Why Paramount Must Succeed With Star Trek Movies

Paramount has failed the Star Trek movie franchise for a decade. The last theatrically released movie was Star Trek Beyond, which was directed by Justin Lin, produced by J.J. Abrams, and premiered in theaters in the summer of 2016. Since then, Star Trek movies have been in drydock, but they are too important for this to continue.

Star Trek became a movie franchise in 1979, and there have been 13 feature films released in theaters, along with Star Trek: Section 31, which was made for streaming on Paramount+. Star Trek: The Motion Picture was the rebirth of the franchise after Star Trek: The Original Series was canceled by NBC in 1969.

Star Trek spent the 1970s becoming more popular in syndication, and the momentum continued with an animated series, the advent of Star Trek conventions, and the plan to create a new TV series, Star Trek: Phase II, which was transitioned into a feature film.

Star Trek was born on television, and it can be argued that Star Trek is at its best on the small screen, which allows for deeper storytelling and long-form exploration of its pantheon of beloved characters. However, Star Trek movies are an indelible branch of the franchise that has been squandered for too long by Paramount.

Why Star Trek Movies Are So Important

Star Trek movies aren’t a supplementary and disposable arm of the franchise. Rather, the best Star Trek movies hold equal stature to the best episodes of Star Trek. Many of the most beloved and finest moments of Star Trek that stood the test of time happened in Star Trek movies.

Imagine Star Trek without Spock’s (Leonard Nimoy) death and Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) screaming Khan Noonien Singh’s (Ricardo Montalban) name in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan or Captain Jean-Luc Picard seething that “The line must be drawn here!” when gripped with obsession about destroying the Borg in Star Trek: First Contact.

Star Trek movies deliver unforgettable moments and are events that allow for something that home viewing does not: a communal experience of experiencing Star Trek with a large crowd in a darkened theater. When Star Trek movies do their jobs well, they burn into fans’ imaginations with a powerful impact that’s simply different from how even the greatest Star Trek is experienced on television.

Even the low points of Star Trek movies live on memorably. In their own way, infamous moments, like Captain Kirk asking, “What does God need with a starship?” in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, the USS Enterprise-D crash-landing in Star Trek Generations, and Spock (Zachary Quinto) and Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch) slugging it out in Star Trek Into Darkness, are also part of fans’ collective Trekdom.

Star Trek Movies Pushed The Franchise Forward Visually

Star Trek movies are largely responsible for the franchise’s leaps forward in terms of visual effects, production and costume design, and even musical scores. Star Trek’s 1960s TV budgets could only accomplish so much, but Star Trek: The Motion Picture was an astounding and necessary upgrade in terms of special effects that made the USS Enterprise grander and more impressive than ever before.

While Star Trek movies in the 1980s and 1990s were made as cheaply as possible compared to big-budget Hollywood blockbusters, the Starship Enterprise’s voyages on the big screen were still a cut above what was seen on television. Star Trek: First Contact, in particular, has VFX, such as the Borg Queen’s (Alice Krige) entrance, that still dazzle today.

J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek movies upgraded Star Trek to the point where it finally looked, sounded, and felt as spectacular as Star Wars. Thanks to Abrams, Star Trek looked like a future that was as vivid and immersive as audiences imagined. Star Trek on Paramount+’s many TV series brought Abrams’ cinematic production values to television, so that Star Trek now looks amazing on streaming.

Star Trek’s film composers are also heroes. Star Trek would be at a loss without Jerry Goldsmith’s rousing score for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which became the theme of Star Trek: The Next Generation, James Horner’s nautically grandiose score for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and Michael Giacchino’s epic compositions for J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek movies.

Paramount Must Finally Make New Star Trek Movies

Paramount Skydance’s new management under CEO David Ellison promises to prioritize Star Trek among its slate of movie franchises. However, this is a song fans have heard for a decade. Star Trek theatrical movies have been nonexistent for 10 years, with high-profile directors, including Quentin Tarantino, exiting due to “creative differences.”

At CinemaCon 2026, Paramount Skydance officially announced a new Star Trek movie, but didn’t confirm whether it was the film Variety reported in November 2025: a Star Trek movie unconnected to any previous Star Trek movie or TV series being developed by Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves filmmakers Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley.

Paramount Skydance announcing a new Star Trek movie is also hardly a guarantee, as the project could simply not come together. After all, Paramount announced a Star Trek Origin movie by Black Mirror director Toby Haynes at CinemaCon 2024, and it was quietly dropped and never happened at all.

Star Trek 4, which would have reunited J.J. Abrams’ Starship Enterprise cast led by Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, was permanently canceled after a decade of development hell. This was a huge loss as fans believed that the alternate Kelvin timeline versions of Captain Kirk and his crew deserved one more shot. Those actors, including Academy Award winner Zoe Saldana, have now been squandered.

Star Trek movies and fans of big-screen adventures in the final frontier deserve to have their patience rewarded. After all, Star Trek movies are also an excellent way to introduce newbies to Star Trek, as a feature film is far less intimidating a commitment than facing hundreds of TV episodes. No new Star Trek movies means losing chances to potentially create new Star Trek fans.

Star Trek’s TV franchise enjoyed a renaissance on Paramount+ for the past decade, while Star Trek theatrical movies were dead in the water. A truly healthy Star Trek franchise means thriving on television and on the big screen.

Paramount has already wasted the last 10 years with a baffling inability to make new Star Trek movies, and it’s time to set this cinematic starship back on course towards multiplexes.

Created by

Gene Roddenberry

First Episode Air Date

September 8, 1966

Cast

William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Deforest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, Jonathan Frakes, Patrick Stewart, Michael Dorn, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Wil Wheaton, Avery Brooks, Nana Visitor, Rene Auberjonois, Alexander Siddig, Cirroc Lofton, Armin Shimerman, Colm Meaney, Terry Farrell, Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Dawson, Jeri Ryan, Robert Duncan McNeill, Robert Picardo, Ethan Phillips, Garrett Wang, Jolene Blalock, Connor Trinneer, Dominic Keating, Scott Bakula, Linda Park, John Billingsley, Anthony Montgomery, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho, Chris Hemsworth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Anton Yelchin, Idris Elba, Sonequa Martin-Green, Mary Wiseman, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, Wilson Cruz, Oyin Oladejo, Emily Coutts, Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Rebecca Romijn, Michelle Yeoh

TV Show(s)

Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Animated Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Short Treks, Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek Lower Decks, Star Trek: Prodigy, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy