What is Paramount doing with the Star Trek movies? I don’t think even the studio could tell us. It’s been eight years since Star Trek Beyond hit theaters and left audiences hungry for more… and yet more has yet to arrive. It’s not for lack of trying, though, as a (star)fleet of Hollywood filmmakers have come and gone from the franchise more times than the Enterprise has been invaded.
Quentin Tarantino, Marvel’s Matt Shakman, and even S.J. Clarkson of Madame Web infamy have been attached to make some version of Star Trek 4, but none made it to the screen. Arguably the most promising, however, was the project Fargo creator Noah Hawley was working on. Cutting ties with J.J Abrams’ movies completely, Hawley was keen to softly reboot the franchise, stepping back from Star Wars-style action and returning to a classic Trek focus on exploration and intellect.
Hawley even had two A-list heavyweights lined up to star in his movie, too. During a recent appearance on Dax Shephard’s podcast Armchair Expert, Hawley teased how his film could’ve been the stuff that Holodeck dreams are made of. “Yeah, I mean, I was going to make a Star Trek movie with Cate Blanchett and Rami Malek,” Hawley explained. “Could have had that, America.”
Why didn’t Cate Blanchett’s Star Trek movie happen?
In some ways, Hawley’s Trek movie was just a victim of bad timing, as he revealed to Shephard that the plot involved “a virus that wipes out vast parts of the known universe.” Unsurprisingly, in the wake of COVID, Paramount decided to nix that concept. Perhaps a different plot could’ve been devised, but Hawley notes that a corporate reshuffle ultimately cost him the gig.
The Legion showrunner opened up on Armchair Expert about how tough it was when his Star Trek reboot fell through, admitting that having the project cruelly killed off by Paramount like that “can be very disconcerting and undermining of your sense of confidence, your sense of self. ” Hawley noted how different his experience on Trek was to his FX show Fargo, which he feels has left him with a sense of “security.”
Needless to say, Paramount killing off a Star Trek movie starring Cate Blanchett — giving the film franchise its first female lead, for starters — is enough to leave you screaming the studio’s name in fury, à la William Shatner at the end of The Wrath of Khan. It’s even possible to speculate that Paramount’s stupidity is responsible for one of the worst movies of 2024 — no doubt after losing the chance to headline one sci-fi adventure film, Blanchett agreed to do Borderlands instead, and we now know how that turned out.
As for Hawley, at least he’s been able to put his own stamp on another legendary sci-fi franchise in the form of Alien, with his series Alien: Earth coming to Hulu and Disney Plus in 2025. Meanwhile, Paramount continues to flounder with what to do on Star Trek 4. Guys, are we sure they know the best to way to ensure this franchise can live long and prosper?
