Star Trek has been absent from the big screen for nearly a decade, but it’s not for lack of trying. Paramount has been attempting to get a fourth installment of the rebooted Kelvin Timeline series off the ground for years, cycling through multiple filmmakers. While the franchise thrives on the small screen with a surplus of new series on Paramount+, nothing has come to fruition on the movie side. However, the Kelvin Timeline cast remains committed to making Star Trek 4 a reality. One of the films’ biggest stars is even doing everything he can to actively campaign for the movie to be made.
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Speaking with Collider, Spock actor Zachary Quinto shared that he recently reached out to Star Trek director/producer J.J. Abrams to advocate for Star Trek 4. “I actually just emailed J.J. this week to say, ‘Hey, this would be really exciting.’ I think fans would be really open to it and really welcome a final movie,” Quinto said. “We’ve been talking about it for long enough that it seems like time to move it forward. So, I’m beating that drum as much as I can. I think it would be really great to do a fourth movie, and let’s make it happen. There are so many possibilities in the stories we could tell. I think there’s something really wonderful about coming back to characters that we all have a history with, and we all have a real deep connection to, and a fond relationship with.”
Zachary Quinto Is Pushing for Star Trek 4 at the Perfect Time
If there was ever a time for Star Trek 4 to become a reality, this would be it. As Quinto alluded to in his interview, the Paramount/Skydance merger was recently completed, and it’s already been reported that Star Trek is a major priority for the studio moving forward. No release dates have been set at this point, but Paramount has multiple Star Trek films in development as it figures out what to do with one of its biggest properties. Details are slim, but a film about Kirk and the classic Enterprise crew is said to be on the table.
One of the reasons why it’s taken Star Trek 4 so long to happen is because the Kelvin Timeline saw diminishing returns. Star Trek Beyond, despite earning positive reviews and coinciding with the franchise’s 50th anniversary, grossed just $343.4 million worldwide (the lowest in that trilogy). Previous regimes might have had difficulty justifying the cost of a new Star Trek movie because of that box office performance, but now there’s a renewed interest in the franchise. Paramount’s new leadership might be open to hearing what Quinto has to say.
What could make this particular situation tricky is Quinto’s use of the term “final movie.” Paramount likely wants the next Star Trek movie to be the launchpad for a new series, not a one-off legacy sequel that wraps up a story that started over 15 years ago. Paramount could be inclined to move on from the Kelvin Timeline cast and instead bring in a group of newer, younger actors to carry the franchise forward (allowing them to keep production costs under control). The issue there is recasting iconic characters like Kirk and Spock presents a sizable risk. Even though Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has pulled it off, it isn’t a guarantee the new movie’s versions of legacy characters would be well-received. The Kelvin Timeline movies were divisive for their storytelling, but most fans loved seeing the cast. Paramount has an Enterprise crew set and ready to go.
One solution could be to have Star Trek 4 serve as the culmination for the original Kelvin Timeline crew, crafting a narrative where they ultimately pass the baton to (ahem) the next generation. Paramount could then use the film to set up Star Trek’s future while giving the veteran cast the proper send-off they arguably never received. It’ll be interesting to see what Paramount decides to do, but it’s encouraging to hear Quinto is being proactive to get Star Trek 4 off the ground.
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