Jonathan Frakes has been behind the camera for some of the top-rated episodes of Star Trek and directed one of the most popular of Trek movies, Star Trek: First Contact. Lately, he's been behind-the-scenes for Strange New Worlds and Picard as well.
But the in-demand director just landed a directing opportunity that will take him away from the Star Trek arena, even though he'll be remaining in the sci-fi genre. According to Deadline, Frakes will direct a 10-part series based on the novel and audiobook by James Axler and Jack Adrian, Deathlands. Filming on the post-apocalyptic sci-fi adventure will take place soley in Bulgaria during the spring, which will put Frakes out of commission for a while with any Star Trek projects.
Deathlands is, according to Yahoo, is set during a re-imagined world a hundred years after nuclear strikes between the United States and the Soviet Union. Survivors will emerge from hiding into a post-apocalyptic society that is full of mutated beings which sounds eerily similar to The Walking Dead.
Since Frakes has had directing credits on all of the new live-action Trek series, it's inconceivable to think he won't be available to helm any episodes for the upcoming Starfleet Academy. So it's probably only a matter of time before he's back in the director's chair for the franchise. In the meantime, though, Deathlands does sound like it could be a must-watch. Knowing how good Frakes is behind the camera is just one more reason to check it out!