Fans have been waiting for Star Trek 4 for, appropriately enough, four years now, with Paramount being unable to get the franchise’s next cinematic project off the ground for whatever reason. A fascinating new report from Deadline though has outlined the three different versions of the next Trek movie that exist and how the studio is dedicated to moving forward with one of them in the next few weeks. This includes the original concept for the film, which fans were well up for.
Following Star Trek Beyond, it was announced that ST4 would be a time travel story featuring Chris Pine’s James T. Kirk meeting his father, George, as played by Chris Hemsworth. The combination of two of the big four Hollywood Chrises, plus Trek‘s first ever female director in S.J. Clarkson, made this a very noteworthy project. And then it got shelved due to negotiations breaking down with the two stars. However, according to Deadline’s report, the concept could still be revisited.
The reason this idea might come back around is because things aren’t going smoothly with the other two movies that were being developed to replace it. Quentin Tarantino has pulled out of directing his R-rated take on the Trek universe, which Deadline reveals would’ve been inspired by classic gangster-themed The Original Series episode, “A Piece of the Action.” Likewise, Noah Hawley’s reboot, about a viral plague wiping out half the galaxy, has stalled, perhaps for obvious reasons.
It was initially said that Pine and Hemsworth walked away due to contractual disputes, though the latter Chris later clarified that he left the project as he was “underwhelmed” with the plans for the movie. Pine, meanwhile, seemed much more positive about the chances of him returning to the captain’s chair on the Enterprise when asked.
Deadline says that Paramount will make their big decision about which version of Star Trek 4 to progress with very soon. But tell us, would you like to see the ‘Kirk meets Kirk’ movie get made? Beam on over to the comments and have your say.
