| abstract | - The notion of a Star Trek movie was originally considered amid the making of TOS Season 2, while DeForest Kelley, Gene Roddenberry, and Gregg Peters were having lunch together. "The three of us came up with the idea of doing a motion picture version of the show during the hiatus," remembered Kelley. "That far back, we thought, what a terrific thing that would be. Had we done it, God knows what might have been the result of it. It was much later that 2001 and Star Wars came along. We were all ahead of our time in the thinking, even then [....] We kicked the idea about off and on and then it was kicked out the window; 'Who would ever think of making a motion picture out of a television show?'" Despite that being the verdict which the creative staff reached at the time, the idea of making a Star Trek motion picture persisted for years to come. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 9, No. 2, p. 43) At the 26th World Science Fiction Convention in 1968 (shortly before the third season of TOS began airing), Gene Roddenberry mentioned the idea of a Star Trek movie. "Gene spoke to an adoring crowd," explained Garfield Reeves-Stevens, "and he said that he was talking to Paramount about making a feature film version of Star Trek that would tell the story of how Kirk, Spock and McCoy met at the Academy." (The Longest Trek: Writing The Motion Picture, Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Blu-ray) special features) In 1973 , Gene Roddenberry again approached Paramount with the idea of a Star Trek movie. He wanted Herb Solow (formerly the Desilu executive in charge of production on the first two seasons of Star Trek: The Original Series) to produce the film. Roddenberry also wanted Solow to negotiate with Paramount on his behalf. Roddenberry based the plot idea on the outline "A Question of Cannibalism" in his 1964 series proposal, Star Trek is... (the title was reworked as "The Cattlemen"). Solow thought the script had to be heavily rewritten, because "it did not foreshadow an enjoyable night at the movies." Despite this, Paramount was eager on the project. However, Roddenberry refused to accept the screenwriting fee and equity proposed by the studio. After several unsuccessful negotiations, Paramount backed away from the project, and the movie was never made. Solow commented that the studio could have made the film without Roddenberry, but they did not want to alienate the fanbase. (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, pp. 420-421, 430) With the popularity of Star Trek conventions, as well as re-runs of Star Trek: The Original Series, a revival of the franchise remained up in the air during the mid-1970s. While no network had approached Gene Roddenberry to support a new Star Trek series, he made clear his preference for how to resume the franchise, stating, "The best way to bring Star Trek back on television now would be to do it as several movies-of-the-week each season. There we would have the time and the budget to make it better than before." (TV Showpeople, June 1975 ) Around this time, mid-1975 , Paramount announced they would be producing a Star Trek movie for theatrical release. It was later revealed, in the premiere issue of Starlog (vol. 1, no. 1, August 1976 , pp. 25-26), that plans for the first feature film were already in the works: "The movie (title undecided) is to be written and produced by Gene Roddenberry – as soon as he finishes another movie, Magna I, a 20th Century Fox production about life under the sea, set in the year 2111." It was noted that "a number of story outlines have been prepared and are under consideration." While Roddenberry's Magna I project was eventually scrapped, little progress was also made with his Star Trek film project. The second issue of Starlog (vol. 1, no. 2, November 1976 ) reported that the still "untitled, unwritten, and uncast" Star Trek movie had been an on-again, off-again project, which had already missed the original announced filming date of 15 July 1976 . It was reported that: "When Paramount Pictures announced they would be producing a Star Trek movie for theatrical release – nearly a year and a half ago – Gene Roddenberry immediately began work on possible screenplay ideas. His first was one concerning the formative years of the characters – their days at the Space Academy, their first assignments, their coming together to man the Starship Enterprise, and the construction and launching of the UFP Starfleet. This idea never made it to the submittal stage [....] The film's largest problem at this point is that Paramount still has not approved any of the screenplays or outlines that have been written. Both Robert Silverberg and Chris Knopf have written full screenplays; and Harlan Ellison, Dick Simmons, and Theodore Sturgeon have written outlines. All of them have been rejected by Paramount. In an attempt to get the production off the ground, Roddenberry has completed yet another story treatment which will soon be shown to Paramount executives. Aside from the fact that this new story takes place five years after the Enterprise's 'five-year mission to seek out and explore...' no information is available concerning plot. According to Susan Sackett, Roddenberry's secretary (and an accomplished writer herself), Gene is now deciding on just one writer – a skillful and highly experienced screenwriter – who will develop what will be the film's screenplay – just in case Paramount decides not to use Gene's latest treatment." Because the TOS Enterprise sets had been destroyed, new sets had to be built for the upcoming movie, and they needed to be built with enough detail as to withstand the scrutiny of the big screen. Explaining some of the other production considerations for the film at that time, the article continued: "The film – budgeted at a big $5,000,000 – is now to start shooting in January [1977] [....] [Compared to the television series,] the movie version will show considerable improvement in the effects department – due to the large production budget and a new process called Magicam [....] New Enterprise settings will be built and will be designed in much greater detail than was needed for TV. All of the Star Trek original cast will be back to make the feature film, if all are available and if all will agree to the contracts Paramount offers them. At this point, negotiations are still in progress to secure the services of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. Roddenberry told Starlog that he wants to use not only the original actors but the production people as well. 'I'd like to use all of the original production people on the film. People like Fred Phillips with makeup, Matt Jefferies with set design, Bill Theiss with clothes design, and all the others. I thought they were the best when we were first doing Star Trek, and I still do now. I think the story with them is the same as it is with the actors. If available, they'd all like to do the film.' Roddenberry will be producing the Star Trek movie under Executive Producer Jerry Isenberg, a man who has spent many years working in television." These unproduced movie ideas (which also included The God Thing, The Billion Year Voyage, and Star Trek: Planet of the Titans) ultimately led to the creation of Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
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