The Star Trek movie series may have been parked for now, but that doesn’t mean the franchise is going away. In fact, in the last year alone, we’ve had two TV shows under its banner – Star Trek: Discovery concluded its second season last April, while Star Trek: Picard is currently 8 episodes into its first run. But the very public way the films have entered development hell means questions continue to be asked about its future.
In a new interview with Fandom, Damon Lindelof, who worked with J.J. Abrams on his Star Trek movies, was asked to give his thoughts on its current stasis and said the following:
I feel like there is a wide breadth of ways to attack [Star Trek]… And you cannot deny that very few things have a 50-year half-life. There is something about Trek that resonates. And while it may never be Star Wars or The Avengers, I still think that it’s important; those are important stories to tell.”
From the point of view of Star Trek as a film franchise, he’s not wrong. Gene Roddenberry’s baby has never been a major blockbuster competitor in the way Star Wars or Avengers are. And it likely never will. But that doesn’t mean, as Lindelof argues, that there aren’t important stories left to tell. Star Trek’s endurance as a popular multimedia entity predates either of those other big names, and with eight TV series and thirteen movies, the current break in big-screen transmissions is unlikely to be permanent.
Normally at this point I’d invite you to make your own comment on the article, but seeing as this one seems pretty wrapped up as is, I’m inclined to decline. Suppose I could leave you with a summary instead. Star Trek’s film saga is still on ice, the TV shows are as vibrant as ever, Damon Lindelof thinks that it’s still important, and one day the movies will come back. Sounds good to me. Nothing new on Star Trek 4 yet though. That wait goes on.
