Despite months of up and down conversations, rumors as to who would be directing it, and whether or not the Kelvin universe set of actors would be brought back, Deadline has finally given us some news on the subject of Star Trek movie news. This should be considered more than a rumor at the moment, as Star Trek: Discovery writer Kalinda Vazquez is writing the script for an original film, which is being inferred to be taking place in the main timeline.
Bad Robot, who’s been producing all of Star Trek material since the 2009 film, will continue that tradition and produce their four Star Trek film. There were three previous ideas in the work, including Quentin Tarantino’s but those seem to be on hold for good at the moment.
This decision will come with a lot of misgivings. The Bad Robot era of Star Trek, from all three movies (Star Trek 2009, Into Darkness, Beyond) and the three shows that are active and the two in production(Discovery, Picard, Lower Decks, and the upcoming Strange New Worlds and Prodigy series) have all been met with mixed reviews. While it’s fair to say any Star Trek property would be met with some misgivings, it seems like this era has taken its fair share of guff.
Not without reason, mind you. They did change the entire tone and style of the show to try and complete with Disney and Star Wars. When you take what is essentially the West Wing, but in space, and then turn it into some action-adventure showcase, you’re going to ruffle some feathers.
Moreover, Discovery, with the exception of Lower Decks, is the one show that has polarized fans the most. Bringing talent from that show is only going to reinforce the tribalistic mindsets fans have going forward.
The hope is that Vazquez can find a genuine hit with her writing. The problem is, even if she does develop the best script ever, it still has to pass specs with Bad Robot. We’re pulling for her to develop a great movie, don’t misconstrue that. We’re just going to tread lightly until we see something.
With the report on this being an original film, the odds that Chris Pine and company come back are all but done. Unless Bad Robot and Paramount want to launch their own multiverse. This could happen, considering how copy-cat Hollywood is.