Matt Shakman officially departs Star Trek 4 movie

Star Trek 4 has officially lost director Matt Shakman

We recently shared the rumor that Star Trek 4 was looking for a female director even though Matt Shakman was still attached to the movie at the time. Well, now there is an opening as Deadline reports that Shakman has offically departed the movie and is in talks to direct the upcoming Fantastic Four movie.

This is just another shift in the evergrowing list of issues associated with the production of Star Trek 4, but it’s as big as the film’s other problem. The movie still hasn’t gotten a script, or, at least nothing that the stars have seen, either. So without a director or a script, there really isn’t a movie. But the movie is still slated for a December 2023 release.

The studio released a statement about Shakman’s departure.

"Matt Shakman is an incredibly talented filmmaker, and we regret the timing didn’t align for him to direct our upcoming Star Trek film. We are grateful for his many contributions, are excited about the creative vision of this next chapter and look forward to bringing it to audiences all around world."

Star Trek 4 could now be seeking a female director.

With the possibility that there is truth to the rumor, the studio could be reaching out to female directors to helm the Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto-led movie. The original rumor was Paramount Pictures had reached out to Cate Shortland, who directed 2021’s Black Widow, and she was now on the shortlist for consideration. But we have no confirmation of this.

At this rate, Paramount is running out of time to keep its intended release date as the other three movies took at least a year from the time principal photography began to complete. Star Trek Into Darkness was pushed back six months because the extent of J.J. Abrams’ involvement wasn’t decided. There were were also issues with the budget and difficulties finding actors, but at least it already had a finished script.

The studio could still surprise us all and meet the release date, but things will need to start moving pretty fast for that to happen.