Will there be a Star Trek 4, or are we getting a new Star Trek film series?
It’s hard to tell at this point but Star Trek is likely to be getting a new theatrical release, we just don’t know which Star Trek. Rumors abounded for a while heading into 2022 that the cast and crew of the Kelvin Timeline films would be returning for Star Trek 4. Then there was the big announcement that the cast would be returning, even though no one had signed a contract.
Things broke down from there and the proposed fourth Trek movie, which was supposed to begin filming at the end of 2022, never materialized. Now, after Paramount+’s extraordinary losses financially, the underperforming big-budgeted films that came out in the summer of 2023, and the back-to-back strikes that shut Hollywood down, it seems like a fourth Star Trek film may well be in the works.
But also, maybe not.
Variety reported that production around the next Star Trek film could begin soon now that the writer’s strike is done, but the way they worded makes it seem like Trek will be getting a new film franchise;
"Several big movie projects could see preproduction resume quickly. Paramount is hoping to have writers fine-tuning scripts for its planned reboot of “Star Trek” and its adaptation of Tom Clancy’s “Rainbow Six.”"
Is Star Trek getting rebooted?
A lot of people are running around trying to explain away the Variety comments, but honestly, no one should. It seems pretty cut and dry that the rumor about the film franchise getting rebooted was the intended wording.
These are industry professionals, and they don’t use words flippantly. There’s clearly something to the idea that the film franchise of Trek is getting rebooted once again. Now, people in Hollywood change their minds pretty fast and for little reason, so it’s not impossible that we get another Star Trek film featuring Chris Pine and company. That said, it’s also fair to say that after seven years, the death of one of its stars (Anton Yelchin), and the poor job Paramount did in 2022 with the announcement of the fourth film, it may be time to lay this era to bed and move on.