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[JeffZero]

Which direction do you take?

Star Trek Beyond brought in substantially less than its predecessor. The stars aren't even sure there will be a fourth film in the Kelvinverse, even though one was tentatively greenlit ahead of Beyond's release. And, oh yeah, Trek is finally returning to the small screen, although who the hell knows when that'll happen.

Let's pretend instead of hiring Jim Gianopulos as their new CEO, Paramount has hired you. Let's pretend you're given full creative control. You can do whatever the heck you want, so long as you have reason to believe it will revitalize the film segment of this venerable franchise.

Do you carry forward with a fourth relatively self-contained Pine/Quinto outing? Do you retool the follow-up so that it contains more serialized elements? Do you ditch the whole shebang, line up a new team of creators, and go for a cinematic universe feel? After all, Star Trek kinda had that whole thing going on before it was hot back when TNG/DS9/VOY shared some ideas together. Maybe you say to hell with it, let it rest for several years, see how the new show performs, and go from there? Or you say it's been 15 years since Nemesis and it's time for another TNG flick? Heck, maybe you cast a bunch of 16-year-olds and turn it into a dystopian young adult gig. It works sometimes, right? Or maybe you're in the mood to pen The Walking Pakled. Whatever.

If you're the bigwig, and you want these movies to succeed going forward, what do you do?

 

[old manatee]

I wish they would stop making them action movies. When I think of Star Trek I think of a bunch of people standing around debating the prime directive and shit. Kirk on a dirt bike with Beastie Boys blaring is the lamest possible direction they could go.

 

[Cipher Peon]

I'd do whatever it takes to get JJ Abrams on board and have him work on a Space Whales movie. I LOVED that Into Darkness was a mirror universe and improved version of Wrath of Khan and I want to continue on that road.

While I don't really care much about the space whales, I DESPERATELY want to see Abrams take on The Final Frontier, my favorite pre reboot Star Trek film. But we gotta work our way up there and make up for lost time now that Beyond wasn't Search for Kirk because Into Darkness had a lame ending. (Beyond was real great tho)

So yeah, let's overdose on lens flare, fun action with fun characters, space adventure, and the awesome new Star Trek theme provided to us by THE BEASTIE BOYS

 

[old manatee]

I'd do whatever it takes to get JJ Abrams on board and have him work on a Space Whales movie. I LOVED that Into Darkness was a mirror universe and improved version of Wrath of Khan and I want to continue on that road.

While I don't really care much about the space whales, I DESPERATELY want to see Abrams take on The Final Frontier, my favorite pre reboot Star Trek. But we gotta work our way up there and make up for lost time now that Beyond wasn't Search for Kirk because Into Darkness had a lame ending. (Beyond was real great tho)

So yeah, let's overdose on lens flare, fun action with fun characters, space adventure, and the awesome new Star Trek theme provided to us by THE BEASTIE BOYS

damn it

 

[theWB27]

Just don't change kirk

 

[Mihos]

Double down on the lens flare

 

[Schlorgan]

Commission Justin Lin and Simon Pegg to make a TNG Borg movie.

 

[akira28]

let's rock.

New movie with a cast of mostly unknowns, taking it back to Trek roots and getting into some scientifically plausible yet still completely impossible shit.

i don't know what a Quinto is, but a pine is a tree you cut down and burn and it smells nice.

 

[Red Arremer]

Only films, or can I suggest a series piggybacking of the movie as well?

 

[disappeared]

I funnel the entire budget into a secret VR fund to make the holodeck a real thing.

 

[GamerJM]

I'd give the series back to Abrams. From there, though, idk. Honestly maybe have him do some sort of weird re-reboot thing?

 

[Bregor]

Don't reboot it. A reboot now will just alienate the audience more.

Feel free to change the tone, and work on the plot / action balance, but don't try to get the audience interested in a whole new cast so soon.

 

[JeffZero]

Only films, or can I suggest a series piggybacking of the movie as well?

Oh, go for it! CBS and Paramount have some weird funk going on that kinda seems to prevent them from much collaboration, but this is a dream world anyway. Go nuts with it.

 

[maxiell]

I'd cast Patrick Stewart as an aging Picard working crew on another starship where no one knows him.

 

[KeyBladerXIII]

I'd do one more with the current cast and dial way back on the action. I'd also have it mostly about Kirk, Spock, and Bones because Scotty was getting on my nerves the last movie and Uhura and Sulu are boring. Its awful about Chekhov though.

