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Space is a big place, but that doesn’t meant mean you won’t run into someone you know while exploring the final frontier. Case in point: Paramount Pictures is in talks with a new producer to oversee the Star Trek movie franchise, beginning with the currently-in-development prequel… and it’s a name that X-Men fans are very familiar with: Simon Kinberg, who worked on all of Fox’s X-movies from X-Men: First Class onwards, including writing and directing 2019’s Dark Phoenix.

The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Kinberg is in discussions with Paramount to step on board the prequel, currently being written by Seth Grahame-Smith for Andor’s Toby Haynes to direct. The feature, which is set far before all previous Star Trek movies, is rumored to revolve around the creation of Starfleet and humanity’s first missions to explore the galaxy following first contact with aliens.

At various points, the project has been described as a prequel to the 2009 movie reboot of the franchise specifically, despite taking place before the event that changed the timeline from established Trek canon; it’s also been described more than once as a reboot to the entire franchise — which is not impossible, considering that it may be exploring a period with some pretty set parameters thanks to both Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Enterprise. Quite where it fits into established Trek canon remains a mystery — and may, in fact, be about to change depending on where the project goes from here.

As per THR, Kinberg may remain as producer and overall chief of Star Trek’s movie releases should the first feature prove to be successful. If the deal with Paramount closes, he’ll replace J.J. Abrams, who he worked with briefly on Star Wars: The Force Awakens back in 2015 — Kinberg was part of the brain trust for that project early on, and gets a “creative consultant” credit for his trouble.

Space may be the final frontier, but there's no end to Popverse's love of the Star Trek universe. Hop aboard the starship Enterprise with our Star Trek watch order, explore strange new worlds with our upcoming Star Trek TV shows and movies list, seek out the new life of the franchise, and boldly go where no Star Trek film has ever gone before - with Quentin Tarantino?