Before Star Trek Beyond even hit theater screens in 2016, Paramount promised that a fourth movie in the Kelvin timeline had been greenlit. Halfway through 2018, we still don’t know much about Star Trek 4 (including the title), other than the fact that most of the cast from Beyond will return. We do have a basic premise, and it’s a history-making one:
“In the next installment of the epic space adventure, Chris Pine’s Captain Kirk will cross paths with a man he never had a chance to meet, but whose legacy has haunted him since he day he was born: his father. Chris Hemsworth, who appeared in 2009’s Star Trek, will return to the space saga as George Kirk to star alongside Pine.”
This marks the first time father Kirk and son Kirk reunite on the big screen (and am I the only one that appreciates the irony that the actors have the same first name?). Series star Zachary Quinto, who plays Spock, appeared on SiriusXM where he predicted we’d see more solid info on Star Trek 4 pretty soon. “I think we’re going to know more in the next few weeks actually,” he told Andy Cohen. “They’ve brought a director who’s actually a wonderful woman who I’ve worked with before named S.J. Clarkson… And so I think it’s now kind of in the business, logistical kind of phase.”
As he also says in the panel, there’s more than Star Trek 4 in development. Quentin Tarantino is set to direct another movie in the franchise after this one (and it won’t take place in the Kelvin timeline). There are a couple of big conventions coming up soon, including the official Star Trek con. It might be a chance for fans to get a look behind the scenes, but the really big Star Trek 4 news will probably come when Paramount feels it’s mostly ready. This timeline is still new, so it has plenty of opportunities to take its own path through the final frontier.
