Since 2016, Star Trek fans have been wondering what would be next for the crew of the Kelvin-timeline Enterprise. At the end of Beyond, we left Kirk growing as a leader, Spock as a friend, and Bones as a grumpy bastard. Alien Jaylah was joining the crew, and wunderkind ensign Chekov was likely to gracefully exit somehow. It was a bittersweet place to leave things, and certainly unfinished. Sadly, it now looks as if it will remain so, with the latest report on Star Trek 4.
The direction of the franchise had been somewhat up in the air since the tragic passing of actor Anton Yelchin at the age of 27 in 2016. It was unclear how his character, Pavel Chekov, would be respectfully written out of the series.
Then, in August 2018, it was revealed that Paramount was trying to re-negotiate the contracts of Chris Pine (Captain James T. Kirk) and Chris Hemsworth (his father, George Kirk). The studio wanted the actors to appear in the series’ fourth installment for significantly less money than the originally agreed upon amount. They said no, which we fully support. It was a blatantly unfair request. Speculation ran rampant: Would the roles be recast? Would they be written out entirely?
Fans hoped it was just a bump in the road; that a new and fair agreement would be reached. But the stalemate went on for several months. And now, it appears to have ended in the worst possible way – the film simply won’t be made at all.
According to Deadline, Star Trek 4 has been canceled entirely. Director S.J. Clarkson has moved on the the Game of Thrones prequel. The project is now sitting on the proverbial shelf, gathering dust and entertaining no one. When contacted, Paramount executives had no comment on the matter.
It’s quite a disappointing, anticlimactic end for the extremely entertaining, and most definitely not complete, series. Every character’s development was very much halted in mid-stride. Simply put, there’s much more story to tell for the Kelvin crew.
Of course, it’s possible that the movie could still be made at some point. However, it’s highly unlikely that it would follow the same storyline for the same cast. Unshelved projects generally undergo a great deal of re-working before eventually making it to the screen.
And then there’s the proposed Quentin Tarantino Trek picture, which honestly sounds like a terrible idea. Even if you generally like his movies, you have to admit that his style doesn’t mesh with Starfleet in any way whatsoever. No Trek would be better than Tarantino Trek.
How disappointed are you with this news? What do you hope happens next in the Star Trek universe? Do you believe there’s any hope of this project being resurrected? Tell us your thoughts!