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• 2 Mirror universe
• 4.1 Appearances
• 4.2.1 Origins
• 4.2.2 First appearances
• 4.2.3 Reappearances
• 4.2.4 Reception and likenesses
• 4.3 Apocrypha

History [ ]

Talosians were once a warp-capable , technologically advanced culture but a nuclear holocaust left their planet virtually uninhabitable and killed most of the species.

The survivors of the nuclear war congregated in underground dwellings, where they became dependent upon their own mental powers , which they used to create stunningly real illusions, an ability that had been developed by their ancestors. As their mental powers grew, they lost the ability to use the technology left behind by their ancestors.

The Talosians found that life using illusion was addictive, almost like a Human developing a physical and psychological dependence on narcotics . They became bored with the content of the illusions which they had. Their dependence upon these illusions for mental stimuli caused the Talosians to begin capturing space travelers to use as the living basis for their illusions.

In 2236 , the SS Columbia , carrying members of the American Continent Institute from Earth , crashed on Talos IV. All aboard were killed, save for one Human: a badly injured female named Vina . The Talosians repaired her injuries, but their work left her disfigured, as the Talosians were unfamiliar with Human anatomy . Using their powers of illusion, Vina could live as if she was uninjured and was made to appear abnormally beautiful.

A sketch of a Talosian from the Enterprise 's computer

In 2254 , the Talosians captured USS Enterprise Captain Christopher Pike and attempted to use him to rebuild their civilization. The Talosians hoped that Pike would be attracted to Vina and would wish to remain on Talos IV. Thousands of the Talosians probed Pike's thoughts, discovering he had "excellent memory capacity ." However, after assimilating the records of the Enterprise , the Talosians learned that Humans have a "unique hatred of captivity;" even when made as pleasant as possible, Humans prefer death. This made Humans unsuitable to the Talosians for breeding stock, and Pike and his crew were released.

The Talosians refused Pike's offer of trade and mutual understanding, claiming that Humans would use their powers of illusion to their own destruction, as the Talosians had inflicted on themselves. After Vina's true appearance was revealed, she was given back not only her illusion of beauty, but an illusory Pike to keep her company. ( TOS : " The Cage ")

In 2257 , Christopher Pike's science officer , Lieutenant Spock , began experiencing time non-linearly after an encounter with the being known as the Red Angel . Spock exhibited symptoms of a mental disorder, but was able to repeat the coordinates of Talos IV backwards, which he recalled from his previous visit with Pike. Brought to Talos IV by his adoptive sister Michael Burnham , the Talosians and Vina agreed to help heal Spock, and later assisted in their escape from the planet by projecting illusions on to the Section 31 ship NCIA-93 , making Leland think that he had beamed them aboard while Burnham and Spock had actually escaped in a shuttlecraft. ( DIS : " If Memory Serves ")

This same compassion was again shown ten years later, when the Talosians collaborated with Pike's former science officer, the now- Commander Spock, to bring Pike back to Talos IV (even though Spock's participation in this effort involved defying Starfleet general orders and illegally taking command of the Enterprise ). As Pike was himself a prisoner of his own body after an accident involving delta rays , the Talosians assisted with his return so he could live out the rest of his life virtually free from his useless body. ( TOS : " The Menagerie, Part I ", " The Menagerie, Part II ")

Mirror universe [ ]

In the mirror universe , the Talosians attempted to trick Terran emperor Philippa Georgiou with their mental projections. In response, Georgiou had their civilization 'blasted from the face of Talos IV'. Georgiou noted this to Leland after Section 31 discovered the power of the Talosians to create illusions. ( DIS : " If Memory Serves ")

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• " The Cage "
• " The Menagerie, Part I " (archive footage)
• " The Menagerie, Part II " (archive footage)
• DIS : " If Memory Serves "
• LD : " An Embarrassment Of Dooplers " (photograph)

Background information [ ]

Origins [ ].

The Talosians were the first aliens encountered on Star Trek , appearing in the earliest Star Trek: The Original Series production, " The Cage ". (While Spock was the first non-Human featured, his species is not mentioned in that episode.)

Upon devising the Talosians, Gene Roddenberry reused elements of the species from a story outline he submitted for an ultimately unproduced episode of the television series Science Fiction Theater . The story treatment was titled "The Transporter" and featured the invention of a device – the "transporter" referenced in the title – which, in Roddenberry's words, "creates an artificial world for the user, capable of duplicating delight, sensation, contentment, adventure – all beyond the reach of the ordinary person living the ordinary life." The outline also involved the machine's inventor realizing the device might eventually lead to mankind's destruction or, as Roddenberry put it, " [The machine] might be used as they have used the miracle of radio, television, the motion pictures – with more devastating results…. It could create wants and desires for which the world would destroy itself – a dying race sitting at their 'transporters'. " Thus, Roddenberry later made the Talosians capable "of duplicating delight, sensation, contentment, [and] adventure," and established them as a dying race, experiencing life vicariously through others. ( These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One , Chapter 1: "The Creator")

The Talosians were originally written as a crab-like species. The story outline for "The Cage" (as reprinted in The Making of Star Trek , pp. 47-65) commonly referred to them as "crab-creatures" and said of the aliens, " Although in no way Human, they are obviously intelligent and have digital capabilities via six multiclawed arms and legs. " The outline also dictated that, among their own kind, the Talosians were to have used "claw-snap and clatter for speech" and were originally intended to have not only claws but also an "external armor-skeleton" that made similar noises. The aliens were not imagined as being capable of communication, other than the clattering of their claws; the commanding officer of the Enterprise (at that time, known as Captain Robert April ) instead understood the aliens by translating their noises via his "telecommunicator" (a device that later developed into both the common communicator and the universal translator ). Also, the aliens' mode of moving was referred to as "scuttling." ( The Making of Star Trek , pp. 48-49, 58)

Gene Roddenberry discovered crab creatures would be too expensive to build. As a result, the aliens became humanoid. (" The Menagerie, Part I " text commentary , TOS Season 1 DVD ) In the second revised final draft script of "The Cage", the Talosians were thus introduced as " small, slim, pale Human-like creatures with large elongated heads, suggesting huge and powerful brains. They wear shimmering metallic garb. " Roddenberry imagined the aliens as not only thin but also very frail. ( The Making of Star Trek , p. 349)

In a line of dialogue which was scripted for "The Cage" but not included in the final version of that episode (nor any other installment), Pike commented, " What's happened to the Talosians could be sort of a warning, couldn't it. For us individually or for a whole race. Our electronic tape, our viewing screens, even our books, must never become a substitute for real life. " In another scripted but discarded line, Vina said of the Talosians, " Since their minds can reach anywhere, most of them are like cocoons or larvae now. They just sit and let the thought records or some specimen live for them. Some of them hardly move, except to take that blue protein once a day. " This "blue protein" was a reference to the Talosians' protein complex .

First appearances [ ]

The producers and Gene Roddenberry decided to cast the Talosian roles as females and then dub male voices over the footage. In a 1988 interview, Director Robert Butler uncertainly recalled that this idea "might have been" his. He went on to say, " When I saw the characters in the script I thought it would be interesting to get a difference, and one easy difference is to cast women just because of their size and grace, and then add voice-overs later. Therefore you get an oddness, an antisexuality that certainly might be more the case in other galactic cultures than our own, and I think that might have been my notion. But at the same time I remember that when I mentioned it to Gene he had had a similar feeling that we should go bizarre, so there was not much discussion if it was my idea. If I said, 'Hey, let's do that,' he might have said, 'Yeah, I get it, it's a good idea,' or vice versa. " ( The Star Trek Interview Book , p. 97) The idea of casting women, with their lighter builds, appealed to Roddenberry because he thought it might give the impression that the Talosians had let their bodies atrophy in favor of higher brain development. ("The Menagerie, Part II" text commentary , TOS Season 1 DVD ) Thus, Roddenberry searched Hollywood for diminutive actresses who had faces that he deemed to be interesting. ( The Star Trek Compendium , 4th ed., p. 15) Once the performers were cast, their breasts were tightly wrapped, in an effort to disguise each actress' female form. ( The Making of Star Trek , p. 349)

The design of the Talosians additionally incorporated headpieces that – complete with their bulging veins and small, round ears – were created by craftsman Wah Chang and were blended into the actresses' own facial features by Fred Phillips and his make-up staff. ( The Star Trek Compendium , 4th ed., p. 15) Chang's work on the Talosian head prosthetics also included the throbbing quality of veins, but this effect can only be seen on The Keeper 's head. ("The Menagerie, Part II" text commentary , TOS Season 1 DVD ) Meg Wyllie , the actress who played The Keeper, later remembered the make-up required; " The base was an old-fashioned rubber bathing cap – the type with a chin strap. Above, or rather upon the cap, a rubber substance was placed. When that was set, the cap was removed, placed on a form and the technical special effects people finished the skull – placing the blood vessels and covering them. The makeup was not comfortable – my ears especially suffered being so confined under the bathing cap. " ( Starlog issue #117, p. 52) To operate the pulsing veins on The Keeper's head, Assistant Director Robert H. Justman hid out of the camera's line-of-sight and squeezed a small rubber bulb that inflated and deflated the veins. ("The Menagerie, Part II" text commentary , TOS Season 1 DVD ) Sandra Gimpel , who also played one of the Talosians, commented, " Well, the makeup took, like, two and a half, three hours. The interesting part about it is how different it was then from now. The heads. The Talosians talk by telepathy, so the veins would pump every time they talked. So they had an air bladder in the head, with the veins. Then a tube ran down my back and down my arm, and I had a ball in my hand. Every time I pushed it, the air would make the bladder move. That's why you'd see the Talosians standing so still. The costumes had really long arms, because they covered up us holding the ball. " [1]

In an unused line of dialogue from the final draft script of "The Menagerie, Part I", James T. Kirk speculated that the Talosians may have developed "some surgical methods" that the Federation had not yet developed, as of the timing of that episode (in 2267 ). However, Commodore Mendez skeptically replied that the single reference to life on Talos IV in Spock's entire report referred to it as "feeble and parasitic " and that such parasites "hardly make skilled surgeons ."

Reappearances [ ]

An action figure bearing the likeness of a Talosian

A small action figure of what appears to be a Talosian can be seen on Rain Robinson 's desk in the 1996 of the Star Trek: Voyager episodes " Future's End " and " Future's End, Part II ". The same or a similar action figure could be found in Production Designer Richard James ' office during production on Voyager . ( Star Trek: Communicator  issue 111 , p. 54)

A Talosian appears on the cover of A Child's Garden of Lifeforms in Our Galaxy , a book that was designed by Doug Drexler for DS9 : " Time's Orphan ". ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion , p. 579)

According to an early script for Star Trek Nemesis , the Talosians discovered B-4 drifting in space. It is likely that Shinzon acquired B-4 from them.

During the making of Star Trek: Enterprise , little consideration was given to bringing back the Talosians, despite other TOS aliens reappearing on the series. Michael Sussman recalled, " To my knowledge, no one on the writing staff was pitching Talosian stories. " ( User talk:Mdsussman#TOS Aliens )

A Talosian was to cameo in the 2009 film Star Trek . It was redesigned by sculptor Don Lanning . He later referred to it as an "amazing design" and speculated that the aliens "would have been played by women." Lanning went on to explain, " I did a drawing that was pretty much a straightforward make-up, where the actor's real neck would be painted green for digital removal, leaving this little spindly neck sculpted onto the front of the actor, and the body would be worn like a Bun Raku puppet. It was a fully realized make-up that was actually rendered out by Joel [Harlow] , and it was a fascinating idea. " ( Star Trek Magazine Special 2014 , p. 137) Harlow crafted the design into a sculpture which featured a paint job by himself and Crist Ballas . [2] Offered Harlow, " What I did was sculpt the head extra-large with a thin neck on top of his real neck. We just assumed that when they shot it, his own neck would have been green-screened out, leaving a giant head on this tiny little neck. I think it would have looked really cool, but it ended up just being a mask, and all the body stuff, which would have been a rod puppet, was sort of neglected at that point. " ( Star Trek Magazine Special 2014 , p. 137)

According to Star Trek: Star Charts (p. 34), the Talosians became warp-capable 500,000 years prior to 2378 .

