‘Arthur C. Clarke’s Venus Prime’: ‘Star Trek’ Jonathan Frakes to Produce, Direct New Sci-Fi Series!!

The new science fiction series Arthur C. Clarke’s Venus Prime now has a sci-fi all-star working behind the scenes. Star Trek mainstay Jonathan Frakes has signed on to produce and direct the six-episode miniseries. Variety reports that the series is expected to begin production in Canada later this year.

The series is based on a series of six books written by Paul Preuss, based on short stories by Clarke, the legendary science fiction writer behind 2001: A Space Odyssey, Rendezvous with Rama, and Childhood’s End. The books follow Sparta, a mysterious young woman who has been genetically-engineered to have special powers. She uses them to solve star-spanning mysteries for an interplanetary bureaucracy. Says Frakes, “When the materials for Arthur C. Clarke’s Venus Prime were presented to me, I couldn’t help but devour them. When asked if I wanted to direct what I read —my answer was a resounding and immediate ‘Hell, yes!’ Working on such a tremendous piece of IP from the mind of another sci-fi legend (who is also a contemporary of the true #1 Gene Roddenberry), will be both an honor and a dream for me.”

Who Is Jonathan Frakes?

Born in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, Frakes made personal appearances as a costumed Captain America for Marvel Comics as an aspiring actor. Relocating to California, he made a number of TV appearances, recurring on Falcon Crest and North and South before landing the role of the USS Enterprise-D‘s first officer, William Riker, on Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987. He starred in all seven seasons of the series, and guest-starred on several other Star Trek series; he also directed several episodes of the series, launching a busy TV directing career. He helmed two Star Trek feature films, First Contact and Insurrection, and has directed dozens of TV episodes for series like Leverage, Burn Notice, and The Librarians. He also gained cult fame for hosting the fact-based series Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction. Recently, he returned to Star Trek, directing episodes of Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. He also reprised the role of Riker on Picard and the animated Star Trek: Lower Decks.

Arthur C. Clarke’s Venus Prime will be written and showrun by David Cormican (Between) and Dwayne Hill (Northern Rescue). Cormican will also produce the series with Anand Ramayya and Juliette Hagopian. Volume Global’s Christopher RushHarrington and Michael Hamilton-Wright, Claxson’s Roberto Vivo, and Bernd Schlötterer of Palatin Media will executive produce.