The third installment in the rebooted Star Trek series has just gotten underway, but Paramount already has made a move that solidifies the franchise for the future… and made the two centerpiece actors of the series a lot richer.
THR quotes sources that say that Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, who play Captain James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock respectively, have renegotiated their deals to now include Star Trek 4. With the move comes raises, with new salaries of about $6 million for each actor – significant increases of what they made for Star Trek and its sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness. The trade reports that Pine earned $600,000 for his role in the initial Trek movie, primarily because no one knew if J.J. Abrams’ timeline reset would work. He was pair $1.5 million for Into Darkness, and will make an alleged $3M for Star Trek Beyond. The number just keeps climbing as the franchise soldiers on.
THR maps out what is pretty obvious, stating that Paramount was in a tough spot because the members of its Star Trek cast are only getting more successful and, as a result, more expensive. Aside from Pine, who has appeared in Jack Ryan reboots and Horrible Bosses 2, the new Trek family has to eventually afford Karl Urban, Simon Pegg (who is co-writing Star Trek Beyond), John Cho, Anton Yelchin and – wait for it – Zoe Saldana, who has Marvel and James Cameron vying for her time. The actress has roles in James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and multiple Avatar sequels that will be demanind her time. If Paramount wants her to keep playing Uhura, they are going to have to pay her, in similar ways to how they are not paying Pine and Quinto.
Star Trek Beyond recently began shooting, with Fast & Furious franchise director Justin Lin at the helm. We don’t know a lot about the story for the third movie in the rejuvenated franchise, but Simon Pegg has been telling the press that it has to go with the crew of the Enterprise exploring far-reaching intergalactic territories – as exploration was a key component of the original television series and the movies that they inspired. This is interesting, however. If the studio now knows that a fourth movie is in play (and all but guaranteed), could the ending of Star Trek Beyond address the direction of Star Trek 4, as well? The future seems brighter than we might have anticipated.
Star Trek Beyond will be in theaters on July 8, 2016.
