What might have been: Insurrection

In a fascinating look at what might have been, a post on MetaFilter explains how 1998’s Star Trek Insurrection went through a number of different plots before becoming the film we ultimately saw. Starting out as Star Trek: Stardust, the first take on the idea involved Captain Picard going all “Heart of Darkness” on a former friend from his Starfleet Academy days in a bid to find the Fountain of Youth. Let the late Michael Piller guide you through the writing of Insurrection in his unpublished book Fade In: The Making of Star Trek: Insurrection (his “last great gift to the fans and to aspiring writers everywhere”) in which he presents his original story treatments, story notes from his bosses at Paramount, surprisingly reasonable Trekker-type reactions from actors Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner, and much more. Check it out on MetaFilter!