Trekkies have been waiting patiently since Star Trek Beyond (2016) hit theaters nearly a decade ago for a new film in the franchise to warp into cinemas. Beyond was the lowest-grossing flick out of the three Kelvin Timeline movies, but it still made $335.7 million worldwide. Nevertheless, and despite being “Certified Fresh” at 86 percent by the critics on Rotten Tomatoes, the decision to go in a whole new cinematic direction was made. Enter Noah Hawley.
Hawley’s vision for a Star Trek movie would not have included the Kelvin cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, and company. Rather, it would have tried something completely different. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, the idea never made it to production, despite Hawley completing a screenplay for the project. Hawley discussed what happened while appearing on a new episode of the must-listen podcast Smartless hosted by Hollywood’s hilarious trio of Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes. Hawley said:
“I sold them [Paramount] this original idea [...] I wrote it. They said, ‘We love it. Let’s prep it.’ [...] I was going to move to Australia. We were booking stages, whatever. And then, you know, as happens in Hollywood, Jim Gianopulos, who was running the studio at the time, he… he’s like, 'I’m going to bring in somebody else under me, and they’re going to take over the film studio.'"
Hawley continued by saying:
"And the first thing they did was kill the original Star Trek movie. Because they said, ‘Well, how do we know people are going to like it? [...] Shouldn’t we do a transition movie from Chris Pine, play it safe?' You know, whatever. And so, it kind of went away.”
So, the question has to be asked: just how bad was Hawley’s script? Moving away from the Kelvin Timeline is one thing, but the screenplay is still out there and could be utilized today to help speed up production on one of the Trek film projects. Hawley even addressed that on the podcast by saying, “I talked to David Ellison recently, and I was like, ‘You still haven’t made a Star Trek movie. I’m just saying it’s in there. I love it.'"
Since the merger earlier this year, Paramount Skydance has announced that there are three Star Trek movies in the works. J.J. Abrams is producing one that will feature Captain Kirk and his crew plus another completely original flick. And most recently, it was revealed that Spider-Man: Homecoming writers and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein are going to helm a new big-screen Trek, too.
Two original Star Trek films are in the works, and Alien: Earth’s Hawley has a Trek script just sitting there gathering dust — to coin a phrase — because the screenplay is most likely just wasting away on a computer somewhere.
Perhaps, Paramount "playing it safe" was just the studio's way of letting Hawley down easy, rather than saying, “Your script stinks.” Or maybe screenplays are already in place and/or further along in development, in regard to the three upcoming projects, than fans know. And that would mean there's no place for Hawley's idea... for now.
Hawley is without question a talented writer, so it simply doesn't make sense to let his screenplay sit there, unless there's really an issue with the script. The Primetime Emmy award-winner, thanks to his incredible work on Fargo (Outstanding Miniseries), would unquestionably be an asset to the new Paramount Skydance Corporation, not to mention Star Trek.
What are your thoughts on why Noah Hawley’s take remains in limbo despite multiple movies, which are all in the works? Share your comments with us on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.
Live long and prosper, Trekkies!