"Star Trek: Planet of the Titans" entered pre-production in 1976, though the script by Chris Bryant and Allan Scott wasn't completed until the early months of 1977. Paramount Pictures rejected the draft, thus sending the entire production, which had taken quite a while to get off the ground already, into a tailspin. The decision was subsequently made by the powers that be to give up on "Planet of the Titans" — then called "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" — altogether due to multiple supposed factors.
According to sources such as "Star Trek Phase II: The Lost Series" by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens and "Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages" by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman, there are three main contributors said to be behind the death of "Planet of the Titans." In addition to production taking forever to get rolling and becoming increasingly expensive, the undeniable success of 1977's "Star Wars" allegedly gave Paramount leaders cold feet. Also, Paramount Studios Chief executive officer Barry Diller reportedly felt the story treatment drifted too far from the original "Star Trek" TV series.
With that, "Planet of the Titans" was abandoned in favor of a TV revival called "Star Trek: Phase II" that also never became a reality. Thankfully, "Star Trek" fans would see all their favorite characters, from Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) to Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), reach the big screen for the first time in 1979 when the "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" we all know finally premiered.
