As early as 1975, when “Star Trek” was once doing smartly in reruns, author Gene Roddenberry was once onerous at paintings on turning his authentic TV sequence right into a function movie. Certainly one of his first makes an attempt, a script titled “The God Factor,” wasn’t getting very a ways, however every other tale, titled “Planet Of The Titans,” had long gone into construction earlier than the studio would shift gears to a revived tv sequence (however extra on that later). This new movie, written by way of Chris Bryant and Alan Scott, would were directed by way of Philip Kaufman and adopted Kirk, Spock, and the team of the Endeavor as they came upon “a misplaced race with tremendous generation” who had performed a mysterious function in Earth’s historical past.
Strangely, the movie were given smartly into pre-production and had a wealth of thought artwork produced, particularly by way of “Star Wars” illustrator Ralph McQuarrie. McQuarrie would even redesign the long-lasting Endeavor, giving it a big flat, triangular-shaped secondary hull — a design that might be resurrected in 2017 for “Star Trek: Discovery.” If truth be told, the movie was once a ways sufficient alongside that it was once formally introduced to the general public, with director Kaufman showing at a “Star Trek” conference the place the inside track was once given to cheering throngs of lovers.
Mythical actor Toshiro Mifune was once eyed for the function of the Klingon villain, and units have been being deliberate, when a decision got here down from the studio that, in accordance to Kaufman, “there is no long term in science fiction” and the movie was once off. A yr later, “Star Wars” would debut, and “Star Trek: The Movement Image” could be given the golf green gentle, arriving in 1979.
