Many fans wanted something different for the next Star Trek sequel in the wake of Into Darkness, but you better be careful what you wish for.

Simon Pegg has never been one to shy away from an open microphone, and in a new interview with the Irish Examiner he dropped some extremely interesting intel on the new Star Trek sequel he’s co-writing. Basically: Pegg says the original script was “too Star Trek-y,” so he was brought in to give it another pass to make it more accessible as a tentpole film. Hmm.

Check out the excerpt from his comments below:

"They had a script for Star Trek that wasn’t really working for them. I think the studio was worried that it might have been a little bit too Star Trek-y. Avengers Assemble, which is a pretty nerdy, comic-book, supposedly niche thing, made 1.5 billion dollars. Star Trek Into Darkness made half a billion, which is still brilliant. But it means that, according to the studio, there’s still one billion dollars worth of box office that don’t go and see Star Trek. And they want to know why. People don’t see it being a fun, brightly colored, Saturday night entertainment like the Avengers. [The solution is to] make a Western or a thriller or a heist movie, then populate that with Star Trek characters so it’s more inclusive to an audience that might be a little bit reticent."

Pegg took over writing duties from Roberto Orci, who was a self-professed Trekkie. That’s not a bad thing, obviously, but it sounds like Orci’s original draft might’ve had the film folding in on itself to the point that it wasn’t as inviting as the studio wanted to the average moviegoer (maybe?).

There’s nothing wrong with trying to make a film that can appeal to both genre fans and everyone else — but the problem is that you often end up with a finished product that appeals to neither. Pegg is an excellent writer with an excellent grasp of the genre, but we’d be lying if we said this didn’t throw up a red flag or two about Trek 3.

What do you think of Pegg’s comments about the sequel?

(Via Irish Examiner, Radio Times)