Reception and likenesses [ ]

Dave Rossi , VFX Line Producer of the remastered version of Star Trek: The Original Series , once enthused about his fondness for the Talosians, " Any aliens that garner the death penalty if you go see them is... They're pretty epic. And it just speaks to their unique power of mind control [....] The Talosians take it [mental powers] to a whole other level. In fact, I would say that, in as far as The Original Series goes, the Talosians are probably one of the most powerful aliens we ever met, and that makes them fun, even though they have fanny heads. " (" The Menagerie, Part I " Starfleet Access , TOS Season 1 Blu-ray ) With similar gusto, Michael and Denise Okuda commented the casting of females as the otherwise male Talosians was "highly creative." (" The Menagerie, Part II " text commentary , TOS Season 1 DVD )

A similar casting trick was used again much later, with the Sphere-Builders in Star Trek: Enterprise , as they were all women except for one male. The same casting strategy was also used in another of Gene Roddenberry's (posthumous) TV series, Earth: Final Conflict , wherein the Taelons (a species that, coincidentally, bear a striking resemblance to the Talosians) were all played by female actors. The Talosians are similar too, in many ways, to the underground mutants of the Planet of the Apes series. Both are subterranean survivors of nuclear disaster with impressive mental abilities, which include the power to create thoughts and images in the minds of others.

Apocrypha [ ]

The novel Burning Dreams reveals that Talosians are androgynous and uses the "s/he" and "hir" pronouns to refer to them. According to the novel, Talosian civilization had been revitalized by the year 2320 thanks to the influence of Christopher Pike. An older novel, Legacy , referred to the Keeper using male pronouns.

In the 1980s DC Comics' Star Trek series, Vol. 1 annual #2, entitled " The Final Voyage ," the Talosians appear when the Enterprise, en route home at the completion of its five-year mission under James T. Kirk , is tricked into returning to Talos IV by Klingons under the command of Captain Koloth . The savage Klingons have taken control of the planet, killed most of the remaining Talosians, and forced the remaining few to teach the Klingons their power of illusion. The Klingons, after delighting in torturing Christopher Pike, force Kirk and crew to relive their entire five-year mission, with their experiences twisted towards their greatest fear. With the help of the remaining Talosians, the crew overcome the Klingons using anger and rage to overcome the illusions, and continue home.

The Talosians of the mirror universe appeared in the short story "The Greater Good" by Margaret Wander Bonanno , contained in the anthology Shards and Shadows . As in the primary universe, they used a distress call to lure the ISS Enterprise to Talos IV with the intention of having Christopher Pike mate with Vina so as to create a race of Terran slaves. However, Pike rejected her, refusing to mate with an "insipid Human female." Upon learning of the Terran Empire fear of telepaths, the Keeper decided to release Captain Pike and use him as their eyes and ears throughout the empire; the captain would give the Talosians an early warning, should the empire ever decide to attack and obliterate their planet. After assassinating Pike and assuming the captaincy of the Enterprise in 2264 , James T. Kirk returned to Talos IV and ordered that its surface be leveled, annihilating the Talosians for the good of the Terran Empire.

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Everything we know about quentin tarantino's star trek movie.

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Star Trek’s Where No Man Has Gone Before Has 2 Meanings

Star trek is "in great shape": jonathan frakes discusses trek's future, including legacy, star trek unveils the breen's terrifying ultimate weapon, the chimera.

Quentin Tarantino has had a Star Trek film in development for several years now. Here's everything we know about the film and its premise. Tarantino has been one of Hollywood's top talents since debuting with bracing - and violent - films like Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction . In recent years he's become an awards season darling with films like Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and Inglourious Basterds . From his inauspicious independent beginning, Tarantino has risen to the Hollywood elite.

Tarantino also happens to be a huge Star Trek fan. The director has often spoken of his love of the franchise, and he came surprisingly close to directing a Star Trek film a few years ago. That seems like it's a dwindling prospect at this point, but Tarantino's Star Trek story pitch may still have a bit of life left in it. Other writers have been brought in to flesh out the idea, and it's believed to be in separate development from the other Star Trek films.

Related: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Saved The Next Generation’s Biggest Failures

It's still unclear where Star Trek's cinematic future goes from here. A fourth film starring the cast of the reboot films directed by J.J Abrams — known as the Kelvin timeline — is still a possibility, and could even be incorporated into Tarantino's Star Trek pitch, though that's never been made plain. Abrams himself has moved on from Star Trek ; the fact he's now producing a new Superman reboot with Ta-Nehisi Coates means he's likely to be fairly uninvolved with the future of Star Trek , which has shifted most of its cultural influence to television.  Star Trek is currently thriving on Paramount+ with a half dozen shows either in active production or getting very close to it. Tarantino's Star Trek project may end up nothing more than an interesting footnote — or it could potentially be the kind of radical reinvention that makes Star Trek relevant again on the big screen.

Quentin Tarantino Was Making A Star Trek Movie

Since the box office underperformance of Star Trek Beyond , the state of the Star Trek movie franchise has been in limbo. There have been several false starts for a fourth movie in the Kelvin timeline, starring Chris Pine in an alternate universe as a young Captain Kirk. Directors S.J. Clarkson and Noah Hawley were both attached to direct the next Star Trek movie at different times, though they have both since departed their respective projects.

The most intriguing prospect for Star Trek's big screen future, however, is the project pitched by Quentin Tarantino. The auteur director of Kill Bill and Django Unchained  has never done a franchise film like Star Trek . A longtime Trek fan, he brought his idea to Paramount through Abrams, and the studio was keen on his idea for a rougher, R-rated Star Trek with the award-winning director.

Will Quentin Tarantino's Star Trek Movie Happen?

Tarantino's interest in the project seems to have ebbed and flowed over the years. Initially, the idea was that Tarantino would both write and direct the film based on an idea he conceived of. But as time went on, it became less and less clear how involved Tarantino would still be in the project. Eventually, Paramount brought in The Revenant screenwriter Mark L. Smith to write a script based on Tarantino's story idea.

Related: Star Trek 4 Should Replace Captain Kirk With Young Picard

Tarantino has long maintained that he wants to direct ten films and then retire. He's currently at nine films, and beyond all other considerations, it seems highly unlikely that Tarantino would make a Star Trek film his last cinematic outing. At this point, he's still attached as a producer, but someone else would direct the potential film. The movie could still potentially happen, but with the recent reports that Paramount is moving forward with a film based on a script by Star Trek: Discovery writer Kalinda Vazquez, it would seem that Tarantino's idea is on the back burner for now.

Why Tarantino Loves Star Trek

Tarantino has often rhapsodized about Star Trek , particularly Star Trek: The Original Series . Tarantino has heaped praise on the hammy, over-the-top performance of William Shatner, which he said is his favorite thing about the franchise. Shatner played Kirk on three seasons of TOS and in seven feature films, from Star Trek: The Motion Picture through Star Trek: Generations . His version of Kirk was a swashbuckling, highly emotive man who was tempered perfectly with the emotionally distant, aloof Vulcan science officer Spock.

Tarantino has also had praise for Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, the modern iterations of Kirk and Spock on the big screen. Tarantino may love William Shatner , but it seems highly unlikely the 89-year-old actor would headline another Star Trek film. While it hasn't been confirmed one way or another, actors from the modern films — including Pine and Quinto — have expressed interest and excitement at the prospect of working with Tarantino on the next Star Trek film.

Quentin Tarantino's Star Trek Story Hints

Not much concrete information is known about Tarantino's take on Star Trek . Rumors have swirled that it would take place on the gangster planet originally introduced in the TOS episode "A Piece Of The Action." It's a silly, fun episode, and one that it's easy to imagine Tarantino putting his personal spin on with Pine and crew. The film would almost certainly feature Pine's version of Captain Kirk , which Tarantino has gone out of his way to praise. Pine has also morphed into the kind of A-list star in recent years that would likely be working with Tarantino on something anyway eventually.

Tarantino's film would have been R-rated; at one point it was described as " Pulp Fiction in space." The gangster planet would give Tarantino plenty of opportunities to indulge in the kind of violence and salty language he likes without breaking the overall world of Star Trek too much. It's a fascinating, off-the-wall idea, and even if it never happens, it's good to know one of the biggest directors in Hollywood history has such a deep appreciation of the Star Trek franchise.

Next: Everything We Know About Star Trek 4

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All Star Trek Movies Ranked by Tomatometer

Star Trek (2009) celebrates its 15th anniversary!

We’re boldly ranking the Star Trek movies by Tomatometer, from the original film series (1979’s The Motion Picture to The Undiscovered Country ), into the handoff to films featuring the Next Generation cast ( Generations to Nemesis ), and through to the reboot series (2009’s Trek to Beyond ).

Star Trek (2009) 94%

Star Trek: First Contact (1996) 93%

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) 87%

Star Trek Beyond (2016) 86%

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) 84%

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) 83%

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) 82%

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) 78%

Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) 55%

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) 53%

Star Trek Generations (1994) 48%

Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) 38%

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) 21%

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Movie Reviews

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“Star Trek” as a concept has voyaged far beyond science fiction and into the safe waters of space opera, but that doesn’t amaze me. The Gene Roddenberry years, when stories might play with questions of science, ideals or philosophy, have been replaced by stories reduced to loud and colorful action. Like so many franchises, it’s more concerned with repeating a successful formula than going boldly where no “Star Trek” has gone before.

The 2009 “Star Trek” film goes back eagerly to where “Star Trek” began, using time travel to explain a cast of mostly the same characters, only at a younger point in their lives, sailing the Starship Enterprise. As a story idea, this is sort of brilliant and saves on invention, because young Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhura, Scotty and the rest channel their later selves. The child is father to the man, or the Vulcan, and all that.

Don’t get me wrong. This is fun. And when Leonard Nimoy himself returns as the aged Spock, encountering another Spock ( Zachary Quinto ) as a young man, I was kind of delighted, although as is customary in many sci-fi films, nobody is as astonished as they should be. Holy moly! Time travel exists, and this may be me! It’s more like a little ambiguous dialogue is exchanged, and they’re off to battle the evil Romulan Capt. Nero ( Eric Bana ).

Time travel as we all know, is impossible in the sense it happens here, but many things are possible in this film. Anyone with the slightest notion of what a black hole is, or how it behaves, will find the black holes in “Star Trek” hilarious. The logic is also a little puzzling when Scotty can beam people into another ship in outer space, but they have to physically parachute to land on a platform in the air from which the Romulans are drilling a hole to the Earth’s core. After they land there, they fight with two Romulan guards, using ... fists and swords? The platform is suspended from Arthur C. Clark’s “space elevator,” but instead of fullerenes, the cable is made of metallic chunks the size of refrigerators.

But stop me before I get started. I mention these details only to demonstrate that the movie raises its yo-yo finger to the science, while embracing the fiction. Apart from details from the youths of the characters and the Spock reunion, it consists mostly of encounters between the Enterprise and the incomparably larger and much better armed Romulan spaceship from the future. It’s encouraging to learn that not even explosions and fires can quickly damage a starship. Also that lifeboats can save the crew, despite the vast distance from home base.

