It’s been a little while since we had an updates on the big screen future of Star Trek. It was announced some time ago that Dungeons & Dragons writers John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein were working on a script, something they updated on a SDCC in summer, but now the pair have opened up more about what is influencing their mysterious new story.
The pair are currently out promoting their new film Mayday but naturally, curious journalists are asking them about development on Trek. Speaking to Inverse Goldstein mentioned two very specific films which have help inform the direction of their script:
“Two movies we cite as comps for what we’re hoping to do are Training Day and Crimson Tide,”
Daly elaborated about the type of story they are looking to tell should the film be green lit for production:
“I would say it’s really kind of a look at the institution of Starfleet and any institution as a whole that has existed for a long time and what that does. I think the portrayal of Starfleet and the people that work within it have always been generally idealized versions of what the future could be. And while this [script] isn’t a cynical or nihilistic take on it, I think it does acknowledge that there are some bad apples in every institution that can have a strong voice and can really make an impact on that institution and everything it stands for.”
Later in the interview Daly would mention a narrative element of the script would be very refreshing to see in a Star Trek movie:
“It takes place almost in real time, and it just is a whole other look at what a Star Trek movie could be without betraying the fundamentals of what it should be,”
A real time Star Trek event story? We’re definitely intrigued about the directions it could take. Both of the stories the writers are citing in the interview focus on elder statesmen who find their point of view challenged by younger subordinates. Something which Star Trek: Picard effectively used to introduce conflict between Admiral Picard and Captain Riker in the final season.
One final note saw the pair discussing their hopes to introduce a new generation to Star Trek whilst simultaneously laughing a new era for the franchise:
“I mean, look, we don’t want to rely on fandom. We don’t want to just hope that there’s enough fans of the original [TOS] or The Next Generation or whatever who will turn out for this. We want to just make a great movie that lives in the world that people are familiar with — some people are familiar with — and that others will discover. And then, with good fortune, we launch a new franchise into existence.”
It certainly seems like their script is the most well developed of any we’ve heard about in the last decade, raising hopes that Star Trek may finally be making its way back to the big screen in the future. Could this month’s 60th anniversary be the right time to make an announcement perhaps?
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