Star Trek 4: Zoe Saldana Comments on Delayed Sequel
Star Zoe Saldaña is opening up about the long-delayed Star Trek 4. Saldaña plays Nyota Uhura in the film series, set in the alternate universe referred to as the "Kelvin Timeline." In September, Paramount removed the film from its release schedule, where it had been set for a December 2023 release, after losing director Matt Shakman to Marvel Studios' Fantastic Four movie. Paramount Pictures is now searching for a replacement director after declaring the film a top priority. Producer J.J. Abrams previously announced that the film will bring back the cast from the past three movies, after some speculation the film could feature a new cast. Saldana tells Deadline's 20 Questions podcast that she and her co-stars (including Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Karl Urban) are eager to reprise their roles.
"We were in touch with JJ and we were trying to sort of see if we were going to be able to see this past fall, I don't think it was possible," Saldaña says during the episode. "I have more sort of ideas that maybe it was just schedules, we couldn't manage to get a whole cast and a whole crew to come together, but I think as well it has something else to do with the project. I know that we're all on the same page, we would love nothing more than to be able to come back."
The Rings of Power showrunners pitched the original idea for Star Trek 4, which would have seen Chris Pine's Captain Kirk team with his father, Chris Hemsworth as George Kirk, for an adventure against a new villain. Paramount scrapped that script after contract negotiations hit trouble. In June, Paramount Pictures president Brian Robbins dressed how important franchise films like this one are to the studio, and the value of getting the original cast back.
"We're deep into it with J.J. Abrams, and it feels like we're getting close to the starting line and excited about where we're going creatively," Robbins says. "I'm a research nerd, and what the data tells me is that the audience wants that cast in this movie.
He continued, "Going forward, I'm focused on our franchises. We are fortunate in that we have amazing franchises, which we need to lean into. We have adult franchises like Mission: Impossible, A Quiet Place, Transformers and Star Trek. And we have family franchises with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and SpongeBob. You've got to have multi-year plans for these franchises. You can't just make a movie, see how it does, and then decide to make another one, because if you do that, it will be years between sequels. Like Sonic, we're going to take a spinoff character Knuckles, and do a miniseries on Paramount+, which will transition us into the third Sonic movie with lots of Easter eggs. That planning is what I'm focused on, as well as filling out the slate with filmmakers that we're passionate about who want to tell stories that they have passion for. That allows us to greenlight things like the new movie we have from Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the South Park guys, who are working on a movie with Kendrick Lamar that's so far out, it could break through the zeitgeist."