We’ve been here numerous times before with Star Trek. Endless projects have come and gone, failing to make the screen. Meanwhile, we got whatever the f*ck Kurtzman-Trek was supposed to be, literally pooping in its hands and rubbing it in its own hair in full global view on television.
So we will keep any excitement in check. Nothing is done until it is done, up on the screen.
As any Outposter knows, the latest to take a run at big screen Trek are Spider-Man: Homecoming writers and Game Night and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves writer/directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley.
We also know they are planning something new to the Star Trek universe, not connected to any previous or current television series, movie, or prior movie development projects. Out promoting their new Apple TV film Mayday, they were asked about the project and let some more slip. In an interview with Inverse, Goldstein says you have to be a broad church, aiming at both the longstanding fans and people newer to the franchise:
“I mean, look, we don’t want to rely on fandom. We don’t want to just hope that there are enough fans of the original [TOS] or The Next Generation or whatever who will turn out for this. We want to just make a great movie that lives in the world that people are familiar with — some people are familiar with — and that others will discover. And then, with good fortune, we launch a new franchise into existence.”
Then, speaking with The Discourse podcast, a glimpse at their inspiration also gave something of a clue as to what might be in store:
Goldstein: “We’re less focused on, like, what continuity we’re in, which timeline. It’s more about how do we bring this franchise to audiences that don’t necessarily consider themselves Trekkies? What can we do that hasn’t been done before?
Our approach is to really look at it from a question of, what is this institution of Starfleet that’s at the heart of ‘Star Trek’? And what would happen if all is not well in that institution? The movie that we talk about as the comp is ‘Training Day.’”
Daley: “And ‘Crimson Tide’. Those are the two that we sort of used as our spiritual benchmarks.”
Crimson Tide holds up. There were elements of Starfleet corruption in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek: Insurrection, and most recently in Star Trek Into Darkness.
