Another movie that will never get made is announced!

[Saul]

Ok, just listened to that Inglorious Treksperts podcast and the precise rumour it that it is called Star Trek: The Beginning, and it is a prequel involving the Romulans, but it is not related to the Jendresen script. Supposedly it's set right after First Contact.

Interesting. I remember there were rumors even before JJ Abrams came on board with his reboot idea that there was a movie planned to be supposedly set after First Contact which would involve a character (I think it was Spock) coming back from the future.

 

[Phily B]

I don't know why it would be so hard for them to get a lower budget affair Trek movie off the ground rather than another action adventure movie especially with how movies. Both Prometheus and Covenant had budgets in the 100m range while feeling and looking like a Trek movie should. I'm not sure I want a war movie.

Just seems another example of a lack of vision and chasing something that people are already starting to get bored of.

 

[Tomalak]

I imagine any film with the Chris Pine cast can't be made on the cheap due to their salaries. We know Chris Hemsworth essentially was priced out of Star Trek 4.

This may be why the attention recently has switched to other projects with new, cheaper casts.

 

[Timofnine]

Interesting. I remember there were rumors even before JJ Abrams came on board with his reboot idea that there was a movie planned to be supposedly set after First Contact which would involve a character (I think it was Spock) coming back from the future.

Perhaps they are rebooting this Enterprise episode as a JJ-movie with the JJ-cast as Mirror versions of themselves?

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If the movie is set shortly after First Contact, then perhaps James Cromwell will also come back to reprise his role? Alfre Woodard may also be available.

 

[El Maestro]

Ok, just listened to that Inglorious Treksperts podcast and the precise rumour it that it is called Star Trek: The Beginning, and it is a prequel involving the Romulans, but it is not related to the Jendresen script. Supposedly it's set right after First Contact.

I know that for a very long time (decades!) some Trek fans have been asking for a Romulan war story but this situation SCREAMS "be careful what you wish for" if that is what this ends up being.

 

[Phily B]

I imagine any film with the Chris Pine cast can't me made on the cheap due to their salaries. We know Chris Hemsworth essentially was priced out of Star Trek 4.

This may be why the attention recently has switched to other projects with new, cheaper casts.

He did that D&D movie which was RELATIVELY low budget (150m). But yeah, the problem is the salary of the 09 cast at this point.

 

[Timofnine]

I know that for a very long time (decades!) some Trek fans have been asking for a Romulan war story but this situation SCREAMS "be careful what you wish for" if that is what this ends up being.

Would it not be confusing to the audience to have the new film based on the Romulan Wars considering that JJ Abram’s established the destruction of Romulus in the future? Unless Abram’s would like to link the two things together? Perhaps the first Earth/Romulan war was started by a faction in the Temporal War, a faction which also eventually cause the destruction of Romulus in the 2380s? I have always firmly believed that the destruction of Romulus was part of the the Temporal War, the destruction has never been explained satisfactorily on screen and I do not believe that the supernova was a natural event. I did think that Dal and the gang would be able to prevent the destruction of Romulus on Prodigy as that seemed to be where they were going at one point, but maybe JJ Abram’s wants to do it himself and bookend his movies?

 

[James Cole]

I don't know why it would be so hard for them to get a lower budget affair Trek movie off the ground rather than another action adventure movie especially with how movies. Both Prometheus and Covenant had budgets in the 100m range while feeling and looking like a Trek movie should. I'm not sure I want a war movie.

Just seems another example of a lack of vision and chasing something that people are already starting to get bored of.

I think it comes down to Bad Robot wanting a big upfront production fee. It took all their Warner Bros projects drying up for them to come down in price and be willing to work with more modest budgets.

I did think that Dal and the gang would be able to prevent the destruction of Romulus on Prodigy as that seemed to be where they were going at one point, but maybe JJ Abram’s wants to do it himself and bookend his movies?

I think PRODIGY season 2 will continue season 1's efforts in trying to clean up some of the messiness introduced by PICARD season 1 regarding the 2380s.

