Karl Urban Is Confident ‘Star Trek 4’ Will Move Forward

Thor: Ragnarok star Karl Urban is confident he'll reprise his Star Trek role in future series outings, he said during a panel appearance at Trekonderoga (via Trek Movie).

"Hopefully, we get back for another movie, or two of them. We are just sort of waiting on negotiations. I'm confident we will," he said, pointing to contractual hangups with Wonder Woman star Chris Pine and Avengers star Chris Hemsworth, who made headlines when talks with studio Paramount fell through.

Pine and Hemsworth were expected to return to the reboot series as Captain James T. Kirk and father George Kirk, respectively, and would join returning cast members Zoe Saldana (Uhura), Zachary Quinto (Spock), Simon Pegg (Scotty), John Cho (Sulu), and Urban as Dr. Leonard 'Bones' McCoy.

The status of Star Trek 4 "is really hinging on the availability and the contract negotiations of the two Chrises," Urban said.

Producers Paramount and Skydance Media and camps for Pine and Hemsworth walked away from the table, leaving the Kirks' future in doubt. Despite the break down in negotiations, Urban expects deals to be made.

"It's an interesting one. The last film did pretty well," Urban said of threequel Star Trek Beyond, which pulled in $343 million, down from Star Trek's $385m in 2009 and Star Trek Into Darkness' $467m in 2013.

"But still, for a movie that cost what it cost to make, the profit margins aren't that great and so particularly Chris Hemsworth and Chris Pine subsequently have done big movies, and their quotes have gone up. And so I am pretty confident though that Paramount and those guys, they will figure it out. Because I know Chris. We were all in touch recently and everybody wants to do it and make it happen. So, if Paramount is willing, there will be a way to make it happen. So, fingers crossed."

The latest Star Trek will be steered by first-time feature director S.J. Clarkson (Jessica Jones, The Defenders), marking the first time an entry in the long-running film franchise is directed by a woman. John D. Payne and Patrick McKay (Star Trek Beyond) penned the script and The Walking Dead and Black Panther star Danai Gurira was eyed for an unknown role.

"I just want to be sure if we do another one that it is good," Urban said of continuing on as Bones. "I was pretty happy with Beyond, after the first two, and just want to make sure we push the envelope and develop these characters and take it somewhere new. That would be my biggest concern. What's the story. Is it a story worth telling?"

Star Trek 4 has yet to stake a release date.