Simon Pegg Says Star Trek Cast Will Do Another Movie

Simon Pegg says "I know we’re doing more" when it comes to the question of whether the cast of the latest Star Trek franchise will reunite for another movie. Pegg has been a favorite with American audiences since the British actor and screenwriter's breakthrough debut, the horror comedy Shaun of the Dead in 2004. One of the biggest fans he attracted was director J.J. Abrams, who cast him as the brilliant off-field technician Benji Dunn opposite Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt in the 2006 action hit Mission: Impossible III, and his character made such big impressions that he's remained a big part of the Mission: Impossible franchise ever since.

Not surprisingly, Abrams found a ingenious way to incorporate his friend and collaborator in the 2009 reboot of the Star Trek franchise in the coveted role of the Enterprise's chief engineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, a role he reprised for the sequel Star Trek Into Darkness in 2013 and again for 2016's Star Trek Beyond. Pegg also shared a screenwriting credit for Star Trek Beyond with Doug Jung, and while the third film in the series posted a solid $343.4 million at the global box office (which was in line with 2009's worldwide take of $385.6 million), the tally was far less than the global earnings Star Trek Into Darkness ($467.3 million); leaving the future of the rebooted film series in limbo.

Despite the disappointing turnout for the third film, Pegg's mind is still very much on making Star Trek 4. And while it was immediately announced that Chris Hemsworth would be reprising his role as George Kirk – the father of James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) – for the fourth Star Trek film, the buzz about what's next for the franchise remained relatively quiet until last December when news surfaced that Quentin Tarantino was developing a new Star Trek film, which he would possibly direct. And while Pegg doesn't think Tarantino will ultimately helm the next film, he appears confident Star Trek 4 will definitely happen. In a new interview with TheQuietus, Pegg says:

Simon Pegg as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott meets Jim Kirk in Star Trek (2009)

“We all got this email the other day from J. J. Abrams just sort of saying, ‘um, oh guys, Quentin Tarantino came in the office and pitched this and we’re gonna think about it. We were like, what? People just assume, I think, because it’s Quentin that it will be R-rated but he is a massive Star Trek fan … who knows! ... I know we’re doing more. I’d love to – I love those guys. It’s, of course, difficult because we lost Anton [Yelchin] and moving forward without him still feels unimaginable.”

The good news for Star Trek fans is, Pegg isn't alone in his hopes for a fourth film. Karl Urban (Dr. McCoy) said last month that he was "confident" Star Trek 4 would start filming within the next year, and Zachary Quinto earlier this month said three scripts for the film were in development. Quinto offered another update this week, saying there were "plans afoot to do at least one if not more movies" by Paramount Pictures.

No matter how things all shake out, it sounds like in one form or another, Star Trek will be back on the big screen with its 2009 crew, sadly minus Yelchin. The big question remains when – but it's a certainty that fans of the franchise would likely want Paramount, Abrams or possibly Tarantino to take their time and get things right instead of rushing Star Trek 4 into production just for the sake of doing another Star Trek film.