Crime 101 author Don Winslow has hit out at Project Hail Mary novellist Andy Weir over his comments about modern Star Trek shows.
Weir made a series of statements about Paramount‘s handling of the Star Trek universe on a podcast recently, and claimed he had a pitch turned down by Trek executive producer Alex Kurtzman. That has prompted Winslow, who wrote the novella on which Bart Layton’s recent Crime 101 pic was based, to respond on social media.
Directly addressing Weir, who also wrote The Martian, Winslow wrote: “Congrats on the success of Project Hail Mary and The Martian. I’m a real fan. But when you have your moment don’t use it to crap on other writers’ work. For the record, Alex Kurtzman is a visionary writer, creator, producer and you owe him an apology… writer to writer.
The responding to another comment, he wrote: “Writers stand up for other writers. It’s how and why the Writers Guild was formed. And you don’t take your moment in the sun to attack another writer because they didn’t buy your pitch.”
Weir wrote the Project Hail Mary novel on which the Phil Lord and Christopher Miller box office hit was based. The sci-fi pic, starring Ryan Gosling as a school teacher who wakes aboard a spacecraft with amnesia, has been a winner for Amazon MGM Studios, delivering some of the best numbers for a non-franchise movie in some time.
On the Critical Drinker podcast, Weir was asked about modern science fiction and responded by quoting an analyst, who “said something like, ‘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.’”
Host Will Jordan later suggested Paramount should decanonize all Star Trek series from Enterprise onwards, to which Weir said, “You’re a little more severe than I am… I’ll give you my opinion and I’m just a consumer. I like Strange New Worlds… 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.
“And here’s another thing: I pitched a Star Trek show to Paramount and I was on Zoom with the showrunners with all the shows and spent a lot of time talking to [Kurtzman]… He, as a person, is a really nice guy. But at the same time, those shows are shit. He is a nice guy, but they didn’t accept my pitch so, you know, fuck ’em.”
Kurtzman and his Secret Hideout label have led on Paramount’s expanded Star Trek universe through shows such as Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. It was just announced Starfleet Academy would end with its second season, a decision Weir and Jordan had gleefully celebrated on the podcast. Strange New Worlds has also wrapped production on its final season.
We’ve reached out to Weir, Paramount and Kurtzman for comment.
The late Gene Roddenberry created the original Star Trek, which has spawned more than a dozen films and TV series since Star Trek: The Original Series debuted in 1966.
Winslow’s novella Crime 101 was recently adapted into an L.A.-set crime pic starring Chris Hemsworth as an elusive thief with a penchant for high-stakes heists along the iconic 101 freeway.