WI: Star Trek IX has a Dominion-centered plot?

Qhapaq Inka

I'm a lifelong trekkie and was excited for Star Trek Insurrection before it came out (I was 15). At the time I was deeply engrossed in Deep Space 9 and the Dominion War, and was hoping to see a sort of crossover film that saw the Enterprise-E embark on some sort of mission against Dominion forces, perhaps with cameos from the DS9 crew (including Worf of course).

I didn't dislike the actual Star Trek Insurrection film, but it was definitely one of the weaker ST films, and, as many fans have pointed out over the years, was essentially a Next Gen episode plot expanded into a film. Since it was always unlikely that the DS9 cast would get their own feature film, Star Trek IX would have been essentially the only opportunity to see DS9 material on the big screen, but the studio decided to forego that option.

So what if it hadn't? What if Star Trek IX was completely centered on the Enterprise crew's participation in the Dominion War? What if it had included cameos from the DS9 crew, or even some of the DS9 Dominion characters like Gul Dukat or Weyoun? How well would the box office have been compared to OTL's Star Trek Insurrection? If it was successful, how would it have affected the final season of DS9 (which was in the process of airing when Star Trek Insurrection was released)? And how would a successful Dominion-War Star Trek IX have impacted the timing and production of Star Trek X?

Edit: There's a actually a great 2-part Pocketbooks treatment of the Enterprise-E in the Dominion War, "Behind Enemy Lines" and "Tunnel Through the Stars", but these were published in summer 1999, just after DS9 had ended and about 7 months after Insurrection was released. However, their plot is similar to what I had in mind regarding a Dominion-focused Next Gen movie.
 

lukedalton

Well, worse the jerk amish in the space is difficult to achieve and the movie only work because the federation crew has get the conflict ball. If they want some moral conflict between the federals, better use Section 31 with one of their efficent but genocidal plan to eliminate any enemy of the UFP...with Picard winning in the end but the final scene is the news that Betazed has fallen.
 

Dayton Kitchens

Banned
That was never going to happen because

1) Paramount considered it important to keep the different parts of the franchise separate.

But the big reason

2) Deep Space Nine was always considered the "weak partner" of the Trek franchise despite being extremely high quality. No way then were they going to adopt huge elements of it for a Next Generation feature film.
 

Qhapaq Inka

Dayton Kitchens said:
That was never going to happen because

1) Paramount considered it important to keep the different parts of the franchise separate.

But the big reason

2) Deep Space Nine was always considered the "weak partner" of the Trek franchise despite being extremely high quality. No way then were they going to adopt huge elements of it for a Next Generation feature film.
Click to expand...

Except there were a ton of crossover elements from Next Gen to both DS9 and Voyager, the presence of Worf and O'Brien as major characters on DS9 being one of the most central. The Maquis are also a common feature across all three series, and Star Trek: Nemesis referenced the fallout of the Dominion War on the region and its effects on Romulan politics.

If Paramount's assessment was that DS9 was weak due to the show's ratings, then this article shows that that was a poor analysis. It's too bad, because DS9 continues to be one of the most praised segments of the Trek franchise due to its writing quality. It would have been great to see a DS9 movie, but failing that it's too bad that not even aspects of the show were carried over into Star Trek IX :(
 

Zheng He

For some reason DS9 couldn't shake the weak partner image even though it didn't deserve it.

It may have rubbed some people the wrong way. The Star Trek universe was very idealized and DS9 tried to present something of the underside of that universe (the part they don't show tourists) by intention and also by intention the people stationed there were not necessarily Star Fleet's best and brightest. Good people in their own right but they all had their obvious flaws. As my brother said, they were the ones who got Cs at Star Fleet Academy.

I liked that about the show, but I think a lot of other people did not.
 

Dayton Kitchens

Banned
A big problem with DS9 was it took forever to get the show to where it was producing good quality on a regular basis. Basically it had to be reinvented in Season Four. That means it took even longer to get good than TNG which finally started rolling in Season Three.

Another thing to remember was the intense, almost hostile rivalry between the TNG and DS9 production staffs. Reportedly at one point it was almost open warfare. In fact when First Contact was made, the Next Generation producers wanted to destroy the Defiant in the battle against the Borg as a way to "zing" DS9s staff. Fortunately cooler heads prevailed.
 

NoOneFamous

The Next Gen crew were obviously tired of their characters by the time Star Trek IX came out and they killed the franchise with Star Trek X
 

yourworstnightmare

Banned
From the very premise Berman asked Piller to make a more light and funny Star Trek story. So the Dominion was never going to make an appearance. Sad, since Piller having been involved alot in the earlier seasons of DS9 would have some experience and knowledge of what was going on over there.
 
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