Breaking: Prior Star Trek cast won't return for new Kelvin-based film

Chris Pine and company will not be involved in the next Star Trek film. Nearly two years after the fourth film of their Kelvin timeline of films was announced, it's now being reported by Deadline that the next theatrical film will not continue with the current crop of films. Instead, the next film in the Kelvin Timeline will be set "decades" before the events of the first Star Trek film.

Whether that's decades set before the events of George Kirk or James Kirk is unknown at this point, as the film does broach two or three decades of the timeline. The film is going to be directed by Toby Haynes, while Seth Grahame-Smith will write the script for the Bad Robot production.

Haynes is best known for his work with the Star Wars series Andor and will look to expand the current direction of the Kelvin Timeline. Grahame-Smith is known best for his work writing the Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter novel and the remake of the acclaimed Pride and Prejudice book, simply titled; Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

This does not mean the end of Pine and comapnies time with the brand, however. Deadline was very clear in statin that this new film is to expand the universe, not replace the current crop of films that Pine and the rest have starred in since 2010. The fourth film in the James Kirk-Kelvin Timeline remains in development for now.

That may change at any point however. Especially with what looks to be a brand new concept being created out of scratch. The new film has no details set for it, but it's very unlikely that the film will feature on something out of the early years of established Star Trek canon, like with Jonathan Archer and his time aboard the Enterprise.

It might be a wholly new concept and that's very exciting to think about.