That would be because of warp speed, which for present purposes consists of looking through an unnecessary window at bright lights zapping past. This method of transportation prevents any sense of wonder at the immensity of outer space and is a convenience not only for the starship but also for the screenwriters, who can push a button and zap to the next scene. The concept of using warp speed to escape the clutches of a black hole seems like a recycling of the ancient dilemma of the rock and the hard place.

But there are affecting character moments. Young Spock is deliberately taunted in hopes he will, as a Vulcan, betray emotion. Because Zachary Quinto plays him as a bit of a self-righteous prig, it’s satisfying to see him lose it. Does poor young Spock realize he faces a lifetime of people trying to get a rise out of him? Nimoy, as the elderly Spock, must have benefitted, because he is the most human character in the film.

Chris Pine , as James Tiberius Kirk, appears first as a hot-rodding rebel who has found a Corvette in the 23rd century and drives it into the Grand Canyon. A few years after he’s put on suspension by the Academy and smuggled on board the Enterprise by Bones McCoy ( Karl Urban ), he becomes the ship’s captain. There are times when the command deck looks like Bring Your Child to School Day, with the kid sitting in daddy’s chair.

Uhura ( Zoe Saldana ) seems to have traveled through time to the pre-feminist 1960s, where she found her miniskirt and go-go boots. She seems wise and gentle and unsuited to her costume. Scotty ( Simon Pegg ) seems to have begun life as a character in a Scots sitcom. Eric Bana’s Nero destroys whole planets on the basis of faulty intelligence, but the character is played straight and is effective.

The special effects are slam-bam. Spatial relationships between spaceships are unclear because the Romulan ship and the Enterprise have such widely unmatched scales. Battles consist primarily of jump-suited crew members running down corridors in advance of smoke, sparks and flames. Lots of verbal commands seem implausibly slow. Consider, at light warp speeds, how imprecise it would be to say “At my command ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...” Between “2” and “1,” you could jump a million galaxies.

I thought about these things during “Star Trek” because I could not help myself. I understand the Star Trek science has never been intended as plausible. I understand this is not science fiction but an Ark movie using a starship. I understand that the character types are as familiar as your favorite slippers. But the franchise has become much of a muchness. The new movie essentially intends to reboot the franchise with younger characters and carry on as before. The movie deals with narrative housekeeping. Perhaps the next one will engage these characters in a more challenging and devious story, one more about testing their personalities than re-establishing them. In the meantime, you want space opera, you got it.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film credits.

Star Trek (2009)

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action and violence, and brief sexual content

127 minutes

Chris Pine as James Tiberius Kirk

Zachary Quinto as Spock

Leonard Nimoy as Spock Prime

Eric Bana as Capt. Nero

Bruce Greenwood as Capt. Christopher Pike

Zoe Saldana as Uhura

John Cho as Sulu

Anton Yelchin as Chekov

Ben Cross as Sarek

Winona Ryder as Amanda Grayson

Chris Hemsworth as George Kirk

Jennifer Morrison as Winona Kirk

Directed by

• J. J. Abrams

Screenplay by

• Roberto Orci
• Alex Kurtzman

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Paramount confirmed this week that “WandaVision” director Matt Shakman will head into production on a new “ Star Trek ” movie later this year with Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho and Simon Pegg reprising their roles for a fourth go-around on the big screen. For Quentin Tarantino fans, the news is the latest reminder that the Oscar winner’s “Stark Trek” movie remains dead. At least for now.

Tarantino fans were sent into a frenzy in late 2017 after it was announced that Paramount and “Star Trek” producer J.J. Abrams loved Tarantino’s pitch for a new “Star Trek” movie and were assembling a writers room to flesh out the idea. Tarantino ultimately partnered with “The Revenant” screenwriter Mark L. Smith, who was tasked with writing a “Star Trek” film script based on Tarantino’s idea while Tarantino was busy finishing post-production and touring the world for “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”

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Smith revealed on the  “Bulletproof Screenwriting” podcast in August 2021 that J.J. Abrams’ production company Bad Robot gave him a call on Tarantino’s behalf.

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“They just called me and said, ‘Hey, are you up for it? Do you want to go? Quentin wants to hook up.’ And I said, ‘Yeah,’” the screenwriter said. “And that was the first day I met Quentin, in the room and he’s reading a scene that he wrote and it was this awesome, cool gangster scene, and he’s acting it out and back and forth. I told him, I was so mad I didn’t record it on my phone. It would be so valuable. It was amazing.”

Tarantino intended to bring a “Pulp Fiction” vibe to “Star Trek” with an idea that was a largely earthbound story set in a 1930s gangster setting. Tarantino’s pitch appeared to take inspiration from “A Piece of the Action,” the 17th episode of the second season of “Star Trek: The Original Series.” The installment, which aired in 1968, followed the Enterprise crew as they visit a planet with an Earth-like 1920s gangster culture.

Smith told “Bulletproof Screenwriting” that the screenwriting process started almost immediately after he agreed to work with Tarantino, adding, “I would go hang out at his house one night and we would watch old gangster films. We were there for hours…We were just kicking back watching gangster films, laughing at the bad dialogue, but talking about how it would bleed into what we wanted to do.”

According to Smith, Tarantino’s “Star Trek” idea was “really wild” and like “its own very cool episode.” The plot included “a little time travel stuff going on” and “had a lot of fun” with Chris Pine’s Captain Kirk. Tarantino fans expected the director to go all in on Pine considering Tarantino’s outspoken love for the actor. Tarantino has called the Pine-starring “Unstoppable” one of his favorite action films, and he had nothing but raves for Pine’s performance as Kirk in the 2009 “Star Trek” reboot

“I thought Chris Pine did a fantastic job, not just playing Capt. Kirk but playing William Shatner’s captain — he is William Shatner,” Tarantino once told MTV. “He’s not just another guy, he’s William Shatner’s Capt. Kirk. And Zachary Quinto is literally Leonard Nimoy’s — because they both have the same scene together — he’s his Spock. They fucking nail it. They just nail it.”

Tarantino’s “Star Trek” was widely believed to be rated R, although it was never confirmed. Fans expected the R-rating given the graphic nature of Tarantino’s movies. It was also never confirmed that Tarantino would direct the script himself. Tarantino has maintained that he is retiring from feature filmmaking after his 10th directorial effort, which means he only has one movie left to make, post-“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” Fans questioned whether or not Tarantino would want an IP-based movie like “Star Trek” to be his curtain call.

Tarantino revealed to Consequence of Sound in December 2019 that he was “steering away” from directing the “Trek” movie. A final blow arrived in January 2020 when Tarantino confirmed , “I think they might make that movie, but I just don’t think I’m going to direct it. It’s a good idea. They should definitely do it and I’ll be happy to come in and give them some notes on the first rough cut.”

After Justin Lin’s 2016 entry “Star Trek Beyond” underwhelmed at the box office with less than $400 million worldwide, Paramount put a pause on the film franchise as it figured out what to do next. Tarantino and Smith’s script was one of three potential “Star Trek” films in development at the same time. “Fargo” and “Legion” creator Noah Hawley was working on his own “Star Trek” film that was to feature a new cast, while Paramount was also developing a more traditional sequel to “Beyond” with the same cast. Filmmaker S.J. Clarkson was attached to this third “Trek” idea for a time.

The “Star Trek” announcement this week confirmed that a “Beyond” sequel with the returning cast is officially a go. Paramount announced in July 2021 that Shakman was hired to helm a new “Star Trek” movie, the cast for which was unclear at the time. Shakman is a prolific television director with credits that include “WandaVision,” “Six Feet Under,” “House,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” “Game of Thrones” and “Succession.” He’s only directed one previous feature, the 2015 indie “Cut Bank” with Liam Hemsworth and Billy Bob Thornton.

As reported by Variety , Paramount did market research to determine whether or not there was still audience interest in Chris Pine and the 2009 reboot cast given the long wait period between “Beyond” and a new “Trek” film. Insiders said that studio executives determined there was still lasting audience enthusiasm for Pine, Quinto and the rest of the cast, which allowed the studio to feel comfortable with moving forward with bringing them back.

One person most likely relieved that Paramount is moving ahead on a “Star Trek” movie without Tarantino is Rod Roddenberry, son of “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry and the CEO of Roddenberry Entertainment. Roddenberry, who serves as an executive producer on several “Star Trek” series on Paramount Plus (“Star Trek: Discovery,” “Star Trek: Picard,” “Star Trek: Lower Decks,” etc.), told Forbes in September 2021 that he had mixed feelings on Tarantino coming into the “Star Trek” fold.

“I struggle with that because the way I’m pretty myopic with the way I see ‘Star Trek,’” Roddenberry said when asked about Tarantino’s “Star Trek” idea. “I mentioned that I grew up with fans coming up to me out saying how ‘Star Trek’ inspired them and gave them hope for the future. It’s the optimism and the messaging in there that make ‘Star Trek’ what it was. I truly believe that. If you create a ‘Star Trek,’ that is just action; that is not ‘Star Trek,’ in my opinion. That’s what makes it different than ‘Star Wars,’ and I love ‘Star Wars,’ but they can both coexist. And I love Tarantino’s work and the kind of films that he does. I am trying to have an open mind.”

Roddenberry continued, “I would be curious to read a script on his take. I do not think you could say we’re going to do a ‘Reservoir Dog-Star Trek.’ I’ll be honest, that doesn’t work for me, but he is a fan, and I think as a fan, he probably understands to some degree that ‘Star Trek’ has to have some of this messaging.”

Production on the Tarantino-less new “Star Trek” movie will begin later this year.

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Paramount Pictures Officially Confirms Star Trek Origin Movie For Its Upcoming Film Slate

| April 11, 2024 | By: Anthony Pascale 240 comments so far

Today, the road to the next Star Trek feature film took a small but significant step towards becoming reality.

Paramount makes it official

Earlier this year, it was reported that Paramount Pictures was developing a new Star Trek feature film in parallel development to the “Star Trek 4” sequel to 2016’s Star Trek Beyond . Today the studio made the reports official as they announced their slate of films for 2025 and 2026, an official list which includes what Paramount is now calling “Untitled Star Trek Origin Story.” The studio also confirms the previously reported details: The film is “set decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film.” Toby Haynes ( Andor , Black Mirror “USS Callister”) is directing based on a screenplay by Seth Grahame-Smith ( The Lego Batman Movie ), with J.J. Abrams returning as producer.

The Star Trek movie was just one of many the studio confirmed as part of their 2025/2026 slate at their CinemaCon presentation today. Paramount Pictures CEO Brian Robbins led the studio’s presentation at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. This is the first time Star Trek has been part of the studio’s annual CinemaCon event since Robbins took over in 2021.

The “Star Trek 4” sequel to Beyond was not part of today’s CinemaCon presentation, presumably because with the recent hiring of a new screenwriter , that film would not be ready for theaters by 2026. It has also been reported that the origin story movie is set to start filming by the end of the year. There are no details yet on the plot, specific time setting, or cast. If Paramount can move fast enough they could get the origin movie into theaters by 2026—in time for Star Trek’s 60th anniversary.

Find more news and analysis on  upcoming Star Trek feature films .

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Star Trek 4

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Fool me once … ( also I want a movie but until someone gets a set built I’m not holding my breath )

I’m not pre-ordering my tickets…..

You would need a title and a premiere date to order tickets. This film has neither.

I’d wait to believe it until you actually see a movie trailer for it. Noah Hawley was in the casting stage when they cancelled his Trek movie. They might have even started on the sets.

The film is on Noah’s IMDB Credits list…

Yep. I heard ferries exist too!

Car ferries?

Even now, it potentially doesn’t matter. They could pull a Zaslav and shelve the film after it was all but released.

I won’t believe it until my butt is in the theater seat and the film starts playing.

We don’t need the origin story. We have it already. It was called “Enterprise”.

I didn’t realize there was such a large interest in a Star Trek origin movie. It’s their money to burn.

