Hollywood is full of all kinds of “What If?” stories, whether it’s actors or directors who could have been involved in a particular movie, but passed on it for whatever reason. I don’t always write about these kinds of things because they’re little more than interesting bits of trivia, but I thought this one was too intriguing to pass up. According to The Wrap, in the years following the cancellation of Enterprise and the box office failure of Star Trek: Nemesis, no one wanted anything to do with Star Trek — not even J.J. Abrams. While Paramount was in search of someone to helm a new Star Trek movie, they put together a wish list of directors. One of the people on that wish list? Sam Raimi.

That’s right, if this story is to be believed, Sam Raimi was actually flat out offered the gig at one point, but talks broke down once J.J. Abrams decided to get serious about it. Wow. Can you imagine a Star Trek movie directed by Sam Raimi? That would have been a pretty different film. I daresay Abrams was the better choice, and based on the sudden wave of negativity surrounding Raimi’s handling of the Spider-Man franchise, I’m probably not alone in that belief. But still… I really wonder how that would have turned out. Do you think Sam Raimi could have pulled it off? Should he consider taking on another big franchise in the future, or would you like to see him stay far away from other coveted geek properties?