Although Paramount Pictures originally intended on jumping straight into Star Trek 4 after 2016’s Star Trek Beyond, the studio has really struggled when it comes to getting another movie in the long-running sci-fi series off the ground and into orbit.
The original plan for the next movie was to have Chris Pine’s James T. Kirk meet up with his father George Kirk, with Thor star Chris Hemsworth reprising his role from the 2009 reboot as Kirk Sr. However, Quentin Tarantino then threw his hat into the ring with his own “Pulp Fiction in space “pitch, and when Paramount and Bad Robot failed to reach a deal with Chris and Chris the Kirk and Son concept was shelved and Fargo and Legion creator Noah Hawley was brought in for a brand new project which he described as his “own take” on the franchise.
Well, it seems that Hawley’s take has now hit a brick wall too, as THR is reporting that Paramount’s new motion picture group president Emma Watts has put his project on hold. Hawley’s script is said to deal with a lethal virus which wipes out vast parts of the universe, and so given the current climate it’s understandable why the studio is having second thoughts.
Meanwhile, in Deadline’s report on the situation with the franchise, plot details were also offered up about Tarantino’s potential project, scripted by Mark L. Smith (The Revenant), describing it as being “based on an episode of the classic Star Trek series that takes place largely earthbound in a 1930s gangster setting.”
Presumably, that refers to the season two episode ‘A Piece of the Action’, in which the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise find themselves on the planet Sigma Iotia II, a remote world which has modelled itself on the mob setting of 1920s Chicago. It is widely regarded as among the best episodes of Star Trek’s original series.
At present, it is said that Watts is looking to reassesses how the studio should handle Star Trek moving forward, and will be giving consideration to all three projects to see whether to move forward with any of the concepts.
SEE ALSO: To Boldly Go: Ranking Every Star Trek Movie From Worst To Best
What do you want to see from the next Star Trek movie? Let us know on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
