Oscar-nominated writer Nicholas Meyer has recently revealed that he pitched a new Star Trek movie to Paramount last year.
In an interview with TrekMovie published last week, Meyer disclosed for the first time that he and his frequent collaborator Steven-Charles Jaffe “wrote a whole treatment and plan for a Star Trek feature film.”
Though they didn’t pen an entire movie script, the duo “wrote a very detailed treatment and a whole pitch doc with illustrations,” which Meyer described as “very comprehensive.” Meyer added that they first presented the pitch to Alex Kurtzman, then took it to J.J. Abrams, and lastly to Paramount Pictures president Emma Watts.
Meyer was first brought in by Paramount in 1982 to help advance the Star Trek film franchise forward after 1979’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture received mixed reviews from critics. Though new to the Star Trek universe at the time, Meyer managed to co-write and direct Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which is still considered by many Trekkies to be the best film in the sci-fi franchise.
Following the success of his first Star Trek project, Meyer went on to co-write 1986’s Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and 1991’s Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, which he also directed. After years of Star Trek hiatus, Meyer returned to the franchise in 2016 as a consulting producer in season 1 of Star Trek: Discovery. He also developed a TV miniseries prequel to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan at that time, but it was never put into production.
Though Meyer didn’t reveal many details about his new Star Trek movie pitch, he confirmed that it’s an original idea and is not a repackaged version of his The Wrath of Khan prequel miniseries. He, however, said that the movie idea could actually end up spawning something on TV.
“It was a detailed proposal for what could have been a film, or it could have been a series, or it could have been a film leading to a series or a series leading to a film… It could be a series of films,” said Meyer.
Meyer also made it clear that the Star Trek movie pitch he developed with Jaffe is not directly connected to Star Trek: The Original Series movies, Star Trek: The Next Generation films, or Kelvin flicks, as it’s “an independent piece of the Star Trek universe based on holes in the chronology, which would allow for the insertion of original material.” Meyer added that the potential film will feature “new characters” that fans have not yet met before.
Though Meyer admitted that he and Jaffe have not heard back from Paramount since they presented the pitch, he has not given up hope in the idea.
The news that Meyer and Jaffe pitched a new Star Trek movie came a week after it was announced that Star Trek: Discovery writer Kalinda Vazquez has been tapped by Paramount to write a Star Trek movie, which will be produced by Abrams’ production company Bad Robot.