 

[MisterHero]

I want to see a post-TNG/DS9/VOY series but I don't know how much new stuff you could bring plot-wise.

For me, military/space war subplots would be the last resort. It's been done and will be done a dozen times this decade probably.

 

[Treo360]

Let's start by not having the enterprise blown up to bits. Do that first then we'll talk.

 

[Davide]

Keep with 2009 style and get into time travel.

 

[MrPink93485]

Go the Days of Future Past route, soft reboot and bring in a TNG cast (with McAvoy as Picard of course) and mix it with Star Trek Generations (except good), so you can keep Pine, Quinto, and the other crew for a movie.

 

[SRG01]

Do something different, like a Trek film on the Orion Syndicate and in non-federation space.

 

[Bob Coffee]

build upon star trek beyond, for all the JJverse bullshit, as of beyond they finally feel like a crew and as good as beyond was i feel they deserve a fourth movie. Beyond essentially was a big budget TOS, let pegg and lin go at it again, and have vin dissel and co cameo as a bunch of space pirates called the la familia. boom fast and furious in space!

Spoiler

ok maybe not, but atleast have pegg and lin handle the writing/directing again

. Give discovery some budget and get a post TNG-DS9-VOY anime going animated by xebec (yamato 2199/2202 studio). with anime you could do things that wouldn't be budget efficient in live action. plus for cameos of tng/ds9/voy actors some are getting up there in age and would be easier to have cameo as va.

 

[elrechazado]

Worf and Picard in star Trek's version of Logan.

 

[gforguava]

I think one of the underlining problems with these movies is that there is surprisingly little in the way of proper worldbuilding and how that fact completely boxes you in with regards to what stories you can tell. Everything has to be a big destructo-mess because without an investment in the world of the films, in the Federation and everything else, no one will care if you do something small scale.

So I would go with a new cast as rookies just out of the academy, with half of the film just dealing with the Federation and Starfleet and the nature of this life/career. And the second half would focus on some confrontation with a belligerent force(Cardassians would be my pick) setting up the uneasy state of things outside of the paradise-like glow of the Federation proper.

edit: Something like Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World(in space!) for the type of structure and conflict that should be in the film.

 

[Stumpokapow]

I would not recommend further Star Trek movies. It is possible to take a break from stuff every once in a while instead of running things into the ground repeatedly.

 

[Bob Coffee]

I'd do whatever it takes to get JJ Abrams on board and have him work on a Space Whales movie. I LOVED that Into Darkness was a mirror universe and improved version of Wrath of Khan and I want to continue on that road.

While I don't really care much about the space whales, I DESPERATELY want to see Abrams take on The Final Frontier, my favorite pre reboot Star Trek film. But we gotta work our way up there and make up for lost time now that Beyond wasn't Search for Kirk because Into Darkness had a lame ending. (Beyond was real great tho)

So yeah, let's overdose on lens flare, fun action with fun characters, space adventure, and the awesome new Star Trek theme provided to us by THE BEASTIE BOYS

what are these alternative facts? into darkness was a shitty attempt at attempting to use trek nostalgia and pisses on everything good about wrath of khan.

 

[lastplayed]

I'd rather have control of the tv series. As much as I enjoy Trek movies the premise works best for a series. A group of scientists and officers exploring the limits of scientific knowledge.

I'd like to see it rebooted again, but without Kirk and the Enterprise this time. Just have a new crew, a new ship, make it nice and futuristic by today's standards (2009 did this well) and not worry about the old stuff.

 

[JeffZero]

I'd rather have control of the tv series. As much as I enjoy Trek movies the premise works best for a series. A group of scientists and officers exploring the limits of scientific knowledge.

Oh, I would, too. For sure. I just figured given the fact that there is, allegedly anyway, an honest-to-goodness actual TV series (...sorta...) in the works right now, and since the films are in total ??? status, I'd posit the question this way.

 

[Red Arremer]

Oh, go for it! CBS and Paramount have some weird funk going on that kinda seems to prevent them from much collaboration, but this is a dream world anyway. Go nuts with it.

Alright then here's what I would do: Make a film set after the events of TNG/DS9/VOY, set on a new ship. Cardassia and the Breen both are basically in shambles, and in this power vacuum, the Tholians or Tzenkethi are introduced as the new main villainous race. If the Tholians are the enemy race, go full awesome badass CGI, and borrow from the really cool Tholian ship designs from ST Online that have those plasma web weapons and what have you.

