Axanar is the title of the feature-length film (formerly titled Star Trek: Axanar) at the center of the CBS-Paramount lawsuit against producer Alec Peters and his company, Axanar Productions.

Axanar is the story of Garth of Izar (introduced in the Star Trek episode, “Whom Gods Destroy”), first written by executive producer Alec Peters wrote 25 years ago. After playing Garth in the fan production Star Trek: New Voyages, Peters turned the story into a screenplay.

Peters recruited a team of experienced filmmakers, many from Hollywood, to first produce a short film as a proof of concept. That movie, Prelude to Axanar, sparked worldwide attention that led to multiple crowdfunding campaigns that raised about half the $2 million budget estimated for production of the feature-length film, which on November 17, 2014, was re-named Axanar. At the time, Peters explained:

In deference to CBS, we have removed the Star Trek branding from our website. and our Facebook page. … We think at this point Axanar has its own brand and we don’t need to use the Star Trek name. We are cognizant that we are using CBS’ intellectual property and we wish to minimize the use of that IP in our film and in our overall production.¹⁾

Co-producer Terry McIntosh added the production took the action without prompting from CBS:

CBS did *NOT* contact us regarding the name, or anything else for that matter. … This was a preemptive decision due to things to come that we haven’t yet made public. Nothing more, nothing less.²⁾

GARTH OF IZAR, played by Steve Inhat, was introduced in the Star Trek episode, "Whom Gods Destroy.“

Axanar tells the story of Garth of Izar, introduced as Captain Kirk’s hero, a legendary starship commander whose victory at Axanar was required reading at the academy.

The film, originally scheduled to go into production in 2016, tells the story of the Four Years War with the Klingon Empire, which the United Federation of Planets nearly lost. Axanar picks up where Prelude to Axanar left off, with the new Klingon battlecruiser, the D-7 class, turning the tide of the war, and a frantic Starfleet scrambling to find some way to end the conflict. Garth’s audacious battle plan is the course the Federation decides to bet on.

GARTH OF IZAR as portrayed by Axanar producer Alec Peters in Prelude to Axanar.

While no cast members have been officially signed, several of those who appeared in Prelude to Axanar were expected to reprise their roles in the feature, including Richard Hatch, Kate Vernon and J.G. Hertzler in principal roles, with Gary Graham reprising his role as Vulcan ambassador Soval, first seen in the television series, Star Trek: Enterprise.

Actor Tony Todd left the project in 2015, citing “accountability” problems possibly connected with the production’s crowdfunding of more than $1 million.

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See also: Ambition vs. Achievement

Prior to the lawsuit’s filing, Axanar was scheduled to start shooting in early 2016. Production was halted by mutual agreement by all the lawsuit’s parties until February 22, 2016, the due date for Axanar’s response to the legal complaint. By all accounts, production is halted until the lawsuit is resolved.

According to IMDb Pro, the lawsuit appears to have affected the film’s production status. Their motion to dismiss explains that the formerly locked script is being rewritten in light of the copyright infringement claims detailed in the legal complaint. Here is IMDb Pro’s chart showing the history of status changes for the film:

IMDb notes that there are several ways to define the stage of development a project is in. They are:

The lawsuit sought an injunction that would end production. The settlement reached by CBS, Paramount and Axanar Productions allowed production of two short films, totaling 30 minutes, instead of the feature-length movie planned by Peters.

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