Star Trek needs new movies, according to Star Trek: Lower Decks creator Mike McMahan. The last Star Trek movie released theatrically was Star Trek Beyond in 2016, and a fourth J.J. Abrams-produced Star Trek movie has been mired in development hell for years. While Paramount+ is mounting made-for-streaming Star Trek movies planned to release every 2 years, starting with Star Trek: Section 31 starring Academy Award-winner Michelle Yeoh, Paramount Pictures’ Star Trek movie franchise is still in drydock.
Appearing on a Star Trek panel at the Revenge Of Comics Creators Block Party in Los Angeles alongside other creators like Star Trek: Picard season 3 showrunner Terry Matalas, Star Trek: Lower Decks‘ executive producer Mike McMahan made his passionate (and funny) plea for more Star Trek movies. Read his quote below:
I think [Star Trek] should get their movies made. I think there should be new movies. I want to see movies with the crew that we’ve seen. I want to see [Chris] Pine again. I want to see that crew. And I want to see more movies. I want to see more f****** Star Trek movies. Like, what are they doing? I’m a TV guy, I’ve got a lot of TV, I’ve got a lot of comics, but there are no movies. Get your s*** together, new Star Trek movies all the f***** time, please.
Star Trek: Picard season 3 showrunner Terry Matalas also shared a photo on Twitter/X from the Revenge Of Star Trek panel:
Why Star Trek Movies Are So Important To The Franchise
Star Trek movies are a crucial gateway to creating new fans.
Mike McMahan is right that Star Trek needs to relaunch its dormant movie franchise. An important reason why came from the Revenge Of block party’s Star Trek panelists themselves. Both Terry Matalas and Star Trek writer Marc Bernardin said their first experiences watching Star Trek were seeing Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (which Matalas correctly called “underrated”) and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (“The one with the whales”), respectively. For new viewers who may find watching 179 episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation daunting, watching a 2-hour Star Trek movie is a great way to be introduced to the franchise. This is what happened in 2009 when people who hadn’t seen Star Trek before flocked to theaters to see J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot movie starring Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto.
After the WGA writer’s strike was resolved, Paramount Pictures reportedly prioritized a new Star Trek movie, which could possibly be another reboot. While audiences still want to see Chris Pine return to lead the USS Enterprise crew as Captain James T. Kirk, Star Trek could also expand beyond the Starship Enterprise for the first time and create new characters for a rebooted movie saga. There is unlimited story and movie potential for Star Trek that remains untapped and could complement the popular streaming TV series on Paramount+. More Star Trek movies would be a good thing for the overall franchise.