The crew consists of mostly new characters but I'd cast one main character (not necessarily as a member of the crew, could be an ambassador/admiral on the mission in the film) to be one of the fan favourites of the old shows (Worf, Riker, Kira, Bashir, Holodoc and Seven of Nine all would make sense imo), and give at least Picard a cameo as well.

I would use the movie to create the base of the setting and introduce the members of the crew, while also relying on the returning characters to draw in the audience a bit, making it essentially a pilot. The series then would continue following that ship and crew (sans perhaps the returning character), as well as the conflict against the aforementioned villain races.

 

[MattKeil]

I'd do whatever it takes to get JJ Abrams on board and have him work on a Space Whales movie. I LOVED that Into Darkness was a mirror universe and improved version of Wrath of Khan and I want to continue on that road.

While I don't really care much about the space whales, I DESPERATELY want to see Abrams take on The Final Frontier, my favorite pre reboot Star Trek film. But we gotta work our way up there and make up for lost time now that Beyond wasn't Search for Kirk because Into Darkness had a lame ending. (Beyond was real great tho)

So yeah, let's overdose on lens flare, fun action with fun characters, space adventure, and the awesome new Star Trek theme provided to us by THE BEASTIE BOYS

This has to be satire.

Into Darkness was a mirror universe and improved version of Wrath of Khan

Please tell me this is satire.

 

[Bubba_Sparks]

Find someone more apt to do the job, because if you thought the Orci and Kurtzman scripts were bad...

 

[JeffZero]

Alright then here's what I would do:

This is pretty fantastic. I'm digging a lot of the ideas in this thread, but this makes my inner Niner smile.

 

[MattKeil]

Find someone more apt to do the job, because if you thought the Orci and Kurtzman scripts were bad...

Could always give it to David Goyer.

 

[Ogodei]

I take the movie budget and put it into a new TV show on AMC or HBO.

 

[Axiom]

I think Beyond was pretty good, but like Doctor Who it's easy to see that the excitement isn't there for audiences no matter how good the output is.

I think they need to make a different kind of movie, make it a ship movie. Explore some ideas, do the Q maybe. That or you do comedy, that's what got audiences back the first time, and then you can do your Undiscovered Country

 

[MattKeil]

I take the movie budget and put it into a new TV show on AMC or HBO.

This is probably the right answer, really. Trek has never found a comfort zone as a film series.

 

[Cipher Peon]

what are these alternative facts? into darkness was a shitty attempt at attempting to use trek nostalgia and pisses on everything good about wrath of khan.

Nope! Sorry if I came across as pushing my opinions as fact. I meant what I said very subjectively.

This has to be satire.



Please tell me this is satire.

Nope!

I've actually seen both films multiple times each and I VASTLY prefer Into Darkness. Wrath of Khan is alright, but I don't really care for it. I adore Into Darkness and I watch it every now and then because it's just so much fun for me

 

[Pegasus Actual]

A sit-com starring a now deposed and exiled Rom and that one Klingon chef running an on campus sports bar at Starfleet Academy. In the pilot they accidentally take catering orders for the big Parrises squares match from both sets of fans, Starfleet Academy AND Klingon State! How are they gonna make all the food?!? Maybe they only have hew-mon food... or maybe they only have Klingon food?!? How will they disguise it for the others?!? The possibilities are endless.

 

[JeffZero]

Say what you will about Into Darkness, but that moment when Chris Pine calls Peter Weller's bluff over the viewscreen and Weller responds with his hand to his forehead and a blunt "well, shit..." is aces.

 

[Red Arremer]

Do something different, like a Trek film on the Orion Syndicate and in non-federation space.

I think the problem doing non-Starfleet content is that, while it would definitely work, I don't think it would work well as the setting for a film.
A TV show following a Klingon Bird of Prey, or a Federation freighter, or what have you would have a lot of potential, but a film needs to be clear cut and doesn't have a lot of time to worldbuild.

A Klingon-focused film is the only thing I can even remotely imagine since the Klingons have been given so much lore from the resources outside of that hypothetical film.

This is pretty fantastic. I'm digging a lot of the ideas in this thread, but this makes my inner Niner smile.

One of the things I would definitely do is go out of my way to introduce main characters from Federation races we haven't explored much yet (Andorians, Tellarites, Rigellians, maybe even Xindi lol).
Also I really really would love a Bajoran former resistance fighter ala Kira as XO and a Cardassian officer in an exchange program (maybe a doctor or a science officer), and there constantly being conflict between the two.

