Fourth Star Trek Film Announced, With Chris Hemsworth

Paramount Pictures, Skydance and Bad Robot today announced that the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise will return to the big screen for another voyage, their fourth since the franchise was rebooted in 2009.

In the next installment of the epic space adventure, Chris Pine’s Captain Kirk will cross paths with a man he never had a chance to meet, but whose legacy has haunted him since the day he was born: his father.

Chris Hemsworth, who appeared in 2009’s Star Trek, will return to the space saga as George Kirk to star alongside Pine. Insert your own jokes about Steve Trevor, Thor, and Judge Dredd on a space ship here.

The remaining cast is expected to return. There’s no word yet on how the franchise will deal with the sudden passing of actor Anton Yelchin, who played Pavel Chekov. Yelchin passed away last month after his vehicle apparently rolled down his driveway and struck him.

J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay will write the screenplay. J.J. Abrams and Lindsey Weber will produce through Bad Robot Productions. David Ellison and Dana Goldberg of Skydance will executive produce. Star Trek Beyond director Justin Lin is not one of the names officially listed to return at this point, although that doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t. Lin is reportedly developing a second Space Jam film at Warner Bros.

Star Trek, the first film in the rebooted franchise based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry, earned more than $380 million worldwide in 2009. The second installment, Star Trek Into Darkness earned more than $460 million worldwide when it opened in May 2013.

The series’ third film, Star Trek Beyond is directed by Justin Lin (Fast & Furious franchise) and opens in theaters on July 22, 2016.

Hemsworth is currently starring in Ghostbusters alongside Melissa McCarthy, Kristin Wiig, Leslie Jones, and Kate McKinnon, and filming Thor: Ragnarok and the first of two Avengers movies previously titled Infinity War Part I and Part II, back to back.