Next Star Trek Movie Gets Huge Update, Writers Compare It To Classic Denzel Washington Films

Published Sep 2, 2026, 6:30 AM EDT John Orquiola is a New & Classic TV Editor, Senior Writer, and Interviewer with a special focus on Star Trek. John has over 5,000 published articles at SR, and he has interviewed the biggest names in Star Trek on the red carpet and VIP events, among other beloved shows, movies, and franchises. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Filmmakers Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley deliver the biggest update yet on Paramount Skydance's next Star Trek movie that's currently in development. A new Star Trek movie unconnected to previous TV series and films was reported in 2025 and confirmed by Paramount Skydance at CinemaCon 2026. At San Diego Comic-Con, Daley and Goldstein, the writers and directors of Dungeon and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, confirmed that their take on Star Trek will not feature familiar characters and will be set "a little further into the future than we've been before." Goldstein and Daley are writing the new Star Trek movie and hoping to direct it as well. Speaking to Inverse about their new film, Mayday, John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein offer the most substantial update yet on their Star Trek movie. Daley reveals that their take on Star Trek "takes place almost in real time," and will look at "the institution of Starfleet," acknowledging "bad apples" that can "really make an impact on the institution and everything it stands for." Fascinatingly, Goldstein cites the Denzel Washington films Crimson Tide and Training Day. Read their quotes below: John Francis Daley: “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. 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.” Jonathan Goldstein: “Two movies we cite as comps for what we’re hoping to do are Training Day and Crimson Tide." John Francis Daley: “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." Besides starring Denzel Washington, 1995's Crimson Tide and 2001's Training Day share the concept of a young officer facing off with a corrupt and powerful mentor. Washington is the idealistic First Officer in director Tony Scott's Crimson Tide, squaring off with the wily submarine captain played by Gene Hackman. The nautical Crimson Tide was written by Quentin Tarantino and has natural thematic ties and direct references to Star Trek. Quentin Tarantino also took a swing at developing Star Trek 4, but the acclaimed director walked away from his planned R-rated gangster vision of Star Trek in 2019. Washington won the Best Actor Academy Award for his role in director Antoine Fuqua's Training Day. This time, Washington is the corrupt veteran narcotics detective teaching a raw rookie, played by Ethan Hawke, the brutal realities of policing in Los Angeles. Both examples are two of Denzel Washington's best movies, and illuminate the direction Goldstein and Daley are taking their Star Trek. Daley and Goldstein further discussed the planned scope of their Star Trek movie, how to differentiate it, and make the theatrical "spectacle" bigger than the "truly cinematic television" of the Alex Kurtzman-produced Star Trek series on Paramount+ that fans have watched for the last decade. Daley says: John Francis Daley: “With the advent of truly cinematic television, I think the challenge then is to have it justify its place as a feature, a theatrical feature that, in a perfect world, is on the biggest screens possible. And that requires looking at it in a sort of larger sense than any kind of television show could do. It’s definitely something that we are hyper-cognizant of as well. There has to be a spectacle to it.” Goldstein also stated their intention to "make a great movie" that doesn't want to rely only on Star Trek fandom, but will be inviting for general audiences to "discover." This lines up with Paramount Skydance's intention to make Star Trek movies that appeal to a wider demographic than Trekkers, not unlike how J.J. Abrams' Star Trek reboot trilogy pulled new audiences into movie theaters: Jonathan Goldstein: "I mean, look, we don't want to rely on fandom. We don't want to just hope that there's enough fans of the original [TOS] or The Next Generation or whatever who will turn out for this. We want to just make a great movie that lives in the world that people are familiar with — some people are familiar with — and that others will discover. And then, with good fortune, we launch a new franchise into existence.” While it's exciting to hear more details about Goldstein and Daley's Star Trek, their movie is currently still only in development. There is, unfortunately, no new Star Trek movie or TV series on Paramount+ in production. However, Daley and Goldstein's inspirations are interesting and offer a clearer picture of their movie, at last. If this new Star Trek movie does get a green light, fans may want to have a Denzel Washington movie marathon. 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 Video Game(s) Star Trek Online, Star Trek: Resurgence, Star Trek: Bridge Crew First Film Star Trek: The Motion Picture First TV Show Star Trek: The Original Series 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 Created by Gene Roddenberry