Harve Bennett Talks About The Unmade STAR TREK: THE ACADEMY YEARS And Discusses What Went Wrong On THE FINAL FRONTIER!!

Merrick here...
Back in 2006, I posted my extensive write-up of a script for STAR TREK: THE ACADEMY YEARS. Harve Bennett, overlord of the TREK movies throughout the 1980s, hoped this concept would serve two primary purposes purposes: to revitalize and rejuvenate the TREK franchise by introducing younger versions of the classic characters in a Starfleet Academy setting (sound familiar?), while still leaving room for their older iterations to have further adventures on the big screen. You can find my detailed script review HERE. The recently revamped startrek.com has posted a fascinating interview with Bennett, who discusses why THE ACADEMY YEARS didn't happen to begin with...how it almost came around again...and assess what went wrong on STAR TREK V.

I had an eye on John Cusack for Spock, which would have been great. Ethan Hawke could have been Kirk. There were so many possibilities.

...said Bennett about he defunct ACADEMY project. Part 1 of which can be found HERE, while Part 2 can be accessed HERE.
Regarding STAR TREK V, Bennett asserts...

The standard story is that the studio wouldn’t provide the necessary dollars for a special effects-laden finale and that if Shatner had gotten that money to work with then The Final Frontier would have been much better. Not true.

It's not a particularly lengthy piece, but its filled with refreshingly direct and honest insight about life on STAR TREK in that era. If you're a TREK fan, or have any interest whatsoever in the political machinations of film productions and studios, this is worth a look. Enjoy!
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