Zachary Quinto Still Hopes ‘Star Trek 4’ Will Happen

The future of Star Trek on the big screen remains in limbo, especially in regard to  Star Trek 4, the follow-up to 2016’s Star Trek Beyond. The film appears to have been shelved following a salary dispute with Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth, and director S.J. Clarkson has already moved on. But another actor from the Kelvin-verse is still holding out hope.

Quinto says nothing happening but holds out hope

On Friday, Spock actor Zachary Quinto appeared at the Winter Television Critics Association on a panel promoting his latest project, the AMC vampire TV show NOS4A2. While there, he spoke to  Slashfilm about the future of the Trek franchise, offering up this assessment of the Star Trek 4 project:

I mean, it’s been a broad conversation that we’ve been having for a while in terms of what’s the future of the franchise. It’s in process so I don’t know exactly what to say other than there’s no plans for a movie happening at this moment.

Zachary Quinto with NOS4A2 showrunner Jami O’Brien and actor Ashleigh Cummings AMC panel at 2019 Winter TCA on February 9, 2019 in Pasadena, California (AMC)

Even though there is nothing happening now regarding the project, Quinto still holds out hope, adding:

I would love to. I feel like it’s been an anchor of my creative life for the last over ten years now so if I can go back to it, I’ll always be happy to. I love my Star Trek family so we’ll see how it goes.

Zachary Quinto in NOS4A2 (AMC)

Quinto is the latest actor from the franchise to express the hope that there will be a follow-up to Star Trek Beyond, following similar sentiments in recent months from co-stars John Cho and Karl Urban. The project was headed towards production this year with a completed script and the hiring of a director in early 2018, but over the summer it was reported that Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth (who was set to return to play James T. Kirk’s father George Kirk) were balking at Paramount’s request take a lower salary than the one negotiated before the release of Star Trek Beyond, which had box office results below studio expectations.

More recently, Paramount Motion Picture Group President Wyck Godfrey talked up the potential Quinton Tarantino-helmed Star Trek film, the other Star Trek feature film in development. For now, the future of Star Trek on the big screen is still in flux.

Zachary Quinto as Spock in Star Trek Beyond, with Anton Yelchin as Chekov


Keep up with all the news on Star Trek 4 and upcoming Trek films at TrekMovie.com.

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News Flash: Actor likes paid work

Matt

LOL! Basically what I was thinking. Why wouldn’t he want the tentpole movie franchise he’s been working in to continue indefinitely? I think it’s safe to assume that, unless we hear otherwise, the entire main cast is always hoping for more movies in this series.

I’m sure that’s a factor, but it’s not the only thing. Quinto keeps getting offered serial killer roles, and I’m sure playing Spock is a relief, because he gets to be a GOOD guy for a change.

There’s also the fact that he was very close to Leonard Nimoy, and he knows that Nimoy trusted him to keep Spock alive. Of course, Mr. Nimoy didn’t live long enough to hear about Ethan Peck. :-)

I am old and really don’t care anymore.

I would like to see 4 but am fine without it. Star Trek is back as a series where it belongs with much more to come.

All Beyonds fault . Had they gone with Orci’s Days of Shatner Past anniversary movie wed be awaiting Trek 4 this summer

There is no way to know that.

yes because what the fans and even non fan audience who shockingly dug the previous 2 films wanted was some non entity villains and some kung fu white alien chick riding motor bikes and ‘cool’ rock songs … but hey it was just like a extended episode right! that’s really worthy of a Trek movie entry.

Remind me again, how many episodes spent a huge chunk of their runtime destroying the Enterprise piece by piece before plowing it into the ground?

If you honestly ‘dug’ the Abrams directed moronflicks, that tells me enough to consider everything else you say suspect at the very least.

That’s harsh kmart. I know you think they were awful but they do (or did) have a fanbase, including many people on this board. And the first film at least seem to have gotten near praise by both fans and non-fans alike. But it keeps proving the point Trek fans are not a monolith.

