Fargo and Legion Creator to Helm Next Star Trek Film

I love Fargo. Not just the town, and not just because I lived there for some time. I love the film Fargo, and I really love the anthology series based on that film created by Noah Hawley. Now, Variety is reporting that Noah Hawley has been tapped to both write and direct the next installment of the Star Trek film franchise. Lots of questions abound here, so let’s dive in.

The report also reads that, as always, the details are scarce, but it does seem that this will be the next film in the new timeline created in 2009’s Star Trek as opposed to another reboot or standalone story. It seems that it will follow the Enterprise and its crew again, leading us down a path to see Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto return.

So this leads to some interesting questions because the road to Star Trek 4 has been a long and windy one. First off, we have to assume that this will bear no resemblance to the original idea of bringing back Chris Hemsworth as Kirk’s father and doing a time-travel story. That was the original idea until negotiations broke down with both Pine and Hemsworth.

Also, what has become of Quentin Tarantino’s Star Trek film? It was believed that it would feature the new cast from the 2009 film as well, and it would be rated R. It was said that his story was really liked over at Paramount, so what became of it? Is it still happening? Is it related to the Noah Hawley film? Probably not, but the question is worth asking.

Lastly, I have to ask where this came from? Did Hawley go to Paramount, or the other way around. The only reason I ask is that Hawley is known for his television work, but he did have his directorial debut this year with Lucy in the Sky, a critically-panned and commercially-underwhelming film that seemingly disappeared. I have to wonder if it’s the safe bet to put Hawley in charge of this film until he proves he can handle the 2-hour format that a film requires. Like it or not, but film is a different medium than television, and they require different skill sets.

I will say this. I haven’t seen Lucy in the Sky, but I have seen Fargo, and I can vouch for Hawley on that respect. I also love that Paramount is moving forward with Star Trek on the big screen. If they can control the budget a bit, I think they can do something really special with Hawley, and I’m excited that they are taking some risks.

So what do you think? Is this a good move for Paramount and the Star Trek franchise? Let me know/Drop a comment below!

-Kyle A. Goethe