By 
Kalinda Vázquez will boldly go where no woman has gone before-—the writer’s chair of a Star Trek motion picture! The announcement landed just in time for International Women’s Day (IWD), which is observed each year on March 8th. And girl are we ever exited about this one!!
Vázquez, who is New York-born of Puerto Rican and Colombian parents, and later moved to Los Angeles, is best known as a writer and supervising producer on ABC’s Once Upon a Time. While many are just hearing about her, she is not a newcomer to the writer’s room, having amassed 11 episodic writing credits and 39 producing credits on that series alone! She also earned her writing chops on the action drama TV series Nikita (co-producing 23 episodes), as well as on Fear the Walking Dead where she assumed a co-executive producer role. And if you’re wondering about her Trek card: she’s currently a consulting producer on Star Trek: Discovery, no doubt getting her United Federation of Planets credentials in order. Did we mention that Vázquez also worked as a staff writer and story editor on Prison Break? You ladies remember that show… 😉
And seeming to be everywhere at once, Kalinda also recently inked a deal with HBO to partner with novelist George R.R. on an adaptation of Roger Zelazny’s Sci-Fi novel ‘Roadmarks.’ BONKERS!
Hollywood heavyweight and Star Trek alum J.J. Abrams is producing the new film via his Bad Robot shingle. In choosing Kalinda Vázquez as the film’s writer, Abrams follows Star Trek TOS creator and brain-trust Gene Roddenberry‘s grounded tenant of a diverse and inclusive Universe. Vázquez’ commission also represents the first Latina/POC to pen a Star Trek motion picture, a property that is part of Paramount Pictures‘ tent-pole franchise. No director has been floated as of this writing.
Let’s hope Abram’s project does not go the way of the past few Paramount attempts at bringing a Star Trek movie to the masses, as a few have hit pronounced speed bumps or encountered false starts, including one with Hollywood blue-blood Quentin Tarantino attached that was to pay homage to the popular “Gangster” theme episode from the original series A Piece Of The Action, and another with Noah Hartley at the helm. Star Trek Beyond was the last franchise film to hit the big screen back in 2016 (directed by Justin Lin).
We’re betting our Dilithium Crystal stash that Abram’s attempt, being the third, is the charm! LLAP.
TRIVIA: Kalinda is named after a character from the original TV series, Kelinda, played by Barbara Bouchet on By Any Other Name (Season 2/Episode 22), which aired on February 23, 1968. ‘Nuff said.
RELATED (On The Boards): “America Chavez Steps Up As the Next Great Marvel Hero in a Redefining New Comic Series This March.”
Comments