After endless months of rumor and speculation, the news broke recently of a new Star Trek movie finally getting underway (you can read the full story here). A director, writer and producer have already been announced and even the casual Star Trek fans such as myself immediately noticed the abscence of Rick Berman's name in the initial creditings. Well fans, you can let out that breath you've been holding since the initial story, because the controversial Berman is officially non-existent as far as the new Trek film is concerned.

Despite the tutelage of the master Gene Roddenberry, Berman has been seen by many fans as a less than impressive presence in the Trekverse, having overseen the perceived decline of the franchise these past several years. While the integrity and overall value of recent Trek projects is certainly open for debate, Berman's disassociation from the new project is hard to see as anything but a plus.