Star Trek’s Simon Pegg on Future Movies: They “Don’t Make Marvel Money”

A new Star Trek movie is in the works according to ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish, but at least one franchise star isn’t so sure of the series’ future. Simon Pegg plays Montgomery “Scotty” Scott in the Kelvin timeline Star Trek movies — 2009’s Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, and Star Trek Beyond. Speaking to GamesRadar, he seemed unsure about whether he’ll be back for a fourth movie, citing how hard it is to turn a profit on such a high budget project and the death of co-star Anton Yelchin as having taken the wind out of the sci-fi franchise.

“The fact is, Star Trek movies don’t make Marvel money,” Pegg said. “They make maybe $500 million at the most, and to make one now, on the scale they’ve set themselves, is $200 million. You have to make three times that to make a profit.

“I don’t feel like the last one… They didn’t really take advantage of the 50th anniversary. The regimen at the time dropped the ball on the promo of the film. And we’ve lost momentum. I think losing Anton [Yelchin] was a huge blow to our little family, and our enthusiasm to do another one might have been affected by that. So I don’t know.”

The issue with the film’s budget may have been what derailed plans for Star Trek 4. Last year, it seemed like the film was set to begin production when Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth dropped out. Reports suggested that contract negotiations were at the heart of the dispute.

The fourth Star Trek film is now in the hands of writer and director Noah Hawley. Pegg has said in the past that he isn’t certain that his cast is involved with that project. “I don’t know anything about it,” Pegg said in December. “I think Noah Hawley’s been hired to write something for Star Trek, which is very exciting. He’s a brilliant writer and always creates interesting stuff. Whether or not we’re involved with that, I don’t know. I don’t think so and I don’t think Noah’s thing is necessarily going to be Star Trek 4.”

Hawley himself has indicated that he doesn’t feel beholden to the vision of the Star Trek universe established by J.J. Abrams and his colleagues in the 2009 reboot. “I have my own take on Star Trek,” Hawley said. “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.”