Star Trek 4 will not release in 2023 as originally planned.
In a move that pretty much everyone saw coming, Paramount Pictures removed Star Trek 4 from its 2023 release schedule, according to Variety. The film, produced by J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, had been scheduled to premiere in theaters on Dec. 22, 2023. This comes on the heels of director Matt Shakman leaving the project. Shakman will be helming Marvel’s “Fantastic Four” reboot.
While this certainly takes the pressure off of finding another director and finishing the script, it also puts a major Paramount production on the backburner once again. With the success of Star Trek properties on Parmount+ now, it couldn’t be a better time to release a film, but Star Trek 4 has been scuttled about since it was first announced way before the cast were even notified.
Star Trek 4 may be put back on the shelf for a long time.
Maybe it’s because of the success of the streaming series right now that a fourth movie in the Kelvin timeline isn’t all that urgent. All of the current Star Trek series are set in the prime timeline and are proving quite successful despite their per episode budgets.
Even though the first three Star Trek movies with Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Zoe Saldana have grossed over 1.96 billion according to Deadline, the budget for the fourth film would have had to exceed what was spent on Star Trek Beyond (which was approximately $185 million) to remain on par with the cinematic appeal of the Star Trek offerings like Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and and Star Trek: Discovery which costs approximately $8.5 million per episode.
Right now, Parmount is expending a great deal of money on Star Trek because the series are working, but there’s no guarantee a fourth film in the Kelvin timeline would be successful, considering Star Trek Beyond wasn’t a financial blockbuster at the box office. So, for now, back on the shelf this movie goes. For how long is the $24,000 question.