Paramount has spent years trying to get a fourth Star Trek movie off the ground, but the disappointing $340M box office of 2016’s Star Trek Beyond made that tough. It was especially difficult because many of the stars’ contracts needed renegotiating. But it seems all of that will no longer be a problem following the studio’s acquisition by David Ellison’s Skydance, because the plan now is to start from scratch.
According to Variety, Star Trek 4 is dead at Paramount Pictures as Ellison seeks a “fresh” approach to the vaunted sci-fi franchise. That means we shouldn’t expect to see Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, or anyone from the JJ Abrams reboot series that began with 2009’s Star Trek and continued with 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness.
The list of filmmakers who have been attached to Star Trek 4 include SJ Clarkson (Madame Web), Noah Hawley (Alien: Earth), Matt Shakman (The Fantastic Four: First Steps), and an origin story idea from Toby Haynes (Andor) that would’ve had a script by Seth Grahame-Smith. I suppose it’s possible the Haynes project could resurface if Paramount wants to get moving on this quickly.
Star Trek‘s home has been exclusively on Paramount+ for years, both in series and film formats. While that has been successful, you know Ellison wants to cash in with big-screen money to validate the investment. I would expect more news on the theatrical future of ‘Trek’ soon.
