Star Trek franchise head Rick Berman recently made the first mention of a possible timeframe for the next Trek feature film, saying fans shouldn't expect a movie in the very near future.

"I think that if this film is made it certainly won't get finished in the next year," Berman told Ian Spelling, for the British Star Trek Magazine (via the Sci-Fi Pulse). And although Berman didn't specify exactly when a new Trek movie could arrive in theatres, he did hint at what timeframe he would personally like to be aiming for. "If it gets done in two years or three years I think that timeframe for a new, fresh feature with a whole different outlook would be fine."

Beyond Star Trek, Berman said he was developing some other projects -- although for at least one, he didn't completely seem to have left the world of Trek behind him. "I even have one project that I'm working on with Brent Spiner [Data], in the creative realm as apposed to the acting realm. But we'll see what the future holds."

Berman once more addressed the reasons for Star Trek: Enterprise's cancellation, mentioning once again the over-saturation of the franchise, but also the hefty pricetag associated with a show like Star Trek. "Unfortunately, our show costs a lot more than [the Sci-Fi Channel's] shows do," he said. "A lot of those shows are shot with budgets not much more than half of what out budgets are. I think that to continue our show at the level of production we've kept it at, to keep these actors, it would probably be prohibitive to do it on cable."

However, Berman did suggest that for a future Trek series, this situation might change. "[It] certainly would be possible," he said. "And the answer is that the powers that be at Paramount seem to feel that the time has come to give things a rest."

For more from Berman, including his thoughts on how many fans do appreciate Enterprise, pick up issue 120 of the Star Trek Magazine, now available in the UK and Ireland. Alternatively, some more excerpts are available at the Sci-Fi Pulse.

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