I still believe this is their way of rebooting the “prime” universe from the beginning and remaking it in a new image. I see no other point of doing an origin movie. First Contact and Star trek: Enterprise were origin enough IMO.

I don’t quite get it either. We already got that with First Contact and Enterprise. What else is there that could interest the general public.

Yeah, and for me, the period between First Contact and Enterprise just doesn’t seem that exciting. The period between Enterprise and the Nero incursion would be more interesting, I guess.

They wrote that the origin film would be “set decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film”. That film (in-universe) is set in 2233 (Nero incursion) and 2258 (main plot) respectively. So “decades before” would be after Enterprise, probably after the formation of the Federation, most probably before the Nero incursion, maybe around the turn of the century.

It’s just odd they are calling it an “origin” movie if it happens after Enterprise.

I’m curious what they mean by “origin”. The origin of Starfleet would be before Enterprise and the origin of the Federation would be after.

Also, the origin of Star Trek would have to be before the events of First Contact.

…assuming there is a concern about canon whatsoever, of course.

Many assumptions to be made at this point for sure.

Assuming this announcement doesn’t get added to the pile of previous unmade-movie announcements.

They’re calling it an origin movie to appeal to newcomers and casual fans.

Maybe we’ll see the founding of the Federation?

We already saw that in the infamous final episode of Enterprise. If they revisit that, they’d have to include the NX-01 crew and do a *lot* of deaging. 😉

They could show the first year of the Federation or something.

The obvious way to go is just do the Romulan war which leads into the founding of the Federation and what Enterprise was supposed to do.

That’s really the only thing fans actually want to see in terms of a prequel story.

Which was already scripted for Berman nearly 20 years ago by the band of brothers screenwriter.

Yep. I heard that’s what they were considering doing until the Kelvin movie got greenlit instead.

Overall the Kelvin movie was probably the better choice in terms of box office but I probably would’ve preferred the Romulan war idea because it did sound more original and different.

That’s something, the Romulan War. That’s a big event, it could have action and you probably can just invent your own characters.

Couldn’t they just carry on from the end instead of squeezing more new shows in between what we already have?

For how little Trek lore has fleshed out that imaginary bit of history, do we really need to be putting some detail to how we went from post-apocalyptic hellhole to utopian paradise in fifty years? Maybe some enterprising human stole a replicator off a Vulcan ship and reverse engineered it? Seeing the sausage being made may not be a great on screen adventure…

Eastern Europe isn’t the best example – while they’ve done okay extricating themselves from the communist wasteland, it was (and is) without its setbacks.

that’s what makes me so crazy. Discovery was the chance to reboot the “prime” universe but they have stubbornly stuck to this quisling versio

Not only that, they already did a Star Trek origin movie. Star TRek 2009. But sure lets put more money in it, have it fail, and then blame the box office on why we will never get more trek. Thats a great idea!

That was really a Kirk and Spock origin story. There’s a century of Federation/Starfleet before them that we know almost nothing about. Plenty of room for a good one-off story. Maybe a story 20-ish years before Discovery , with Captain April and Lt. Commander Pike? Could have a young Sarek, too.

First off do we even know what they mean by “origin”?

Could be about the founding of the federation, the Romulan War, or the early days of starfleet pre-Enterprise.

It may have nothing to do with Kirk and Spock, the Enterprise, might not be any kind of reboot or reset.

My gut says it’s set in the Kelvin timeline and it takes place post USS Kelvin but pre-2009 Trek. And I’m fine with that.

They already said it will be based in the prime universe, not the Kelvin. I don’t know why they framed that press release that way but I guess since the Kelvin movies are the current movies they wanted to make clear to people this movie is before all of that I guess.

And obviously will have nothing to do with Kirk and Spock because it will be before they were even born.

I agree. I’m not really interested in a ST origin film either, for the reasons you stated. I think, if they were to do one, it has to have some good hook. Say something like Kirk before Enterprise, or Robert April’s time on the Enterprise as its first captain, but I think that’s been pretty much done with Strange New Worlds.

Maybe Picard on the Stargazer before TNG?

Otherwise, you’ll be getting something with a cast of characters that you’ve never heard off, or, if you have, it’s been a line in an episode.

These announcements feel like Groundhog Day, don’t they? Maybe that’s the story they should tell.

A feature length version of Cause and Effect…

I’m guessing Romulan Star Empire Wars era setting.

Yeah, maybe it’s the concept Rick Berman pitched: a Romulan War film where the NX-01 is off vacationing at Risa.

How about Star Trek: Federation . Founding of the Federation, which is immediately followed by a crisis requiring the urgent launch of USS Federation (NCC-01). Scott Bakula has a cameo appearance as President Archer.

Here we go! :D

Star Trek Origins: The Future Begins

Yeah but it’s not as exciting when we literally have a thousand years of that future now.

This is why prequels bore so many people when we already know so much about the future it’s setting up.

At least with the Kelvin movies they were smart to not make it a traditional prequel and people still hated those too.

I will never understand the obsession of going backwards when you have a fanbase that is constantly begging to go forward and prequels don’t attract new fans at all because they are made for oddly old fans in mind. You only cared about how Anakin became Vader in the prequels if you watched the OT.

We really know almost nothing (in canon) about the entire century that elapses between Enterprise and Discovery , though. I would have preferred Kelvin Movie 4 or even a post-TNG original movie (maybe with Patrick Stewart making a cameo) but I could get behind a canon treatment about the first years of the Federation.

If it’s really something good or interesting fine. If it’s just ‘this is how the Federation was formed” we already got that already.

Now if it’s the Romulan war or something then that’s at least something people can get excited about. But yeah we already know how it ends so maybe that won’t be it either.

I just can’t really get to excited about a prequel movie.

Yeah, I think the Romulan war would be a great premise for a movie, BUT according to TOS the battles were fought with “primitive atomic weapons and in primitive space vessels which allowed no quarter, no captives, nor was there even ship-to-ship visual communication; therefore, no human, Romulan or ally has ever seen the other.”

In other words canon would have to be completely ignored – we all know Enterprise completely disregarded the TOS take of the war as the NX-01 had visual comms, phase cannons and photonic torpedoes. If the story is a good one, I am totally good with ignoring canon, but of course others are not.

Yeah that’s always the issue with the Romulan War thing, it’s really hard to make a compelling story about it when you are fighting it without directly engaging the enemy.

That said I’m 100% convinced they will just ignore that and do what they want or just find an excuse to change ot. Look at SNW, this the show that has shown the Gorn years before they were supposed to be seen and completely changed Khan’s original timeline using TCW as the reason..

Discovery had an entire Klingon War when that didn’t remotely exist in canon.

So yeah it probably won’t matter that much end of the day. They will just make what they want and then will use some excuse to do it. That’s been the case since Enterprise as you said.

Exactly! Very well put!! I just wish someone from TPTB would listen already!

Think about it prequels are easy to make because most of the writing is done for you. You don’t have to come up with where these characters will go.

Only if they are old characters though. But this sounds like Enterprise and not SNW and it will be all new characters.

So, it would be set after Enterprise and before the Kelvin fiasco. Awesome.

Probably the Romulan Wars. And with no Enterprise. Not excited

If only I could insert the Will Farrel “I don’t believe you!” GIF.

Whatever this turns out to be, hopefully it will be interesting. More likely it will turn out to be just another dead Trek movie project.

So many of these stories do seem to go absolutely nowhere! However, I am not as negative about an origin story as some fans are. At this point, I am more neutral on the movie. I can see that under the right circumstances it could be quite interesting. Although prequels can be a tough sell to Star Trek fans. Ultimately the fact that’s a movie could work in its favor though. Less storylines to produce over the years might help keep the story focused! Though I am not sure it would be a box office draw.

I’ll believe it when I’ve seen it in theaters, listened to TrekMovie’s review, and have the blu-ray on my shelf 4 months later.

Where to place the Blu-ray tho?

Before ST09 or after Beyond? …or.. Before TOS?

They go in order of release, for me. But could this be the first Trek film I don’t purchase on disc? Time may tell…

It’s an origin story taking place in the prime universe so it will go either before or after Enterprise basically.

I’ll believe it when it actually happens. Also, Seth Grahame-Smith is not a good writer, so that doesn’t bode well.

My thoughts exactly.

I liked the book Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, but not the movie.

I absolutely loved the Lego Batman movie, though. If he is able to incorporate Trek lore with as much care as he did for Batman, it could turn out to be a very good movie after all.

I’ll believe it when I’m sat i theatre turning off my phone with my Star Trek Origins screensaver and eating popcorn out my STO popcorn bucket (the lid in shape of the Starfleet A insignia )

He co wrote The Flash right? I really liked that , I could imagine something similar happening with Nero as happened with Zod in that (going back to 1st film via timetravel)

This is what’s over at Box Office Mojo: Untitled Star Trek: Beyond Sequel (????)

Grain of salt, anyone?

There are apparently two movies planned. Origin and Trek 4…

Actually there are three now including one that we all thought was DOA two minutes after it was announced.

Three movies in development from a studio who has cancelled four of them for 8 years now. And this will be the fourth new script for the next Kelvin movie.

That’s why everyone is very very confident this one is happening for sure. 🙄

The only thing we can take to the bank is we will see Section 31, starring Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh!!

Pretty much.

And a studio that is broke and in debt with junk status. None of these will likely be made or just the super cheapy origin movie if they can keep the budget low.

My thoughts exactly as well.

I’m pretty sure you got your facts wrong.

Sigh. Why do the powers that be always want to go backward in the ST timeline and do origin stories and such?

Lack of confidence in new ideas and to make it as cheaply as possible, are two things that come to mind right away.

It’s simple. They don’t want all that trek nerd baggage. They want a movie anyone would go to see and understand.

How’s that working for them?

You don’t get it.

I don’t get it either? It’s not like the prequel stuff has been huge home runs or big money makers.

The Star Wars prequels made a lot of money. That’s what Paramount still looks at, even though they have yet to duplicate that financial success.

Yes but that’s STAR WARS! It’s going to make a lot of money period. And those prequels came out when it was just the OT and nothing else for literally decades. There was a lot of hype just returning to those stories.

This is not the same thing, especially when we already had so many prequels in Trek now and with mixed results. That said I’m not saying it can’t be successful but I don’t see any huge hype around it either because most fans just seem to want to go forward and not backwards.

All the negativity over this ‘announcement’ is well deserved. Just make a fcking movie already Paramount, Jesus.

But I suspect IF this one is real it’s probably a much cheaper movie being new actors and maybe something with a lot less explosions and FX. I suspect it will probably be around $100 million.

It’s certainly doesn’t sound like something they are pushing to make a billion dollars or anything. Only people who cares about a prequel will be mostly old fans and even they aren’t exactly excited about yet another prequel judging by all the reactions so far. Maybe they will attract an A list star or a well respected one to bring more hype to it.

But same time I been pushing to just do something NEW with new characters and setting forever now. Stop trouting out Kirk and Picard, take a real chance with the franchise for a change. I was hoping it would be Post Nemesis but I should be happy I finally got half of what I wanted lol.

But I’ll believe it when I see it. I have literally been saying this line for six years now and I’m really tired of saying it. 🙄

Yup, exactly. Assuming it even happens, the premise sounds weak. Not surprised.

Yep. Unless it’s something truly mind blowing it’s not going to elicit a lot of excitement. Sure we’ll all go lol but I don’t see this thing having any real pull beyond the true believers.

It probably got the greenlight because its really cheap and it’s becoming embarrassing how long this franchise has languished.

I really only go to movie theaters to see Trek films (much prefer the comforts of home to see movies), so yup I’ll be going, good or bad. And yes, it is really pathetic the way this franchise has been treated on the big screen for the past 20 years. Disgraceful.