In fact, this website was originally created for that movie if I’m not mistaken

LOL so true. Even I sometimes forget where the title Trekmovie came from. ;)

Who wanted to see the destruction of the enterprise again? That wasn’t much of a hook. It almost happened at end of the previous movie even. As good as. And Beyond had a strong ‘Insurrection’ feel. Not a great movie to draw comparisons to.

Been a fan of Trek since I watched the re-runs of TOS in syndication in the early 1980s. I also think the J.J. movies are fantastic.
Stop thinking your opinion is the “right one.”

Kmart, you are FAR too judgmental to be a Trek fan. Clearly, you don’t understand Star Trek’s core principle, which is acceptance and open-mindedness when it comes to diversity. Try another franchise–you’d be happier there.

Lando

Final warning for gatekeeping. It is not for you to judge who is being a fan correctly.

Its still no guarantee the other movie would’ve been good or got a bigger audience. Reality is he’s right, its no way to know that and we’ll never know. That said Orci’s idea sounded more interesting to me than Beyond did and I liked Beyond.

I didn’t flat out HATE Beyond and it wasnt as bad as the initial trailer led on but it was a serious ball drop to go with it over the intriguing sounding premise of Shatner returning as Kirk and timetravel stuff as that would’ve certainly appealed more to fans and I think even average moviegoers with just vague memories of the TOS movies would’ve been interested that original Kirk was back interacting with the new crew (we’d had Nimoy. now heres Shatner the ‘main’ star of Trek back after 20y.. bit like Ford coming back to SW) and connected with ST09s alt timeline plot/theme. it just would’ve been more of a hook/event for the anniversary (how is shatner Kirk back after he died? how is he in the alt universe? is the alt universe going to be reset?) – timetravel movies are just more interesting and appealing for the general audience esp the Trek ones(and even XMen).

Beyond had NOTHING of interest other than ‘oh hey nerds.. heres another Trek movie for you. cuz its the 50th an all. and the Enterprise is destroyed. again. oh and heres some motorbike action. cuz we got the FastnFurious guy doing this one. and a white alien chick ass kicking everyone to a loud rock song like Guardians. enjoy’ (everyone expect the most hardcore Trek fans was like ‘er no thanks..we’ll wait for Episode VII’)

I actually agree with a lot of your points. As someone who generally liked Beyond and thought it was the best of the Kelvin films (but all the Kelvin films have just been in the middle of the road for me meaning I don’t hate any of them, but I don’t love any of them either) the issue I pointed out with the film months before it came out was that the movie had no real hook. There was nothing special or unique about the movie to market it outside of seeing the Enterprise get destroyed again, which we already seen happen twice in the films already. And yet another tired uber-villain plot who wants revenge against the Federation for the fourth straight time (ZZzzz).

There was really nothing exciting about the film of itself other then it was another Star Trek film coming out during the 50th anniversary (which they never even advertised). And it felt too much like Insurrection being stuck on a boring planet when it should’ve been more FC or TUC.

But if you had a movie with Shatner and time travel (although Orci has said the film wasn’t about time travel but never said it didn’t have anything to do with at least attempting it) then it would’ve got people a lot more excited. But it doesn’t mean it would’ve been good either. We always mistake an exciting premise for a solid story. STID had an exciting premise as well and we know how well that turned out. And for some reason, Paramount was skeptical of it. The rumor is because they simply didn’t want Shatner in the film, but it seems like that would’ve been discussed and dealt with before anyone wrote a single page. Hopefully one day we’ll hear what really happened.

