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 |  | 'Steve' Comes Between Frakes and Star Trek X
posted: 02:47 pm ET
19 January 2000
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'Steve' Comes Between Frakes and Star Trek X
With more questions than answers hanging over the direction of Star Trek in the near term, one thing remains clear -- Jonathan Frakes isn't going to wait around anymore.
Frakes, better known as Commander William Riker from The Next Generation, has signed a deal to direct Steve Was Here, a parody of science fiction and UFO mythology.
The commitment sends a strong statement to Paramount, Trek's home studio, that yet another member of the Next Generation crew is unwilling to let the prospect of a tenth Star Trek film dictate the scheduling of his later career.
Frakes directed the two most recent Trek films, First Contact (1996) and Insurrection (1998), the eighth and ninth installments in the series, respectively. He was considered a likely prospect for the helming the tenth installment as well -- and would certainly be expected to perform in the film -- but that project has as yet failed to materialize.
Rumor has it that the lackluster response to Insurrection -- the film brought in only $70 million in the United States, versus First Contact's $92 million -- combined with the advancing age and restlessness of the Next Generation cast has driven Paramount executives to look for a "new direction," possibly abandoning The Next Generation entirely to concentrate on more recent Trek incarnations.
As the film series continued to languish, heavyweights Brent Spiner ("Data") and Patrick Stewart ("Picard") voiced concerns, then complaints.
Spiner believes that he will soon be too old to play the immortal android Data convincingly on the big screen, while Stewart reportedly does not want to ride the Enterprise again for at least another three years.
Meanwhile, Frakes has repeatedly cited the need to remain free for Trek as a factor holding up the sequel to Total Recall (1990) for the past three years, although this insistence on waiting for Trek has waned dramatically since Insurrection.
The appearance of Steve on the horizon indicates that he is continuing to take a wait-and-see strategy toward Paramount and the Trek franchise.
Who is Steve?
Steve Was Here is reportedly the story of a small town that tries to take financial advantage of rising interest in UFOs and aliens by staging a fake alien landing. Frakes' interest in the subject is natural in light of his involvement in the Alien Autopsy television special and the ongoing series Roswell.
Screenwriter Norman Steinberg has a long and distinguished career in comedy, having worked on such varied projects as Blazing Saddles (1974) and My Favorite Year (1982).
Michael Hertzberg, who co-wrote the original story, is a long-time associate of comic legend Mel Brooks, working with the master through such films as The Twelve Chairs (1970), Blazing Saddles and Silent Movie (1976).
Centropolis Entertainment founders Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin -- best known to SF fans as the director/producer team behind Stargate (1994) and Independence Day (1996) -- will serve as executive producers.
What do you think? Send comments to the editor.
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