When JJ Abrams rebooted Star Trek in 2009 with a fresh cast and the “Kelvin Timeline,” it gave the franchise new life that it hadn’t had in many years. The film franchise saw major success with Abrams returning for the 2013 sequel and the cast returning once again in 2016. In the time since then, the series has gone through major fluctuations, with Trek largely living on television as brand new shows continue to be released. In that time, though, a fourth Star Trek movie has gone through many forms, with talks of a sequel never stopping and even a Quentin Tarantino-produced movie popping up.
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Now, though, the series has become a major priority for Paramount as its new owners, Skydance, seek to make big moves in Hollywood. One of the first acts they took after the merger was complete was to confirm that Star Trek was one of their major fixtures that would make it to the big screen sooner than later, making today’s news exciting and not that surprising. Deadline brings word that Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, the team behind Game Night and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, will step behind the camera for a new Star Trek movie.
The New Star Trek Movie Has the Perfect Creative Team
According to the report about the new Star Trek movie, Goldstein and Daley’s new film will not be a continuation of Abrams’ films and, in fact, may not include any familiar characters at all. As the trade reports it, Goldstein and Daley reportedly have “a completely new take” on the larger Star Trek universe that is not connected to any previous movies or even any previous TV shows set across the sixty-plus years of Trek lore.
Though Star Trek fans may be sad that a fourth movie in the Kelvin timeline isn’t going to happen, the fact that the series is making its way back to the big screen after nine years is still news worth celebrating. Even better than that, however, is the creative team behind it, as Goldstein and Daley have proven themselves to be filmmakers with a keen insight for working on major IP but whose sensibilities stand apart from nearly every other director working in similar spheres. The pair made a name for themselves with 2015’s reboot of the Vacation series, but have gone on from then to direct 2018’s Game Night, co-write Marvel’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, and write and direct 2023’s Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
Though the fantasy film failed to really set the box office on fire in a way the studio perhaps hoped it would, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves was incredibly well received by the people who did see it, boasting a 91% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 92% audience rating. The film proved that Goldstein and Daley are well-suited to operating within the confines of a specific franchise’s formulas and expectations while also subverting what the audience really expects to happen in a major blockbuster. Even better, they had a clear understanding of staging and set pieces that made that film entertaining and surprising at every turn.
As a result, the new Star Trek movie is immediately in good hands. Though longtime fans may be nervous about how two storytellers with an irreverent sense of style and tone will treat something like Trek, Goldstein and Daley have proven they know how to respect the source material their working on in ways that make fans happy and bring newcomers into the fold. That formula is not only exactly what Star Trek needs after decades of maintaining a niche audience, but also in competing with other blockbusters.
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