The idea of Star Trek 4 was up in the air until yesterday. Not anymore, Star Trek 4 is finally happening!
Around six years after the last Star Trek movie, Paramount has officially announced that Star Trek 4 is in the works.
Star Trek 4 was announced before the release of Star Trek Beyond (2016), but due to the latter’s poor box office performance and a salary disagreement between the studio and star Chris Pine, production was halted. But now Paramount Pictures is planning to enter negotiations for Star Trek stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho, and Simon Pegg to return to the Enterprise for their fourth tour of duty in the sci-fi action franchise, as reported by Variety.
Marvel recently brought back Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield in Spider-Man: No Way Home, and the value of the movie skyrocketed. It’s possible that the sci-fi franchise is also looking forward to a somewhat similar outcome.
The announcement was made by franchise director J.J. Abrams during the Paramount Investors Day Presentation on February 15, 2022. According to Variety, the studio had to conduct market research to learn that fan interest was high enough to persuade Paramount to bring the actors back for Star Trek 4.
“We are thrilled to say that we are hard at work on a new Star Trek film that will be shooting by the end of the year that will be featuring our original cast and some new characters that I think are going to be really fun and exciting and help take Star Trek into areas that you’ve just never seen before,” Abrams said. “We’re thrilled about this film, we have a bunch of other stories that we’re talking about that we think will be really exciting, so can’t wait for you to see what we’re cooking up. But until then, live long and prosper,” Abrams said.
Star Trek 4 Crew: Who’s behind the camera?
WandaVision’s Matt Shakman is set to direct the new installment from a script by Josh Friedan (Avatar 2) and Cameron Squires (WandaVision) based on an earlier draft by Lindsey Beer (Sierra Burgess Is a Loser) and Geneva Robertson Dworet (Captain Marvel).
When will Star Trek 4 release?
Star Trek 4‘s theatrical release has been confirmed for June 9, 2023, by Paramount Pictures. The production is set to begin later this year.
What films to watch before Star Trek 4?
Considering the rapid expansion of the Star Trek universe, you should prepare for the release of Star Trek 4. There are two timelines in Star Trek: The original, which includes nearly all the films and TV shows; and Kelvin, an alternate timeline that began with the last three reboot films by JJ Abrams. It’s officially called the Kelvin timeline, and it’s named after the USS Kelvin. Since it literally takes place in a different timeline, you can watch it before or after The Original Star Trek timeline.
Here’s the list of Star Trek Kelvin timeline films:
- Star Trek (2009)
- Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
- Star Trek Beyond (2016)
- Star Trek 4 (2023)