The Star Trek franchise is full steam ahead on its next project: Star Trek XI. We here at CinemaBlend have been reporting on the idea with a just level of pessimism. The very whisperings of another Berman driven Trek film raises hair on the backs of the necks for many movie-goers who have seen both the film and television series take a creative nose dive over the last several years.

Erik Jendresen, tapped to write the script for the next film, e-mailed us to chide us for our pessimism, but gave us no direct reasons to quell our concerns. He did, however, spend time talking with SyFy Portal to help try and smooth the way.

Quoth Jendresen: "There is a lot of misinformation out there, negative speculation and ill- will. Everybody just needs to just take a Romulan chill pill and have some faith. Everything that has gone down over the last few years has not been lost on the gentlemen involved in this effort. I think it would be wonderful to bring a whole new generation into this world."

OK, now I’m scared. It doesn’t bode well when the response to legitimate fan concern is met by the phrase “Romulan chill pill”.

By “everything that has gone down”, do you mean revenues Erik? I’m sure those “gentlemen” have noticed that in particular. The question is, have they noticed that the quality of writing, storylines and character treatments have also declined? I have my doubts, but Jendresen, it seems, may have his head on straight when it comes to what’s important.

"I read an interesting piece online about the relevance of Star Trek. It posed the idea that maybe it's not relevant anymore. It was an impressive argument, but a fine story is always relevant, and I think solid storytelling that's rooted in the absolute spirit of the original series is what it was all about to begin with."

Elsewhere in the interview, Erik expounded on what he feels that absolute spirit involves.

"In the original series, there were big ideas, and they were delivered each week with a lot of verve. The crew in particular, lead by a commanding officer who had a certain sense of timeless style, boldness and vision. He had a pioneering spirit, the spirit of all great explorers, that was captured by the original series."

OK Erik, you have my attention. Getting back to the strengths of the original series would be a nice touch. My excitement began to waver a little, however, when Jendresen commented on the setting.

"We're going 160-odd years before Kirk is born. It's an earlier time, and I think it would be really refreshing to feel something in the course of telling this tale, instead of being wowed by special effects, or presenting another crew in jeopardy where, in the end, the captain does something brilliant, and all’s right with the world.”

Jendresen confirmed to SyFy.com that, while set around the same time as the now cancelled “Enterprise” television series, it would not be a spin-off of the series or include members of the cast. [JOSH NOTES: The math here is a little confusing. 160 years would set it long before Enterprise, more like around the time of Zefram Cochrane. Hopefully Jendresen can clarify.] Personally, this sounds more like Berman’s efforts to vindicate the failed series with a successful movie, but Erik has a more optimistic outlook.

“I can certainly say that the story concept, the basic idea of this thing, is pretty damn big. It's a noble enterprise, pun intended."

Well, at least Erik feels cheerful enough about his odds of succeeding in restoring respectability to the Star Trek franchise to be making puns. I’ll remain a little more cautious, thanks.