next trek

Rick Berman, who has been shepherding the Star Trek film series, told SCI FI Wire that he has had "very, very early" talks with Star Trek: The Next Generation star and director Jonathan Frakes about a new Trek movie, but one that takes the franchise in an entirely new direction. "I spoke to Jonathan about a half an hour ago," Berman said in an interview July 20 at UPN's fall press preview in Los Angeles. "He's in Japan, and he's coming here [because] his film [Thunderbirds] is premiering Saturday here in Los Angeles. There are very, very early conversations going on about a film project. But they're so early that it's really kind of silly to talk about it now."

Berman added that the movie would not center on the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew, as have the last several movies. "The movie that we're having very early discussions about would have nothing to do with any of the characters that have ever existed on any of the Star Trek series," Berman said. "It would be an entirely new setting and an entirely new set of characters, and it would take place prior to any of the series, including [UPN's Star Trek:] Enterprise."

In the wake of the disappointing box-office performance of the last Star Trek movie, 2002's Nemesis, there has been little movement on a new Trek movie, and Next Generation cast members have said they are ready to hang it up.

If Berman's idea comes to fruition, it would mark the first Trek movie not based on a television series. (via comingsoon)