 

[El Maestro]

Would it not be confusing to the audience to have the new film based on the Romulan Wars considering that JJ Abram’s established the destruction of Romulus in the future? Unless Abram’s would like to link the two things together? Perhaps the first Earth/Romulan war was started by a faction in the Temporal War, a faction which also eventually cause the destruction of Romulus in the 2380s? I have always firmly believed that the destruction of Romulus was part of the the Temporal War, the destruction has never been explained satisfactorily on screen and I do not believe that the supernova was a natural event. I did think that Dal and the gang would be able to prevent the destruction of Romulus on Prodigy as that seemed to be where they were going at one point, but maybe JJ Abram’s wants to do it himself and bookend his movies?

There is potential for this to redeem the Temporal Cold War arc on ENT that was always kind of blah and full of wasted potential. It could really work in a fun an interesting way if it was all tied together in a way like you
describe here but it is also complicated and would need a delicate/deft hand to do it in a way that would make for a good movie and nothing about they way Hollywood currently works, especially at Paramount, suggests to me that this would be well-executed.

 

[WarpFactorZ]

Odd phrasing, but it also makes it something that could be in the prime universe. A gritty Romulan war movie could work.

"Could be" in the prime universe? By definition, it IS in the prime universe.

Colour me skeptical that this will ever move beyond development hell.

 

[CorporalClegg]

You said it. This movie is as likely to happen as Star Trek 4 and the Picard movie. They just want to look impressive for rich people with no actual clue.

The only Star Trek movie that will be made? The Paramount+ TV movie starring Georgiou.

Prove me wrong, Paramount.

Yup. This is entirely about the pending sale.

*I will further add that this news only days after the big news about Cruise's big contract with WB aren't necessarily unrelated.

 

[fireproof78]

Would it not be confusing to the audience to have the new film based on the Romulan Wars considering that JJ Abram’s established the destruction of Romulus in the future?

No.

The audience is not stupid and studios would do well to remember that fact.

If my mom can figure out that George Kirk on the USS KELVIN is not the Captain Kirk from TOS, and she hates science fiction, then the person likely to watch this movie can figure out "Oh, Romulus still exists in the past."

I did think that Dal and the gang would be able to prevent the destruction of Romulus on Prodigy as that seemed to be where they were going at one point,

Based upon what?

And what is with this assumption that Romulus needs to be kept from being destroyed? Where were all the Romulan fan boys back during the TNG era? Geez. Destroy the planet and suddenly people care.

 

[mattman8907]

No.

The audience is not stupid and studios would do well to remember that fact.

If my mom can figure out that George Kirk on the USS KELVIN is not the Captain Kirk from TOS, and she hates science fiction, then the person likely to watch this movie can figure out "Oh, Romulus still exists in the past..

I'm reminded of what Ben Browder (Cameron Mitchell) said in the 200th episode of Stargate SG-1 and I have always kept it to heart.

"Never underestimate your audience. They're generally sensitive, intelligent people who respond positively to quality entertainment."

 

[Cr0sis21]

Hrm. Remember what I said in other threads about my fear that they will keep moving backwards, not forward?

 

[Tomalak]

He did that D&D movie which was RELATIVELY low budget (150m). But yeah, the problem is the salary of the 09 cast at this point.

Yeah, if it was just Pine it wouldn't be a problem, but you've got to get the other five or what's the point?

Although to be fair Pine is the one literally saying to do it for less money and aim it at the existing audience rather than chase a Marvel blockbuster audience that simply doesn't exist.

I suspect he's realistic and Paramount could negotiate on that basis for the right script, but again you've got to get the others too. And they won't lower their demands to get the film made if the studio is just going to pocket the difference, and nor should they.

 

[Timofnine]

No.

The audience is not stupid and studios would do well to remember that fact.

If my mom can figure out that George Kirk on the USS KELVIN is not the Captain Kirk from TOS, and she hates science fiction, then the person likely to watch this movie can figure out "Oh, Romulus still exists in the past."

