The saga of Star Trek 4 has been a long and rocky one. Originally, fans were excited for a fun, time travel sequel in which Kirk met his dad, but those plans were halted when both Chrises – that’s Pine and Hemsworth – walked away from negotiations. Director S.J. Clarkson exited alongside them, too.
But then, last fall, Paramount hired Noah Hawley to write and direct the film. The Kelvin timeline cast, Pine included, were said to be tentatively attached to return as well. In the time since, Hawley has dropped some vague hints about what he has planned, but the general sense surrounding Star Trek 4 is that no one’s really sure what’s going on with it and that there might be some conflict behind the scenes.
It seems this is exactly the case, too, as Deadline now reports that the project has been put on hold. That’s not to say it won’t happen, but Paramount is currently rethinking how they want to move forward and apparently, there are a few options.
As the outlet notes, Hawley’s film is “on pause for a moment” and studio execs are “in the process of figuring out which way to go.” Furthermore, they note that there are a few directions in which they could head in. Hawley may still make his movie, but other possibilities include the project which The Revenant’s Mark L. Smith wrote for Quentin Tarantino to helm and “another one that was going to bring back the original cast.”
They all sound like interesting options, and as Deadline explains:
What we’re hearing is that both the Hawley pic — which calls for a new cast and might be about a deadly virus — and the Smith version — Tarantino dropped out as director, but the project is still viable based on an episode of the classic Star Trek series that takes place largely earthbound in a 30s gangster setting — might serve the franchise best as Logan-like spinoffs when the core franchise has been revitalized.
So, it seems things are very much up in the air right now when it comes to Star Trek on the big screen, and though that’s frustrating to hear, at least Paramount are actively working on figuring out the best path forward and trying to sort it all out. It’s also good to know that there are a few exciting possibilities for where to go next.
In any case, for now, fans will have to be content with all the Star Trek content on the small screen and wait patiently while the studio sorts this all out. But tell us, if you had your choice, which of the proposed projects would you like to see move forward? As always, let us know down below.
