Editing Star Trek: Insurrection (section)

===Development and writing===
Following the success of ''First Contact'', Paramount Pictures wanted a change in pace to give the follow-up film a lighter tone.<ref name="nemecek334"/> Because ''[[Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home]]'' is light in tone, yet was the most successful of all the ''Star Trek'' films at the box office as of then, Paramount reasoned that this success could be repeated with the new film.<ref name="piller11">[[#piller1998|Piller (1998)]]: p. 11</ref> [[Michael Piller]] was asked to write the script, and accepted the position.<ref name="nemecek334"/> Piller wished to escape the [[development hell]] his other projects were stuck in.<ref name="piller7">[[#piller1998|Piller (1998)]]: p. 7</ref> He wanted to give the crew a feeling of family, with a story featuring overtones of the [[Joseph Conrad]] novel ''[[Heart of Darkness]]''.<ref name="nemecek334">[[#Nemecek2003|Nemecek (2003)]]: p. 334</ref> [[Rick Berman]] wanted to see Picard undertake a rescue mission in a similar manner to the 1937 film, ''[[The Prisoner of Zenda (1937 film)|The Prisoner of Zenda]]''.<ref name="nemecek334"/> Berman also originated an idea to have Picard kidnapped, and replaced with a surgically modified imposter. Piller was doubtful about Berman's idea, reasoning that the audience would not want to see an entire film in which Picard is not the lead star&nbsp;— the character would look like Patrick Stewart, but would be different.<ref name="piller10">[[#piller1998|Piller (1998)]]: p. 10</ref> A further idea from Berman would have seen the return of [[List of Star Trek: The Next Generation characters#Lore|Lore]], last seen in the episode "[[Descent (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|Descent]]", in a film which was described as similar in tone to ''Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan''.<ref>{{cite journal|title=ST IX pitches for a slice of Khan's accalaim|journal=[[Dreamwatch]]|date=September 1997|issue=37|page=9}}</ref>

Piller initially thought to write a [[Fountain of Youth]]-type story, later saying: "Everybody's consumed with images of youth. There's commercials, plastic surgery&nbsp;— our culture seems obsessed with youth."<ref name="nemecek334"/> He called the initial treatment "Heart of Lightness".<ref name="piller12">[[#piller1998|Piller (1998)]]: p. 12</ref> Piller's first draft treatment for the film was titled ''Star Trek: Stardust'', taken from the 1927 song [[stardust (1927 song)|"Stardust"]] by [[Hoagy Carmichael]]<ref name="nemecek334"/> after hearing [[Nat King Cole]]'s version on the radio.<ref name="piller12"/> The treatment featured Picard resigning from Starfleet after he is sent to retrieve a population and their youth-giving power, and bring them to an alien government, and included a betrayal by Picard's rogue colleague. The draft went through several versions with only the crew's mission and the [[List of Star Trek regions of space#The Briar Patch|Briar Patch]]&nbsp;— named after the area from the [[Br'er Rabbit]] stories&nbsp;— remaining. Berman suggested that Data become the renegade crew-member that Picard must deal with.<ref name="nemecek334"/> The plot was similar to ''The Next Generation'' episode "[[Homeward (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|Homeward]]" in that a people were being relocated through use of a holodeck. The use of a duck blind to observe cultures was previously used in the episode "[[Who Watches the Watchers]]".<ref name="nemecek343"/>

In one draft, Picard kills Data early in the film, and the android is later resurrected to help the Captain in the finale. The first two drafts featured the Romulans as the antagonists,<ref name="nemecek334"/> since they had never prominently appeared in a ''Star Trek'' film.<ref name="piller12" /> The second draft was seen by Jonathan Dolgen at the studio; Dolgen was not pleased and Patrick Stewart thought that it would have been only suitable for a television episode.<ref name="piller34">[[#piller1998|Piller (1998)]]: p. 34</ref><ref name="piller35">[[#piller1998|Piller (1998)]]: p. 35</ref> In the third draft, the Son'a were introduced as the children of the Ba'ku and the alien race that wanted to plunder the planet. That version also included the crew sub-plots, such as the Troi-Riker romance and the regeneration of La Forge's eyes.<ref name="nemecek334"/> Stewart, who was concerned that the film was a step back in scope from ''First Contact'', was consulted on the treatments.<ref name="nemecek335">[[#Nemecek2003|Nemecek (2003)]]: p. 335</ref>

