Earlier this year, it looked as if Star Trek 4 had plotted a trajectory and began proceeding towards principal photography at warp speed. Unfortunately, though, the project came to a screeching halt last month when both Chris Hemsworth and Chris Pine abandoned the Enterprise over a pay dispute, and the starship has been floating directionless in the void of space ever since.
Naturally, every Trek fan’s hoping for at least one Chris to come back, and as much as we’d love to see Hemsworth on board, the best scenario would be for Paramount to sort out their beef with Pine and bring him back as James T. Kirk. Not to dismiss the strong supporting cast of the franchise, but he’s really the figurehead of these movies and, quite frankly, has managed to do the impossible by endearing himself to fans despite being a rebooted, recast version of a classic character. He’s the heart of the modern Trek films and it’s hard to imagine a fourth outing without him.
Thankfully, then, Pine seems all for returning. Talking to Variety on the red carpet tonight at the Toronto International Film Festival, the actor was asked if he’ll be reprising his role for Star Trek 4 and said the following:
“I don’t know, man. I’d love to be involved, and we’ll see what happens. I’ll await the phone call. Until then, I look forward to it.”
That’s a pretty non-committal answer, and precisely the thing that Pine’s PR reps probably instructed him to say, no doubt anticipating he’d be asked about it as he walked the red carpet. Still, it’s nice to hear that he’s at least interested in being involved and with any luck, he’ll be able to work something out with Paramount so that Star Trek 4 can move forward with Captain Kirk on board the Enterprise.
And even if it can’t, there are many who believe that the film doesn’t need the actor to be successful. In fact, just recently, producer Adi Shankar offered up the following:
Losing Pine and Kirk is not a big deal and kind of cool. Actors don’t matter, stories do. This is the universe presenting an opportunity to do something different and boldly go where no suits have gone before.
What do you think, though? Does Star Trek 4 need Chris Pine? As always, let us know your thoughts down below.
