Patrick Stewart: Picard is essentially “a 10-hour movie”

In an interview about the highly anticipated Star Trek: Picard, Patrick Stewart revealed that he is hoping for multiple seasons and what brought him back.

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As the second season of Star Trek: Discovery continues to get rave reviews and even convince some of the haters to give the show a second look, work continues of Star Trek: Picard. And while Discovery looks to have found its audience and voice, many Trek fans are giddy thinking about the return of Patrick Stewart to the iconic role he made famous.

With production beginning to ramp up for the show, more and more bits of information are coming to light about what fans can expect. Last month came the news that the show would deal with the fallout from the dissolution of the Romulan Star Empire as a result of events seen in the beginning of 2009’s Star Trek. With that came confirmation that yes, Picard would take place in the Prime Timeline, not the Kelvin version as some suspected.

Now thanks to an interview with Yahoo, Stewart has let drop a few more nuggets of information, some of which should have fans even more excited than they already are.

First, Picard will be a serialized story, unlike the more episodic nature of The Next Generation, with Stewart saying:

"“They are writing a 10-hour movie.”"

Along with that came the news fans everywhere were hoping for. Stewart confirmed that everyone involved in the show is hoping for more than one season of Star Trek: Picard. In other words, the show isn’t going to be a one-shot thing but an ongoing series as long as the numbers are there.

In addition, Stewart also talked about what brought him back to a role he thought he was done with almost 20 years ago and had little desire to revisit.

"What I was afraid of was in some way, this is going to be jokey. And I don’t want to do that. I respect the work we did on Next Generation, and also it changed my life in every way. I said “you know what? I think I am up for this.” But I asked a lot of questions and the answers were very satisfying. And I was struck by how clever these people were I was talking to, who could tell a narrative very well and seemed to be tuned into what an actor might need to hear. So, I signed on."

Discovery has been a solid hit and worthy addition to Star Trek lore. Additionally, the various other projects on the horizon, such as Section 31, have a ton of potential to broaden Trek’s appeal. However, Star Trek: Picard could be the project that finally turns the haters around.

No matter how you may feel about Discovery or CBS All Access or the fact Trek is now exclusively on a streaming service, I can’t think of a single Trek fan who won’t want to watch this series. Jean-Luc Picard is one of the most popular characters in the history of the franchise and the chance to see him back in action may be too tempting for even the most ardent holdout to pass up.

Star Trek: Picard is tentatively planned for release sometime late in 2019.