‘Star Trek’ BFFs Brent Spiner and LeVar Burton Talk Reuniting on ‘Picard’ and if They’ll Return: ‘Nobody Wants to Be Tom Brady’

Brenda Edwards has waded into the controversy surrounding audiences in theatres following an incident at the Palace Theatre in Manchester. Last Friday night's performance of The Bodyguard had to be abandoned and police were called to the Oxford Street venue when 'staff reported a number of people in the audience causing a disturbance' and two women were captured on video being dragged out of the upper circle of the theatre.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Leading European distributor Global Screen, part of the Telepool group, will launch premium quality spy drama “Davos” at MipTV. The six-part series is inspired by real events that occurred in the early days of the secret services in Europe. Available to buyers for the first time at MipTV, “Davos” boasts a stellar cast headed by Dominique Devenport (“Sisi”), David Kross (“The Reader”), Jeanette Hain (“Never Look Away”), Max Herbrechter (“Rauhnächte”), Sunnyi Melles (“Triangle of Sadness”) and Stipe Erceg (“Vienna Blood”). World War I is ravaging Europe. By contrast, Davos, the aristocratic spa town in the Swiss Alps, seems like an oasis of peace. But behind the scenes, neutral Switzerland takes center stage in a relentless battle between the secret agents of the world powers. Young nurse Johanna Gabathuler unexpectedly gets caught between the fronts: to win back her illegitimate child, she starts to work as a spy for the German secret service – and suddenly becomes the tipping point in a risky plan that decides over war and peace.

“Star Trek: Picard” fans curious to see how the Paramount+ series comes to an end will have a chance to watch the final two episodes a day early, in a movie theater no less. 10 participating Imax theaters will showcase the last two episodes of the series on Wed, April 19, a day before the series finale is available to stream on Paramount+. The screenings will be free to attend and fans can sign up and register at http://startrekpicardfinalescreenings.com on Wed., April 12 at 10:00 a.m., PT/1:00 p.m.

McKinley Franklin author Paramount+ and CBS Studios have announced an Imax live screening opportunity for the final two episodes of their original series “Star Trek: Picard,” Variety can exclusively reveal. On Wednesday, April 19, ten participating Imax theaters in the U.S. will provide an early screening of the last two episodes of the third and final season, including the series finale, ahead of its Paramount+ debut on Thursday, April 20.  Tickets to the screenings are free and fans can sign up and register at http://startrekpicardfinalescreenings.com on Wednesday, April 12, at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET. The exclusive screening event will take place at 10 participating Imax theaters in Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle, Orlando, Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Dallas.

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer The past, present and future of Star Wars was on ample display on Friday at the Star Wars Celebration fan convention, as Lucasfilm unveiled the most robust look yet at the company’s plans for the hallowed franchise. As studio chief Kathleen Kennedy revealed three new feature films and first looks at four upcoming TV series, Lucasfilm made clear it aims to test just how far it can stretch the Star Wars galaxy: creatively, logistically and even historically. Starting with “The Phantom Menace” and concluding with “The Rise of Skywalker,” the previous nine “Star Wars” movies have all taken place within a roughly 70-year timeline, straddling the climactic Battle of Yavin in “A New Hope” that has served as the official fulcrum point for the franchise for six decades. Every live-action and animated spinoff TV series has unfolded within that timeframe, including the shows launched on Disney+: “The Mandalorian,” “The Book of Boba Fett,” “Andor,” “The Bad Batch” and the upcoming shows “Ahsoka” and “Skeleton Crew.” (“Visions,” an animated anthology series launched in 2021, exists outside of Star Wars canon.)

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer The modern superhero movie would not exist without the version of Superman limned by Christopher Reeve in Warner Bros.’ 1978 smash “Superman.” First created in 1938 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster for Action Comics, the Man of Steel became a pop-culture mainstay with the syn- dicated “Adventures of Superman” TV series in the 1950s. But it wasn’t until DC Comics moved into the world of Warner Bros. and Reeve donned the last son of Krypton’s blue-and-red tights for the Richard Donner-directed “Superman” that bringing a comic book superhero to life on the big screen was seen as blockbuster business. And the spoils were considerable: In the moment, “Superman” ranked as WB’s highest-grossing movie ever.

Actor Chris Pine has revealed he has taken part in one of the most famous and popular pub crawls in the north. The Star Trek star spoke about his time attending Leeds University - making him most likely the only Hollywood A-lister to attend the uni.

Paramount+ has given a green light to a new chapter in the Star Trek universe. The streamer has handed a series order to Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, a project that we exclusively reported had been in development since last year, from Alex Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout, Roddenberry Entertainment and CBS Studios.

