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"The Planet of the Titans" was nearly produced as the first ''Star Trek'' motion picture. Written by [[Allan Scott]] and Chris Bryant, the script involved the crew of the ''Enterprise'' rescuing the starship ''Da Vinci'' from a disaster. During the rescue Kirk suffers a shock to the brain causing him to go mad and disappear. Years later, the ''Enterprise'', now under Captain Gregory Westlake, is dispatched to a planet near where Kirk disappeared. This planet is slowly being sucked into a [[black hole]], and contains a wealth of information that the Klingons (who have also dispatched ships) want as well. Kirk is found, but the planet and the ''Enterprise'' are pulled, via the black hole, into Earth's past, where they become the [[Titans]] of [[Greek mythology]]. It was to be directed by [[Philip Kaufman]]. [[Ralph McQuarrie]] did pre-production art and [[Ken Adam]] storyboarded the script. The second issue of ''[[Starlog]]'' magazine trumpeted the production of the film on a front cover headline. The movie was abandoned in late [[1976]] when Paramount finally rejected Scott and Bryant's script.
Instead, in [[1977]], attention was turned away from a film and towards a second television series, to be entitled ''[[Star Trek: Phase II]]'', as part of a fourth television network to be created by Paramount. Work began on a scripts for the series, including a 2-hour pilot titled "In Thy Image". In the midst of preparation for shooting [[Michael Eisner]], then-head of Paramount, called a landmark studio meeting. Eisner
All this couldn't have come at a more opportune moment. By the end of 1977, ''[[Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope|Star Wars]]'' had become a huge box-office success, and Paramount put ''The Motion Picture'' into pre-production. Rather than follow the [[space opera]] feel of ''Star Wars'', TMP instead emulated the mood and format of ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey]]'', in which [[Douglas Trumbull]] also supervised special effects.
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