Paramount may have successfully relaunched Star Trek for their streaming service, but efforts on the big screen have repeatedly hit a snag. For years they’ve been trying to get Star Trek 4 off the ground, first with Chris Pine and the cast of JJ Abrams’ films returning, along with Chris Hemsworth as Kirk’s father. Contract disputes held that up, and since the previous movie, Star Trek Beyond, didn’t do well, Paramount had to look for less expensive options. That led to flirtations with Quentin Tarantino and Noah Hawley, which amounted to nothing.
But last week it seemed there was a ray of sunlight that could possibly be one of Abrams’ lens flares. Paramount announced that Star Trek 4 was on the way with Pine and Co. returning, Matt Shakman directing, and a shoot date of later this year. However, THR has learned that the announcement came as news to Pine, Zoe Saldana, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, and Karl Urban. Their agents revealed that no discussions had taken place and certainly no contract deals.
Apparently, the sequel hasn’t even been given a thumbs up yet. There isn’t even a budget in place. Paramount released the news to please investors but now they’ve put their foot in it, because this gives all of the negotiating power to the actors who didn’t speak out of turn. What’s Paramount going to do now? Go back on their word?
Basically, this new Star Trek is not a done deal. Those contract talks are going to be a bitch, with each actor looking to cash in on Paramount’s screw-up. And what does that mean? That Paramount could find themselves right back at square one, with an expensive Star Trek movie that still only reaches that franchise’s die-hard base.
As of now, the plan is still to have Star Trek 4 released on December 22nd 2023, but this is shaky at best.
