New Star Trek Movie Not Set In J.J. Abrams’ Kelvin Timeline & Has No Legacy Characters, Filmmakers Confirm

Filmmakers Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley reveal more info about the timeline, tone, and characters of the new Star Trek movie they’re developing.

Paramount Global announced a new Star Trek movie is in the works, with Goldstein and Daley writing to direct. At San Diego Comic-Con in July, the duo behind Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Game Night, and who wrote Spider-Man: Homecoming, said that their Star Trek movie will be set ambiguously “further” in the future. They are also drawing inspiration from a pair of classic Denzel Washington movies: Crimson Tide and Training Day.

As reported by TrekMovie, Empire Magazine interviewed John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein about their hit Apple TV film Mayday, and the conversation naturally turned to the next Star Trek movie the writer-directors are working on. Goldstein and Daley confirmed that “no legacy characters” and “nobody you’ve met before” are in the movie, and that it will not be set in the alternate Kelvin timeline created by J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek trilogy. Read their quotes below:

Empire: And this is a brand-new Star Trek movie?

John Francis Daley: “Entirely. No legacy characters, nobody that you’ve met before. A different time, not a different timeline per se, but it’s a little further in the future.”

Jonathan Goldstein: “Sort of a different timeline.”

John Francis Daley: “Well, not the Kelvin timeline. It’s not the J.J. [Abrams] timeline.”

Jonathan Goldstein: “It’s tribbles. It’s all tribbles. The whole movie.”

No legacy Star Trek characters will be a complete break from every other Star Trek theatrical movie, which has centered on versions of Captain Kirk (William Shatner and Chris Pine) USS Enterprise from Star Trek: The Original Series and Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) from Star Trek: The Next Generation. A movie introducing all-new, original Star Trek characters is an exciting prospect.

The timeline issue is murkier, as Goldstein creates confusion about what “sort of a different timeline” means. Daley’s comments that their Star Trek movie is set “a little further in the future” hint that it takes place in the unexplored timeframe between the early 25th century of Star Trek: Picard and 32nd century of Star Trek: Discovery and Starfleet Academy. Yet it’s also possible their Star Trek movie takes place or visits another alternate universe.

Goldstein and Daley’s movies have had lighthearted tones even if they’re not outright comedies. The filmmakers tell Empire they’re taking a different approach to Star Trek, which is the “darkest film” they’ve ever written. Yet Daley says their Star Trek won’t be bereft of levity, as their characters will “find humor in even the darkest moments.”

John Francis Daley: “I would say it’s probably our darkest film that we’ve ever written. It’s not a comedy. There is our sensibility in it, and we do find levity, but it’s in the characters who find humor in even the darkest moments, which is just true to real life. We both went on an aircraft carrier when we were researching Mayday, and it can be a very fraught landscape working on those ships, and people have to find levity. They have to find joy in even the most serious moments, and that’s the approach we have in this film.”

Jonathan Goldstein: “You want it to be a fun watch. Doesn’t mean you’re laughing your head off. It just means you’re in it, and you’re enjoying it.”

Daley and Goldstein are influenced by visiting an aircraft character when working on Mayday, and they’re also pulling from Crimson Tide, a submarine thriller about a First Officer in a moral conflict with his Captain. Training Day also has a similar battle of wills between an idealistic pupil and his mentor, who is corrupted by the system they both serve. These inspirations give a clearer picture of what Daley and Goldstein’s Star Trek will be about.

Paramount Skydance has not greenlit Goldstein and Daley’s Star Trek movie to go into production, so there is no release date or casting information to share. There are also reportedly other Star Trek movies in development at the studio, although Goldstein and Daley’s Star Trek movie is the only one being publicly discussed.

After a decade of development hell that resulted in the Chris Pine-led Star Trek 4 finally being scrapped, time will tell if John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein’s Star Trek movie makes it to theaters.