Disney's inaugural Marvel Studios miniseries, WandaVision, captured a record amount of viewers upon its release in January 2021 and garnered a noteworthy twenty-three Emmy nominations. At the heart of WandaVision's behind-the-scenes creation was Matt Shakman, who directed all nine episodes of the miniseries and later earned Emmy nominations for his work. Major studios have taken notice of Shakman's directorial talent, including Paramount and J.J. Abrams's Bad Robot, who both have enlisted the filmmaker to direct their next Star Trek film.
Shakman is an experienced television episode director who has worked on a variety of shows including House, Psych, The Good Wife, and Game of Thrones. Before WandaVision, Shakman was mostly notable for directing 43 episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, his amount being higher than any of the show's other episode directors. Furthermore, Shakman has experience with directing a feature film through his work on Cut Bank, a small-town crime thriller that starred actors such as Liam Hemsworth and was one of the first features of then-fledgling distributor A24.
This marks the first time Shakman will have the chance to direct a major Hollywood feature film. The filmmaker was reportedly offered many different projects before he ultimately went with Star Trek, with the news being reported by Deadline. It is currently unclear, or at least not officially confirmed, whether the film will be a continuation of Abrams' entries in the franchise, which starred Chris Pine as James T. Kirk, or if it will be a rebooted version with different actors. What is known, according to Deadline, is that the project will begin production next spring.
The news of Shakman's involvement in the film follows a series of pushes to put more Star Trek content in the hands of consumers, a push that is especially sought by Viacom due to the strides taken by the streaming service Paramount Plus. The streamer already hosts Star Trek: Discovery, which will receive a third season later this year, and it will also host Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which will reportedly pay homage to the original series. Star Trek: Picard and two animated series, Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy, are also continuing and/or in development.
More information will likely be shared about Shakman's film as it nears its release date in 2023. But one thing is for certain: between the myriad of Trek content available on Paramount Plus and the ongoing MMO Star Trek Online, it's a very good time to be a Trekkie.
Star Trek: The Original Series is now available to stream on Paramount Plus.
Source: Deadline