Star Trek is once again eyeing a return to the big screen, with the filmmakers spearheading the tentative project citing two unlikely films as their guiding lights – and neither is a science-fiction epic.
Speaking to Inverse while promoting their new comedy-thriller Mayday, directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein said the two films they cite as reference points, or "comps", for their Star Trek movie are Training Day and Crimson Tide.
Both are grounded dramas from the '90s and early '00s, built on institutional tension rather than intergalactic spectacle, offering clues as to how the writers could depict Starfleet and its authority figures.
Daley explained that the aim is a story that "takes place almost in real time, and it just is a whole other look at what a Star Trek movie could be without betraying the fundamentals of what it should be".
"I would say it's really kind of a look at the institution of Starfleet and any institution as a whole that has existed for a long time and what that does," he continued. "I think the portrayal of Starfleet and the people that work within it have always been generally idealised versions of what the future could be.
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"And while this [script] isn't a cynical or nihilistic take on it, I think it does acknowledge that there are some bad apples in every institution that can have a strong voice and can really make an impact on that institution and everything it stands for."
Of course, some longtime fans would argue that the utopian vision presented in Star Trek's early iterations is the very point of the franchise, according to creator Gene Roddenberry's original vision for it.
Nevertheless, the drift towards a morally grey Star Trek universe has been ongoing for quite some time, and perhaps more accurately reflects the most urgent issues of our present day.
Daley and Goldstein went on to confirm that their movie will feature all-new Star Trek characters, rather than continuing the Chris Pine-led films or leaning on the existing television universe.
"We don't want to rely on fandom," Goldstein said. "We don't want to just hope that there's enough fans of the original or The Next Generation or whatever who will turn out for this.
"We want to just make a great movie that lives in the world that people are familiar with, some people are familiar with, and that others will discover. And then, with good fortune, we launch a new franchise into existence."
Paramount is developing the project as a fresh theatrical start for the franchise, although whether it sees the light of day is still to be determined as various other Star Trek films have stalled in development in recent years.
If this latest attempt does make it over the line, Daley has promised it will contain enough "spectacle" to place it leagues above the "truly cinematic television" at our fingertips these days.
Daley and Goldstein's previous credits include 2018 comedy Game Night, starring Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams, and 2023 fantasy blockbuster Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves.
Fans will be hoping they can work a miracle for Star Trek, which is in danger of becoming dormant as its various streaming shows quietly wind down.
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