Joe Cornish Reveals Why He Passed on Directing ‘Star Trek Beyond’

Joe Cornish had his breakout movie in 2011 with Attack the Block. His latest is The Kid Who Would Be King. However, there was a time when he could have been the director behind Star Trek Beyond.

With The Kid Who Would Be King entering theaters this weekend, Cornish spoke to Entertainment Weekly and revealed why he said no to directing Paramount Pictures’s 2016 Star Trek tentpole.

“I talked to J.J. [Abrams] about [Star Trek 3] pretty early on, but then decided I wasn’t ready for it,” Cornish says. “Because it’s a big old franchise, and I’ve had friends who’ve gone straight from indie movies into big blockbusters, and have come out the other end a little bit bruised and battered, and not necessarily feeling it’s their film. I love the idea, but then eventually I thought that if I had the opportunity to do something of scale, that it would be cooler to do my own thing.”

At the time, Attack the Block was Cornish’s only directing credit. Star Trek would have been a huge step up, but Cornish decided to play it slow and steady and eventually signed onto The Kid Who Would Be King instead.

Star Trek Beyond eventually found its director in Justin Lin, who had already directed four Fast & Furious movies. The film ultimately earned $343.5 million worldwide. That’s a respectable total, but still a significant drop off from its predecessor Star Trek Into Darkness, which earned $467.3 million in 2011.

That box office drop contributed to problems with Star Trek 4. Star Chris Pine dropped out of the project after Paramount tried to renegotiate his salary to keep the fourth Kelvin timeline movie on a lower budget, but Pine walked away from the negotiating table. Paramount was forced to shelf the project but is still pushing ahead with Quentin Tarantino’s Star Trek movie.

Despite having the higher gross, Star Trek Into Darkness divided fans. Star Simon Pegg co-wrote the script for Star Trek Beyond and has said that he was hoping to give fans more of what they wanted.

“The thing with Beyond, I think the time is sort of born that out in terms of its popularity and the constant feedback I get from the Star Trek community, which seems very grateful, and that’s who we… ‘Cause I felt they were done a slight disservice, maybe, with Into Darkness, ’cause it was quite… It was divisive, I think,” Pegg said.

What did you think of Star Trek Beyond? Let us know in the comments!