Star Trek 4 was announced to be in development in 2015, before the release of Star Trek Beyond, but since then, the project has found itself in production hell. Development of a Star Trek reboot started in 2005 at Paramount Pictures, with J. J. Abrams attached to produce and direct, leading to the 2009 release of Star Trek, and its sequels, Star Trek Into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond. Even though its predecessors were received with positive reviews, and fared well at the box office, Star Trek 4 has been stuck in development limbo since its 2015 announcement, so the question remains when it will finally get made.
Despite several directors throwing their names in the ring to lead Star Trek 4's production, none were attached to the project for long before leaving. As well as the director debate, scheduling conflicts for many of the principal cast (who saw a rapid rise in demand after 2009's Star Trek) meant that negotiations to keep them on board became difficult. Straight out of the gate, it seemed as though production would run smoothly and that Star Trek 4 would hit theaters not long after Beyond, but this never came to fruition, and the production saw many pitfalls in the years since. Here's the full rundown of Star Trek 4's development.
Star Trek 4 Was First Announced In 2015
Before filming had started on Star Trek Beyond, Paramount Pictures presented the cast with new contracts that would allow them pay rises and also lock in both Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto for a fourth film as Kirk and Spock, respectively. The fourth project in the rebooted Star Trek franchise was confirmed by J. J. Abrams during Beyond's promotion, who expressed the desire to see Chris Hemsworth return as George Kirk, after his previous appearance in the prologue of the 2009 film. He also announced that Pavel Chekov wouldn't be recast after the unfortunate death of Anton Yelchin, but that most of the main cast from Beyond would be returning.
By 2017, production of Star Trek 4 seemed to have slowed down drastically, with both Pine and Quinto stating separately that they hadn't been made aware of any advancements on the sequel other than the fact that it was in the process of being written. Later that year, Karl Urban, who portrays the USS Enterprise's Chief Medical Officer, Leonard "Bones" McCoy, repeated Pine and Quinto's statement, but suggested that he'd want to explore a bit more of his character's backstory in the fourth installment. In December 2017, Quentin Tarantino approached Abrams and Paramount with an idea for a Star Trek project, which quickly went into development alongside Star Trek 4.
Quentin Tarantino's Star Trek Movie
After stating how he enjoyed both the original series and the rebooted films, Tarantino was brought on to work on a Star Trek project at Paramount. Originally thought to be one and the same, Tarantino's project soon began to distance itself from the Star Trek 4 production. Excitement clouded what was actually happening, so while previous Star Trek actors Patrick Stewart and William Shatner were expressing interest in appearing in Tarantino's film, the main cast of Beyond assumed that they would be a part of it too. However, it soon became clear that Tarantino's film would be set in a separate timeline to Beyond, and could potentially even reboot the universe once again.
By 2019, Tarantino's Star Trek project was still in development, with him stating he would return after his work on Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, though he would provide notes on the script and even confirmed the film's R rating. Some good news came when Tarantino mentioned that he wanted Pine and Quinto to star in his film, but he wanted the project to be a direct sequel to the original series, not taking place in Abrams' rebooted timeline. Everything came to a head in January 2020, when Tarantino revealed that he wouldn't be directing the project, but felt it was a good idea and should still get made.
S. J. Clarkson Set To Direct Star Trek Sequel
Back to the direct sequel to Star Trek Beyond, it was announced in April 2018 that British director, S. J. Clarkson, was in talks to direct Star Trek 4, meaning she would become the first female director to lead a Star Trek project. Clarkson had previously directed Quinto on Heroes, so he expressed excitement at having her attached to the project. Star Trek Beyond writers J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay completed the screenplay for Star Trek 4 in 2018, which would have featured the return of Hemsworth as a copy of George Kirk who's brought back to interact with his son. Production was expected to start in 2019.
