10 Moments That Almost Killed Star Trek
7. A Decade In Development Gre'thor
Thankfully, for all of us, Gene Rodenberry really bloody loved Star Trek and just couldn’t let it lie. By the early ‘70s, with some backing from Paramount, he was working on a Star Trek movie. Though the studio’s confidence was bolstered by the show’s success in syndication, they still weren’t going to bet the farm on Star Trek. The support they were willing to provide was on the low budget TV movie end of the spectrum.
A couple of scripts were developed, one concerning a god-like race of artificial beings and the other revolving around a god-like creature trapped on a planet. They may sound familiar; ideas from both ultimately made their way into the Star Trek movies, but this time around Paramount rejected them.
The studio then decided that it didn't want a movie and asked for a new TV show instead. Once a new ship had been designed and scripts written, as well as roles cast and sets built for the new show, Star Trek Phase II, Paramount changed their minds back and decided they wanted a movie again.