Ummm… what premise?? The only thing we know is that it is an origin movie. Nothing else. There IS no premise yet…

I think he means just another origin story itself feels a bit tired. But yes we don’t specifically know what that means yet but anything before TOS at this point just doesn’t really get a lot of fans all that hot and bother.

Whatever it ends up being it’s just filling in to more history we already know.

I get it. But no matter what era they make a movie in, there will be complaints. We have done prequels – some fans hate that. We have done same era as TNGish – fans complained. Likewise, we have had a show set in the future (soon to be another) – fans complained. There aren’t many options left.

Before TOS: Enterprise, JJ movies, Discovery, SNW just after TNG era: Picard, Prodigy, Lower Decks Future: Discovery, Starfleet Academy

Do they just make things in the era of TNG, DS9 and Voyager? No matter what is produced, there will always be a fan base that is unhappy.

Most people seem to really want the Legacy show though. I think for the majority of fans they may not agree with everything but there is definitely a sense they rather go forwards than backwards and why 4 of the 5 shows are post Nemesis shows.

And if you gave the option between a Legacy movie or this prequel idea, it wouldn’t be close.

I just don’t think making a prequel movie is the best idea out there. And I don’t think new audiences will remotely care one way or the other.

I’m going to start reporting you now. One guy got the boot for being an obsessive troll and like you was already banned before anyway.

Leave me alone from this point on. I mean it.

What a total disappointment. I wanted to see the Kelvin crew return. It’s going to be 10 years between films.

Please be Kirk and Spock at least.

Check the first paragraph of the article out again. This one is presumably being developed ‘in parallel’ to the Kelvin crew sequel.

Recast Kirk and Spock, I presume?

I wouldn’t be surprised if the main character is Kirk’s great grandfather, Tiberius something or other.

And not surprised there was no announcement of the next JJ verse movie. I predicted a few weeks ago that one wouldn’t get made by 2026 or the 60th anniversary. Frankly I don’t even know why they are even bothering with it anymore? Whenever it’s supposed to come out it’s already going to be the last one and over 10 years since the last one came out.

What’s even the point? They are clearly moving on from it.

As far as the origin movie why not just make it for the 60th anniversary? Why rush it? It’s already been nearly a decade, what’s one more year at this point and you can Marley it better in an anniversary year.

Its the reverse of ST 6, here we getting the prequel movie instead of the final cast film (for the anniversary)

Someone on another board said we are probably getting the sequel to First Contact so it would make sense to have it for the 6Oth anniversary 30 years apart lol.

“[S]et decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film?”

Gimme Archer & T’Pol, or else…

Neither actor has any interest in returning to Star Trek, so that won’t happen.

I’ve only heard Bakula say that about Quantum Leap , not Enterprise . And this is a feature film, a lot harder for an actor to turn down. I agree with his decision to ignore the QL reboot (that series didn’t capture the heart and soul of the original at all) but if Paramount approached him with “we want you to play President Archer for a few scenes in this movie” I doubt he’d say no.

No, no no. You’ve got it all wrong. It’s a story about a little design firm vying for the chance to design the Enterprise. It’s a story about a plucky band of mechanical engineers and physicists who come together to do the best pitch of their lives in a bidding war with three other firms. So, an origin story…from a certain point of view. ;)

I would watch,THAT!

I would write that!

I would direct that! (If I was Christopher Nolan)

No, I want Nolan doing ThePrisoner! He’s already got a script from the guy who wrote 12 Monkeys and the best stuff in Blade Runner, from over a decade back.

You probably meant it as a joke, but I’m also intrigued by this idea :D

Charlie Kaufmann does star trek.

Sure, you can store anti-matter in a glass jar. What could possibly go wrong?

Y’know, I know this is said partly in jest, but I wouldn’t mind that kind of movie if it was sort of a space race / WWII / Cold War drama, kind of a mix of Oppenheimer and The Right Stuff.

There’s a geo (spatio?) political angle (firm up the borders of the Federation, mitigate threats, and establish new allies while keeping up the exploration / first contact initiatives), the pressure on the engineering team to deliver groundbreaking new tech (and probably the cost of failed experiments, accidents, etc.), and then recruiting and training a new kind of crew – a starship crew (as Captain Merrick described them in ‘Bread and Circuses’.)

In essence, the origin of Starfleet as we know it – the first long-duration missions, the best of the best crewmembers, cross-trained, multidisciplinary, and for the first time, widely multi-species, etc.

Glad you all like. Paramount, you can send the check to: bmar, care of….

I’m thinking there’s going to be peace in the Middle East and nuclear fusion power is going to be a reality before they ever get back to the theaters.

Once upon a time I enjoyed Star Trek. Since the Nu Trek era began. I havent enjoyed any of the story arcs. They are just too aweful. There is a multitude of reasons why throught the web. Strange New Worlds S1 corrected course, however S2 not so. There are forces at work at Paramount. They are hell bent to destroy Star Trek. If Kurtzman and crew are in charge of the new movie. Get ready for more fantasy drama nonsense, and less plausable sci-fi.

Same here. I can’t get into NuTrek much at all. It feels like a shell of the golden era. For me that will always be 1966-2005.

But if others like it and getting new fans I’m very happy for them.

Same here. I’ve found a few gems in SNW S1, PIC S3, and S1 of Prodigy, but otherwise have been very disappointed in “NuTrek.” Of course I wish the franchise the best, but so far it’s been more misses than hits for me.

Yes I truly love Picard season 3! The best thing to come out of NuTrek so far. I don’t hate SNW but it railroads canon too much for my taste but it does feel like Star Trek again.

I haven’t seen Prodigy yet but I plan to watch it when season 2 begins and will watch season 1 before that one. Everyone kept saying it’s for kids and I’m far from a kid these days lol. But others here convinced me it’s a show for adults too so will give it a go

Wow, hell-bent on destroying Trek. Hell-bent, you say!! Just a tough melodramatic, are you?

Really don’t care about prequels and just want to keep going forward. Why not a movie in the 25th or 26th century with new crew and characters?

I may care more if Archer is involved or something. But I suspect this movie will bomb like the last one did. Only fans cares about prequels. New fans won’t care at all.

At least it’s in the prime universe again I guess.

But 25th or 26th century would still be a prequel to Discovery’s 32nd century :D

That doesn’t bother me because we don’t know anything about those time periods. We already know plenty about everything before TOS because it’s all been said or told now

Yeah I said this to another member the other day discussing any post Picard stories and that it will be completely new stories in a period we don’t know so it’s not the same thing. When you’re doing something like a TOS prequel you only have so much room and while it can certainly be interesting and creative it basically just like filling in to more stuff we already know.

That said the Section 31 movie time period is at least more interesting because it covers a much wider time period and they can be a lot more freer with the technology, etc so looking forward to that at least.

Yes I will admit although I’m not a big fan of the Space Nazi the time period of the movie intrigues me more. I always been curious of this period and the lead up to TNG, mostly because we know very little about it.

Discovery (in my view) kind of ruined everything in the Trek timelime. Just my opinion. Anyone who wants to just forget it happened, I’m in. Kidding, not kidding.

Agreed! I also don’t think it will be allegorical science fiction or be anything thought provoking. It will be a fast paced action adventure story that’s empty of depth and soul. Modern Star Trek is more interested in spectacle than compelling stories.

I’d guess that it means “origin of the TOS crew,” but that’s kind of weird, because we saw that in 2009.

Maybe this time they’ll start when they’re toddlers. (I kid, but not really). :)

They are going to re-do ‘A night in Sickbay’ like they did with Wrath of Khan/Into Darkness. It’ll be the same but different…..

Could this be their way of doing a George Kirk movie?

I would want to watch that, colour me intrigued…

“set decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film.”

Original 2009 Sta Trek film Sounds so wrong.

there is only two star trek origin stories i want to see the formation of the federation and it’s first few years if they have to adapt the rise of the federation novels for the movie and the origins of the borg they could adapt the plot ffor thet from the star trek destiny novels for a movie

Spot on, on both points!

2025? I hope it works out…

First we hear we are getting a Star Fleet Space Academy series that no one wants. The idea was mentioned in the 1980’s and shot down by fans. Now a retake on a Star Trek Origins films. Is any one currently running the Star Trek franchise in TV/streaming or film even listening to what the fans both old and new are saying?

It would seem not, sadly. How about establishing the time period between TUC and TNG, there’s a literal ton of stories to tell there? How the possibilities for storytelling within the franchise have been squandered over the years makes me frustrated, and frankly confused. SO many missed opportunities.

The upcoming section 31 movie will be set during that time frame as we know a young Rachel Garrett who later in life will be the captain of the enterprise c and defend the Klingon colony of narendra 3 will be in the movie maybe we will get to see the ent-b also again

Pointless movie as no audience will come see it at best it will make half its budget back. I mean they spent $250M on the 2009 movie and it showed on screen….you already know they are not spending that level otherwise it would be a Kelvin cast sequel!

I believe they spent just under 160 mil on the 09 (not counting the interest payments for holding the finished film for six months to get a summer release, or prints/advertising.) You’re probably thinking of BEYOND with the 250 number.

I still can’t see the money on screen in the 09, shooting in the damn brewery was Corman-level cheap.

The Numbers have the 09 costs 140 and BO Mojo sez 150, so yeah, way under the 250m you mention.

Can the ethos of Trek be distilled by JJ? Bob orci was bad for trek.

Kurtzman seemed to fall into trap w/discovery season 1.

Season 2, Picard, Lower Decks and SNW definitely sealed my thinking that Trek was in right hands.

Is section 31 and Rachel Garrett the right pivot for Trek? I thought 24th/25th century had plenty of stories to still tell.

Enterprise C, and possibly Tasha Yar/Sela after the events of Yesterday’s Enterprise! This should reboot TNG/Picard if ST: Legacy doesn’t happen.

Lower Decks makes me laugh Picard made me cry (good) SNW made me feel like Kurtzman should be trusted 💯

Great. Abrams ruined Star Wars and he’s finishing of Star Trek.

JJ had a planed out story plot for what he wanted to happen in the sequels but rian johnson chose to deviate from what jj had payed out so when jj returned for episode 9 he had to try and make the best of it and make his original story plot work but with the changes Johnson had made altering it so he had to come up with another evil sith mastermind and chose palpatine and he did course correct Rey’s lineage though it was different from who he had initially planned it to be and with Carrie fishers untimely passing he had to rewrite more and he had Luke show up as a force ghost to help rey when she returned to ach-to as apparently he was never going to have Luke die until the the final battle

I hope it has nudity

….and “Invincible” level action. It’ll be a hard R Quinton Tarentino could love.

Yes, we are on the same page.

CinemaCon basically works like a network upfront. You see clips and hear a lot of announcements. When there’s no cast or start date for announced projects, there’s maybe a 50/50 chance that the project will actually move forward (I was with a former employer for over 8 years and we announced a lot of stuff that generated a lot of buzz but then never materialized).

I think Brian Robbins will be gone within the next 12 months and if Robbins is pushed out this film is dead in the water.

This is probably the right answer.

I have next to no faith this will actually happen but they only have themselves to blame lol.

I remember a former poster kept saying ‘well this a new regime ‘ they aren’t the old guys’. Uh huh. It just shows end of the day they might be different but they still answer to the same shareholders and they know another Trek film is risky. Maybe this will finally get beyond a script this time but no one will be convinced until they start shooting the thing.

Rehashing old fandom letter campaign complaints from 40 years ago, don’t equate to the modern sci-fi fan, let alone the majority of Star Trek fans of 2024. The majority of complaints in the article comments are that there isn’t enough new future timeline Star Trek, so why would people NOT want a Star Fleet Academy series – new stories, new characters, new ships, new alien species/planets etc? An Origin movie is a vague enough description that it’s probably likely that the fandom can’t come anywhere close to a correct theory on when in the Trek timeline, this movie could be set.

