Bennett was called to a meeting with then top executives of Paramount Barry Diller and Michael Eisner, along with Charles Bluhdorn who was then head of Paramount's parent Gulf+Western. Bluhdorn, dissatisfied with the results of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, was looking for someone new to take over the next film in the series. According to Bennett, Bluhdorn asked him what he thought of the first Star Trek film and, after Bennett said he found it boring, Bluhdorn asked him if he could make a better picture and if he could do it for less than $45 million (the eventual budget of the first film). When Bennett said that he could, Bluhdorn said "do it" and he was hired. To prepare for the job of producing a Star Trek film, Bennett first screened all 79 episodes of the original Star Trek series in a projection room at Paramount. He was particularly drawn to the episode "Space Seed" which featured Ricardo Montalbán as the genetically enhanced supervillain Khan Noonien Singh. At the conclusion of the episode, Khan and his followers are exiled to an uninhabited planet, and James T. Kirk and Spock wonder what will become of them. This gave Bennett the 'hook' he was looking for, and led him to develop a sequel to the episode. Bennett's idea formed the beginnings of what would become The Wrath of Khan. Bennett himself developed the original story premise, and then worked with screenwriter Jack B. Sowards on the early drafts of the screenplay. Nicholas Meyer was later introduced to Bennett and completed the final drafts of the script, in addition to directing the film with Bennett as executive producer and Robert Sallin as producer. Star Trek II proved to be an enormous success, both in terms of the box office receipts and fan response. Following the success of Star Trek II, Bennett served as producer on the next three Star Trek films: The Search for Spock, The Voyage Home — which for a long time stood as one of the most successful of the Star Trek films — and The Final Frontier. In addition to serving as producer, Bennett also wrote Star Trek III, co-wrote the story and screenplay for Star Trek IV, and co-wrote the story for Star Trek V. Bennett also made cameo appearances in Star Trek III (as the voice of the flight recorder) and Star Trek V (as