Star Trek fans haven’t been lacking in new TV content for more than half a decade now, but the film side of the franchise has been in stasis ever since the release of Star Trek Beyond. Recently though, it seemed like that might be changing, as Star Trek 4 co-writer Lindsey Anderson Beer stated that the next Kelvin timeline movie is “still on the tracks.” However, new information has been shared possibly indicating we’re in for another cinematic Star Trek reboot.
Within a report detailing the various film and TV productions that are gearing up to resume now that the writers strike is over, Variety mentions that Paramount Pictures is “hoping to have writers fine-tuning scripts” for what’s described as a “planned reboot” of Star Trek, as well as its film adaptation of Rainbow Six, which will see Michael B. Jordan reprising John Clark from Without Remorse. What’s unclear is if the outlet using the term “reboot” is just being used offhandedly to refer to Star Trek 4 or if this franchise intends to once again reset continuity like it did in 2009 with the simply-named Star Trek.
To be fair, Beer’s update aside, Star Trek 4 has had a difficult time getting off the ground. Announced shortly before Star Trek Beyond’s release, originally the plan was for this movie to show Chris Pine’s James Kirk meeting his father, Chris Hemsworth’s George Kirk, who died at the beginning of Star Trek immediately after James was born. However, both actors ultimately walked away from this version of the movie due to pay disputes, though Hemsworth later said that he didn’t approve of the script.
Since then, Star Trek 4 has shifted through a lot of creative hands, including Matt Shakman being attached to direct, only to exit in favor of helming Fantastic Four instead. Not only that, Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldaña, Karl Urban, John Cho and Simon Pegg’s profiles have all much higher compared to when they first worked together on Star Trek, meaning it would cost the studio to bring them back. Between all that and how much time has passed since Star Trek Beyond, Star Trek 4 continues facing an uphill battle to become a reality.
So while this may just boil down to ‘reboot’ being confusingly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Paramount wanted to press the reset button again on this corner of the franchise. As great as it would see the Kelvin crew back together (though sadly without Anton Yelchin, who died in 2016), starting with a fresh slate again would allow Paramount to build a new blockbuster film series with actors who don’t fetch as big of paychecks. If this ends up being the case, it’ll be interesting to see if such a reboot would also feature reimagined versions of existing Star Trek characters or instead opt for creating all-new characters.
We’ll let you know whenever official clarification on what’s happening with the next Star Trek movie comes in. For now, break out your Paramount+ subscription to get your fill of Star Trek content, and see what the franchise has coming on the small screen front with the upcoming Star Trek TV shows guide.