The BAND OF BROTHERS writer developed a fascinating, never-produced STAR TREK trilogy and wanted Christopher Walken to play Kirk’s great-great-grandfather

The shot Steven Spielberg AND Tom Hanks HBO series about World War II Band of brothers It’s one of my all-time favorite war projects. The series was damn good and launched the careers of many great actors. That series was written by Erik Jendresenand after wrapping Paramount Pictures contacted him to discuss the possibility of developing a new one Star Trek movie. This was before JJ Abrams came on board to reboot the sci-fi franchise, only Jendresen’s concept was much more interesting than what Abrams ended up making.

Jendresen made it very clear that he wasn’t a big fan of it Star Trekbut he certainly had a knack for storytelling and, even if he wasn’t a fan, he had a clear understanding of what Star Trek it was about franchising. He actually had a plan for a trilogy of films and the first film would have a title Star Trek: First Class.

Jendresen talked about his experience with this project in the book “The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years: From The Next Generation to JJ Abrams”, and said:

“Shortly after ‘Band of Brothers,’ I got a call from my agent, who said, ‘Would you be interested in being in ‘Star Trek?” And I said, ‘No.’ First of all, because I don’t like it. very science fiction. In that sense I’m a bit of a purist. If it’s not Jules Verne or HG Wells or Edgar Allen Poe or Arthur Conan Doyle, I’m not that interested. The genre of space opera and science fiction is simply something that never sparked any interest in me. But they wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

Executive producer Rick Bermann he had a concept he wanted to explore that revolved around exploring the lives of a young Kirk and a young Spock and producer Jordan Kerner he was adamant about bringing Jendrensen on board, so they asked him if he would come on board as a consultant, which he agreed to. Jendrensen said:

And I said, “Sure.” And I was very honest with them. I loved two things about “Star Trek.” The first was this Horatio Hornblower look for Kirk. All that audacity. It’s kind of a throwback to a great kind of literary figure and hero.”

Jendresen also said that he “loved that the stories were always, at the time, of political or social relevance. There was a message behind all of them. And it was quite lovely. I really respected that.” He ended up developing a story for the new film and pitching it to the studio, which seemed like a really strange experience to him. He spoke about that experience, saying:

“We went and presented it to the head of the studio, Donald De Line. We sat down and started telling the story. I’ve been in a lot of rooms in Hollywood. I’ve pitched a lot of projects. I’ve never been in a more extraordinarily dead room.” of this. It was like being in a sensory deprivation tank. There wasn’t a sound and halfway through the tone I thought, “This is really weird.” In the middle of the scene, I look at the couches and one of the producers is sitting there and started going ‘Kennedy just got hit’ with his fist under his chin.”

Even though it seemed like the pitch he was making fell on deaf ears, they actually loved his idea, and at the end of his 45-minute pitch, the producer enthusiastically offered him the job. As for the story Jendrersen wanted to tell, it had to be set in the years following the events of Star Trek: Enterprisebut before the original Star Trek series with Captain Kirk. The story would focus on the Romulan War, which was frequently referenced in various chapters Star Trek series but never fully explored on screen.

The plot centered on a young pilot named Tiberius Chase, who unsurprisingly shared a name similar to James T. Kirk’s middle name, Tiberius. Tiberius Chase was one of Kirk’s ancestors. The story describes Earth’s first encounters with the Romulans, the early stages of the war, and how they wanted to kill all Vulcans on Earth. Chase becomes instrumental in rallying human and allied forces to confront the Romulan threat. Jendresen’s hope that the story, which depicted the Earth-Romulan war, would be part of a trilogy of films.

It is said that the tone of the script was very reminiscent of World War II. Its story and setting are darker and militaristic than traditional Star Trek, more closely resembling Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It would have been more of a military thriller type film, which would have been very different for the franchise. One of Chase’s speeches said, “I will ask myself again, and forever, how can one go boldly and follow at the same time?” Jendresen went on to talk about the story, saying:

“All of this is happening during the Serbo-Croatian conflict. So the idea was this interstellar ethnic cleansing going on. It was really about something. And the fact that Earth stands up to the Romulans and says, ‘No.’ of a few exceed those of many. That is the moment when the Earth stands up and says no.”

Jendresen went on to talk about the freedom he had in exploring the character of Tiberius Chase because the character was not carried over into the future of the franchise. Because of this, the writer was able to bring the tragedy to Chase in the way he wanted.

“Having to find a clever way to have a human meet a Romulan and deal with the fact that no one lives to tell the tale. And it was really fun trying to deal with the idea of ​​Kirk’s progenitor. Who is this man he takes after the name? Where does its spirit originate from? I really embraced it.”

While this version of Star Trek would have been very different, Jendresen believed that his story was respectful of the franchise and canon, and was very satisfied with the work he had done on the project. During the script development process, he learned to appreciate the Star Trek franchise even more. He said:

“When I finished writing it, I was pretty shocked by the whole thing. I really enjoyed the process. I was also very well aware of the fact that, because of the agnostic feeling I had towards the genre, and I wasn’t being a fan diehard, I was able to serve him better, because I wasn’t precious. My feelings about a story or a canon of material are as strong as most Trekkies are for the [Doyle] books. It was something I went crazy about as a kid. To this day I still am.”

Once the first script was finished, Jendresen began planning the next film in the trilogy and was excited to continue telling his story. He said:

“I was really looking forward to the second one, because it was going to be a chase from Romulan space. Also, the idea was that most of the Romulan fleet would return to Romulus from Earth, so they’re kind of “A route of collision with the entire Romulan fleet. Throughout all of this, there would be conflict, tension and suspense. But I couldn’t wait to invent Odysseus’s adventures while he went home to Penelope.”

Jendresen went on to explain that he wanted to introduce Kirk’s great-great-grandfather, Otto Chase, and wanted Christopher Walken to take on that role! He explained:

“I had one person in mind when I wrote it. But he’s a tertiary character. Tiberius is Kirk’s great-grandfather. So his great-great-grandfather is Tiberius’ father, Otto Chase, who leads this group of xenophobes, and I “It was absolutely convinced that there was only one boy to play him. And that was Christopher Walken. I would have brought it back in the sequel. He was such a colorful character. Walken’s idea in this underground cavern with all this ancient rot, “Nazi UFOs would have been awesome.”

How damn beautiful Star Trek this would have been history! Unfortunately, the project fell apart due to a “regime change” at Paramount Studios. Yes, Jendresen’s ideas about a Romulan attack fleet and extermination of the Vulcans found their way into the script of JJ Abrams’ 2009 Star Trek movie, but I think Jendresen would have been a much better way to make the movie. It’s a shame it was never made.

If you want you can read the script here.

Via: /Film