New Star Trek Movie Might Be Another Reboot

Precious little is known about the next Star Trek movie in development from Paramount Pictures but we know that TV auteur Noah Hawley (Legion, Fargo) has come on board to serve as both writer and director of the film. Originally it was said that the film would be the fourth in the “Kelvin Timeline” of the franchise, with stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, and Karl Urban expected to return. Now though, a few months removed from the initial announcement, that may not be the case. In a new interview, Hawley seemed to throw water on the idea that the cast would reprise their roles for his upcoming movie.

“I have my own take on Star Trek,” Hawley told Deadline when asked if the reboot crew would return. “And going back to what I loved about the series Next Generation, when a lot of franchises focus on ‘might makes right,’ Star Trek is about exploration and humanity at its best, and diversity and creative problem solving. There’s nothing better than that moment when William Shatner puts on his reading glasses and lowers Khan’s shields. It doesn’t cost anything. But it’s that triumphant feeling about smarting your enemy. For me it’s about to getting to those elements of the show. I don’t necessarily find action in and of itself interesting unless it’s story. So, it’s early days, I’m still talking with Paramount and I have a take and I gotta write a script.”

This news may come as a surprise to some fans, but cast member Simon Pegg said in an interview just a couple of weeks ago that he didn’t think it would include their cast. Pegg said he didn’t know anything about it, ending his thought on it by saying: “I don’t think Noah’s thing is necessarily going to be Star Trek 4.”

The future of Star Trek on the big screen has been pretty uncertain for some time now, as the first plan for Star Trek 4 was to have Chris Pine on screen with Chris Hemsworth, reprising his role of James Kirk’s father from the 2009 reboot. This idea was later shelved for a different film which saw director SJ Clarkson attached to helm, making her the first woman to direct a Star Trek movie, a project that was later shelved as well. Quentin Tarantino’s Star Trek is still in play and Pegg revealed that spinoff movies have been discussed.

Earlier this month, ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish confirmed that Paramount Pictures has two Star Trek movies in the works. While Bakish did not reveal any specifics about the films, it was assumed by many that he was referring to Hawley’s Star Trek movie and Quentin Tarantino Star Trek movie. Which film will debut in theaters first, and which (if any) will feature the reboot cast remains to be seen.

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