STAR TREK Movie Update from San Diego Comic Con |

Star Trek Movie Update from San Diego Comic Con

Here’s a brief update on the new Paramount Trek film.

The Recap

Paramount released Star Trek: Beyond ten years ago now. Trek fans generally enjoyed the movie; it was very entertaining. The cast of the “Kelvinverse” is pitch-perfect and there has been a strong desire among fans that we get a fourth Kelvinverse film featuring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Karl Urban. There was an idea and a script, rumoured to focus on a time-travel adventure to save Kirk’s father from the events of the first film, and thereby closing the Kelvinverse for good. It would have featured Chris Hemsworth as George Kirk.

But this was not to be.

As is usually the case, momentum in the Trek universe is squandered. Time passes. Projects stall. Fans lose interest.

And so it goes.

Recent news is that a new team is working on a Trek film, and Paramount has officially terminated the Kelvinverse movies spearheaded by J.J. Abrams. I’m not especially thrilled by this, but it is what it is. The new cast is being thrown aside and Paramount is now headed in a different direction. I posted on this here.

In that article, I wrote this:

Paramount has selected Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley to write, produce, and direct the next Star Trek film. This news broke widely in the last few days, and the response has been generally positive. The duo’s credits include Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Game Night, and Spider-Man: Homecoming. They also wrote Horrible Bosses. Paramount is hoping to restart the Trek franchise with this choice; it’s been ten years since the last outing, in Star Trek: Beyond.

Moreover, at the same time, this was reported:

“… this project is not connected to any previous or current television series, movie, or prior movie development projects.”

This statement made me extremely nervous. People feel connected to known characters. To make a Trek film with an unknown ship and crew might sound ambitious on the surface, but will audiences want to go? If there’s a big-budget film that audiences refuse to watch in theatres, it will spell very bad things for Trek in general. The small screen versions are struggling, best illustrated by the cancelling of Star Trek: Academy after only two seasons, the ending of the wonderful Strange New Worlds after five seasons with no replacement or continuation announced, and the universally-panned Section 31 streaming film. And on the big screen, momentum is now gone.

Nevertheless, I wish Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley all the best in this new venture, and I truly hope it connects with audiences. I did really enjoy Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Horrible Bosses, and Game Night, so I know this duo is extremely talented.

The News

At San Diego Comic Con, Goldstein said, according to Digital Spy:

“It won’t be the characters that you’ve seen previously in your Star Trek movies. So there’ll be a new sort of take on that, and I think it’ll probably be a little further into the future than we’ve been before. Everything we take on, what draws us to it is the opportunity to do a different spin on something that you’ve seen done before, and that’s our hope with this — is to satisfy the fans, but also bring people in who may not consider themselves lovers of Star Trek and surprise them.”

In essence, he reiterated that we won’t see the classic crew — or any crew we’re familiar with — and it will be further in the future “than we’ve been before.” I don’t think he’s referring to the Star Trek: Academy era … I’m guessing he’s referring to classic Trek motion pictures, the most “recent” of which would be the films of The Next Generation.

As more news arrives, I’ll post it here at Life After Gateway. At this point, it’s just trickling in, but I’ll continue to keep you updated. Watch this space.

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A Blanket of Steel by Timothy S. Johnston and from Fitzhenry & Whiteside, LTD. is the recipient of the 2024 GLOBAL Thriller Award GRAND PRIZE and the 2024 CYGNUS Award First in Category.

— Timothy S. Johnston, 6 August 2026

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Praise for Timothy S. Johnston’s A Blanket of Steel

“Fans of Clive Cussler’s NUMA Files will be delighted with Timothy S. Johnston’s undersea novels. Truman McClusky and Dirk Pitt are cut from the same adventurer’s cloth.” — Nick Cutter, author of The Deep and The Troop

“Action that ranges from close range combat to torpedo-fueled attacks. The result is a thriller that keeps moving from confrontation to confrontation … with constant danger and the vast depths of the ocean as a setting, there is always reason to keep reading.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Read the book and prepare to be blown away by one of the best writers I have ever had the pleasure to read. Timothy S. Johnston is simply amazing.” — FIVE Stars from Readers’ Favorite

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“Innovative technology, Mac taking risks no one else would dare and thinking his way through to brilliant solutions … But the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been before. This is it. The countdown to the final battle … Johnston does an excellent job of keeping the tension taut as he plays with the reader’s perceptions of characters we thought we knew and trusted …” — SFcrowsnest

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A BLANKET OF STEEL is out now!

WATCH THE GRIPPING BOOK TRAILER HERE.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

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A Blanket of Steel from Timothy S. Johnston and Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Ltd.

Book Cover & Jacket Copy:

AN UNSTOPPABLE THREAT!

A mysterious assassin has murdered Cliff Sim, Chief Security Officer of the underwater colony, Trieste. Cliff was a mountain of a man, highly trained, and impossible to defeat in combat. And yet …

Someone brutally beat him and left his broken body in a secret Chinese facility at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

And included a calling card for Truman McClusky, Mayor of Trieste.

Taunting him.

Mac has led the underwater colonies in their fight against the world’s superpowers. Climate change has devastated the surface; nations suffer famine, drought, rebellion, rising waters, and apocalyptic coastal flooding. But now, as Mac leads the underwater colonies to freedom and independence, he’s faced with the gravest threat of his life: a Russian assassin, hellbent on killing Mac and everyone he cares for. Now Mac must uncover the identity of the killer, face him in combat, and at the same time lead people in battle against the largest underwater force ever assembled. It’s Mac’s final test, and to win the war, he must use every tool at his disposal, including the most surprising and devastating underwater weapons ever invented.

If Mac fails, all hope is lost for the future of human colonization on the ocean floors.

But the assassin could be anyone …

Watch your back, Mac.

A Blanket of Steel is the most gripping thriller yet in The Rise of Oceania.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

The other books in The Rise of Oceania series by Timothy S Johnston:

The War Beneath 9781771484718
The Savage Deeps 9781771485067
Fatal Depth 9781554555574
An Island of Light 9781554555819
The Shadow of War 9781554556007