Bryan Fuller, who has been quiet about his decision to step down as Star Trek: Discovery showrunner and focus on other projects, recently discussed the factors that led to his exit from the show.
“Ultimately, with my responsibilities [elsewhere], I could not do what CBS needed to have done in the time they needed it done for Star Trek,” Fuller told Newsweek. “It felt like it was best for me to focus on landing the plane with American Gods and making sure that was delivered in as elegant and sophisticated a fashion as I could possibly do.”
“It is bittersweet,” said Fuller. “But it was just a situation that couldn’t be resolved otherwise… so I had to step away.”
Fuller, who wrote the first two episodes of the series, will stay on as an executive producer in title only, as he says he has no active involvement with the series.
“I’m not involved in production, or postproduction, so I can only give them the material I’ve given them and hope that it is helpful for them. I’m curious to see what they do with it,” he says.
Regarding second season involvement with Discovery, Fuller said “They have my number and if they need me I will absolutely be there for them.”
Star Trek: Discovery Executive Producers Trevor Roth, Heather Kadin, Bryan Fuller and Rod Roddenberry at SDCC in July (photo: Johnny Vy/CBS)
It was recently announced that Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp and Michelle Yeoh have all been cast for the new series.
The first episode of Star Trek: Discovery will premiere with a broadcast TV special on CBS in May. That episode and all subsequent episodes will be exclusively shown in the U.S. on the video streaming service CBS All Access.
Alex Kurtzman, Bryan Fuller and Rod Roddenberry have also been announced as executive producers, with Nicholas Meyer (director of The Wrath of Khan and The Undiscovered Country and co-writer of The Voyage Home) and Kirsten Beyer serving as a writers and consulting producers.
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