I agreed with a commenter earlier, a George Kirk prequel movie would satisfy a lot of the fans, and hopefully generate enough interest for new and casual Star Trek moviegoers to warrant their going to a cinema complex. As to want the hardcore Star Trek fandom really want? There is too much dissent and bitter recriminations gone by, for any serious agreement by the fandom of their requirements, to stick for any longer than the next Trek major media article to be issued. And even if a majority agreement could be achieved – then we have the Mount Everest of EP Alex Kurtzman / Secret Hideout control of Trek production, to climb. A movie or series could have a billion-dollar budget, stellar A-list cast and crew, critical media acclaim for the story / screenplay. A favourable release timing and viral marketing, but fall at the last hurdle – the box office, due to the mountain of hate piled up against Paramount, Kurzman and his associates.

Now, as to the overall custodianship of the Trek franchise and its operation as a business, in general by Paramount, and its contracted creatives? Well, that’s a whole Hollywood chapter in itself. And is any of that even relevant in the long term, with the behind-the-scenes Harry Potter Wizard chess moves that are going on at the studio ownership, and network controlling interest levels? Apologies for the extended and extensive reply.

The first thing to do in order make a successful Star Trek movie is to ignore Star Trek fans.

God, please, no origin stories.

Star Trek: The Beginning, Part 1 — A Final Frontier Origin Story

Star Trek has always been a production dealing with many human issues pushing open the veils of awkwardness, embarrassment, and unaddressed behaviors that represent our culture planet wide. Thank You Star Trek. The one thing Paramount+ did that was just totally in bad taste was cancel Prodigy, bunch of morons.

Every fan’s preferences are different, but over the years I’ve ended up streamlining various ‘franchises’ I enjoy to my own liking when it comes to a re-watch – and these days my own limited Star Trek ‘canon’ purely consists of kicking things off with ‘The Cage’ pilot storyline….followed by my specific favourite TOS episodes in ‘production order’ (starting with ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before’, and skipping ‘The Menagerie’ two-part storyline)….followed by all the TOS movie storylines….and ending the Kirk crew’s adventures with ‘The Undiscovered Country’ as my preferred send-off for them all….then skip the antics of the ‘Generations’ movie, and instead continue on with my specific favourite TNG episodes (starting with the ‘Encounter At Farpoint’ introduction to Picard and his crew)….and then conclude the entire thing with the ‘First Contact’ movie’s storyline – which covers the development of ‘warp drive’, bringing everything full circle, and giving me all the ‘origin’ specifics I need..

All other ‘Trek-related shows and movies since then remain firmly on my ‘one-watch-only’ list, but I’m more than content with what I’ve outlined above.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get a ‘Star Trek’ movie which goes much deeper than glossy ‘pew-pew’ action and explosions in the future, but I remain hopeful.there might be a storyline that I really like again.

In the meantime, for my latest ‘alien contact’ fix, I’ve just finished up enjoying the excellent ‘Three-Body’ show’s inventive storyline and characters – the subtitled, 30-episode one produced by Tencent, which is currently available on YouTube and Amazon Prime (not the muddled 8-episode ‘3 Body Problem’ version by Netflix) – So much so, that I’m intending to buy the actual trilogy of books by the Chinese author, as I can’t wait for the next season to be made to find out what happens next. Some big ideas to come by all accounts, and I’m there for a bit more of that. .

The Netflix series is Superior

You’re welcome to your own preference of course.

But I far preferred the slow burn of the mystery and character build-ups in the Tencent version compared to the condensed and altered Netflix adaption. I just happen to find it a more satisfying and riveting version overall – and I will always prefer the way the ‘Judgment Day’ tanker got ‘nano-spliced’ in the Tencent version. Such an awesome sequence from start to finish!

Anyway, if the Netflix version actually gets a second season, I’ll certainly check it out too….but I am definitely looking forward to the next season of the Tencent show, which has been greenlit already.

The Tencent version is just boring to me and you can feel the Party’s hands all over it. Glad you liked it though.

I did indeed like it. A lot. I hadn’t read the books as I said, so didn’t know what to expect. Having read up on a few things since watching both shows, it seems that that there’s plenty of others that much prefer the slower build-up of the Tencent version too.

While it doesn’t include the likes of the brutal Netflix show’s opening, the hardship that the main female character endured was covered sufficiently for me throughout the show, and I’m just glad that I got to know her story by watching this version first.

And I sure didn’t miss the amount of unnecessary swearing that the Netflix version included either, which gave the Tencent version additional points. I don’t appreciate it my ‘Star Trek’ viewing, and I didn’t need it in the telling of this memorable sci-fi tale either.

And just to add, that even better for me is the fact that there’s now been a 26-episode ‘Anniversary Edition’ version of the Tencent show released, which has been re-edited by the director.

It seemingly cuts down on some ‘filler’ run-time that was added for the sake of the show’s producers initially, so that things will follow the original book’s contents even more closely now, and improve on the pacing of the show overall. I’m very pleased about that.

Whats so bad about swearing? The human race has been swearing since language was invented and we’ll be swearing 10,000 years from now.

Again, it’s just a personal preference thing.

There’s plenty of hard-edged movies and shows that contain wall-to-wall swearing which I can watch if I’m in the mood for them. But other times I’m equally inclined to watch something with less harsh language throughout.

I really disliked the F-bombs which the ‘Picard’ show included for instance, and didn’t think the ‘Star Trek’ franchise was the better for it. And I doubt that I would have enjoyed the Tencent ‘Three-Body’ adaption any better if it had contained bad language too.

Anyway, back to this supposed ‘Star Trek origin movie. I’d like to think it won’t be littered with F-bombs either.

PG13 are allowed 1 f bomb (like Guardians 3 I finally saw other night). And Trek is very comfortable to f bombs in Picard etc so safe to say we’ll be getting Treks first movie f bomb next film :)

Data said “Oh $hit” in Generations.

Which was very mild compared to what we heard in ‘Picard” Not that I would wish to show my younger family members the ‘Picard’ show anyway, considering it turned out to be so dire overall.

However, Data’s reaction was hilarious in that scene’s context I recall. Just a pity the rest of the movie was such a dud, and not part of my own ‘Star Trek’ canon anymore.

I’ll always wonder what the Tarantino script would have given us….

we don’t need origin stories for everything! in media res is the way to go – almost always – TOS just dumps you right in the middle of events without even the clunky intros of TNG Encounter at Farpoint.

If this movie does well will IT get an origin story? We’re going to end up at the pool of goo at the dawn of humankind waiting for Picard and Q to show up…

im happy with any good trek news… even if they made a direct sequel to the final frontier… but how many origin stories do we need? i’d be happy if someone forged a path forward and created new things…

So this one is set in the five-minute period between Enterprise and Discovery? Or the as-yet unexplored time between April 5th 2063 and Enterprise where it’s “stone knives and bear skins” and no Trek tech to speak of? Enterprise was the prequel! How’d that one work out?

If the movie is made ,I will judge it then.

I wanted the 4th Kelvin, do they know who their audience is? Nobody i know, Star Trek fan or general audience bothered to go see Beyond. It was like Nemesis all over again. The trailer was terrible, the movie was kind of meh to be honest. So in the intervening years since the 2009 somewhere they lost the audience. Star Trek 2009 was an event movie, and 2015 Force Awakens was as well. Good job letting JJ go to Disney so Star Trek died as a film series.

I’m guessing the fourth movie is still too costly to risk making another one at least right now.

Someone threw out an an interesting theory on the last thread discussing this for the 47th time that they suggested Paramount have no plans to actually make another Kelvin movie but just as a rouse for the next company that buys the studio.

It really makes sense at this point, they can dangle the idea the movie is in ‘development’ and then when someone actually buys it they can just decide to make it or cancel it.

I mean it doesn’t sound crazy considering where we are. It’s a movie that is working with their fourth new writer but there is still no director or even a starting date of any kind within the the next two years.

Them you have this origin movie that was just announced a few months ago and that’s already scheduled to come out next year. My guess is it will probably cost half of what another Kelvin movie would be. But yeah who knows if that will get made either, but it has a better chance than a Kelvin movie.

Ikr, Beyond totally killed interest the series , the Fast Furious teaser trailer was bad, the second trailer gave away the twist, the audience (who cared about that stuff) knew JJ had crossed over to SW (which gave the behemoth of SW7 even more publicity, making ST feel less an event), there was no hook for fans or even general moviegoers like there was for ST09/ID (like if Shatner had returned or the Borg being the villain again) and nothing ‘big’ happening in the canon like the previous ones (Orcis ST3 had the timeline under threat of being wiped out, which would’ve been a huge deal) the eventual movie was kind of meh as you say and was just abit nerdy and Insurrection looking (like it was for hard core fans only).

At the time i had some friends (some who were casual Trek fans, and some even disliked Trek) who thought 09/ID were awesome and they didn’t even bother to see Beyond bc of the trailers and the general vibe (its like it felt like abit of a turkey, like other big sequels/remakes that summer, Ghostbusters, Independence Day 2 etc, )

I actually agree with all of this and I personally think Beyond was the best of the three.

But you’re right, there was really no hook for the movie and that first trailer was just awful. It almost kept me away from watching it.

But the biggest problem is the new fans just lost interest by then. I always bring up the fact I had three friends who had never seen Star Trek before went to go see the first film and generally loved it. I thought it was truly bad but fine for a brainless action movie.

But by the time Beyond showed up all three had zero interest in the franchise by that point. They just stopped caring. I remember asking one of them that saw the first two movies in the theater if he planned to watch Beyond and his response was no because now Star Wars was back and he rather just watch that. And he thought it looked boring.

That’s the entire problem trying to get new fans onboard and a lot of them were like my friends who just saw these movies as another summer action movie but nothing beyond that. They never cared about the franchise itself and so it was very easy to move on when the next shiny toy showed up.

That’s exactly why I don’t see another one doing all that well because to newbies it’s still Star Trek and it’s not cool enough to fully get into and will probably bomb again unless the budget is just super low.

I watched Guardians Vol 3 the other night on dvd and it (and previous 2) kind of felt the same as Beyond abit , the look, the vibe, the action, set pieces, the humour, the rock songs etc . so really with Guardians (that Beyond tried to ape), along with the return of SW, Trek 3 had no chance with casual movie goers who would just consider it Guardians/SW lite , (between the generational event of SW7 and the next GOTG vol 2) .. Even more reason to have gone with Orci’s more ‘star trek’ version of ST3 featuring Shatner

I can’t name anyone who actually wants an origin movie. By the way, didn’t we get that one with First Contact already anyway?

It’s not up to you or anyone you pretend to know.

Another prequel? This is getting ridiculous now. Remember when Star Trek used to go forwards? Enough already!

Kurtzman said he didn’t have the authority to greenlight legacy. I wonder if that will be like Bennet’s academy years and never happen.

18 months is not enough time for a movie of this size unless this is ready to shoot in july.

The JJ-verse is an aberration no one is particularly a fan of. There is no one who wants to how that mess started. It’s done nothing but foul everything that went before, leaving ST-ENT, of all things, as the only remaining official classic canon. Bugger that.

I need Star Trek that is hopeful, aspirational, and inspirational. 15 yrs later neither Bad Robot or Secret Hideout has done anything close to that. Sec 31 and Starfleet Academy aren’t anything viewers want. I wish they’d just stop.

lol,if you say so…

EXCLUSIVE: Former Anonymous writer of Trek 4 shares his experience

Interviewer: Hello, we are here today to talk to a former writer for the very very very (like really very) long delayed fourth Kelvin movie. With the announcement of a prequel movie being released instead and yet ANOTHER new set of writers for the next Kelvin movie, we reached out to the only person who returned our calls; a former writer from the 2023 project.

