What Really Went Wrong With Noah Hawley’s Star Trek
Alien: Earth creator Noah Hawley was set to chart a bold new Star Trek voyage as writer-director—then the plug was pulled at liftoff. Here’s what torpedoed the film before cameras could roll.
Star Trek on the big screen is still stuck in impulse power. We have yet another saga of a movie that almost happened, then didn’t, and this one comes straight from the guy who was about to make it: Noah Hawley. He laid out exactly how his Trek film got greenlit, scouted, nearly cast, and then vaporized after a studio shuffle. Plus, where Paramount is trying to take the franchise now.
The Hawley Trek that almost was
Fresh off his feature debut with 2019’s Lucy in the Sky, Hawley went hunting for a bigger canvas. He landed on Star Trek because, in his mind, it isn’t about blowing stuff up.
"Star Trek isn’t war. Star Trek is exploration. It’s people solving problems by being smarter than the other guy."
He pitched Paramount an original idea that wasn’t tied to Chris Pine or the Kelvin timeline. They bought it. He wrote it. They loved it. Production started ramping up. Australia was the plan. Soundstages were being booked.
How it disappeared (the quick version)
- Hawley sells Paramount an original Star Trek concept not connected to Chris Pine’s crew.
- Script gets written. Studio says yes. Pre-production gears up in Australia.
- Studio leadership changes. Jim Gianopulos brings in new oversight on the film side.
- The new team kills Hawley’s movie, pushing for a safer bridge: a Chris Pine-led transition film instead.
- That Pine film… also never happens.
The almost-cast
Hawley says he was eyeing some serious firepower for leads: Cate Blanchett and Rami Malek. That is a very intriguing pairing for a Trek that isn’t built around phaser fights.
Where the movies stand now
After years of false starts post-2016’s Star Trek Beyond, Paramount still didn’t get a fourth Kelvin film off the ground. The new regime, led by Skydance’s David Ellison, has now scrapped Star Trek 4 entirely and wants to relaunch with new faces.
Enter Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves), who are set to write, produce, and direct a new Star Trek feature. Details are locked down, but people close to it say the plan is a clean slate: not connected to any previous film, TV series, or other Trek project in development. Sounds promising. I’ll believe it when I’m actually sitting in a theater.
Meanwhile, the small screen is doing the heavy lifting
While the film side has been spinning its wheels, Trek TV has been busy: three live-action shows (with another on the way), two animated series, and even a streaming movie. Paramount clearly knows how to keep this universe humming on television.
My take
Paramount keeps trying to turn Trek into a loud, bombastic action brand. Sure, big set pieces have always been part of the mix, but the soul of this thing is exploration, social commentary, moral quandaries, and the eternal what-does-it-mean-to-be-human stuff. The Kelvin movies delivered spectacle, but they rarely hit that core. One of the best Trek films is famously about saving humpback whales. That balance matters.
If Goldstein and Daley really are starting fresh, great. Just make it feel like Star Trek again. Smarts over shockwaves. Curiosity over carnage.
The bottom line on Hawley’s lost film
Hawley’s version got as far as a finished script, a thumbs-up from the studio, stages on hold in Australia, and early talks with A-list talent. Then a regime change hit, the new team axed the riskier original pitch to chase a safer Chris Pine handoff, and the whole thing collapsed anyway. It’s a very Hollywood way to lose a Star Trek movie.