Editing Star Trek Generations (section)

===Development===
In 1992, months before the official announcement of a followup to ''[[Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country]]'', [[Paramount Pictures]] executives approached ''The Next Generation'' producer Rick Berman about creating another feature film.<ref name="nemecek-2003"/>{{rp|308}} Berman informed writers [[Ronald D. Moore]] and [[Brannon Braga]] that Paramount had approved a two-picture deal<ref name="nemecek-2003"/>{{rp|308}} approximately midway through ''The Next Generation''{{'}}s sixth season.<ref name="braga-moore">{{cite AV media |people=[[Brannon Braga|Braga, Brannon]]; [[Ronald D. Moore|Moore, Ronald]] |date=September 28, 2004 |title=Star Trek Generations; Audio commentary |publisher=[[Paramount Pictures]] |medium=DVD; Disc 1/2}}</ref> Moore and Braga, convinced Berman had called them into his office to tell them ''The Next Generation'' was cancelled and they were out of a job, were instead given the task of writing the film.<ref name="nemecek-2003"/>{{rp|308}}<ref name="dillard-novelization">{{cite book |last=Dillard |first=J.M. |author-link=Jeanne Kalogridis |title=Star Trek: "Where No One Has Gone Before" – A History in Pictures |url=https://archive.org/details/startrekgenerati00dill |url-access=registration |publisher=[[Pocket Books]] |year=1994 |isbn=0671511491}}</ref>{{rp|241}} Berman also worked with former ''Next Generation'' producer Maurice Hurley to develop possible story ideas,<ref>{{cite news |title=Rick Berman: Executive Producer |author=Shapiro, Marc |work=Star Trek Generations: Official Movie Souvenir Magazine |publisher=Titan Magazines |date=January 1995}}</ref> intending to develop two film scripts simultaneously and prioritize whichever was most promising.<ref name="dillard-novelization"/>{{rp|246}} Executive producer [[Michael Piller]] turned down the opportunity to develop ideas, objecting to what he saw as a competition for the job.<ref name="nemecek-2003"/>{{rp|308}} Moore and Braga's script was ultimately chosen. The writers spent weeks developing the story with Berman, before taking a working vacation in May 1993 to write the first-draft screenplay, completed June 1.<ref name="nemecek-2003"/>{{rp|309}}

Moore described ''Generations'' as a project with several required elements.<ref name="braga-moore"/> Berman felt that having the original cast of the previous ''Star Trek'' films felt like a "good way to pass the baton" to the next series.<ref name="nemecek-2003"/>{{rp|308}} The studio wanted the original cast to only appear in the first minutes and Kirk only recurring at the end of the film. Other requests included a [[Khan Noonien Singh]]-like antagonist, Klingons, and a humorous Data plot.<ref name="braga-moore"/> At one point, the writers toyed with the idea of pitting the two crews against each other. "We were obsessed with the poster image of the two ''Enterprises'' locked in combat: ''Kirk vs. Picard, One Must Die!''" said Moore.<ref name="housley-1994"/> Ultimately, the writers could not come up with a plausible explanation for such a conflict, and abandoned the idea.<ref name="dillard-novelization"/>{{rp|248}}

In the initial draft of the screenplay, the original series cast appeared in a prologue, and Guinan served as the bridge between the two generations. The opening shot would have been the entire cast crammed into an elevator, happy to be back together.<ref name="braga-moore"/> The ''Enterprise''-D's destruction also appeared—the saucer crash had first been proposed by Moore as the conclusion to part one of a sixth-season cliffhanger story that was scrapped.<ref name="nemecek-2003"/>{{rp|309}} Kirk's death was developed in Braga, Moore, and Berman's story sessions. Moore recalled that "we wanted to aim high, do something different and big... We knew we had to have a strong Picard story arc, so what are the profound things in a man's life he has to face? Mortality tops the list." After the idea of killing off a ''Next Generation'' cast member was vetoed, someone suggested that Kirk die instead. "We all sorta looked around and said, 'That might be it,' " Moore said. The studio and Shatner had few concerns about the plot point.<ref name="nemecek-2003"/>{{rp|309}}

Refining the script meant facing the realities of budget constraints. The initial proposal included location shooting in Hawaii, Idaho, and the [[Midwestern United States]], and the total budget was over $30&nbsp;million. The budget dropped to $25&nbsp;million after negotiations.<ref name="nemecek-2003"/>{{rp|309}} A revised version of the script from March 1994 incorporated feedback from the producers, studio, actors, and director. The writers changed one sequence where Harriman trained his predecessors in the ''Enterprise''-B's operation after Shatner felt the scene's joke went too far. Picard's personal tragedy was written as his brother Robert's heart attack, but Stewart suggested the loss of his entire family to add emotional impact.<ref name="nemecek-2003"/>{{rp|310}} The opening sequence took place on the solar observatory with two [[Rosencrantz and Guildenstern]]-influenced characters talking shortly before an enemy attack; ''Next Generation'' writer [[Jeri Taylor]] suggested that the opening should be something "fun", leading to the switch to the holodeck scene.<ref name="nemecek-2003"/>{{rp|311}}

Nimoy turned down the chance to direct the feature.<ref name="nemecek-2003"/>{{rp|309}} The producers chose [[David Carson (director)|David Carson]]. The British director had no feature film experience, but had directed several episodes of ''Star Trek'', including the  ''Next Generation'' episode "[[Yesterday's Enterprise]]" and the ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Deep Space Nine]]'' pilot "[[Emissary (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)|Emissary]]".<ref>{{cite news |title=David Carson: Director |author=Shapiro, Marc |work=Star Trek Generations: Official Movie Souvenir Magazine |publisher=Titan Magazines |date=January 1995}}</ref>