Steven Spielberg is one of the most influential filmmakers of his generation. With his movies Jurassic Park and the Indiana Jones franchise, he redefined modern blockbuster cinema.
Spielberg has also given several inputs on the globally popular Star Wars franchise, created by his friend, George Lucas, despite never having directed an installment himself. However, Spielberg’s influence on the sci-fi genre does not stop there.
The filmmaker is also at least partially responsible for the fate of the Star Trek franchise. In the 1970s, creator Gene Roddenberry aimed to launch another small-budget series until plans were ultimately changed because of one of Spielberg’s movies, and here is everything you need to know about it.
Steven Spielberg is the reason Star Trek had to cancel another low-budget series
The Star Trek franchise was launched in 1966, with the first series created by Gene Roddenberry, airing for three seasons. However, in the 1970s, Roddenberry aimed to launch a successor series, which was tentatively titled Star Trek Phase II.
A new series was formally announced in 1977, and several scripts were written for it. William Shatner, who played Captain James T. Kirk, was expected to reprise his role in the new series. However, the series was eventually canceled over budgetary concerns to create a feature film (via Star Trek: Phase II: The Lost Series).
Some reports have indicated that the show’s low-budget aspects were a major hurdle in its production (via Inverse), especially after the incredible commercial success of 1977 sci-fi films Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Directed by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, the two movies set a new bar for sci-fi films, effectively convincing Roddenberry and Paramount to go in the direction of a Star Trek motion picture.
The canceled Star Trek series was refashioned into the franchise’s first big-screen entry
Initially, the plan was to make a Star Trek feature film first after The Original Series saw incredible success in syndication. However, production stalled for various reasons and Roddenberry later shifted focus to crafting the now-unproduced Phase II series.
A story titled In Thy Image, was commissioned to serve as the two-hour pilot episode for the proposed series. However, after Paramount decided to pursue a motion picture instead, the story was adapted into a feature film screenplay.
Despite retaining the original idea, the script underwent multiple rewrites, with fewer than 20 pages of the first draft used during production (via Cinefiles). Nonetheless, when Star Trek: The Motion Picture was released in 1979, it marked the franchise’s first foray to the big screen.
It was a commercial success, grossing $139 million (via The Numbers), bringing the franchise on par with the likes of the films that resulted in the cancellation of Phase II. Therefore, it is safe to say that Spielberg and Lucas are also indirectly responsible for Star Trek jumping to the big screen.
Star Trek movies and shows are streaming on Paramount+.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
