“It Can’t Feel Like the Same Star Treks”: New Movie Directors Promise a Whole New Take on the 60-Year-Old Franchise
Star Trek is in a strange place right now. As good as Strange New Worlds Season 4 may be, it feels oddly like the beginning of the end for the 60-year-old franchise’s current form. Starfleet Academy has been cancelled, Strange New Worlds will wrap up after an abbreviated fifth season, and then Star Trek is breaking an 11-year-long streak with no new shows greenlit or in production. Paramount’s attention seems to be shifting to the big screen, with Spider-Man: Homecoming writers John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein brought on to write, produce, and direct a new Star Trek movie.
Naturally, details are scarce at this point. CinemaBlend had the chance to speak to the duo at SDCC, and has just published their comments. Apparently Goldstein excitedly discussed his love for the original series and The Next Generation, and the wonder of meeting Sulu actor George Takei at the hotel. That said, he stressed the importance of letting Star Trek evolve while acknowledging the past:
“I think we understand that there is such an influx of different Star Trek material that’s out, uh, that had been portrayed, you know, most recently in cinema by JJ Abrams and also in the multitude of television shows. So it was very important we understand that this is something that has to set itself apart. It can’t feel like the same Star Treks that we’ve seen in the past while still being true to the kind of core ideals of it.”
Goldstein Has Embraced the Challenge of Star Trek
Old, established franchises like Star Trek, Star Wars, and Doctor Who face a massive challenge right now. They’ve become increasingly defined by nostalgia, but it’s now clear nostalgia has diminishing returns. What’s more, this coincidences with the death of peak streaming, and studios are increasingly pivoting back toward the big screen after investing so much time and effort in trying to make streaming pay. Those models have failed, and Star Trek, Star Wars, and even the MCU seem to be winding down small-screen productions. The transition back to theaters will be difficult, and there have already been stumbles (as proven by The Mandalorian and Grogu‘s box office).
Goldstein and Daley have proved their skill, playing a key role in reinventing Spider-Man for the 21st century; Spider-Man: Brand New Day builds on their work, albeit exceeding them. With Star Trek, they’re helped by the fact Gene Roddenberry always intended his utopian vision of the future to serve as a commentary on the real world – meaning evolution and timeliness is pretty much baked into the franchise’s core concept. Over the past few decades, dystopias have dominated science-fiction; but there are signs that is changing, giving Star Trek a fresh chance to shine – assuming the established fanbase can let go of nostalgia.
At its best, Star Trek is a vision of a humanist future where division has been set aside. That message feels particularly counter-cultural in the social media age, which means Star Trek can speak into the present moment in a very powerful way. These “core ideals” are more important than any nostalgia plays, and they will be what secures Star Trek a bright future again as it evolves for the next decade or more. I’ll be excited to see what Daley and Goldstein come up with.
