J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, showrunners of Amazon Prime Video's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, revealed that they once had a Star Trek script in the works.

In an interview with Esquire, the two went into detail on their abandoned Star Trek movie, which would have reunited Chris Hemsworth and Chris Pine. Payne revealed that the plot asked "What if right before the Kelvin impacted with that huge mining ship, George Kirk had tried to beam himself over to his wife's shuttle where his son, Jim Kirk, had just been born? And what if the ship hadn’t completely exploded—what if it left some space junk?"

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McKay added that the film "was going to be a grand father-son space adventure—think Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in space... We had an original villain and a really cool 2001: A Space Odyssey-esque sci-fi idea at the core. We worked on it for two and half years with Lindsey Weber, our non-writing executive producer on Rings of Power, and an amazing director, S.J. Clarkson." He concluded by lamenting that it was ultimately scrapped.

Payne and McKay aren't the only ones who had ideas about a new direction for the Star Trek franchise. Captain Kirk actor William Shatner pitched an ending for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier which he said "involved going down the River Styx and meeting God but then finding the Devil."

The Future of Star Trek

Despite the canceled projects, the Star Trek universe isn't ever-expanding. Picard and Star Trek actor Jonathan Frakes hinted that there will be more Star Trek projects in his future, despite the fact that Season 3 of Paramount+'s Picard will reportedly be its last.

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Star Trek also continues to thrive in the game world. Original Wesley Crusher actor, Wil Wheaton, recently made an appearance in Star Trek Online: Ascension, where he voices the alternate universe version of Wesley Crusher. Between gaming ventures and new shows, there is a lot of new Star Trek to look forward to. Roddenberry Entertainment’s Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth recently teased that the next couple of years will bring a number of new Star Trek-based shows.

Star Trek: Prodigy returns with new episodes on Oct. 27, 2022. Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 premieres in early 2023.

Source: Esquire