The late Gene Roddenberry has become legendary as the creator of “Star Trek”, and the life of the trailblazing TV writer and producer is now being brought to the screen.
According to a report in Deadline, Roddenberry’s son, Rod Roddenberry, will produce the upcoming biopic alongside Trevor Roth; the two are currently exec producers of all current “Star Trek” productions, including “Star Trek: Discovery” and “Star Trek: Picard”.
“Gene led a remarkable life,” said the producers in a statement. “He was an incredibly complex, compelling man, whose work changed the face of television, and whose ideas changed the world. It’s time to share Gene’s story with audiences everywhere.”
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As Deadline points out, Roddenberry’s path to television glory was far from typical. After serving as a fighter pilot in the Second World War, Roddenberry worked as a commercial airline pilot, then joined the LAPD as a speech writer.
His role at the LAPD led him to be hired as a technical advisor for a TV legal drama. It was then that Roddenberry tried his hand at writing scripts under an assumed name, ultimately quitting the police force and becoming a TV writer full time, ultimately producing his own projects.
After years of Roddenberry’s battles with TV networks to include more diversity onscreen, Desilu Studios (owned by “I Love Lucy” couple Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz) agreed to produce his pilot about a futuristic starship manned by a multi-ethnic crew, with “Star Trek” debuting in 1966.
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Roddenberry was instrumental in bringing “Star Trek” to the big screen in the 1970s, and then back to television with “Star Trek: The Next Generation” in the 1980s; he died in 1991.
