You’d think that a franchise like Star Trek would have some pretty clear sailing after two successful films released, but the third movie is proving to be troublesome. Originally Robert Orci was going to direct, but Paramount wasn’t happy with his screenplay and brought in Justin Lin instead while also assigning Simon Pegg to co-write a new screenplay. We never really knew what Paramount didn’t like about the screenplay, but thankfully Pegg is on a truth dropping frenzy and it turns out they didn’t like that it was Star Trek.
“They had a script for Star Trek that wasn’t really working for them. I think the studio was worried that it might have been a little bit too Star Trek-y.
Avengers Assemble, which is a pretty nerdy, comic-book, supposedly niche thing, made $1.5bn dollars. Star Trek Into Darkness made half a billion, which is still brilliant. But it means that, according to the studio, there’s still $1bn worth of box office that don’t go and see Star Trek. And they want to know why.
People don’t see it being a fun, brightly coloured, Saturday night entertainment like the Avengers,” adding that the solution was to “make a western or a thriller or a heist movie, then populate that with Star Trek characters so it’s more inclusive to an audience that might be a little bit reticent”.
I’m a massive Star Trek fan and this is terribly concerning. While the idea of placing the crew into a different scenario genre is right up Star Treks alley the idea of a Star Trek film having too much Star Trek-ness is absurd. The thing that makes Star Trek what it is is the fact that it’s more thoughtful and though provoking. This isn’t an action blockbuster, it’s a philosophical trip into science fiction. That may not sell as well, but it’s still awesome. I was very let down by Into Darkness as it veered way out of control by the end, but I’ve still got faith that Pegg can deliver something more akin to the first film the blended modern action and traditional Star Trek.
[via The Guardian]
