Star Trek 4 is officially in trouble, no matter what Paramount wants to claim

Star Trek 4 is in serious trouble after losing its director.

Star Trek 4 is in trouble. The untitled fourth outing of the Kelvin Star Trek film franchise took a major blow yesterday after it was revealed that their director, MCU standout Matt Shakman was stepping down from the project to better focus on MCU projects. Shankman is scheduled to direct the upcoming Fantastic Four film, which caused scheduling conflicts with his Star Trek commitment.

Sure, that’s one sound theory that makes everyone look good. Here’s another, we’re nearly seven months out from the announcement of the fourth Star Trek film and we still don’t have a script, a director, or a confirmation that the entire crew is in fact coming back.

Oh, and filming begins (allegedly) in a few weeks. Not anymore, not at this rate. Losing Shakman isn’t a huge blow, he’s a dime-a-dozen director who had a name brand but it’s not like finding a director who’s competent is the biggest issue.

A Star Trek film without a great script is no Star Trek film at all

The crux is the script and the producers. If the script is good, and the producers hire anyone relatively decent at following it, then they’ll be fine. Losing the director really just puts the film behind the eight-ball with regard to scheduling.

The fact we’re still not sure what the script is, or if the cast can even return are the biggest factors and I believe that’s why Shakman left the project. The Kelvin Films are all well made but they each differ in terms of fan acceptance.

The first film was largely heralded across the board, but the sequel wasn’t met nearly as warmly by the Trek faithful; despite its box office success. The third film did worse to attract casual fans but many Trek fans seemed to enjoy it.

The plug was pulled on the franchise after the third film, but now with everyone investing more and more money in streaming, studios have to start finding ways to lift their bottom lines and bringing back an established film franchise to help your studio make money is far cheaper, and far less risky than doing a whole new project.

It’s that sort of thinking that may have sunk this project before it’s gotten going.