To boldly go where no woman has gone before, is the news today. Paramount is searching for a new director for the next installment of the highly successful “Star Trek” franchise. It’s not just a mandate made by the company. J.J. Abrams, who has long been attached to the contemporary take on the science fiction classic wants to see a woman direct the next installment as well. There already appears to be a strong contender. If you haven’t heard of S.J. Clarkson, we’ll give you a rundown of her notable credits.
READ MORE: Simon Pegg Says He Doubts Quentin Tarantino Will Direct A ‘Star Trek’ Film
Clarkson’s career starts back in the early 2000s. Her work has primarily been in television, and has directed episodes of Netflix‘s “Orange is the New Black,” “Jessica Jones,” “The Defenders,” and in 2018, directed Carey Mulligan in the Netflix miniseries “Collateral.” So Clarkson is no stranger to the drama or science fiction department. In the mid-2000s, Clarkson also worked on a few episodes of “Heroes.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Star Trek 4” already has a script written by J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, the duo who wrote the original, aborted screenplay for “Star Trek Beyond” (Let’s hope they’ve done a better job this time and it’s not tossed out again). Paramount isn’t only working on the films launched by Abrams in 2009. The company still has Quentin Tarantino‘s “Star Trek” iteration in the works but the two, reportedly, are not related (and in fact, apparently takes place in a “separate timeline” which could mean thousands of things including a different cast). So far, the returning cast members who have signed on are Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, Captain Kirk and Spock. Fellow cast members including Simon Pegg and Zoe Saldana have yet to make deals.
Hiring female directors has become a growing trend and a fast one at that. Only last week, Cathy Yan was brought on to direct the DC anti-hero film on Harley Quinn, and Marvel is on the lookout for a director for the standalone “Black Widow” film. It’s great to see this extension of female directors reaching to what could be huge blockbuster films. It’s a trend we love seeing, and can’t wait to see more.