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Since ‘Star Trek: Beyond’ was released in , Paramount Pictures has wanted to make another installment of the reboot of the galactic saga, but the process has been very problematic.
It’s been 8 years since Star Trek: Beyond was released in movie theaters as the third film in the new saga of the galactic franchise that JJ Abrams started in 2009 and which was a reboot of the original films, but, although the plans from the beginning were always for there to be a fourth delivery, fans have been waiting almost a decade without the project coming to fruition.
With ‘Star Trek 4’ as a working title, Paramount Pictures officially announced a fourth film in the saga already in 2016, with JD Payne and Patrick McKay as scriptwriters, but finally the project has ended up in different hands without taking off. At times it was not clear if the plans were to continue with the cast led by Chris Pine as Captain Kirk, if the actors of Kirk, Spock, Uhura and company would be changed or if they would opt for a new beginning with a completely renewed team. Or even a mix of all options.
Although it seems that it is finally on track, the journey to get Star Trek 4 in the light it has not been easy. In 2017, Quentin Tarantino himself proposed an idea to Paramount and JJ Abrams that was based on one of the episodes of the original series and a team of scriptwriters was even hired to develop it, but in the end the project could not go ahead.
At the same time and during the following years, there would be several more attempts: one led by screenwriter SJ Clarkson which was basically a sequel to Beyond and that it was canceled after failing to materialize the necessary agreements; a third from Noah Hawley, hired to write and direct a new film based on his own vision for the franchise, but was ultimately rejected by the company’s new leadership; and then the most recent one, with Matt Shakman, who worked for years with several different groups of screenwriters before leaving to direct The Fantastic Four without the project being able to move forward.
Now, Star Trek fans have reasons to get excited again. Take note below everything we know about Star Trek 4:
The latest news is that a new scriptwriter has officially joined the fleet and that’s always a good sign that things are moving forward. According to him he published Variety Last March 2024, Steve Yockey, the showrunner of the HBO series The Flight Attendant is writing the script for Star Trek 4, still untitled, and although there are no details about the story yet, it will be the final chapter of the reboot saga.
At the moment it has not been announced who will be at the helm as director, but it seems that there is currently an active search to take charge of the potential new installment of the saga.
Meanwhile, the galactic franchise has two other films in development with which the project should not be confused: on the one hand the prequel directed by Toby Haynes and a ‘spin off’ film by Star Trek: Discovery, Section 31 whose filming has already finished and whose premiere is expected in 2025.
At the moment Not only is there no release date, but we are far from knowing it. There have been so many changes over the last few years that the only thing we know about Star Trek 4 at the production level is that it “remains in active development.” Although with a new screenwriter in charge of the new film, the project is in the very early stages of development.
Since the project is in its earliest stages, there are still no actors or actresses who have guaranteed their presence in the new film, although most of them have spoken on numerous occasions about their possible return. Once the new plan for Star Trek 4 is consolidated, we will be closer to knowing if Chris Pine (Kirk), Zachary Quinto (Spock), Zoe Saldaña (Uhura), Karl Urban (Bones), John Cho (Sulu) and Simon Pegg (Scotty) are part of the new story, but for now it seems that that is the idea.
Likewise, if it were a direct continuation, the film would have to make decisions regarding Pavel Chekov after the tragic death of Anton Yelchin in 2016.
Another of the presences that has been talked about a lot over the last 8 years has been that of Chris Hemsworth, since one of the plans that was considered at the time for this fourth installment was to bet on an adventure in which Chris Pine’s James T Kirk joins forces with his deceased father, played by the Marvel actor.
There are no confirmed plot details for the fourth film currently. One of the most feasible possibilities is that it is a continuation of Star Trek: Beyond that puts the finishing touch to the saga with a new and final mission aboard a new USS Enterprise, but it is also possible that Yockey opted for something completely different.
In any case, we are satisfied that the film can move forward, after a road full of potholes and complications that have lengthened the process to a point where it seemed that it could remain in the pipeline forever. We are already looking forward to knowing more.
