Pre-TMP Film Proposals

[CuttingEdge100]

From what I recall there were several plans for a Star Trek film, pre-TMP, one back in 1973 if I recall correctly. Does anybody have any idea if it even made it to the point where a story or a plot was whipped up?

If I recall, it fell through over Gene Roddenberry being rather anal about rather small amounts of money relative to the total budget, correct?

 

[NCC-73515]

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek:_Planet_of_the_Titans
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/The_God_Thing

 

[Firebird]

There's also a story idea that Jon Povill worked on with Roddenberry in early 1976 that involved a black hole, time travel, and accidentally changing history. They did a couple drafts of that outline that never went anywhere.

 

[Procutus]

^
That doesn't sound tremendously different from the plot of Planet of the Titans.

I assume that this isn't the JFK story, which I believe Gene came up with in 1980, after TMP was in theaters.

 

[TheAdmiralty]

If I recall doing another Guardian of Forever story was kicked around in the 70's along with Planet of the Titans. Which Gene picked up again and wanted to do after TMP with the JFK thing. To be honest I'm glad none of these went anywhere. Planet of the Titans always sounds like prehistoric b-movie schlock to me and doing a movie about trying to make sure the Kennedy assassination happened would have been in terribly poor taste so soon.

 

[Procutus]

^
I agree. That's one story I didn't want to see, not to mention the fact that it was basically the same plot as 'City on the Edge of Forever'.

 

[publiusr]

I think there was a very early film proposed pre-Titans.

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Undeveloped_Star_Trek_projects
https://unmadesf.wordpress.com/2015/05/12/star-trek-the-cattlemen-1973-film-proposal/

Billion Year Voyage was about an ever expanding black hole. Cattlemen perhaps had a tie to BLESS THE BEASTS AND CHILDREN? Maybe Soylent…

https://www.popmatters.com/170499-t...r-trek-films-they-almost-made-2495763533.html

Planet of the Titans essentially the end of nuBSG. The Cygnans might have been interesting…especially Maximilian

 

[mb22]

There was also a time in early 1976 when Trek was sent to the TV division and several pitches were made for scripts by various SF authors.

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Motion_Picture#Late_1967_–_June_1976:_Early_revitalization_attempts

 

[mb22]

Planet of the Titans always sounds like prehistoric b-movie schlock to me

Who knows? Philip Kaufman was not a b-movie schlock director.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

I would LOVE if Paramount would do a DC-style Elseworlds type story with Star Trek.

Maybe Planet of Titans with Chris Pine/Zachary Quinto or Paul Wesley/Ethan Peck.

Or, do an adaptation of the scripts for Phase II, with the Pilot being The God Thing

 

[Procutus]

It will never happen, but it would be cool if they somehow were able to adapt the basic storyline of PoT to fit into the framework of Strange New World. A fair amount of modification would be needed, but it would be most interesting to see.

 

[publiusr]

A glipse at early models for TMP here:

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The Klingon ships are not K'tingas...and the bridge on Enterprise looks a bit different.

 

[Therin of Andor]

If I recall doing another Guardian of Forever story was kicked around in the 70's...

Larry Alexander's "Tomorrow and the Stars" was a time-travel story for the proposed "Phase II" TV series that was very reminiscent of "The City on the Edge of Forever", "... with Kirk falling in love with a woman on Earth at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. However, this time, Kirk's passion was for a married woman, giving the romantic angle of the story a slightly edgier approach. At the start of the tale, the Enterprise returned to Earth after a devastating Klingon attack. When Kirk beamed down to Earth, a transporter malfunction turned him essentially see-through and transported him back in time to Pearl Harbor. There, Kirk faced a similar dilemma of knowing he must not take action to save the lives of thousands of people – including the woman he loved – or he would forever alter history." [Memory Alpha.]

Based on "The Apartment", an undeveloped story by Gene Roddenberry for the aborted TV series, "Genesis II".

 

[Danlav05]

Larry Alexander's "Tomorrow and the Stars" was a time-travel story for the proposed "Phase II" TV series that was very reminiscent of "The City on the Edge of Forever", "... with Kirk falling in love with a woman on Earth at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. However, this time, Kirk's passion was for a married woman, giving the romantic angle of the story a slightly edgier approach. At the start of the tale, the Enterprise returned to Earth after a devastating Klingon attack. When Kirk beamed down to Earth, a transporter malfunction turned him essentially see-through and transported him back in time to Pearl Harbor. There, Kirk faced a similar dilemma of knowing he must not take action to save the lives of thousands of people – including the woman he loved – or he would forever alter history." [Memory Alpha.]

Based on "The Apartment", an undeveloped story by Gene Roddenberry for the aborted TV series, "Genesis II".

Still better than Spock kills Kennedy! (which was only within, what, 10-15 years after the event so *pretty* close to the bone)

 

[jackoverfull]

A glipse at early models for TMP here:

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The Klingon ships are not K'tingas...and the bridge on Enterprise looks a bit different.

fascinating. Surprising to hear they definitely set it in the 23rd century in 1979: most sources say they were still going with 22nd until late into the development of TWoK.

Also…they built so many Klingon ships with “a special eye to blowupability” while on screen only three appear and never blow up? Script changes I guess…

Also surprising they showed so much of V’ger, especially the Voyager VI assembly. perhaps they didn’t care much about spoilers.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Also…they built so many Klingon ships with “a special eye to blowupability” while on screen only three appear and never blow up? Script changes I guess….

The blowing-up effects just weren't working, so they made the ship(s) get "digitized" by V'ger.

Also surprising they showed so much of V’ger, especially the Voyager VI assembly. perhaps they didn’t care much about spoilers.

Although this documentary has plenty of spoilers, it was not made for use in pre-publicity. It wasn't seen at conventions until the 1980s, when most fans had already seen TMP.

I was able to get the doco screened in Sydney, Australia, for a convention (Medtrek II, 10-11th March, 1984) attended by Bjo Trimble. Gene Roddenberry lent her his own copy to bring us this special treat.

 

[publiusr]

Those non-Ktinga D-7s looked a bit taller.

Molds still around...Brick Price?

 

[SidneyIsTheKiller]

Everytime I try to read a synopsis of Planet of the Titans it always sounds like the biggest mess of random gobbledygook, and I'm thinking it might be because whoever is recounting the story is trying to give as many details as possible and since we probably know more info about some parts than others it ends up throwing off the whole plot structure. Like I can never tell where the main plot actually "begins." Or ends, for that matter... does the crew ever actually make it back home? It feels like a story that consists entirely of prologues. I have to believe reading the script proper is much more coherent, but who knows!

 

[Ssosmcin]

Those early ideas were so top heavy with "Event." They couldn't just make it an adventure, it had to be some reality/time/universe twisting major crisis to fill a giant screen.

Then, ever the Big Event movie doesn't impress the masses, Harve Bennett comes on board and makes a larger-budget TV movie and it's hailed as the best film in the series.

 

[STEPhon IT]

Those early ideas were so top heavy with "Event." They couldn't just make it an adventure, it had to be some reality/time/universe twisting major crisis to fill a giant screen.

Then, ever the Big Event movie doesn't impress the masses, Harve Bennett comes on board and makes a larger-budget TV movie and it's hailed as the best film in the series.

Star Trek II had a good movie budget, it wasn't as overly budgeted like Robert Wise's film, but I understand what your meaning.