20 Things You Didn't Know About Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
9. The Return Of Nicholas Meyer And Militarism In Star Trek
When Nicholas Meyer was originally approached about being a part of the production on Star Trek VI, he was not aware that his name would be in the hat for directing. He knew that he was being asked to write the script, though he initially had no ideas of what to do. Once Leonard Nimoy pitched the idea of the wall coming down in space, Meyer jumped at the idea of including a Chernobyl reference in the beginning.
He then went on to work on the story with his friend Denny Martin Flinn, with whom he collaborated via email. In the end, the story credits would go to Meyer, Flinn, Nimoy, Mark Rosenthal, and Lawrence Konner, though the latter two's ideas were not used in the final film.
Meyer was then approached about directing. Part of the reason for this was appeasement. There were discussions about Nimoy taking the director's chair again, as Star Trek IV had been such a success. This could have drawn ire from William Shatner, and the favoured nations clause was still present in the contracts of both. Meyer was hired to helm the project - and the war with Gene Roddenberry began in earnest.