Acclaimed writer Erik Jendresen signed on to write a script for a new STAR TREK feature earlier this year and talking in the new issue of Dreamwatch, the scribe says he’s turned in his first draft to Paramount brass.

“I’m excited about this project and I think the chances of it getting made are good,” reveals Jendresen, in excerpts provided exclusively to TrekWeb by the magazine. “It all depends on what the studio thinks, and Paramount has been through significant changes lately. But the people who are making the decisions are pretty responsible folk with a fine body of work behind them. So, we’ll see. Right now, I’m optimistic.”

Jendresen tells the magazine that the working title for the project is currently STAR TREK: THE BEGINNING. You’ll recall that producer Rick Berman, who is working with producers Kerry McCluggage and Jordan Kerner on the project, has said that the film would not utilize any existing STAR TREK characters and would be a new prequel to THE ORIGINAL SERIES. Jendresen gives more details.

“This would take place just a couple of years after the end of the events in ENTERPRISE but well before the original series, and it would look at the inciting incident that started everything,” he states. “The story is big and epic, and it isn’t as antiseptic as the television stories had to be.”

He says THE BEGINNING would also not be centered around the traditional STAR TREK model of a captain, crew, and starship.

“We’re looking at a very small group of men and women, particularly focusing on one character,” explains Jendresen. “There are a couple of ships, including a principal ship, but this is not a traditional captain and crew of a starship story in the least.”

Jendresen was one of the writers on the acclaimed HBO miniseries BAND OF BROTHERS and previously talked about his STAR TREK project in March. You can read the full interview with Jendresen in issue #133 of Dreamwatch in the UK and #12 of Dreamwatch U.S.

Source: TrekWeb, Guest Writer: Steve Krutzer