Paramount finally confirmed today something thatStar Trekfans have wanted to know for a few years; thatJ.J. Abramswill be producing the sequel toStar Trek BeyondwithChris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg and John Cho all set to boldly go where they have been three times before. A fourth entry in the rebootedStar Trekfranchise was originally discussed six years ago, but for a while, there had beenno word on whether a new Star Trek movie would be moving forwarduntil today.
As reported byVariety, during the Paramount Investors Day Presentation, among the many movie and series announcements, J.J. Abrams himself made the announcement that a sequel to 2016’sStar Trek Beyondwould be looking to begin shooting by the end of the year, and will also be intending on bringing back all of the available cast members from the previous movies in the rebooted series that began in 2009.
“We are thrilled to say that we are hard at work on a new ‘Star Trek’ film that will be shooting by the end of the year that will be featuring our original cast and some new characters that I think are going to be really fun and exciting and help take ‘Star Trek’ into areas that you’ve just never seen before,” Abrams said. “We’re thrilled about this film, we have a bunch of other stories that we’re talking about that we think will be really exciting, so can’t wait for you to see what we’re cooking up. But until then, live long and prosper.”
The yet-to-be-titled movie will be produced by Abrams through Bad Robot Productions and sees WandaVision’s Matt Shakman take over directing from Justin Lin, who helmed Star Trek Beyond to great praise from critics. It seems like this movie is looking to avoid the fate of the original sequel proposition that was announced and then abandoned in 2018, when it was alleged that the studio had not been able to reach a deal with Chis Pine to return as Kirk, or Chris Hemsworth, who was to reprise his 2009 role as Kirk’s father in that particular story.
Paramount Have Taken Time to Work Out How to Avoid a New Star Trek Movie Being a Flop
According to numerous reports, Paramount has been eager to return to theStar Trekmovie series, and as one of their biggest IP’s, with multiple spin-off series and movies in production, it is not surprising that they want to get the best return possible from a third sequel to the 2009 blockbuster return of Captain Kirk and Spock. This time around, though, it looks like they are not coming into the project without having done some groundwork to find out if there is still an appetite to see Pine, Quinto and the rest of the crew reassembled.
Despite good reviews and a reasonable performance on the surface,Star Trek Beyondactually ended up losing money for Paramount, so they were not about to jump into another movie without making sure they avoid that scenario rearing its head again, and it looks like their research has confirmed that fans do want to see the cast returning to their roles once more. However, the challenge now before Abrams and the production team is going to be getting all of the actors together again.
Chris Pine has multiple projects already in production and an upcomingWonder Womansequel on the horizon. Zoe Saldana is in the middle of filmingGuardians of The Galaxy Vol.3, and has a potentially mammoth run ofAvatarfilms coming up, while Keith Urban will be seen in Amazon’sThe Boysin June, and Simon Pegg is working on the finalMission: Impossiblemovie. Fellow 2009 cast memberAnton Yelchinwill be missing from the returning lineup, following his sad death in 2016, just before the premiere ofStar Trek Beyond. It was revealed at the time that his role of Chekov would not be recast in any future sequel, and that isn’t expected to have changed.
