20 Things You Never Knew About Star Trek: Insurrection
14. Berman Wanted An Old David O'Selznik Film To Be The Inspiration
During the brainstorming phase of writing the script, Rick Berman was intrigued with having the story resemble The Prisoner of Zenda. The original novel had been released in 1894 by Anthony Hope, with the Ronald Colman and Douglas Fairbanks Jnr starring 1937 adaptation being a prime inspiration.
In the story, a man discovers that there is another person out there who is almost identical to him, though is soon to be the leader of another state. Sound familiar?
Star Trek: Insurrection veered away from this storyline, though elements of it would resurface in Star Trek: Nemesis. While Shinzon is clearly not a heroic character by any means, he is still a clone of the lead protagonist and he is recently the head of the Romulan State. That's about the extent of the similarities between the Colman film and the final Next Generation movie, but the inspiration can clearly be seen for Stuart Baird's offering to the franchise.