UPDATE 9/1/2026: The movie everything rides on now has a shape: directors Goldstein and Daley describe a near-real-time Training Day-meets-Crimson Tide thriller about Starfleet, all-new characters, built to launch a new franchise.
UPDATE: Paramount is getting its read on the fandom right now: the Star Trek 60th Anniversary Event brings the first four films back to theaters September 4-8, with director’s cuts and collectibles gauging demand ahead of the new movie.
Star Trek‘s future reportedly comes down to one movie.
A new report claims Paramount has no backup plan for the franchise if the upcoming film misses, no active plans for the rumored Star Trek: United series, and a “reset” mentality that has taken hold inside the studio.
The claims come via the Tachyon Pulse podcast on YouTube, whose host says the info comes from the most well-placed industry source he has ever spoken with. Nothing here is official, so treat it as rumor until Paramount says otherwise.
No Plans For Star Trek: United
Per the podcast’s source, everything at Paramount is currently aimed at the movie, and as it stands there is no plan for Star Trek: United.
The source reportedly stressed the word “may,” noting “one meeting can change everything,” but said he is not aware of any plan for the series.
Star Trek: United is the pitch from Enterprise writer-producer Michael Sussman that would bring back Scott Bakula as Jonathan Archer, now serving as President of the Federation. IMDb Pro still lists the project as a pitch, not something in development.
The host also asked whether Alex Kurtzman could be involved if a new series eventually gets greenlit. The answer: never say never, but as far as the source knows, there are no plans for that, and the franchise is moving away from Kurtzman.
That tracks with what Paramount+ originals boss Jane Wiseman told Deadline earlier today, saying the streamer is talking to “a lot of writers” about Star Trek‘s next era while leaning on CBS Studios, with Kurtzman going unmentioned as his deal runs out.
A Reset And A Return To Basics
“Reset” is reportedly the word being used carefully and often when Star Trek‘s future comes up at Paramount headquarters.
Per the source, there is still a lot of love for the franchise inside the studio, but also a lot of disappointment and anger, and the mandate is to get back to what Star Trek actually is.
The podcast previously claimed a pair of consultancy firms were brought in to figure out the core recipe of Star Trek, and the source now says the results of that study are informing decisions going forward.
The thinking is that the franchise got over-complicated and over-convoluted in recent years. The source says the next era needs a more logical core: “We need to have Star Trek that is Star Trek, but it needs to be cleverer.”
Audiences raised on shows like Game of Thrones can handle complexity, the argument goes, but without grounding in what Star Trek is, it will never work.
Expect something simpler and more logical, without the big swings of the last few years.
That lines up with what our own Hollywood insiders have told us, that the franchise goes back to what made Wrath of Khan through The Next Generation work under the new regime.
David Ellison’s 5 To 10 Year Plan
Per the source, David Ellison came into Paramount as a lifelong Star Trek fan and is personally overseeing a five-to-ten-year plan for the franchise that begins with the movie.
Skydance co-financed Star Trek Into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond, and the source claims Ellison remains proud of the J.J. Abrams era while acknowledging the team learned a lot from those films about what you can and cannot do with Star Trek. This fits with what our insiders said about how Ellison wants to re-release director’s cuts of films next year, including Abrams’ Star Trek.
Ellison is also reportedly aware the fan base is divided and wants to fix it.
Per the source, the studio is moving away from the “create new fans or the franchise dies” thinking of recent years, with Picard Season 3 held up as proof the core audience shows up and spreads the word when the material is good.
Our insiders have been pointing the same direction since June, with Ellison and Mike De Luca teaming to revitalize Star Trek as part of the studio’s bigger franchise push.
‘Not Too Big To Fail’
The warning at the center of all this: if the movie does not perform, there does not appear to be another plan.
“If it’s not making money, if executives aren’t excited about it and wanting to push forward something, it just won’t happen,” per the source, who warned, “We could go with no Star Trek for a very long time.”
The film comes from directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, features all-new characters, and is set further into the future. Behind it, Strange New Worlds ends with Season 5, Starfleet Academy ends with Season 2, both wrap in 2027, and nothing else is greenlit.
The franchise turns 60 on September 8 and is being celebrated in October at the NYCC.
Per the podcast, the message coming from inside Paramount is to give the new administration a chance, because this time Star Trek‘s future actually depends on it.
