Star Trek 4 may be in development, but don’t expect to see Chris Pine reprise his role as Starship Enterprise Captain, James T. Kirk.
The 37-year-old actor has exited the film, alongside fellow Hollywood superstar Chris Hemsworth, due to pay cuts. The two actors were insistent that a deal had already been in place with the studios, but Paramount is reneging on them to save money.
The reason for the pay cuts were pointed towards the unimpressive box office earnings of Star Trek Beyond, the most recent film in the rebooted canon. The movie was made on a budget of $190 million but only earned $343 million worldwide.
Therefore, Paramount is trying to keep things easy on the film’s budget so as to not risk the losses suffered on the previous film.
Despite the doubt surrounding the two Chris’, deals with other major actors who have appeared in previous installments are expected to close. This includes Zoe Saldana, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg and John Cho.
Regardless, both Paramount and Skydance have said that the project (which is also being produced by J. J. Albrams‘ Bad Robot) is a priority for the studios and is not being put on hold.
The movie was originally going to feature a time travel element that would have James Kirk reunite with his dead father (if you remember, Chris Hemsworth briefly played this character in the prologue of the 2009 reboot).
However, with the two actors seemingly off the table, their roles may have to be recast – that is, unless the producers choose to focus on other characters for the movie. This isn’t too farfetched since the franchise has had countless characters throughout its long history and many Starship Captains leading the journey into where no man has been before.
Still, maybe there’s a chance that Pine and Hemsworth can be negotiated with so that the film can proceed as intended.
What are your thoughts on the pay cuts? Are the two Chris’ right in jumping ship? Let us know your thoughts below.