The marketing was terrible for Beyond, some of the trailers were downright horrible and with the shake up on production like the director change it had everything against it from the get go. I enjoyed it though, it was more of an ensemble with great rapport and characterisation from the cast, I liked Jaylah and the little things like the Enterprise callbacks but it does feel like a missed opportunity with @boborci movie. If you look back at Into Darkness I don’t need to tell any of you that the aspect that was criticised the most was Khan. Whether it be the decision to keep it secret, the whitewashing or just that a large proportion of the fanbase just wasn’t interested in seeing this character included it’s clear that Khan was the most controversial aspect of this movie. As I recall it was Mr Orci who was the dissenting voice within the “Supreme Court” when it came to including that character and it’s clear that he was a leader in terms of pushing for the movies to honour and still fit in with canon. Who knows without all the behind the scenes problems, with all the hype that would have come with Shatners return to the franchise maybe we would still be looking forward to a Star Trek 4. I guess we’ll never know.

actually thinking about it that initial Beyond trailer was attached to TFA was it not..so everyone even the trekkies be like ‘yeah..no thanks now gimme Star Wars!’

Pretty much just speculation on your part there.

I really liked Beyond but spending millions blowing the Enterprise up then millions more on the battle in the wrecked ship on the ground was pure excess. All they had to do was disable the ship leave it hanging lifeless in orbit with the crew on the planet finding a way to sneak back onboard would have been way more dramatic & far cheaper too!

The marketing of Beyond is what doomed it. Not the story, not the action. It was better than 6 of the Star Wars movies, and better than half of the Trek movies.

It was the (non)marketing of the movie, and putting the movie in a horrible date. Add to that, they wanted to make a deal out of Sulu’s partner, which was fine, except they failed to get Takei on board and he bad mouthed the move before the movie came out.

You had me agreeing with you right up until the knock against George Takei. Uncle George is (in my considered, and at the same time, very personal opinion) a living legend, but I think you perhaps overestimate his influence on the general moviegoing public vis-à-vis any perceived power of his to affect ticket sales.

In the end, it is my personal belief that STB was a worthy romp that was done no favors by the execrable Paramount Pictures marketing department.

Also they didn’t make a big deal about Sulu’s partner. That was the point that it wasn’t a big deal. Martin’s right about the marketing though, it absolutely killed that movie.

Zach, if you can sit tight a while longer we just might have a much better ST movie for you.

Indeed.. Bring forth The Tarantino…

Even if that one happens, its no guarantees the Kelvin cast will be involved. And its still the same issue, if Paramount doesn’t want to pay Pine what he wants nothing will really change in that regard.

Obviously if Paramount can’t get all six surviving castmembers together at the same approximate time they can’t get them.

And even if they get the whole Kelvin cast they need not necessarily make a Kelvin movie. It could be an entirely different ball of wax just with actors already culturally recognized for playing those roles.

I don’t believe it automatically follows that this is what the studio was willing to offer Pine, this is the minimum he was willing to accept, and that’s it for all time, end of story. Every one of the Shatner/ Nimoy ST films would have been permanently derailed if real life was always consistent like that.

If it was more simple then there would be a Kelvin 4 film right now, right? I know we been over this before but if Pine was the only actor not willing to come back, then they could’ve replaced him with someone else and made it. Clearly they didn’t want to do that and I honestly don’t know if that would change just because its another script? Maybe it will all work out but obviously Paramount has not even reached out to any of them about the Tarantino project which suggests either its nowhere close to being a done deal or they want to go a different way with another cast. I guess we’ll find out one way or the other in time but the longer they wait seems to suggest no one is in a rush to get these guys back for another one.

And you can’t compare Pine to Nimoy and Shatner. Pine has more options than they ever did. Their movie career was Star Trek, it didn’t take them that much to get them on board, the movies themselves were cheaply made and they actually made real money (even TFF broke even at the box office) so its a different standard. The next Kelvin movie can still flop and they all know it which is the entire issue. There is just no guarantee the next one will make the profit Paramount wants no matter who actually makes it.

The fanbase has seem to sour on these films, which is why it might be smart to start over anyway with a new cast. And a much cheaper one.

It is obvious they had to ditch that Kirk dad movie because they couldn’t afford both Chris. Even if they keep only Pine of the two, realistically it makes little sense to still use the script with his dad when the actor was the only reason they’d bring him back.
We don’t know if they found a solution with Pine but regardless, they needed to get rid of the other and getting a new story that doesn’t need his dad is more logical.

