Project Hail Mary author Andy Weir has revealed that his idea for a new Star Trek series was rejected by Paramount.
The 53-year-old novelist, who shot to fame when his book The Martian was adapted to a movie by Ridley Scott with Matt Damon in 2015, had some disparaging comments for the current roster of Star Trek spin-off series.
“Those shows are s***,” Weir said. “But they didn’t accept my pitch so, you know, f*** ‘em.”
Weir told the Critical Drinker podcast during Wednesday’s episode that he subscribed to the theory that “all modern science fiction TV shows and movies have been heavily influenced by the original Star Trek — except for the current batch of Star Trek shows.”
The writer went on to say that he grew up on the original series, adding: “I’m Gen X, so my sci-fi was like original series Star Trek reruns and Lost in Space reruns. And there wasn’t really much in the way of [new] sci-fi that was airing — where people are off in space doing cool things — until we got to [Star Trek: The Next Generation].”
When podcast host Will Jordan suggested that everything since prequel series Star Trek: Enterprise, which ran from 2001 to 2005, should be removed from the show’s canon, Weir responded: “Okay, you’re a little more severe than I am.”
He continued to offer his opinions on the recent franchise, saying: “I’ll give you my opinion and I’m just a consumer. I like Strange New Worlds. I think it’s pretty good. I didn’t hate Enterprise. I thought it was kind of weird. Lower Decks I thought was entertaining and fun. All the others, they can go.”
Weir then brought up his own idea for a show, saying: “And here’s another thing: I pitched a Star Trek show to Paramount and I was in Zoom with the showrunners with all the shows and spent a lot of time talking to [executive producer Alex Kurtzman].
“I don’t like a lot of the new Trek. He, as a person, is a really nice guy. But at the same time, those shows are s***. He is a nice guy. But they didn’t accept my pitch so, you know, f*** ‘em.”
Paramount did not immediately return The Independent’s request for comment on Weir’s remarks.
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Project Hail Mary recently overtook Avatar: Fire and Ash to become the highest-grossing Hollywood film of the year. Ryan Gosling stars in the movie, based on Weir’s novel, as a middle school science teacher who is tasked with traveling to space to save the world.