Time waits for no one, not even the powerhouse franchise that is Star Trek. The franchise continues to roll along, even after the failure of Star Trek: Section 31. The failed made-for-streaming film disappointed across the board, severely impacting future plans for other films of its type. Made-for-streaming films however may be the future of the franchise, whether fans want them or not.
That means that Star Trek needs to try again, and again if they have to. Having an avenue that can generate buzz and interest and continue stories that diehard Star Trek fans want to see is imperative for the further growth and development of the franchise. However, That only happens if we can do this on a relatively tight budget.
It seems unlikely that a Star Trek theatrical film is going to have a budget of less than $300 million. That's probably a bit low at this point, but not out of the question. A made-for-streaming film may have a fifth of that budget if that. So making sure the film hits with the fandom has to be a priority. Especially if we're hoping to bounce back from the Section 31 of it all.
That's why today we have three ideas that would cater to the hardcore Star Trek audience and could make for a great feature on the streaming service that is Paramount+.
Star Trek: Enterprise follow-up
We've mentioned this idea before but Star Trek: Enterprise is one of the few series and stories in Star Trek lore that has gone incomplete. The show ended on a haphazard and thrown-together ending that saw Charles "Trip" Tucker die. If that wasn't bad enough, the series finale also followed around William Riker and Deanna Troi, two characters who had nothing to do with Enterprise. Needless to say, Enterprise is the one show that needed a follow-up show or film but never got it.
A made for streaming film can rectify the franchise's past sins and how they handled things.
Tawny Newsome's non-Starfleet comedy
Star Trek: Section 31 started off as a show. An ill-conceived show, but a show nonetheless. The idea was a dud and the concept was quickly dropped, but likely due to contractual issues, instead of leaving it dropped, the project was turned into the abomination of a film we got. Sadly, there seems to be another failed offering down the pipeline from us; another short-sighted comedy this time by Star Trek: Lower Deck's star Tawny Newsome. Likely a clone of The Office, this concept would see the audience follow around non-Starfleet characters who are working on a pleasure planet of sorts. It's not an idea fans are clamoring for and may end up suffering the same fate as Section 31. However, that may be for the best.
If the concept is bad, you can 'one-and-done' it, and call it a day. If it's good, however, you can then turn it into a made-for-streaming film series that could come out annually. It's a risky project all in all, but it feels like a safer bet than greenlighting 10 or more episodes across several seasons.
A USS Titan Animated movie
Star Trek would be wise to avoid the mistakes of Star Wars by ignoring its extended universe offerings. One of the better stories the novels carved out over the years involved William Riker at the helm of the USS Titan. Newer fans of the franchise already got a glimpse of this with Star Trek: Lower Decks, but more tenured fans will know that Riker's time on the USS Titan is something a lot of people wanted to see in live-action.
With Jonathan Frakes, the man who portrayed Riker, now 72, it'd be hard to do a live-action story. At least with Frakes returning in the role. Yet, you could bring back Frakes as an animated version of the character. It'd be more serious than the tone of Lower Decks but it could give fans the Titan-focused story we all wanted to see.