It’s now been five years since the last Star Trek movie came out, with the franchise massively expanding on TV instead. Paramount has been trying to get Star Trek 4 off the ground all along, but various filmmakers and scripts have come and gone. According to Giant Freakin Robot, though, another film starring Chris Pine and the rest of the Kelvin timeline cast is now back in development, but the studio is considering a different release strategy.
The outlet writes that Paramount is thinking about having Star Trek 4 skip a traditional theatrical premiere and dropping it exclusively on streaming. With CBS All Access rebranding as Paramount Plus next month, the studio is doing all it can to amp up hype for the service, with an ad during the Super Bowl even specifically dedicated to promoting the wealth of Trek content available. With the property being such a major draw for the platform, then, having ST4 be a streaming exclusive would be a smart way of nabbing more subscribers.
GFR’s report likewise shared that the movie has reverted to the original plan for it – a time travel father/son buddy cop storyline featuring Pine’s James T. Kirk and Chris Hemsworth as his dad, George. What’s more, William Shatner could even return for a cameo, connecting the Kelvin world with the Prime universe somehow. All of this makes it sound like a lot of fun, but it’s actually stated that Paramount wants ST4 to be darker than Beyond, perhaps in keeping with the tone of Discovery and Picard.
As for the potential for it to debut on streaming, Simon Pegg has previously discussed how he thinks there was too much pressure on the reboot movies to earn a lot at the box office, admitting that Trek won’t ever be able to make Marvel numbers. He might have a point there, so with streaming releases becoming more common these days, maybe Paramount Plus really would be the best home for Star Trek 4.
Published: Feb 15, 2021 10:42 am