‘Star Trek’ cast including Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto returning for fourth film
Another Star Trek film is on the horizon, with the current cast of the rebooted film series set to reprise their roles.
As reported by Variety, Paramount is planning to enter negotiations for Star Trek actors Chris Pine (James T. Kirk), Zachary Quinto (Spock), Zoe Saldana (Nyota Uhura), Karl Urban (Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy), John Cho (Hikaru Sulu) and Simon Pegg (Montgomery “Scotty” Scott) to return to the Enterprise for the fourth film in the current sci-fi franchise film series.
‘Star Trek’ Cast, Including Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, Returning for Fourth Film https://t.co/OEQLLiVOFv
— Variety (@Variety) February 15, 2022
The announcement was made by director J.J. Abrams during the Paramount Investors Day Presentation on Tuesday (Feb. 15).
“We are thrilled to say that we are hard at work on a new ‘Star Trek’ film that will be shooting by the end of the year that will be featuring our original cast and some new characters that I think are going to be really fun and exciting and help take ‘Star Trek’ into areas that you’ve just never seen before,” Abrams said.
“We’re thrilled about this film, we have a bunch of other stories that we’re talking about that we think will be really exciting, so can’t wait for you to see what we’re cooking up. But until then, live long and prosper.”
The actors first stepped into their respective roles in 2009’s Star Trek, directed by Abrams, which rebooted the “Trek” timeline but featured the main characters of Star Trek: The Original Series from the 60s, which starred William Shatner as Kirk and Leonard Nimoy as Spock.
The reboot series, also known to exist in "The Kelvin Timeline" potrayed by a new cast, allowed writers to develop storylines unrelated to the “Trek” previously established.
The actors returned in two sequels, 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness, also directed by Abrams, and 2016’s Star Trek Beyond, directed by Justin Lin.
The untitled Star Trek 4 project is being produced by Abrams and Paramount Pictures through Bad Robot Productions with WandaVision director Matt Shakman helming the project.
In recent years, the Star Trek franchise has expanded primarily on the small screen, with numerous streaming shows on Paramount Plus, including Star Trek Discovery and Picard as well as animated series like Star Trek: Lower Decks.
As reported by Variety, executives at Paramount’s investor day noted the company was focused on creating franchises that lived both on the Paramount Plus streaming series and on the big screen.
The new Star Trek film will reportedly start filming this year and is set to be released on Dec. 22, 2023.
