Caffeinated Clint
It was reported this morning that S.J Clarkson had been tapped to direct and executive produce the pilot of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” prequel. Very nice score for the “Defenders” and “Jessica Jones” helmer, right?
Well, yes, of course, it’s gotta pay well and the profile will get a real boost from the association with such a popular TV series… but the untitled prequel isn’t the passion project Clarkson had been hoping to spend the year working on.
The British film and TV director had been working on a fourth “Star Trek” film with Paramount and producer J.J Abrams, the first since the fantastic but floundering “Star Trek Beyond” (2016), since winning the gig last year. But seems the pricey space jaunt is giving the studio too many headaches – there’s been script issues, a writer’s room full of indecision, and last August, Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth, who had been expected to star in Clarkson’s film, fell out over money. So, according to Deadline, “Star Trek 4” is off…. and so Clarkson was forced to find another job.
Paramount can’t seem to figure out what they want to do with the “Trek” film franchise. They’ve a bunch of different scenarios they’ve been considering for the fourth film – a two-hander with Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth as James and George Kirk, an R-rated standalone which Quentin Tarantino wants to write, and so on – but they can’t seem to settle on an idea. They’re shooting too high, me thinks. Too ambitious. Too scared whatever they do won’t break the sound barrier. “Beyond” worked so well because it stripped the franchise back to its basic bones – it was just a splendidly exciting space adventure. Sure, I understand it didn’t make the money the studio would’ve liked, but that’s got less to do with the plot and cast than it has the brand itself – it could be that “Trek” is still very much just a more niche brand, particularly if Paramount’s brass is expecting “Star Wars” results from it. Chalk and cheese.
So, will we ever see another “Trek” movie? Yes, of course, Paramount aren’t going to let the brand gather dust too for too long. It just mightn’t be the “Trek” you expect to see, or want to see, when it does return to the big screen in a few years’ time. And by that, I mean that we may have seen the last of the “Trek” cast as we know it – Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg and so on – and the JJ Abrams’ linked yarns, that kicked off in 2009. If the studio keeps going back and forwards on the aforesaid project, it’s pretty clear they’re not confident they can make any money on another film that follows “Beyond” – and that may mean they start from scratch again. Just as any studio would if their superhero franchises start to wane.
Maybe we’ll get a new “Next Generation” prequel movie, next – Tom Hardy could probably fit in a Picard reprisal between “Venom” movies.
