The New ‘Star Trek’ Movie Will Explore ‘Bad Apples’ in Starfleet

Here’s what we know about the future of Star Trek as the beloved sci-fi franchise celebrates its 60th anniversary this month: the two TV shows remaining in the current era, Strange New Worlds and Starfleet Academy, have clear endpoints in sight. And there’s a movie in the works from John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves), but so far it’s still in the development stage. However, the duo have been dropping scattered hints while promoting their next release, Apple TV movie Mayday.

Speaking to Inverse, they named-checked Training Day and Crimson Tide as two inspirations. Both happen to star Denzel Washington, and both are about tense power struggles—one between a veteran LAPD detective and the young officer who teams up with him; the other between clashing officers aboard a nuclear submarine.

So how does that fit into Star Trek‘s focus on optimism and exploration, exactly?

“I would say it’s really kind of a look at the institution of Starfleet and any institution as a whole that has existed for a long time and what that does,” Daley explained to Inverse.

“I think the portrayal of Starfleet and the people that work within it have always been generally idealized versions of what the future could be. And while this [script] isn’t a cynical or nihilistic take on it, I think it does acknowledge that there are some bad apples in every institution that can have a strong voice and can really make an impact on that institution and everything it stands for.”

He also noted, “It takes place almost in real time, and it just is a whole other look at what a Star Trek movie could be without betraying the fundamentals of what it should be.”

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