By Andrew Hindes
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - The ninth "Star Trek" movie looks likely to lift off during the 1998 holiday season.
No cast or director is attached to the as-yet-untitled project, but a veteran series scribe has been hired to write the script. It will once again revolve around the crew of the Next Generation series.
While the scribe, Michael Piller, wouldn't offer any specifics of the new film's storyline, he promised the picture would feature a "strong character arc for (the Starship Enterprise captain Jean-Luc) Picard." Piller will develop thestory with the film's producer, Rick Berman.
Piller began his association with Starfleet Command in 1989,joining creators Gene Roddenberry and Berman for the third season of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," on which he spent five seasons as executive producer and head writer.
He went on to co-create with Berman "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," which he executive produced for three years before turning the show over to Ira Steven Behr. After that he co-created "Star Trek: Voyager" with Berman and Jeri Taylor, with whom he exec produced the series for two years.
Released over a period of 17 years, the eight "Star Trek"features have collectively amassed about $642 million at the domestic box office.
Piller, who remains a creative consultant on both "DeepSpace" and "Voyager," recently has begun to develop what he describes as the first action-adventure drama for the Internet.
Reuters/Variety