‘Alien: Earth’ Creator Explains Why Paramount Canceled His ‘Star Trek’ Movie

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Noah Hawley, the creator of shows like Fargo, Legion, and Alien: Earth, has explained why his planned Star Trek movie was cancelled by Paramount Pictures. He was brought on in late 2019 to write and direct a new Star Trek film that would have featured a fresh storyline and cast, moving away from the actors like Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto. However, Paramount ultimately decided to pursue a different Star Trek movie – one that would reunite the original Kelvin timeline cast – but that project was also later cancelled.

In an interview on the Smartless podcast, as reported by TrekMovie.com, writer Alex Kurtzman explained his initial attraction to Star Trek. He felt that while many franchises like Star Wars and Marvel focus on conflict and war, Star Trek stood out as being about discovery and using intelligence to overcome challenges. Kurtzman pitched Paramount Pictures an original Star Trek film with a fresh cast, even considering Rami Malek and Cate Blanchett for leading roles. However, a change in studio leadership led to the project being cancelled.

I pitched an original idea to Paramount, and they loved it enough to start preparing it for production. We were making real progress – I was even planning a move to Australia and we were scouting locations. But then, a new executive, Jim Gianopulos, took over the studio. One of his first decisions was to cancel my Star Trek project, because the new team wasn’t confident it would be successful.

Timeline for Noah Hawley’s ‘Star Trek’ Pitch


Paramount Pictures

By November 2020, a Star Trek movie plan developed by Hawley appeared to have stalled at Paramount. Emma Watts joined Paramount in July 2020 as President of Paramount Motion Picture Group, reporting to studio president Jim Gianapulos, and quickly made it a key goal to revive franchises like Star Trek, Transformers, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Watts departed from Paramount Pictures the following summer, in 2021.

Although details haven’t been officially released, there were reports that J.J. Abrams’ proposed Star Trek story involved a worldwide virus, which seemed insensitive considering the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, Paramount Pictures announced a fourth Star Trek movie featuring the cast from the 2009 film, based on audience research indicating interest in seeing them return. However, the studio announced the film before finalizing contracts with the actors.

Despite years of attempts to get it made – including three years of on-again, off-again development and six years stuck in limbo – Paramount Skydance has cancelled Star Trek 4. They’ve decided to create a new Star Trek film instead, this time with the directors of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Interestingly, this outcome mirrors the original plan of the previous director, who envisioned a fresh start for the franchise, which is what’s now happening after the cancellation of the film with the familiar cast.

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2025-12-05 00:34