To give us an honest insight into his experience he wishes to remain anonymous. For the sake of this interview he will be simply referred to as ‘GotohellParamount’. Thank you for meeting with me today.”

GotohellParamount’: “You’re welcome.”

Interviewer: “It sounds like your experience working on the last movie didn’t end too well. How is your relationship with the studio today?”

GotohellParamount: “Bleep them in their bleeping bleepholes. I hope they all die from bleeping Ebola.”

Interviewer: ‘That’s some pretty colorful metaphors. Can I ask what happened?”

GotohellParamount: “Their bleeps that’s what. We spent a year working on that movie. We lost the director to go work for Marvel because these bleepholes kept bleeping us around. I got so frustrated I finally texted the Head Studio Guy and said ‘will you people stop bleeping around!? Get off your bleeps and let’s make a movie already!!’

Three weeks went by and I finally got a response from them. It simply read ‘K’. Bleepholes!!! By the way you’re not going to ‘bleep’ any of these words out are you?”

Interviewer: “Um…of course not. Can you tell us a little about what the movie was about?”

GotohellParamount: “The gist was a huge black ship comes from the 25th century to the 23rd century wiping out solar systems in the Federation. It was a new villain who wanted…wait for it…vengeance. That bleep was going to be bleeping awesome!!”

Interviewer: “So who was going to be the villain?”

GotohellParamount: “That’s the greatest part of it all. He was going to call himself…you ready: Kaos. JJ Abrams himself came up with that name. But then the true reveal was that he was indeed Kirk’s great great great great great great great great great great grandson from the future and came to stop Kirk from destroying his planet so he had to destroy the Federation first. We were even thinking Chris Pine can play both parts but Paramount was worried he would demand twice the salary.”

Interviewer: “I interviewed Chris Pine a few months ago and he was hoping there would be more scenes of him riding another motorcycle. Did you include that in the script?”

GotohellParamount: “Do you remember the ending of Mission Impossible 2 with the motorcycle duel? Pretty much the same ending with our movie with Kirk versus his evil grandson; except it was going to take place either on Romulus or in San Francisco. We were still figuring it out. There was even talk of it happening on a lava planet… but that would’ve ballooned the budget.

Interviewer: “Sounds very exciting. How was he going to wipe out the solar systems?”

GotohellParamount: “The ship he was on had the power to destroy stars by breaking down their fusion reactions. The FX was going to be bleeping sick.”

Interviewer: “Wait so the ship was a…Star destroyer?”

GotohellParamount: “Yep but to get around copyright issues JJ wanted to call it a Destroyer of Stars. The man is a bleeping genius I tell you.”

Interviewer: “It’s definitely a name.”

GotohellParamount: “We were so proud of the script. We gave it to JJ to read it. After he put it down, he took off his glasses put his hand on my shoulders and said ‘this is the most original Star Trek story I’ve ever read and I’ve read three of them.’ You have no idea how much that meant coming from such a visionary like him.”

Interviewer: “I’m sure you were. Was there any casting possibilities before it was shut down?”

GotohellParamount: “Was there?? We reached out to some incredible actors! Robert Downey Jr, Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy and Matt Damon. We wanted him to actually play Kirk’s evil grandson.

Interviewer: “Wait… weren’t all of them in Oppenheimer?’

GotohellParamount: “(Hard shrug)! I don’t know I haven’t seen it yet. Unfortunately Matt Damon’s agent was the only one who bothered to call us back. Apparently he always wanted to work with John Cho. Go figure? Too late now unfortunately.”

Interviewer: “Well that’s all the time we have. Thank you for your incredible and honest insight. Any thoughts on the new movie announcement or the chances either one will actually get made?”

GotohellParamount: (Laughs for three minutes). That’s it.”

Interviewer: “Thank you.’

I laugh every.single.time! 😂

Well done per usual.

Nice. Don’t forget to throw the Beastie Boys in there someplace…wouldn’t be a Kelvin film without them…

Haha correct. How I let that one slide you got me. Having an off day I guess!

This was indeed hilarious! 😂

I love how you parody JJ Abrams. He doesn’t seem to have an original bone in his body looking at both his Star Trek and Star Wars movies.

Lol nope! I still remember watching Honest Trailer for Star Trek Into Dumbness and they even showed how much that movie copied the first one lol.

The fact both movies ended back at San Francisco when your series takes place in the freaking galaxy should tell you everything wrong with these movies.

that actually sounds like a legit potential Kelvin ST4 – Kirks evil great great grandson Kaos (Matt Damon) comes back to 23rd century to kill Kirk in his big star destroyer (sorry ‘destroyer of stars’) ship! Brilliant!!

That’s the insane part, this idea could actually pass for a Kelvin movie lol.

Thank you! 😁

Coming out of my lurker mode to say this is brilliant. I laughed my bleep off!

So glad you enjoyed it my friend! 😄

I bleeping love making them lol.

Another prequel? Why can’t they come up with new material?

The Star Trek “Origin” Movie Is Finally Going Into Production

The new Star Trek prequel movie is set to be revealed on the big screen. Probably.

For 30 years — from 1979 to 2009 — the longest wait between new Star Trek feature films was seven years. And, for most of that period, from the release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) to Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), there was almost always a new Star Trek movie in theaters every two to four years. But after the wildly successful J.J. Abrams-directed reboot film in 2009, the release clip for Trek movies went from maximum warp to impulse power, to glacially slow. And now, by the time the next Star Trek movie hits theaters, it will have been about 10 years since the previous one — Star Trek Beyond — beamed into cinemas in 2016.

Since that time, for Trekkies, updates of a new Star Trek film have been very similar to the game football Lucy plays with Charlie Brown; just when a hypothetical movie sounds real, it gets snatched away. But now, there’s a glimmer of hope. Thanks to reports out of CinemaCon 2024, it looks like, the next Trek film is scheduled for release in either 2025 or 2026. But what’s it about? And will it really happen?

Star Trek 14 is “an untitled origin story”

The new “origin story” will be set before the 2009 reboot. But how many decades before?

During CinemaCon 2024, Paramount confirmed several in-development projects including a live-action GI Joe / Transformers crossover (teased in 2023’s Rise of the Beasts ), a hardcore Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live-action movie, a remake of the sci-fi thriller The Running Man (from Edgar Wright), the confirmation of an Avatar trilogy, and the assertion that a new Star Trek feature film will go into production this year, with a release date soon to follow.

Since 2016 to now, there have been at least five different attempts to make a new Star Trek film, either as timey wimey direct sequel to Beyond (“Star Trek 4”) a one-off space mobster movie (Quentin Tarantino’s script) or something else entirely (Noah Hawley and Matt Shakman’s attempts that remain undisclosed). But now, although Paramount is reportedly developing a sequel to Beyond — which would feature the reboot cast from the 2009 film one last time — the next Star Trek movie is not that sequel, but instead, as previously reported , an “origin story” that “takes place decades before the 2009 Star Trek film that rebooted the franchise.” This movie has been confirmed to be directed by Toby Haynes ( Andor, Doctor Who ) with a script from Seth Grahame-Smith ( The Lego Batman Movie , Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter) .

Wait? Wasn’t the 2009 film an “origin story?” While the answer to this question is technically a “yes,” the 2009 film (just titled Star Trek ) was also partially a time-travel sequel to the canon established in The Next Generation , and literally everything else in the Trek franchise up until that point. By saying the new prequel film takes place “decades before” the first reboot, this could hypothetically mean that the movie takes place in both the Prime and Kelvin timelines simultaneously.

TLDR: The Trek timeline diverged in the first reboot movie, beginning in the year 2233, so, a story set even a few decades before that divergence, in the 2210s or 2220s or earlier, would be consistent with all versions of Trek's future history. Presumably, the “origin story” won’t take place in the two decades between the prologue of the 2009 film (2233) and the main story (2258), because honestly, even for hardcore Trekkies that’s a big canon headache. So, sometime in the early 2200s, but before the 2230s is probably the best bet. And, even if the movie was set a bit earlier than that — say in the late 2180s or 2190s — we’d still be dealing with a very early point of Starfleet history that has never been depicted and that we know almost nothing about. Hence, if you squint — and don’t think about the prequel series Enterprise (2151-2161) too much — then yes, we’re looking at an origin story in which pretty much anything could happen.

Star Trek “origin” movie release date

One of the earliest shots of the USS Enterprise — from the 1964 Star Trek pilot episode “The Cage.” The new prequel film will likely be set half a century before this moment.

While some tweets out of CinemaCon seemed to indicate that the new Star Trek movie could hit next year in 2025 , TrekMovie confirmed that the “Untitled Star Trek Origin Story,” is on the Paramount slate for 2025 or 2026. TrekMovie also predicted that 2026 is more likely, writing, “If Paramount can move fast enough they could get the origin movie into theaters by 2026 — in time for Star Trek’s 60th anniversary.” Then again, 2025 is not impossible, it’s just cutting it a little close.

It should also be noted that the entire corporate entity of Paramount is reportedly close to a merger that would see it purchased by Skydance Media, the same production company behind the three existing J.J. Abrams-produced Star Trek reboots. If that deal is finalized soon, then, yes, this Star Trek feature film might actually happen very quickly. And if it doesn’t, there will still be plenty of new Star Trek shows streaming , not to mention the first direct-to-streaming standalone Star Trek movie, Section 31 , starring Michelle Yeoh, which will hit Paramount+ sometime later this year.

All the reboot Star Trek films (2009-2016) are currently streaming on Paramount+. The previous ten films (1979-2002) are all on Max.

• Science Fiction

The Only Major Actors Still Alive From Star Trek: The Original Series

Gene Roddenberry's celebrated sci-fi TV series "Star Trek" debuted on September 8, 1966, and it recently celebrated its 57th anniversary. Initially, "Trek" wasn't terribly popular, and it only managed to make a third season thanks to a coordinated letter-writing campaign (a campaign that Roddenberry was accused of orchestrating and encouraging himself). It wouldn't be until after "Star Trek" was canceled in 1969 that its popularity would significantly begin to grow. 

Thanks to a sweet infinite syndication deal, "Star Trek" reruns were common, and a cult began to form. By the early 1970s, the first "Trek" conventions began to appear. Naturally, conventions were a great place for the show's stars and creators to congregate and share production stories with a rising tide of obsessives. Fans were able to talk to and get autographs from William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, Majel Barrett, Walter Koenig, George Takei, James Doohan, and Grace Lee Whitney, as well as many of the show's more supporting players. 

Many decades have passed, but the surviving "Star Trek" cast members, now in their 80s and 90s, still appear at conventions to share details of their now-long and storied careers. Over 57 years ago, they were at the start of a phenomenon; none of them could have likely predicted just what a massive impact "Star Trek" would have on the pop culture landscape. Three members of the original "Star Trek" cast appeared at Creation Entertainment's 57-Year Mission convention in Las Vegas, and one of them is already confirmed for the 2024 con  next August. 

If you're eager to get an autograph or merely to hear an amusing anecdote from across many decades of interaction with the "Trek" franchise at large, the following surviving actors will still happily oblige.

William Shatner

In March of 2023, Shatner, who played the resolute Captain Kirk on "Star Trek," turned 92, yet he still makes convention appearances. Stories have been told throughout Trekkie-dom that Shatner can occasionally be spiky at cons, but has clearly embraced them, even going so far as to say that fans are the future  of anything so deeply beloved as "Star Trek." Indeed, in many cases, fans care more about carrying on the legacy of a show than the studios; in many ways, Trekkies take the show more seriously than the people who make it.

