Posted in: Movies, Paramount Pictures, Paramount+, Star Trek, TV | Tagged: alien: earth, noah hawley, star trek

Star Trek: TNG, Data Would've Been the Focus of Noah Hawley's Films

Noah Hawley (Alien: Earth) offered some insights on where he would've gone with his Star Trek films, including a focus on TNG's Data.

What was Star Trek's loss was Alien's gain when Noah Hawley was once attached to the Paramount franchise before creative differences caused a mutual split. While the initial idea was for Hawley to direct the next cinematic entry in the franchise, it would have taken a dramatic shift from The Original Series that J. J. Abrams reintroduced in 2009 with the soft reboot into the Kelvin Universe. Speaking with Men's Journal, it would have been some form of continuation that focused on "The Next Generation" timeline.

What Could Have Been in Noah Hawley's Star Trek Films

"It was great. And we had sound stages in Australia. We were on the runway, and we were negotiating with actors," the Alien: Earth creator said. "Mostly, what I can say is that it was a really hard loss because we got so close. It was an original story that was not Chris Pine-related, nor was it Captain Kirk-related. I guess the thing that might stick with people is that there was an unboxing of Data, the idea of the android. And that was to become an element in the films."

As part of the ongoing negotiations for the project, Oscar winners Cate Blanchett and Rami Malek were once attached before it was ultimately scrapped. "It was an adventure. I love 'The Wrath of Khan.' My favorite moment is when [William] Shatner puts on his reading glasses and lowers Khan's shields. It costs nothing! But I love that creative problem-solving. They outsmarted their enemies. And that's my favorite kind of storytelling."

Coincidentally, Hawley's new FX show Alien: Earth takes a closer look beyond the horror and survival aspects between humans and xenomorphs, and the subsequent human experimentations with cross-species work. It also takes a broader look at humanity's relationship with artificial intelligence since the 1979 original Ridley Scott film already introduced the android beings known as Synthetics, with Ian Holm playing Ash. Alien: Earth features multiple characters with artificial bodies from hybrids like Sydney Chandler's Wendy, Adarsh Gourav's Slighty, Lily Newmark's Nibs, Jonathan Ajayi's Smee, and Babou Ceesay, who plays the cyborg, Morrow.

Upon revisiting Brent Spiner's Data, Paramount already went that route with Star Trek: Picard, which saw the beloved TNG character initially trapped in a simulation without a body, with the Starfleet lieutenant commander asking his former captain to be euthanized and Jean-Luc (Patrick Stewart) fulfilling his wish. Data would resurface reconstructed during season three and sharing minds with his evil twin, Lore, and the prototype B-4. Ultimately, the two dominant personalities in Data and Lore fought for supremacy, with the fan favorite winning out by "giving up" all his favorite memories and possessions to his more sociopathic counterpart in their mind.

At the very least, we know Hawley's credibility as a Trek fan and the way he's been able to expand on popular films like Fargo and Alien for TV on FX shouldn't be ignored. Executive producer Alex Kurtzman should do a hard push at Skydance/Paramount to recruit Hawley to develop a TV series since his initial idea was a series of films. As far as the cinematic front is concerned, Star Trek IV is back to the drawing board for that final bow of the Kelvin crew sans the late Anton Yelchin with Andor director Toby Haynes and writers Seth Grahame Smith and Steve Yockey. New episodes of Alien: Earth, which also stars Alex Lawther, Essie Davis, Samuel Blenkin, David Rysdahl, Diêm Camille, Moe Bar-El, Adrian Edmondson, and Timothy Olyphant, premiere Tuesdays on FX and Hulu. For more on Hawley's career, you can check out the article. You can also check out Spiner's comments on AI.

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