[[image:Ira Steven Behr.jpg|thumb|right|Ira Steven Behr ''(pictured)'' reviewed the first script at Michael Piller's request.<ref name="nemecek335"/>]]
Piller drafted the first version of the script and asked [[Ira Steven Behr]], executive producer of ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'', to review it. Behr was critical of the script, describing the Son'a as "[[paper tiger]]s".<ref name="nemecek335"/> Piller said that "I knew he was right. There's no question that first draft was trying to tell two stories, and that's one too many for a movie."<ref name="nemecek335"/> Piller re-drafted the script, adding a romantic subplot for Picard in the shape of Anij, a Ba'ku woman. He added gravitas to the Son'a to make them more menacing, and the ending was changed to include a massive Son'a collector ship and a confrontation between Picard and Ru'afo aboard the ship.<ref name="nemecek335"/> A version of the script was subsequently leaked onto the internet.<ref name="nemecek337"/> At the same time, Piller and Berman were exploring titles for the film, including ''[[Prime Directive]]'', ''The Directive'', ''The Resignation'', ''The Enemy Within'', ''Breach of Promise'', ''Dereliction of Duty'' and ''Apostasy'', because, they reasoned, that they could not submit it to the studio under the title of ''Stardust''. They could not settle on a title, so they submitted it as ''Star Trek IX''.<ref name="piller55">[[#piller1998|Piller (1998)]]: p. 55</ref>

The studio was pleased with the post-Behr version of the script, which was the first version of the script they saw, having previously only seen pre-script treatments.<ref name="piller57">[[#piller1998|Piller (1998)]]: p. 57</ref> In a memo to Piller, it was described as "easily the funniest and sexiest ''Star Trek'' story to date".<ref name="piller57"/> They gave Piller a series of directions, including a request for a resolution to the Troi and Riker romance and for the character of [[Reginald Barclay]] to be replaced with expanded roles either for Beverly Crusher, Worf, or a new character.<ref name="piller58">[[#piller1998|Piller (1998)]]: p. 58</ref><ref name="piller59">[[#piller1998|Piller (1998)]]: p. 59</ref>

Patrick Stewart sought a change to the script to have the crew defend the Ba'ku village in the manner of the [[Battle of the Alamo]] instead of fleeing into the mountains. Piller could not find a feasible way to include this in the script, and the budget ruled out the creation of Alamo-like structures in the mountains.<ref name="piller72">[[#piller1998|Piller (1998)]]: p. 72</ref> Several titles were considered for the film as shooting approached. ''Star Trek: Where Time Stands Still'', ''Star Trek: Forever'' and ''Star Trek: Beyond Paradise'' were all considered but were rejected. Piller's favorite was ''Star Trek: Sacred Honor'', but the studio rejected this, because they were concerned that it sounded too religious. When shooting began, the film was still called ''Star Trek IX''.<ref name="piller87">[[#piller1998|Piller (1998)]]: p. 87</ref>

The final version of the script was distributed to the cast, but Patrick Stewart did not receive a copy. Berman was concerned that if anyone had a problem with it, they would call Stewart to complain, and it would appear as though Stewart was being left out because he had criticized the story. LeVar Burton called Stewart to praise the script. Stewart was sent a copy and requested a meeting to discuss changes. Piller feared the worst, but after a twenty-minute meeting with Stewart, who requested several dialogue changes, the script was finalized.<ref name="piller92">[[#piller1998|Piller (1998)]]: p. 92</ref> During pre-production, the marketing department wanted to decide a title, preferring ''Star Trek: Revolution''. [[Alan Spencer (writer)|Alan Spencer]], a friend of Piller, suggested ''Insurrection'', which was selected from a choice of ''Insurrection'', ''Rebellion'', ''High Treason'' and ''Act of Treason''.<ref name="piller59" />

After filming was complete, test screenings were held,<ref name="nemecek337"/> and the production team became aware of a problem with the ending.<ref name="piller98">[[#piller1998|Piller (1998)]]: p. 98</ref> In the original ending, Ru'afo is ejected into space from the Son'a collector ship and de-ages rapidly as he floats amongst the rings of the planet Ba'ku. Test audience members found this climax underwhelming, and some weren't even sure that Ru'afo had died.<ref name="piller98"/> The revised ending saw the ''Enterprise'' swoop in at the last minute to save Picard while the collector ship explodes with Ru'afo aboard.<ref name="piller102">[[#piller1998|Piller (1998)]]: p. 102</ref> The studio liked the new ending but wanted a bigger space battle. The production team agreed providing they could postpone the release to allow enough time for this. Because the studio wanted ''Insurrection'' to be released in time for Christmas, no further revisions were made to the ending.<ref name="piller109">[[#piller1998|Piller (1998)]]: p. 109</ref>

Piller would agree to write a book about the making of ''Insurrection'' and the writing process for [[Pocket Books]]. They hired [[Eric A. Stillwell]] as Piller's typist and research assistant (he was also Piller's executive assistant and script coordinator).<ref>{{cite web|title=Recalling "Yesterday's Enterprise" with Eric Stillwell – Part 2|url=http://www.startrek.com/article/recalling-yesterdays-enterprise-with-eric-stillwell-part-2|publisher=Star Trek.com|date=February 18, 2011|access-date=March 22, 2013|archive-date=March 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130318040705/http://www.startrek.com/article/recalling-yesterdays-enterprise-with-eric-stillwell-part-2|url-status=live}}</ref> The book, however, went unpublished, and it was alleged that Paramount Pictures suppressed it due to its portrayal of the development process. Following Piller's death in 2005, the book, titled ''Fade In'', was published on the internet for free.<ref name="piller2">[[#piller1998|Piller (1998)]]: p. 2</ref>