CBS Chief answers why Star Trek: Legacy hasn't been given the green light

While fans have been anxiously awaiting news of Star Trek: Legacy, the Star Trek: Picard spin-off, hopes have been dwindling that the series will actually happen. With some actors saying it won't, and others still believing it will, it has been a guessing game. CBS CEO George Cheeks, who is also the Chief Content Officer, News and Sports, Paramount+, offered some insight into what's going on with the franchise and the potential series in an interview with Variety [via Trekmovie].

According to Cheeks, Star Trek is one of the most important franchises to Paramount Global and Paramount+. He pointed out that the timeline is important when dealing with new series as they don't want to put out too many dramas at once.

"Star Trek remains one of the most important franchises for Paramount Global, and Paramount+ specifically. There’s so much great opportunity with the franchise, and it’s really about the cadence and the timeline of it. We don’t want to offer up all these amazing premium drama series at once. We want to time it out appropriately. Luckily, we have this incredible partner in Alex Kurtzman, and we all work together to sort of manage long-range planning across many years, to figure out what’s the right cadence for dropping new Star Trek series. So there’s a lot we’re focused on, but it should not suggest to you [a scaling back]. There is a tremendous amount of focus and prioritizing of the Star Trek franchise."

- George Cheeks, CEO CBS

So while this doesn't give us a definitive answer on whether or not Legacy will be given the go-ahead, it does tell us that CBS Studios is planning for the longterm, even years ahead. It's good to hear that the studio isn't scaling back on Star Trek, but this also means we could be in for an even longer wait when it comes to Legacy.

With Star Trek remaining a priority, though, it sounds like this is just an issue of bringing in each new series at the appropriate times. Starfleet Academy is up next, and we know it might not come to Paramount+ until 2026. So, with the focus on that new series, it's possible we won't hear anything else about any new Star Trek series until next year. Once Starfleet Academy is ready to go, that might be the time when Paramount is ready to announce coming productions. All in all, it sounds like Star Trek: Legacy is definitely still in the running to be one of the franchise's next series.