It looks like Star Trek 4 isn’t quite dead yet. Deadline (via io9) reports that Noah Hawley, director of Lucy in the Sky and creator of FX’s Legion is in “final talks” to write and direct the next installment of the franchise.
The last major Star Trek film was 2016’s Star Trek Beyond, directed by Justin Lin, and the road to a continuation of that franchise has been bumpy. Shortly before that film hit theaters, word broke that Chris Pine (Captain Kirk) and Zachary Quinto (Spock) had signed up for a fourth film, and a fourth film was later announced, with Chris Hemsworth set to reprise his role as George Kirk and with director S.J. Clarkson tapped to direct.
However, development on the film stalled: Pine and Hemsworth dropped out over contract negotiations, Clarkson signed up to direct HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel (which was recently shelved), and Paramount shelved the project at that time. To complicate matters, director Quentin Tarantino approached Paramount with an idea of his own for an R-rated Star Trek film, which is apparently still in development.
Now, it seems as though the project has been resurrected. Hawley will produce the film along with J.J. Abrams (who helmed 2009’s Star Trek and 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness, as well as Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker), which will be set in the same “Kelvin Timeline” as those films. It’s not immediately clear if the film will see Pine and his costars from the prior films return, barring another complete reboot of the franchise.
The franchise has been experiencing a bit of a comeback in recent years — on the small screen. CBS All Access launched Star Trek: Discovery in 2017, and is set to release Picard on the service next spring. Other projects, including the animated Star Trek: Lower Decks and a Discovery spinoff featuring Michelle Yeoh, are in the works.
