Nearly two years after first concrete rumors about bringing Robert Wise’s fan-preferred Director’s Edition of Star Trek: The Motion Picture back out of DVD-era exile first began, those hopes have finally been confirmed in a new announcement made today.

Only ever available on standard-definition Star Trek: The Motion Picture — The Director’s Edition was a hit with fans, trimming down overly-long scenes and enhancing unsatisfactory visual effects with then-state-of-the-art digital updates…. but in the 20 year since The Director’s Edition arrived, fans have been clamoring to see that version of the movie upgraded to a high-definition release.

Officially announced today by Paramount Home Entertainment and Paramount+, it’s now confirmed that Star Trek: The Motion Picture — The Director’s Edition will finally get the love its long deserved: a fully restored and remastered edition for the new era of Ultra HD media.

As revealed through StarTrek.com this afternoon:

Paramount and Paramount+ are excited to announce that a full restoration of the Director’s Edition of Star Trek: The Motion Picture has been greenlit.

The restoration will be undertaken by producer David C. Fein, restoration supervisor Mike Matessino, and visual effects supervisor Daren R. Dochterman, all of whom worked previously with director Robert Wise.

The film will be prepared for presentation in 4K Ultra HD with Dolby Vision™ high dynamic range (HDR) and a new Dolby Atmos® soundtrack. The restoration is expected to take 6-8 months and will launch with an exclusive window on Paramount+.

So, that means that while we’ll ultimately end up with a much-needed and for-the-record 4K master of Robert Wise’s vision for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, we’re going to have to wait a while for the project to reach its conclusion. Not only will the film elements need to be addressed, but all of the digital visual effects — which were only built and rendered for the standard-def DVD release — will need to be revisited for a 4K presentation.

In addition, while this shiny new 4K Director’s Edition of The Motion Picture will eventually be released on physical media — we certainly hope, anyhow — Paramount has learned from its peers and is using their Paramount+ streaming service as the exclusive home for the updated film…. so now you have an excuse to sign up if the new Trek television shows haven’t gotten you there already.

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As rumors about a 4K release of all of the first ten Star Trek films continue to build, as covered by The Digital Bits yesterday, this long-term project makes it clear that any 4K edition of The Motion Picture that may arrive in 2021 — something growing ever likelier with each new retailer leak — will be the theatrical version of the film (which is all that has ever been released on Blu-ray to date).

UPDATE: See our other breaking news report about the first four Star Trek films coming to 4K Blu-ray in September 2021!

In the meantime, we’ll keep you posted on any and all details that make their way to the public over the next year — so keep your sensors locked on TrekCore as this exciting project moves forward!

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