Shatner has, of course, had a textured career. Some of his earlier films include adaptations of "The Brothers Karamozov" (in which he played Alexey) and "Oedipus the King" (in which he played a masked member of the chorus), as well as genre films like "The Intruder" and "Incubus." Although Shatner is best known for "Trek" — a common side-effect for most any actor who appeared on any "Star Trek" show — he forged an interesting acting career beyond ii. He appeared in the hit cop show "T.J. Hooker," and appeared in spoof films like "Airplane II: The Sequel" and "National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1." He released several notorious albums of speak-singing, and directed several documentaries about "Star Trek," including "The Captains" and "Chaos on the Bridge." 

Shatner also authored several "Star Trek" novels and even launched his own modestly successful sci-fi book series with "TekWar" (ghost-written by Ron Goulart) in 1989. He won two Emmys in 2004 and 2005 for his role as Denny Crane in "The Practice" and "Boston Legal." He's also an equestrian enthusiast and has won a few horseback riding awards. Shatner is spry for 92.

George Takei

In 2019, George Takei , who played the practical and intelligent Hikaru Sulu on "Star Trek," authored a graphic novel all about his childhood experiences of being rounded up and imprisoned in a Japanese internment camp during World War II. Takei was born in Los Angeles in 1937 (he's the only main cast member from the original show who is an L.A. native), and recalls being held against his will by the U.S. government as a child. It may have been that experience that made Takei as political as he is. In the early 1970s, after "Star Trek," Takei ran for a set on the Los Angeles City Council, and served as an alternate delegate at the 1972 Democratic National Convention. At conventions, Takei has spoken at length about his beliefs in civic infrastructure, encouraging L.A. to improve its long-beleaguered public transportation.

Takei came out as gay in 2005, revealing that he had been with his long-term partner, Brad Altman, for the last 18 years. He and Altman married in 2008, one of the first same-sex couples to be granted a marriage license in West Hollywood, California. Takei has been an outspoken queer rights activist ever since, raising money for charities and speaking at charity events regularly. He makes appearances at fan conventions on the regular. 

As an actor, Takei began reading English-language dubs for imported Toho monster movies prior to "Star Trek." He also starred in movies like "The Green Berets" and "Mulan." On TV, Takei guest-starred on many, many programs, including a notable regular role on the hit show "Heroes." His deep voice also afforded him an opportunity to regularly contribute to dozens of animated programs, most recently in Max's "Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai."

Walter Koenig

There were rumors circulating through the Trekkie community for years that Walter Koenig was hired to appear on the second season of "Star Trek" because the then-30-year-old actor looked an awful lot like Davy Jones from "The Monkees." This wasn't the case, but Koenig provided a youthful, heartthrob quality with his character, Pavel Chekov. His character was Russian, a notable character decision to make in the mid-1960s as the U.S. was still embroiled deeply in the Cold War. Chekov was a symbol that peace would eventually come. Koenig was never anything less than 100% committed, and reacted to extreme sci-fi scenarios with fire and aplomb. 

In the early '60s, the actor worked his way through smaller roles in multiple well-known TV series like "Mr. Novak," "Gidget," and "I Spy" before joining "Star Trek" in its second season. After, he continued apace, working on TV regularly, eventually landing a recurring role on a second beloved sci-fi series  "Babylon 5." He has also stayed a part of "Star Trek" up until the present, having provided a voice cameo in the most recent season of "Star Trek: Picard," as well as reprising his role as Chekov in the semi-professional and well-respected fan series "Star Trek: New Voyages." He's also dabbled in many amusing B-movies like "Mad Cowgirl" and "Scream of the Bikini," as well as animated shows like "Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters."

Additionally, Koenig has served as an advocate for civil rights in Burma, having visited refugee camps there. Koenig still appears at conventions, happy to talk about his various projects and acting endeavors. Just please, whatever you do, don't ask him to say "nuclear wessels." The man just turned 87. He deserves a break from that. 

Star Trek's origin film officially announced; Here's everything we know so far

S tar Trek's origin film has formally been announced by Paramount Pictures. The film, which will apparently tell the story of the Federations' founding and explore more of the franchise's early depths, is set for a 2025 release date. More than likely in the third or fourth quarter (summer or winter).

This film is not to be confused with Chris Pine's Star Trek 4, which continues to remain in a gestation period, though there is a concerted effort to get the film out now more than ever. This film is a prequel of sorts, but while it's being suggested it's a prequel for the main timeline, it may be more in line with the Kelvin Timeline.

We've heard different reports on the matter, but this does seem to be a prequel to the 2009 film, though this is all speculation until more information comes out. It may be a film that seeks to combine the two series into a singular point in time, but that's anyone's guess at this time and if that's the case, it won't predate the adventures of Jonathan Archer.

That's speculation; what do we know? Until something changes, we know that this is not a remake of a prior Star Trek story, like Pine's Star Trek, aka the Kelvin Timeline, was. This is supposedly a brand new, and original story. Even if it's set in the Kelvin Timeline, it'll still be its own story, not borrowing elements from a previously established Star Trek plot.

We know that Star Wars: Andor writer Toby Haynes is going to direct the project, with Seth Grahame-Smith of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter will write the script. We also know that there is no formal title yet for the project, and no cast announced just yet.

And while there is no release date beyond 2025, we do know that the project will begin in earnest soon, at some point in 2024. An exact time period has not yet been announced.

This article was originally published on redshirtsalwaysdie.com as Star Trek's origin film officially announced; Here's everything we know so far .

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

When an alien spacecraft of enormous power is spotted approaching Earth, Admiral James T. Kirk resumes command of the overhauled USS Enterprise in order to intercept it. When an alien spacecraft of enormous power is spotted approaching Earth, Admiral James T. Kirk resumes command of the overhauled USS Enterprise in order to intercept it. When an alien spacecraft of enormous power is spotted approaching Earth, Admiral James T. Kirk resumes command of the overhauled USS Enterprise in order to intercept it.

• Robert Wise
• Gene Roddenberry
• Harold Livingston
• Alan Dean Foster
• William Shatner
• Leonard Nimoy
• DeForest Kelley
• 581 User reviews
• 121 Critic reviews
• 50 Metascore
• 4 wins & 21 nominations total

• Captain Kirk

• Janice Rand

• Klingon Captain

• Epsilon Technician
• Airlock Technician

• Commander Branch

• Assistant to Rand
• (as John D. Gowans)
• Cargo Deck Ensign
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia When Captain Kirk addresses the crew before launching, many of the extras were noted Star Trek fans, including Bjo Trimble , co-organizer of the letter-writing campaign that kept Star Trek (1966) alive for a third season.
• Goofs When Kirk first comes on board Enterprise he is called "Admiral," and then "Captain" a few seconds later. However, it is customary for the person in command of a ship to be addressed as "Captain," regardless of his military rank.

[last lines]

Chief DiFalco : Heading, sir?

Captain James T. Kirk : Out there... thataway.

• Crazy credits End title: "The human adventure is just beginning."
• The landscape of Vulcan was changed to include a yellowish sky and new landscape featuring massive statues. All other footage was tinted gold.
• The matte painting of the Golden Gate Bridge in the scene where Kirk arrives at Starfleet Headquarters was replaced by a new CGI scene that shows Kirk's shuttle arriving at Starfleet. It is actually slightly longer than the original version.
• The matte painting of Starfleet Command was improved with CGI effects, including an original series shuttle launched in the background.
• In a close-up shot when Kirk first sees the new Enterprise from his shuttle, the image of the ship was superimposed over Kirk's face as a reflection in the shuttle's window.
• After Kirk leaves the bridge, a short conversation between Sulu, Uhura and an alien officer was inserted.**
• A new CGI shot of the Earth is shown on the viewscreen when the Enterprise leaves the planet.
• A new CGI effect showing one of the Enterprise's nacelles was inserted into the window when Kirk, Spock and McCoy speak on the observation deck.
• A new CGI shot was inserted which shows V'Ger's second energy torpedo vanishing before it could strike the Enterprise.
• The energy probe that invades the bridge now approaches in a CGI exterior shot.
• A new CGI shot shows the V'Ger vessel entering Earth orbit.
• The scene in which Chekov burns his hand is much longer and shows Lt. Ilia healing him with her empathic powers instead of Nurse Chapel.**
• The long walk to V'Ger was totally redone. There is now a walkway that materializes out of thin air, compared to the endless field in the original version.
• The Enterprise's voyage to the center of V'Ger is slightly extended. It has a scene of Spock sharing a tear "for V'Ger" and Scotty ordered to self-destruct the ship if the landing party is unsuccessful.**
• The small black "empty matte" in the window when Decker and Ilia confront each other in the recreation deck was replaced with a CGI shot of the V'Ger cloud interior.
• The final explosion of V'Ger was slightly extended. The shot from the original version remained intact, but a new element of the vessel imploding its energy for the explosion was added.
• New opening titles were commissioned for the film's opening. The opening titles now have a slight fading effect and are now seen over a background of stars. The text is colored a bright gold, compared to the original version's white.
• The explosion in the wormhole was redone. There is now an exterior shot of the asteroid exploding and the wormhole disintegrating. Additionally, the viewfinder in the next shot is enhanced to show sparks and debris.
• The final message to the audience, "The human adventure is just beginning", was altered. In the original version, the starfield cuts away to a blank title card showing the text. In the Director's Edition, the starfield was extended by a few seconds to allow the text, colored bright gold, to fade into the picture.
• The ending credits were slightly altered. The text, as with the opening titles and the final "human adventure" text, was changed color, from white to a bright gold. Additionally, the music was slightly extended to add new Director's Edition credits.
• An all-new sound mix was commissioned, keeping the music and dialog intact, and adding new effects for almost all scenes. For example, the Enterprise computer voice alarms are now replaced with klaxon sirens, the lightning effects have new echoes, and a blend of Enterprise bridge sound effects from the original Star Trek series, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country have been added into the background of scenes taking place on the bridge. The new mix is in Dolby 5.1 EX Surround.
• The footage from 1979 was digitally restored and remastered, and combined with the new CGI elements.
• The opening overture has been restored to its full length. It is also played over a CGI starfield, rather than the blank screen in the original version.
• A slight dialog alteration was made: In the 1979 and 1983 versions, the V'Ger cloud is said to be "over 82 AUs in diameter" which equals 7.626 billion miles across - much too large for the Enterprise to realistically travel to the heart of the cloud at subwarp speeds within a reasonable length of time. For the Director's Edition, the Epsilon 9 commander's dialog was altered so that the cloud is now said to be a (somewhat) more reasonable "over 2 AUs", or 186 million miles.
• The producers of the Director's Edition submitted the film for re-rating by the MPAA, hoping for a PG rating rather than the original G rating which they believed carried a negative association; the basis for the higher rating was the intensified soundtrack. Oddly, when the original theatrical version was released on DVD and Blu-ray in 2009, it carried no MPAA rating.
• Scenes previously available in the "special longer version."
• Connections Edited into Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
• Soundtracks Theme from 'Star Trek: The television Series' Written by Alexander Courage and Gene Roddenberry

User reviews 581

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• Nov 20, 2021
• How long is Star Trek: The Motion Picture? Powered by Alexa
• Why did V'Ger choose to take Ilia out of all the people on the Enterprise?
• Did V'Ger ever transmit its data or just join with the Creator?
• What is "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" about?
• December 8, 1979 (United States)
• United States
• Startrek.com
• Star Trek I: The Motion Picture
• Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA (portions of planet Vulcan sequence filmed at Minerva Terrace)
• Paramount Pictures
• Century Associates
• Robert Wise Productions
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $35,000,000 (estimated)
• $82,604,699
• $11,926,421
• Dec 9, 1979
• $82,676,805

Technical specs

• Runtime 2 hours 23 minutes
• Dolby Stereo
• Dolby Surround 7.1

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