Before J.J. Abrams returned Star Trek to box-office glory on the back of lens flares and his patented whiz-bangery, a different Trek movie almost made it into development — and here’s what it would’ve been about.

Back in the mid-2000s, following the cancellation of Enterprise, Paramount was considering a potential new film trilogy that would’ve bridged the gap between Enterprise and The Original Series within the existing canon. Dubbed Star Trek: The Beginning, the story would’ve focused on a team of young cadets who are drawn into a war with the Romulans.

The film would’ve opened with a surprise attack on Earth carried out by the Romulans, who demand humans turn over all Vulcans currently residing on the planet or face annihilation. The main character? Tiberius Chase, an ancestor of James T. Kirk and a pilot in the United Earth Stellar Navy. Much like his eventual descendant, Tiberius is a bit of a rebel, and the film would’ve found him stealing an experimental Warp-5 ship and staging his own attack on Romulus to pull the enemy fleet away from Earth.

The folks at Giant Freakin Robot have acquired a draft of the script for the aborted Trek project, and they've put together a lengthy breakdown of the storyline. It’s well worth a read. For those upset about Abrams’ more active take on the franchise, their report notes that The Beginning script is definitely an “action-first” plot in the same vein of Abrams’ effort.

They go on to note that the concept was a fun read, but it still felt like “more of the same” as far as old Trek is concerned.

What do you think? Do you prefer Abrams’ reboot, or would you have liked something in an unexplored corner of the existing canon?

(Via Giant Freakin Robot)