Ex Astris, Scientia!”Co-showrunners Kurtzman and Landau are set executive produce alongside Gaia Violo, Aaron Baiers, Jenny Lumet, Rod Roddenberry, Trevor Roth, Frank Siracusa and John Weber. Hailing from CBS Studios in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment, Violo will write the premiere episode.“We are excited to introduce ‘Star Trek’ fans to a whole new generation of Starfleet officers in training as they navigate the rigors of the Academy and the brink of adulthood in ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy,’ Paramount Streaming chief marketing officer and head of data Domenic DiMeglio said.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter A “Star Trek” series set at Starfleet Academy has officially been ordered at Paramount+, Variety has learned. The series has been in the works for some time, as Variety first reported on the development of a Starfleet Academy show in 2018, though that project had a different creative team. The premiere episode hails from writer and executive producer Gaia Violo. Alex Kurtzman, who oversees the “Star Trek” TV universe for Paramount, will serve as executive producer and co-showrunner along with Noga Landau. Aaron Baiers, Jenny Lumet, Rod Roddenberry, Trevor Roth, Frank Siracusa, and John Weber also executive produce. CBS Studios produces in association with Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment. Secret Hideout, Lumet, and Roddenberry Entertainment are currently under overall deals at CBS Studios.

EXCLUSIVE: Rising British actor Emilia Jones has signed with Brillstein Entertainment Partners.

return for its fifth and final season in 2024.Also ending is the currently airing “Star Trek: Picard,” touted as the final adventure of Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise D.“Strange New Worlds” is based on the years Captain Christopher Pike manned the helm of the U.S.S. Enterprise.

Paramount+ is doubling down on more Star Trek.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” has been renewed for Season 3 while “Star Trek: Lower Decks” has been renewed for Season 5 at Paramount+. The new seasons of both shows will consist of 10 episodes. In addition, Season 2 of “Strange New Worlds” and Season 4 of “Lower Decks” will both debut this summer. “Strange New Worlds” Season 2 will premiere on June 15 on Paramount+ in the U.S., the U.K., Australia, Latin America, Brazil, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. New episodes will then drop weekly thereafter. “Lower Decks” will return in late summer, but an exact date has yet to be announced. Finally, Season 2 of the Nickelodeon animated series “Star Trek: Prodigy” is set to air this coming winter. Season 1 of that show originally launched in late 2021, with the second half of the season airing in late 2022.

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer Liv Tyler is returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, 16 years after her last appearance. The actor will appear in 2024’s “Captain America: New World Order,” reprising her role from 2008’s “The Incredible Hulk” as scientist Betty Ross, the daughter of General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross. That role was originated by the late William Hurt, who reappeared several times for Marvel Studios, starting with 2016’s “Captain America: Civil War,” in which Ross had become Secretary of State. Harrison Ford is stepping into the role of Thaddeus Ross for “New World Order,” in which the character has become President of the United States.

Game of Thrones alumna Lena Headey has been tapped to headline Kurt Sutter’s Western action drama series The Abandons at Netflix.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Los Angeles-based Italian director Andrea Pallaoro’s delicate drama “Monica” is finally set to open in U.S. theaters via IFC following its world premiere at last year’s Venice Film Festival. The film starring transgender actor Trace Lysette (“Transparent”) as a woman who returns home to the Midwest to care for her dying mother, played by Patricia Clarkson, marked the first time an openly-transgender actress headlined a Venice competition title. In “Monica” Lysette plays a woman who from Los Angeles goes back to her suburban midwest home for the first time since she was a teenager to care for her mom who had rejected her when she transitioned.

It's a family affair for LeVar Burton and his daughter, Mica Burton, on .The real-life father and daughter share the screen for the first time on the latest episode of the Paramount+ series, «The Bounty,» with LeVar reprising his beloved character, Geordi La Forge, and Mica portraying one of Geordi's two daughters, Ensign Alandra La Forge. (Geordi's other daughter, Ensign Sidney La Forge, mans the controls of the USS Titan and is played by Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut.) The idea for LeVar to don the iconic uniform alongside Mica was an idea borne out of a conversation he had with showrunner Terry Matalas about returning to the franchise, the alum revealed in an interview with ET on Wednesday.

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer “Peaky Blinders” creator Steven Knight is set to write the screenplay for the untitled “Star Wars” movie that Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (“Ms. Marvel”) is attached to direct, as original screenwriters Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson have departed the project, Variety has confirmed. The movie is widely expected to be among Lucasfilm’s first “Star Wars” films since 2019’s “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” More information about the movie, including a possible title, is expected to be announced at the Star Wars Celebration in London in April. (A representative for Lucasfilm did not respond to a request for comment.)

reunion! On the latest episode of Star Trek: Picard, titled «The Bounty,» LeVar Burton reprises his role as Commodore Geordi La Forge as he's reunited with his fellow Next Generation castmates. Burton's real-life daughter, Mica Burton, also makes her debut in the universe as one of Geordi's two daughters, Ensign Alandra La Forge, in the hour.