Since the beginning of recorded time, human beings have been curious about what may reside beyond the Earth in vast expanses of the universe. Ancient civilizations believed in powerful gods that would control every aspect of their lives from the weather to childbirth, while more modern civilizations ponder the possibility of extraterrestrials. This has subsequently bled over into popular culture in recent decades and spawned a number of successful Hollywood franchises based upon the premise. Now one of those franchises is looking to continue its success with another film: Paramount has announced a new Star Trek film that is in production, with acclaimed director JJ Abrams’ production company Bad Robot and Fear The Walking Dead writer Kalinda Vazquez penning the screenplay.
The first time Star Trek was released was over half a century ago in 1966 when the first season of the original television series aired. Now there are over a dozen films and over twenty seasons of television in the Star Trek franchise, translating to billions of dollars in revenue for Hollywood. It has been five years since the release of the most recent film, which was also produced by Abrams himself, but Paramount has continued to produce and release new seasons of their historic television series. Aside from her work with the Walking Dead franchise Vazquez has contributed her talents to the series in recent years, writing episodes of the series in 2019 and 2020 and making her a prime candidate to author the screenplay.
Abrams has been working on the Star Trek franchise since it was rebooted in 2009, directing the first two of three films. While he handed the director’s chair over to Justin Lin for the third film released in 2016, it remains unclear if he will return to this position. Regardless Abrams and his production company will be working closely with Vazquez who will be the first woman to write a Star Trek film. They seemingly picked a great candidate for the first based on her resume, and fans of the franchise can remain eager to see what her creative mind comes up with.
