Movies - TV
Why Paramount Kicked Gene Roddenberry Off Star Trek: The Motion Picture
By WITNEY SEIBOLD
In 1975, Gene Roddenberry began working on a "Star Trek" movie. However, its early concept fell apart over complex script issues, so he worked on a TV series spin-off instead.
"Star Trek: Phase II" was to feature the original cast but was scrapped for a movie project, "Star Trek: The Motion Picture." Roddenberry served as a producer on the film.
VFX head Douglas Trumbull told TrekMovie Roddenberry was such a control freak as a producer that the studio sent him away on a vacation to get him out of their hair.
Trumbull said, "I don't know if anybody knows this story, but Gene was, I was told by the studio, a very, very difficult man to get along with."
Regardless of the lush holiday, Roddenberry insisted on making many creative decisions about "Star Trek," some of which likely angered the Paramount higher-ups.
After 1979, Roddenberry was only permitted to serve as a distant executive producer and a creative consultant — essentially only a title on paper — on any sequels.