'Star Trek 4' Reportedly Shelved

Star Trek is living its best life on CBS All Access these days, but the same cannot be said for the franchise's big-screen dreams. After all, the fate of Star Trek 4 has been up in the air for awhile now, and it seems things aren't looking great for the title. In fact, according to a new report, the embattled Star Trek film has been put on the shelf indefinitely.

The news comes from a piece by Deadline concerning SJ Clarkson. The director will be directing and executive producing HBO's first Game of Thrones prequel pilot, but that news spells doom for Star Trek. The director was meant to oversee the next sci-fi blockbuster, but Deadline says the film has been put away.

"I hear Clarkson was recruited by HBO for GOT after she recently became available," the site explains. "Earlier this year, Clarkson was the first female director to be tapped to direct a Star Trek movie when she was hired to helm the fourth feature in the current series. That project has since been shelved."

For fans, this report isn't the update they wanted to hear. Star Trek 4 has spent years in developmental purgatory as deals for the film continued to stall. At one point, it looked like Chris Hemsworth was set to star in the flick and suit back up as Captain George Kirk. However, contract talks prompted the Aussie actor to walk away, and he did not step back alone. Star Chris Pine also walked from Star Trek 4 talks.

As for why the pair chose to walk away, reports say the conflict all came down to salary. A piece by The Hollywood Reporter alleges Pine and Hemsworth asked for salaries that reflected their status as DC and Marvel stars respectively. However, Paramount chose to hold firm on its budgeting and keep its salaries modest compared to those doled out by Marvel Studios or DC Entertainment.

With Clarkson turning her eye to Game of Thrones, there is no word on when — or if — Star Trek 4 will get off the ground again. The loss of Pine and Hemsworth appears to have set off a chain reaction knocking the sequel, and Starfleet may choose to retire the USS Enterprise early rather than remodel the franchise from the ground up.

Are you sad to hear about Star Trek 4's shelved status? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

The first three Kelvin timeline Star Trek movies -- Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, and Star Trek Beyond -- are all available now on home media.