'Star Trek 4': John Cho Would Rather Not Know the Details
Just when it seemed like Star Trek 4 was on track to enter production, the film hit another snag [...]
Just when it seemed like Star Trek 4 was on track to enter production, the film hit another snag when Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth walked away from the negotiating table.
In a recent interview with USA Today, John Cho says he doesn't know what's going on with Star Trek 4 exactly, but he's happier remaining out of the loop on the details and just waiting for Paramount to give him a call.
"I know very little about this," Cho says. "I've heard we're going to do one. But beyond that, I don't have details. I'd rather not know; I don't want to lie. The boring answer is to wait for the powers that be to make a decision."
Star Trek 4 was initially delayed after Star Trek Beyond underperformed at the box office. Cho says he didn't realize the film failed to live up to the studio's expectations.
"I actually wasn't aware it underperformed," he says. "I thought it was a great movie. See how little I pay attention to these things? I don't know what to say...maybe more webcam Sulu close-ups."
Star Trek 4 was expected to be a father-son time travel tale involving Pine's Captain Kirk meeting his dead father, Hemsworth's George Kirk.
Recasting George would be relatively simple. Hemsworth is a big star, but he was only in the opening prologue of Star Trek.
On the other hand, Pine has been the leading man of the Star Trek films since 2009's Star Trek. It is hard to imagine recasting Kirk now without rebooting the franchise again, but then it's even harder to imagine a Star Trek movie without Captain Kirk.
Despite the contract struggles, Paramount is not slowing down development on Star Trek 4, which is expected to begin filming in early 2019 with SJ Clarkson directing.
The production is said to be eyeing Black Panther and The Walking Dead star Danai Gurira for one of two major new female characters in the film.
Contract negotiations are expected to go forward the rest of the returning Star Trek movie cast, which includes Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho, and Simon Pegg.
Are you looking forward to Star Trek 4? Do you think they should recast Captain Kirk and his father? Do you think there's still hope for Pine and Hemsworth to return? Let us know what you think in the comments!
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. Star Trek 4 still does not have a release date.