Having helmed all episodes of WandaVision and helped lead the series to 23 Emmy nominations, Matt Shakman has been hired to direct the next Star Trek movie. Paramount and JJ Abrams‘ Bad Robot are developing the film, which is currently untitled.
Per Deadline, the film will now move at “warp speed” and begin production next spring. The script has been written by Lindsey Beer (Transformers, Pet Sematary) and Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Captain Marvel, Tomb Raider), making this the first Star Trek film to be penned by female screenwriters.
Prior to WandaVision, Shakman had a prolific career directing episodes of some of television’s most acclaimed shows, including Mad Men, Six Feet Under, Game Of Thrones, and It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. He came out of theater and remains the artistic director of the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles.
He reportedly took this Star Trek gig over several other offers after Paramount’s motion picture group studio chairman Emma Watts pushed hard to land him.
This means that the long-talked about but always unrealistic pipe dream of having Quentin Tarantino direct the next Star Trek film was just that.
Mark L. Smith (The Revenant) had written a Trek script, as had Noah Hawley (Fargo, Legion), but Paramount have decided to go with Beer and Robertson-Dworet’s. Plot details are currently under wraps.
Shakman’s only previous feature directing gig was the 2014 thriller Cut Bank, which starred Liam Hemsworth, Billy Bob Thornton and John Malkovich.
We’ll see if Star Trek is his first real step to becoming a major filmmaking name. More details regarding the plot, the title, and what characters from the prior films will be returning will hopefully arrive soon.
#Peace.Love.StarTrek
