In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the 1986 classic "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home," an interview was held with screenwriter Steve Meerson. Thus, he recently reveals that actor Eddie Murphy was so close to being casted for the film, if not only having been written off due to alleged political reasons.
Screenwriter Steve Meerson Talks About Plan To Cast Eddie Murphy In "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home"
Just last week, Star Trek screenwriter Steve Meerson was recently interviewed in line of the 30th anniversary of "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home." Right before the reboot of the film back in 2009, the 1986 original was considered to having been the highest-grossing film of the franchise. It was the only movie in the franchise then that hit the $100 million mark and was able to cross past it. It also apparently almost landed one of the biggest stars even at the time, Eddie Murphy.
As Meerson has narrated it, he and his partner in writing the movie Peter Krikes, has always wanted to make a movie that would make a statement about the environment. The director and producer of the film, Leonard Nimoy and Harve Bennett respectively wanted to have the possibility of time travel to be involved in the movie. According to Meerson, they have gone through up to ten outlines for the movie and the final one that was for approval was the one with Eddie Murphy in it. He was already one of the biggest stars at the time and was reportedly a big Star Trek fan.
The Writing Process Got Too Political, Dropping Out Concept With Eddie Murphy In It
Murphy was supposed to play an astrophysicist at Berkeley but shortly after pitching the concept, the idea was dropped because the writing process had become more political. Writing about the film has always been fun but as time went by, the whole thing got political and it was not fun anymore. Thus, Eddie Murphy's role in the film was written off and was replaced by the character of Dr. Gillian Taylor, love interest to Captain Kirk. Meerson felt that the way the business worked felt like it was going to be taken away from them, and then it happened.
