Director Noah Hawley confirms his new Star Trek movie is not about Kirk or Picard and will follow new characters. The first installment of the popular Star Trek reboot film franchise was released in 2009 and followed by Star Trek Into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond. The Chris Pine-led movies have grossed a combined $1 billion globally. However, 2016's Star Trek Beyond saw low numbers at the box office, and there has not been another film in the franchise since. CBS All Access has provided a fair amount of Star Trek content with Picard, Discovery, and Lower Decks, but the future of the film franchise has been up in the air.
Back in November, Hawley, creator of the acclaimed FX series Fargo, officially signed on to write and direct the new Star Trek film. However, at the time it was not confirmed whether it would be the long-awaited Star Trek 4 and would include the reboot cast, including Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, and Simon Pegg. In January, Hawley hinted at the possibility of new characters by saying the film will be a new beginning. More recently, it was reported Paramount film chief Emma Watts was considering a Star Trek 4 that would reunite the cast by bringing back Chris Hemsworth as George Kirk to team up with his son (Pine) in a time travel storyline. Hawley's script was also rumored to have been centered on a virus, a plot too sensitive for the current reality. Now, Hawley is giving more insight into what fans can expect from his new film.
In an interview with Variety, Hawley confirms his new Star Trek movie is not about Kirk or Picard and will feature new characters, while still being connected to franchise canon. "We’re not doing Kirk and we’re not doing Picard," said Hawley. "It’s a start from scratch that then allows us to do what we did with Fargo, where for the first three hours you go, ‘Oh, it really has nothing to do with the movie,’ and then you find the money. So you reward the audience with a thing that they love." He also confirmed his Star Trek project is still happening as of now, but has just been put on hold. The script is even finished, and Hawley had begun hiring designers.
With Hawley's film further along in development, it's unclear if other Star Trek film ideas currently in the works will ever be made. A movie from Mark L. Smith was also under consideration with Quentin Tarantino directing, though he's no longer attached to the project. Pine and Hemsworth both dropped out of Star Trek 4 due to a salary dispute back in 2018, but Pine has expressed his interest in returning to the franchise as Kirk once issues at Paramount settle.
Star Trek fans are likely happy to hear Hawley's film is still set within canon, even if it does not involve the reboot cast. It will be exciting to meet new characters in the universe, especially with the mystery surrounding the film's plot. Hopefully, fans will see more of the reboot cast in the future, but it sounds like Hawley's project could be promising.
Source: Variety