Last year, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan director Nicholas Meyer perked the Spock ears of fans everywhere when he hinted that he was working on a new Star Trek project. Now, the Tribble’s out of the bag. Meyer has shared news about this top-secret project, mostly because he’s not sure if it will happen anymore.
During a discussion about “Shakespeare and Star Trek” at the University of California, Irvine — as reported by TrekCore, who procured audio from the event – Meyer was asked to follow up about the rumours regarding a possible Star Trek film or TV project in the works. Instead of coyly fan dancing around the subject, Meyer revealed he’s been working on a trilogy of Star Trek films for CBS All Access, the home of Star Trek: Discovery.
It sounds kind of fantastic, but some complications have arisen. Here’s Meyer’s response:
I was hired to write a stand-alone Star Trek-related trilogy. I can’t discuss or I’d have to kill you. [Laughs] I was writing it for CBS [All] Access… but at the moment CBS is at a war with Paramount/Viacom.
They’re in a power struggle, which turned really nasty this past week when CBS decided to sue [its parent company]. So, I don’t think my project is going anywhere in a hurry, because everything is on hold while they sort out this merger business. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
The whole CBS and Viacom (Paramount’s parent company) thing is very dense and complicated, but I’ll try and condense it down a bit. Earlier this week, CBS’s board announced it was suing its parent company National Amusements to try and block a merger with Viacom. There are several reasons why, but they mostly center around conflicts with Shari Redstone, the controlling shareholder, who’s been pushing the merger. If it ends up happening (though that seems unlikely at this point) it would finally bring the two companies that control Star Trek’s main media properties under one roof.
The whole situation is unfortunate, as Meyer’s work is Star Trek at its finest, having directed what’s considered the best film in the franchise. I’m sure a televised film trilogy would be a little unconventional – but with someone like Meyer at the helm, it could have the potential to be something special. Oh well, at least we’ve still got Star Trek: Discovery. So, hooray for that.
[TrekCore]