Galactic politics and their shifting dynamics resulting from temporal incursions are far more complicated than knowing who is related to whom in a soap opera sense, as you describe in the case of the Kirk family. Star Trek is not a soap opera, it is a space opera… with petty drama replaced with tech and science.

How would they establish to the audience that this film is set in the past to differentiate it from the Enterprise based JJ-films? Why even market the movie as being set in the JJ-verse’s past, instead of Star Treks ‘general’ past? They could have said ‘centuries/decades before Picard’ instead to hook the newly established Matalas fan base.

Based upon what?

Well, this is a bit complicated for me to explain but I shall try to explain in layman’s terms… The Diviner infected the Protostar with the Living Construct with the help of Drednok. This was all a result of a time travel revenge plot very similar to that in the JJ-films, but in this case resulting from the destruction caused by a Prometheus class Starfleet ship appearing above the Planet Solum in the Delta Quadrant in the 2430’s, causing a civil war amongst the planets population. Though the planet was warp capable, it seems that only half of the population had access to this technology which complicated the Prime Directive. Anyway, the offer of Federation membership led to a devastating civil war amongst the inhabitants of Solum, otherwise known as the Vau N’Akat, because the divisions in their society meant that they were not ready to join the Federation. They used terrible weapons of mass destruction against each other in their internal struggle, a struggle exasperated by the complications of external influences.

This all leads to the Diviner travelling back in time to put right what once went wrong.

I will not involve Chakotay just yet.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, the Protostar traversed the Romulan Neutral Zone and as the Living Cinstruct could not be removed without destroying the ship, the only conclusion seemed to be to fly it in to the nearest sun… this sun would have likely been the Hobus star, causing a reverse cascading nuclear fission reaction, resulting in a supernova.

And what is with this assumption that Romulus needs to be kept from being destroyed? Where were all the Romulan fan boys back during the TNG era? Geez. Destroy the planet and suddenly people care.

The Romulans are not necessarily bad guys, the species originally left Vulcan as a result of a civil war. Romulan are actually *technically* as Vulcan as Vulcans. The Romulans did not agree with Surak’s teachings of logic and departed, or were otherwise encouraged to depart, their home world… this could have been a civil war of sorts, but has never been described as such on screen.

 

[fireproof78]

The Romulans are not necessarily bad guys, the species originally left Vulcan as a result of a civil war. Romulan are actually *technically* as Vulcan as Vulcans.

No. They share a common ancestry.

And doesn't answer my question...at all.

How would they establish to the audience that this film is set in the past to differentiate it from the Enterprise based JJ-films?

By telling the audience. Like, in the 09 film. Again, don't assume the audience is dumb. It's a poor look.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, the Protostar traversed the Romulan Neutral Zone and as the Living Cinstruct could not be removed without destroying the ship, the only conclusion seemed to be to fly it in to the nearest sun… this sun would have likely been the Hobus star, causing a reverse cascading nuclear fission reaction, resulting in a supernova.

Sooo...to prevent a supernova we're going to cause a supernova.

Can I just say that this sound way worse than a prequel right now?

 

[Timofnine]

No. They share a common ancestry.

And doesn't answer my question...at all.


By telling the audience. Like, in the 09 film. Again, don't assume the audience is dumb. It's a poor look.


Sooo...to prevent a supernova we're going to cause a supernova.

Can I just say that this sound way worse than a prequel right now?

But this would have made the supernova an unfortunate accident, rather than anything sinister or intentional. A sequence of unfortunate events.

 

[Grizzlor]

Feature Films are extremely expensive these days. It's not the days of budget Trek filmmaking that Harve Bennett was so great at. Everything is flush with expensive digital work. A Star Trek film is incredibly risky for Paramount, so unless they have something in the works that is a no brainer, I just don't see a film making it out of the starting gate.

 

[HotRod]

Feature Films are extremely expensive these days. It's not the days of budget Trek filmmaking that Harve Bennett was so great at. Everything is flush with expensive digital work.

Yeah, Godzilla Minus One has kinda poked a few holes in the boat of that argument. With so many box office bombs as of late, I fully expect to see studios start looking at a far less expensive way of filmmaking.