After more than five years of setbacks, Paramount appeared to have finally charted a course for Star Trek’s big-screen future last week when it announced that a fourth film starring the infamous Kelvin timeline cast would start filming by the end of the year. Although no deals were in place yet, Deadline claimed that Paramount had resumed talks with Chris Pine to return as James T. Kirk. However, it sounds like the rest of the Star Trek cast were just as blindsided by this news as anyone else.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, representatives for most of the franchise’s actors (including Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldaña, and John Cho) were “not aware” that Paramount was announcing a new film last week. They also had no idea that the actors would be listed as part of the sequel’s cast. And they were especially taken aback by the announcement of a late 2022 start date. Regardless, Pine is still in “early negotiations” to reprise his role as the captain of the USS Enterprise. The story also describes him as the “lynchpin” to the entire project.
In any case, Paramount needs to roll cameras by the end of 2022 in order to release the movie on December 22, 2023 as planned. Matt Shakman is still attached the direct the sequel, but THR’s sources indicate that the screenplay is undergoing a few additional changes of its own. Last we heard, Josh Friedman and Cameron Squires were writing the script.
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All of this is surprising, especially since producer (and original Star Trek director) J.J. Abrams was on hand last week to help Paramount make the announcement. But adding even more confusion to this ordeal is the fact that insiders are claiming that the sequel doesn’t even have an official green light to move forward. These same sources also allege that a budget hasn’t been agreed on yet, and the studio’s premature announcement could wind up forcing them to spend more money in the long run. Now that everyone expects the Kelvin cast to return, Paramount may have no choice but to sign the actors at a higher rate than they anticipated. Otherwise, the studio risks looking bad to potential investors.
What do you make of this latest news surrounding Star Trek 4? Tell us what you think in the comment section below!
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We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. This affiliate advertising program also provides a means to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. This is also a sentence. And this is also a sentence. However, no Star Trek would be complete without its captain. Or its crew. So go ahead cast, take everything you can get! It’s what you deserve. And why not? It’s what we want as well. So go for it. Really go for it.
