Obviously not George Lucas, but who else would have done our franchise a service, and who would have done her a disservice by sitting in the chair? Roger Corman, Spielberg, Robert Altman, Kubrick, George Roy Hill, Richard Donner or others as suggestions.
Who should have directed TMP if Robert Wise hadn't been available?
- Thread starter The Salt Umpire
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Kubrick would have insisted V'ger have the dimensions 1:4:9
Kubrick, Spielberg, Altman, Hill, and Donner were all busy with other films during the same period.
Kubrick was at the point in his career where he wouldn't have done a director-for-hire gig regardless. He had a long-term deal with Warners that gave him carte blanche with his pictures.
Corman would never have been seriously considered for a marquee production like Star Trek.
I could see Richard Fleischer getting the nod. He had science fiction experience in his background (Fantastic Voyage) and was available around the same time Wise was when Paramount hired him. Fleischer didn't have a project on his slate until he was brought on to replace Richard C. Sarafian on Ashanti in April 1978.
Kubrick was at the point in his career where he wouldn't have done a director-for-hire gig regardless. He had a long-term deal with Warners that gave him carte blanche with his pictures.
Corman would never have been seriously considered for a marquee production like Star Trek.
I could see Richard Fleischer getting the nod. He had science fiction experience in his background (Fantastic Voyage) and was available around the same time Wise was when Paramount hired him. Fleischer didn't have a project on his slate until he was brought on to replace Richard C. Sarafian on Ashanti in April 1978.
I enjoyed Fantastic Voyage (and the other SF films from that time like The Andromeda Strain and Planet of the Apes which played on TV routinely) and he didn't let stuff drag too much. I do wonder if he would have given TMP a paranoid and dark feeling judging by the opening scenes of FV which felt furitive and secretive. He sure could film sfx, tho.
I'm curious as to how Doug Trumbull would've handled the entire film. Most of the folks I could imagine being involved, yes, had other projects going... Nick Meyer, Ridley Scott, Richard Donner... all of them had films out that year. Fleisher would have been an interesting choice, too. '70s cinema was such a 'whole other vibe' that it's hard to reconcile what I know of the best directors of that decade, and them taking a Trek project on... especially the first film.
