AUGUST 9, 2020 - Plans to move forward with the upcoming Noah Hawley-directed Star Trek film have reportedly been put on hold. According to a piece in Deadline last Friday, the story is that the decision was made by Emma Watts, president of Paramount’s Motion Picture Group, in an attempt to choose a clear path for the next Star Trek film.

Hawley, who previously created the series Legion and produced the FX limited series Fargo, was first attached to the Star Trek franchise last November. Since then, there has been much speculation over what Hawley’s installment would look like, including revelations that it was unlikely to include the previous Kelvin Timeline crew and that it was under no mandate to tie in with the television series Star Trek: Discovery or Star Trek: Picard. Friday’s Deadline report suggests that part of the reason for the film being paused could be its plot, which Deadline says “might be about a deadly virus which might feel awkward given current circumstance”.

While Hawley’s Trek film may have been put on ice, it doesn’t seem as though it’s been put out to pasture. Deadline says that it, along with the oft-rumored Quentin Tarantino Trek film, are still in consideration for spinoffs, “when the core franchise has been revitalized”. For now, the strongest prospect for Paramount seems to be a third option, which Deadline fails to elaborate on specifically but references the film that S.J. Clarkson was originally set to direct, which would have brought back both Chris Hemsworth and Chris Pine as Kirk and Kirk, respectively.

According to the Deadline piece, more decisions will be made at Paramount in the coming weeks. Of course, Hollywood production being what it is right now with COVID-19 restrictions, your guess is as good as mine when we might actually see some production movement.