Ever since Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth walked away from the negotiating table in summer 2018, Star Trek 4 has been in a holding pattern, and the departure of director S.J. Clarkson at the beginning of this year made it seem like the project had been shelved. However, with just weeks until the end of 2019, word has come in that Star Trek 4 is back on track, now with Noah Hawley being lined up to captain this proverbial ship.
Well known for his work on TV shows like Fargo and Legion, and the writer of that Doctor Doom movie we’ll never see, Noah Hawley is reportedly in final talks with Paramount Pictures to write and direct Star Trek 4, i.e. the fourth installment of the Kelvin Timeline film series. According to Deadline, if a deal is worked out, Hawley would produce Star Trek 4 through his 26 Keys production banner, alongside J.J Abrams and his Bad Robot banner.
If things work out for Noah Hawley on the Star Trek 4 front, this will be his second time directing a movie, the first time being Lucy in the Sky, which was released on October 4. No specific plot details for Hawley’s version of Star Trek 4 have been revealed yet, other than that it will see the return of the actors who make up the crew of the rebooted U.S.S. Enterprise, namely Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg and John Cho.
Originally the plan for Star Trek 4 was for Captain James T. Kirk to meet his father, George Kirk, during a time travel adventure. Played by Chris Hemsworth, George died in battle only minutes after James was born in 2009’s Star Trek, which is one of the ways the Kelvin timeline differs from the original Star Trek timeline.
However, according The Hollywood Reporter’s Aaron Couch, this script has been scrapped, presumably meaning that Chris Hemsworth is no longer involved with Star Trek 4. Couch also clarified that this movie is separate from the Star Trek movie Quentin Tarantino has been attached to for two years.
The last Star Trek movie released was 2016’s Star Trek Beyond, which saw the Enterprise crew going up against Idris Elba’s Krall. Although critically well received, Beyond failed to impress commercially, making over $343.5 million worldwide off a $185 million budget. Beyond was also Anton Yelchin’s final appearance as Pavel Chekov, as the actor died a month before the movie came out.
Since then, the Star Trek franchise has enjoyed new life in the streaming world thanks to shows like Star Trek: Discovery and the upcoming Picard. With today’s news, assuming there isn’t another unexpected behind-the-scenes shakeup, we can look forward to Star Trek 4 reviving the franchise’s cinematic contributions.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more updates on how Star Trek 4 is coming along. In the meantime, plan your trips to the theater in the near future accordingly with our 2019 release schedule and 2020 release schedule.
