What the hell is going on with the “Star Trek” franchise? On the one hand, you have the CBS All Access arm of the sci-fi franchise, with multiple TV series that are apparently big hits for the streamer. Then on the film side, there’s…well, nothing. After “Star Trek Beyond” failed to excite audiences, even though it was pretty well-reviewed, Paramount has seemingly given up for now. And that means the much-discussed Noah Hawley “Star Trek” film is on hold. But in a new interview, Hawley opens up about the project and what separates it from all the other things Paramount is doing with the franchise, both in film and on TV.
Noah Hawley’s involvement with “Star Trek” dates back to a time when Paramount was seemingly simultaneously working on a true “Star Trek 4” (which has its own issues), a spinoff conceived by Quentin Tarantino, and Hawley’s version that had the best shot at moving forward. Speaking to Variety, Hawley discussed his film and how it would have had strong connections to the franchise, even if it didn’t feature the characters people know and love.
“We’re not doing Kirk and we’re not doing Picard,” he explained. “It’s a start from scratch that then allows us to do what we did with ‘Fargo,’ where for the first three hours you go, ‘Oh, it really has nothing to do with the movie,’ and then you find the money. So you reward the audience with a thing that they love.”
It’s interesting that Paramount is seemingly starting from scratch with a new vision of “Star Trek” on the big screen after a most recent announcement. You would think that maybe Hawley’s film (which he had already finished a script for and had begun preliminary work on), could have been that fresh start, especially given how the filmmaker describes it. Alas, it doesn’t appear that it’s happening. Right now, at least.
So, once again, we’re left wondering what Paramount is doing with the franchise? We know that the TV side is firing on all cylinders, but when will we ever see “Star Trek” on the big screen? At this rate, don’t hold your breath for anything happening soon.
