J.J. Abrams is one of the few filmmakers who has gotten the chance to be a driving force between two of the biggest sci-fi franchises. The filmmaker rebooted the Star Trek franchise with the 2009 film and its sequel while he also continued the Skywalker Saga in Star Wars.
While the director is known for his overreliance on nostalgia in the respective franchises, he reportedly missed the chance to bring in one of the best directors of the Star Trek films back for the fourth film. According to Jonathan Frakes, who directed Star Trek: First Contact and Insurrection, he was not chosen to helm the fourth film in the reboot series.
Jonathan Frakes Wrote To J.J. Abrams To Have A Go At Star Trek 4
There is a reason why many of the Star Trek films have been helmed by cast members of the franchise. Both William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy from the original series took the role of the director in separate instances while LeVar Burton directed many episodes of the spinoff series.
However, Jonathan Frakes helmed two of the most celebrated original films of The Next Generation batch of films. He began with Star Trek: First Contact, which is often considered to be one of the best Star Trek films and he returned for the next installment Insurrection.
Despite his reputation as a good filmmaker, Rakes reportedly was not considered for Star Trek 4 by J.J. Abrams. The filmmaker mentioned in an interview with TrekMovie.com that he actually contacted Abrams in hopes of having a go at it. He said,
I actually wrote to J.J. to say ‘If you need an experienced guy to take over Star Trek 4, I’m available.’ [laughs] He said, ‘You are certainly experienced.’…Well no, that’s not going to happen, but I was fascinated when Tarantino wanted to do a Star Trek movie.
And Noah Hawley too, I am a huge Fargo fan. His brain with our characters in our world, and what would Tarantino do? Just the idea of it is wild.
Frakes did not give a specific reason as to why he was not considered for the role as he went on to helm many episodes of Voyager, Strange New Worlds, Discovery, and Picard.
Will There Be A Star Trek 4 From J.J. Abrams?
While J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot has not exactly been the most-loved by the fans, it has still become profitable for the franchise as it introduced the sci-fi epic to a new generation of audiences. The first film earned $385 million while Star Trek Into Darkness earned over $467 million at the box office, making it the highest-grossing media in the franchise (via The Numbers).
However, after the lukewarm response to Star Trek Beyond, the development of the fourth film has been long delayed. Multiple filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino, SJ Clarkson, and Noah Howley were attached to the project before departing due to various reasons (via CBR).
An iteration of the fourth film was reportedly set to feature Chris Hemsworth, who played Captain Kirk’s father George Kirk in the first film. However, the Furiosa star reportedly walked out after being unimpressed with the script. He said to Variety,
I didn’t feel like we landed on a reason to revisit that yet. I didn’t want to be underwhelmed by what I was going to bring to the table.
While there have been no confirmed developments regarding the fourth film, a spinoff based on Michelle Yeoh’s Philippa Georgiou called Section31 is currently being filmed.
J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek films can be streamed on Paramount+.