Unfortunately, that was as good as it got, since both Pine and Hemsworth left the project in August 2018 after they were told their salaries would be cut to lower the budget of the film. Negotiations with the other cast members took a long time as they were waiting for Pine and Hemsworth to renegotiate their deals, and Pine even stated that he wanted to make the film but made no moves to actively return to the project. By January 2019, the film had been canceled, with Clarkson moving on to other work and causing Payne and McKay to move away from filmmaking, eventually developing the Rings of Power series.
Noah Hawley To Direct A New Star Trek Movie
Noah Hawley of Fargo and Legion fame was hired in November 2019 to direct a Star Trek film for Paramount, separate from Clarkson's previous idea but still featuring the return of George Kirk in Star Trek 4 into the Beyond timeline. Hawley rocked the boat almost immediately when he stated that reports of the Beyond cast returning weren't necessarily correct and that he had a separate vision for the franchise that would take the story in a new direction with new characters. Despite the idea that the Beyond timeline could be closed forever, Hawley continued working on his script, with help from frequent collaborator, Jeff Russo, through the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In July 2020, Robert Sallin, who produced Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, approached Paramount with a separate idea for a new Star Trek story, but the studio wanted to see Hawley's script first. Despite this, when new Paramount Pictures president Emma Watts was appointed, she placed Hawley's project on ice, intending to figure out what direction the studio actually wanted to take the Star Trek franchise. Hawley still wanted to direct the film and stated that it was very close to production, though there were doubts following speculation that the script featured a deadly virus plot, which could be seen as insensitive in the wake of the pandemic.
Star Trek Franchise Confusion
After putting all in-development Star Trek projects on hold, Watts was supposedly considering three separate projects set in the Star Trek franchise: Hawley's script, a direct sequel to Beyond, and Tarantino's script, only with a new director attached. It was discussed among fans that a sequel featuring the core cast of Beyond would have been the easiest way forward for the studio, and perhaps the best money-maker, whereas Hawley and Tarantino's Star Trek projects would work well as spinoffs. By November 2020, Hawley had all but given up on his project ever seeing the light of day.
Alongside Paramount Pictures' reorganization of the franchise, new proposals were almost endlessly being written for Star Trek films. Two-time Star Trek director Nicholas Meyer wrote a proposal that was completely disconnected from other Star Trek films. Just to add to the confusion, he described it as a feature film, but that it could also be a series or a combination of the two, so it doesn't seem as though he was really sure about what he wanted. In 2021, Star Trek: Discovery writer Kalinda Vazquez was hired to write a Star Trek script, and a month later, an unknown Star Trek film was scheduled for release on June 9, 2023.
Matt Shakman Could Have Been The End
After his massive success directing the MCU Disney+ series, WandaVision, Matt Shakman was swamped with offers, but turned all of them down to direct a new Star Trek film for Paramount. Abrams was confirmed to be producing, and a script had been finalized, with production seemingly going from a snail's pace to warp-speed in a matter of months. However, no deals had yet been done with the Beyond cast, with Paramount trying to decide whether there was still an audience keen to see them back, which they eventually realized there was. The release date was pushed back to December 22, 2023, and rewrites were happening, but developments were hopeful.
During an Investor's Day event in 2022, Paramount revealed that the principal cast from Star Trek Beyond would be returning, despite not entering into negotiations with any of the cast at that point. This meant that, when negotiations did begin, Paramount had lost its leverage by making the cast announcements first, so actors had all the power. With Paramount in a better financial position, however, this wouldn't have been an issue, and they considered the Star Trek franchise key to their expansion, such as with their own streaming service, Paramount+, because of the franchise's sci-fi storytelling and very diverse cast.
With most of the cast signed on to return, and happy to be back in the spirit of honoring Yelchin's memory by continuing the series, everything seemed to be going smoothly with the development of Star Trek 4. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, crashing and burning, as the most recent director attached to the project, Matt Shakman, left in July 2022 to work instead on Marvel Studios' Fantastic Four. This led Paramount Pictures to go back on a desperate hunt for a new director, even though Star Trek 4 has now been removed from Paramount's 2023 release schedule.