore Picard 25th century setting, with the proposed title Star Trek: Legacy, Stewart said in November 2022 that he would like to make another Star Trek film with the cast of The Next Generation after the four Next Generation films that were released from 1994 to 2002. Stewart reiterated this wish in February 2023, praising the ending of Picard but feeling there were questions left unanswered and "it might be a good idea to look at Jean-Luc Picard one more time in a different atmosphere, and then wrap him up with certainty." In contrast, Frakes opined that a new film was unlikely to be made and said television was the future of Star Trek. In March, franchise producer Alex Kurtzman expressed interest in making more limited event series and television films rather than just traditional ongoing television series, and Paramount+ announced the first Star Trek television film, Star Trek: Section 31, a month later. Kurtzman reportedly planned to release a Star Trek streaming film every two years.

Stewart said in June 2023 that he still thought a film would be an appropriate way to end his time as Picard, but there had been "no eager response" from the studio about the idea and he had been asked to stop talking about it. In his memoir Making It So which was released later that year, Stewart said he was still "gently pushing" Paramount to make a Picard film and had discussed the idea with Frakes, Burton, and Spiner. He said they were all open to reprising their roles in the film and Frakes was his personal first choice to direct; Frakes directed the Next Generation feature films Star Trek: First Contact (1996) and Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) as well as many television episodes across the franchise, and Stewart felt First Contact was the best of the Next Generation films. In January 2024, he said he had just been told that a Star Trek film was being written for him to star in and he should expect to receive the script in the next week or so. The next month, Matalas said he was open to making a television film like Section 31 that could serve as a backdoor pilot for the potential Star Trek: Legacy series, as long as he could hire the cast and crew that he wanted. By the end of March, Kurtzman was considering a follow-up to Picard as one of the next Star Trek television films if Section 31 proved to be successful.

Release
The film is expected to be released on the streaming service Paramount+.