Despite having Legion showrunner Noah Hawley attached to write and direct, the status of Star Trek 4 is still very much up in the air. Paramount have been trying to get the fourth installment of the rebooted franchise up and running for a while now, but have suffered a series of setbacks in their attempts to bring it to the big screen.
Chris Hemsworth was set to reprise his role as George Kirk from the first movie’s prologue, but eventually dropped out, while Chris Pine also walked away from the sci-fi series before being convinced to return. Star Trek 4 also lost original director S.J. Clarkson before Hawley stepped in, all while Quentin Tarantino’s potential R-rated Trek loomed in the background. Although it now seems likely that the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood filmmaker won’t be directing after all.
The confusion has extended to the cast themselves, too, with Simon Pegg unsure if the core members of the team would be returning, which seemed strange given his heavy involvement with the franchise. Even Hawley refused to confirm whether the likes of Zoe Saldana, Zachary Quinto and Karl Urban would be brought back, instead dropping multiple hints that he was set to reboot Star Trek once again.
According to our sources – the same ones who told us Taskmaster would be the main villain in Black Widow and that National Treasure 3 was in development months before it was confirmed by THR – this is causing huge behind-the-scenes disagreements between Hawley and Paramount. From what we’ve heard, the director isn’t interested in bringing back the main cast and wants to stick to his vision of developing an entirely new story, but the studio wants the original actors to return and the two sides are reportedly trying to work out some kind of agreement or compromise.
If a deal can’t be reached, then there’s every chance that they could ultimately end up firing Hawley and bring in a replacement director that they see eye-to-eye with. But for now, things still remain up in the air and at this point, it’s unclear which direction Star Trek 4 will wind up heading in.
