Star Trek

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The film franchise began with Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979, directed by Robert Wise. That film and the five that followed all starred the cast of The Original Series. The seventh film, Star Trek Generations (1994), was designed to serve as a transition from the original cast to that of the next series, Star Trek: The Next Generation. The next three films just starred the cast of The Next Generation, and ended with Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), which disappointed at the box office. After a break of several years, a new film simply titled Star Trek was released in 2009. It serves as a reboot of the franchise, with new actors portraying younger versions of the Original Series characters, but it is technically a narrative continuation set in an alternate timeline called the 'Kelvin Timeline'. Two sequels have been produced and another entered development before ultimately being canceled. The first television film, Star Trek: Section 31, was released on the streaming service Paramount+ in 2025 and is set in the original timeline. A new feature film, separate from previous takes, is in development.

Reader's Guide

Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry first suggested the idea of a Star Trek feature in 1969. When the original television series was cancelled, he lobbied to continue the franchise through a film. The success of the series in syndication convinced the studio to begin work on a feature film in 1975. A series of writers attempted to craft a suitably epic screenplay, but the attempts did not satisfy Paramount, so the studio scrapped the project in 1977. Paramount instead planned on returning the franchise to its roots with a new television series (Phase II). The massive worldwide box office success of Star Wars in mid-1977 sent Hollywood studios to their vaults in search of similar sci-fi properties that could be adapted or re-launched to the big screen. Following the huge opening of Columbia's Close Encounters of the Third Kind in late December 1977, production of Phase II was cancelled in favor of making a Star Trek film. The Motion Picture's gross was considered disappointing, but it was enough for Paramount to back a sequel with a reduced budget. After Roddenberry pitched a film in which the crew of the Enterprise goes back in time to ensure the assassination of John F. Kennedy, he was 'kicked upstairs' to a ceremonial role while Paramount brought in television producer Harve Bennett to craft a better—and cheaper—film than the first. After watching all the television episodes, Bennett decided that the character Khan Noonien Singh was the perfect villain for the new film. Director Nicholas Meyer finished a complete screenplay in just twelve days, and did everything possible within budget to give The Wrath of Khan a nautical, swashbuckling feel, which he described as 'Horatio Hornblower in outer space'. Upon release, the reception of The Wrath of Khan was highly positive; Entertainment Weekly's Marc Bernardin called The Wrath of Khan 'the film that, by most accounts, saved Star Trek as we know it'.

Did You Know?

• The first Star Trek film, Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), introduced an upgrade to the technology and starship designs, making for a dramatic visual departure from the original series.
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) was directed by Nicholas Meyer, who finished a complete screenplay in just twelve days.
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) was directed by cast member Leonard Nimoy, and Paramount gave Bennett the green light to write it the day after The Wrath of Khan opened.
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) was a time travel story with the Enterprise crew returning to the late 20th century to obtain a mating pair of humpback whales.
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) is a sendoff to the original series cast and features Michael Dorn as the grandfather of the character he plays in The Next Generation, Worf.