Noah Hawley’s Star Trek Movie Is On Hold

The Noah Hawley Star Trek movie has been put on hold indefinitely by Paramount.

By Drew Dietsch | Updated

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The Noah Hawley Star Trek movie has just hit a major speed bump. Variety reported in a recent interview with Hawley that the new feature has been put on hold by Paramount. As of now, there is no momentum on the project.

This is all on the heels of Emma Watts becoming the new president of the Paramount Motion Picture Group. Watts was a former film executive at 20th Century Fox and was working there when Noah Hawley released his true story film Lucy in the Sky. So she does have a working relationship with the filmmaker. Could this help the future of his Star Trek film?

Apparently, the Noah Hawley Star Trek movie is part of an overall decision being made with the Star Trek franchise in general. Any time a new president is instituted at a movie studio, any major productions get appraised to see if they will move forward. This is especially true when it comes to big franchises like Star Trek. To hear that Hawley’s movie is being put on hold isn’t surprising but it is worth worrying about for anyone excited for the prospect of the film.

It is clear at this point that Paramount is at a big crossroads with the Star Trek series. There are multiple projects in some stage of development. In addition to the Noah Hawley Star Trek film, there is one that would involve Quentin Tarantino. And it is not even clear at this point if the reboot cast, headed by Chris Pine as Captain James Kirk, would even be part of any future films.

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From what we know about the Noah Hawley Star Trek feature, it sounds like there would not be any immediately familiar characters in his version. However, it would eventually link up with some key pieces of Star Trek canon that would be instantly recognizable to fans. Hawley compares it to how the first season of his show Fargo was able to tell its own story but surprised fans with a big piece of the movie’s storyline.

All of this is up in the air considering that theatrical exhibition is going to look very strange for the next year or so. Exactly when a new Star Trek feature film could go into production is unclear at this moment. Noah Hawley has the fourth season of Fargo premiering this month and is in pre-production on Cat’s Cradle, an adaptation of the novel by Kurt Vonnegut.

A Noah Hawley Star Trek movie sounds like the kind of left-field idea that the franchise could use. Hawley’s other endeavors have proven that he has a knack for the unexpected and creating compelling characters. He seems like a perfect fit for a universe like Star Trek. Will we eventually get to see his concept for a brand new direction for the storied franchise? Hopefully, this project won’t find itself in the big cancel pile and it can get restarted once everything at Paramount starts to settle. If we hear anything else about this, we will be sure to keep you posted.