 

[MattKeil]

Nope!

I've actually seen both films multiple times each and I VASTLY prefer Into Darkness. Wrath of Khan is alright, but I don't really care for it. I adore Into Darkness and I watch it every now and then because it's just so much fun for me

Into Darkness is one of the worst major films of the last 10 years and a masterclass in how to completely fail to earn any of your dramatic moments. It's Kurtzman at his 9/11 Truther, super gross "everything hinges on magic blood" obsession, utter lack of character arc worst. I cannot fathom how you can possibly be serious here.

 

[Mr_Moogle]

Meh just make it like the recent Battlestar Gallactica but without all the preachy religious bullshit and double the Baltar.

 

[Red Arremer]

A sit-com starring a now deposed and exiled Rom and that one Klingon chef running an on campus sports bar at Starfleet Academy. In the pilot they accidentally take catering orders for the big Parrises squares match from both sets of fans, Starfleet Academy AND Klingon State! How are they gonna make all the food?!? Maybe they only have hew-mon food... or maybe they only have Klingon food?!? How will they disguise it for the others?!? The possibilities are endless.

I know you're being facetious here, but the actor portraying the Klingon chef, Ron Taylor, sadly passed away in 2002.

 

[MC Safety]

Into Darkness is one of the worst major films of the last 10 years and a masterclass in how to completely fail to earn any of your dramatic moments. It's Kurtzman at his 9/11 Truther, super gross "everything hinges on magic blood" obsession, utter lack of character arc worst. I cannot fathom how you can possibly be serious here.

It misses the point of Wrath of Khan completely.

 

[JeffZero]

I know you're being facetious here, but the actor portraying the Klingon chef, Ron Taylor, sadly passed away in 2002.

RIP, legend. I'm not a fan of the DS9 episode "Melora" but I could never skip it even if I were the skip-on-rewatch sort. His scene makes me grin like an idiot every time.

 

[Fuchsdh]

It's not quite possible just by being the head of Paramount, but the first order of business has to be reunifying the rights to Star Trek under one room. This off-on thing where Paramount and CBS don't coordinate and work together is harming Star Trek badly.

On the pure films side of things, I'd just made a wider variety of films. Not every film has to be a AAA blockbuster. If you make cheaper movies, you have a lot more latitude to try different things and still make your money back, especially since it doesn't seem like Trek is ever going to have a substantial international following. Stop trying to make it something it ain't.

 

[Sojgat]

I thought they finally got it right with Beyond. Shame it didn't do as well as the previous two.

 

[Cipher Peon]

Into Darkness is one of the worst major films of the last 10 years and a masterclass in how to completely fail to earn any of your dramatic moments. It's Kurtzman at his 9/11 Truther, super gross "everything hinges on magic blood" obsession, utter lack of character arc worst. I cannot fathom how you can possibly be serious here.

I understand the hatred for it and there's plenty to dislike, but I just can't agree. I love the story a metric ton and how it treated Wrath of Khan, love how they handled Khan, loved the story, loved the action, loved the heavier political leanings over the straight space stuff from 2009, and loved the pacing of it. It's an extremely engaging work that was exactly what I want Star Trek to be.

Beyond was a minor step down, but time has made me much kinder to it and I love 3/3 films from Reboot Star Trek

ALSO... I'd try my best to work with the Discovery team to connect the movies and the show together. I want an cinematic universe ^^

 

[Escape Goat]

Cancel the movies. Move it to TV.

 

[Won]

I would make it a CG movie like Cars. Talking space ships sounds like a winner to me.

Realistic speaking. Get that budget down. There was no reason that a story like Beyond needed the prize tag it had.

 

[Pegasus Actual]

I know you're being facetious here, but the actor portraying the Klingon chef, Ron Taylor, sadly passed away in 2002.

That's unfortunate.

Well shit... time to pivot... Okay... instead of the Klingon Chef it's.... I dunno..... Seven of Nine, and she teaches at the Academy.... Borg History? And now it's more of a Rom-com. Pun definitely intended. Just recycle all the romancing Leeta scenes from DS9. Leeta btw... died of uhhh.... Space Syphilis. Tragic. But Rom is ready to love again.

Seriously the original timeline is so littered at this point, I'll blame mostly Voyager for that one. And the JJ-verse has pretty much run out of steam. I do like the Tholian idea though. They're pretty underused and would work great visually in the era of CG porn. But unfortunately that also will probably just lead to Trek-as-action-movie which I could do without.