Game Night Directors Taking the Helm: New Star Trek Movie in Development
Since 2016's Star Trek Beyond, the franchise has not released any new films. Over the last nine years, the studio approached multiple directors and writers to develop a new movie, but none came to fruition. Today, the film series has new information: it appears to be rebooting.
Deadline exclusively reported that directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (Game Night, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) will write and direct the new Star Trek movie. This film will reportedly have no connection to previous films and series and will focus on new characters. Earlier this month, Variety reported that after the studio Paramount officially merged with Skydance in August of this year to form Paramount Skydance, the new leadership planned to give the series a fresh start. They have decided not to continue the film trilogy that began in 2009, which starred Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Zoe Saldaña, among others.
Star Trek has released thirteen films to date:
Original Crew (1979–1991): The first six films centered on the main cast of the Original Series, starring William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, among others.
Next Generation Crew (1994–2002): The subsequent four films focused on the main cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, starring Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes, among others.
Kelvin Timeline (2009–2016): The most recent three films were a reboot of the Original Series/films, starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Zoe Saldaña. J. J. Abrams (Star Wars sequel trilogy) served as a producer and directed the first two films (Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness), while Justin Lin directed the third (Star Trek Beyond).
Since Star Trek Beyond in 2016, the studio continuously attempted to launch a fourth film, bringing in directors like S. J. Clarkson (Madame Web), creator/director Noah Hawley (Alien: Earth), and Matt Shakman (The Fantastic Four: First Steps), but all efforts stalled. Over the last nine years, the franchise focused on streaming series, including Star Trek: Discovery and Patrick Stewart's returning series Picard. Additionally, earlier this year, they released the TV movie spin-off of Discovery, Star Trek: Section 31, starring Oscar Best Actress winner Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once).
However, many of these series have concluded in the past few years, leaving only Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (currently filming its final season) and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (set to premiere next year). Now, with the merger of Paramount and Skydance, the new leadership has laid out a new plan for the franchise. The question remains whether they will balance both ongoing series and related films, as they did decades ago, or favor one side over the other.
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Photo: Paramount+