In theory, a Tarantino or another big name director might make investors more confident so paying the existing stars wouldn’t be an issue anymore, especially if they don’t need Kirk’s dad. Casting other known actors for new roles also is different because they wouldn’t have a preexisting deal with them to honour like they did with Thor.

I agree with a lot of this but same time none of this is rocket science, if they truly wanted to keep Pine but ditch Hemsworth with another script then they could’ve done just that by signing Pine and writing another film. We saw that literally between Orci script getting the boot and then hiring a new writer to make Beyond literally a few months later.

Now I will admit Beyond was a little different because things had been set into motion and they had already paid millions out for pre-production and had everyone in place to make a film so it was make one now or push everything off until later but renegotiate everything in the future which ironically has probably created the problems for the next film now since they ended up doing that with Pine.

But Paramount doesn’t seem to A. be in a rush to make another film and B. seem to have any priority to keep the cast together. Maybe I will be proven wrong and this will all come together but I remember reading when it was revealed Pine had walked away it would only be a few weeks before they got him back on board in a few weeks and will figure something out for the next movie. Instead, 6 months have come and gone since and the movie was cancelled.

For the record, I would like to at least see one more Kelvin film but articles like this doesn’t give me a lot of hope. Now even Quinto himself who kept saying a year ago a movie was definitely happening has completely changed his tune. He didn’t even mention the Tarantino movie as a possibility this time as he did in the past. That is not a great sign.

This is a valid point. I think we need to ask whether or not Paramount felt they needed a Hemsworth to sell Star Trek 4. Pine is a fine leading man but can he sell a movie on name alone? I’m not so sure. I’m not necessarily sure that Hemsworth can either for that matter, like Pine he’s a very likeable leading man but let’s be honest most of his success can still be tracked back to brand recognition for the franchise he starred in. However, I still have to ask, did Paramount consider him a more bankable star to attach to their project? They probably wanted some stability with the main cast after the less than stellar performance of Beyond. They’d already lost Anton and often when a movie series reach the point that they’re recasting leads it’s associated with a drop off in quality and box office return. So perhaps they felt it wasn’t wise to recast Pine but they needed a true A-lister to bring back the audience. Maybe this is why they couldn’t just get rid of Hemsworth and develop a new story.

It wouldn’t make much sense, IMO, to use this cast but not make them play the kelvin timeline characters. It would be too confusing, especially for the audience whose only experience with trek is these movies and version of the characters. Discovery is already alienating those fans a bit, tbh. It is going to get worse with them bringing in a Spock whose story people cannot reconcile with what they watched in the first movie (when Ethan was cast I’ve read many comments from people who asked why they replaced Zachary, lol It didn’t compute it is another Spock anyway)

Agreed. All it would do is confuse people. This was the same weird argument over Discovery when it was announced they were going to add Spock this season. Many thought Quinto would play that role although technically he would be playing a different character. To me it was never even a debate they would recast the role for many reasons, which they did.

I don’t see anything differently happening IF they are not going to use the Kelvin characters. It would only make sense to start new with a fresh cast and not confuse people. They only been in three films, they haven’t been playing these roles the way other casts have played them with years of a TV show and then movies so its not like they can’t be replaced. Again, if we are talking about a story that moves away from the Kelvin universe.

And its not even a guarantee any new movie would involve TOS characters if, once again, this isn’t strictly a Kelvin movie. And now with Discovery it makes it trickier as they are introducing TOS characters in that universe again, so they may not want to reuse those characters right away.

if Tarantino directs Pine and the cast will work for scale

No, they won’t.

No, they obviously won’t. That was an idiotic statement.

Edit: deleted comment as I can see the conversation had moved on past the point I was making.

Its dead Jim!

My late great dad was fond of saying, ‘wish in one hand, spit in the other, and see which fills up faster’. When your agent calls and asks if you’re willing to take a 30% pay cut to appear in the next Trek flick, only then can you say there is progress. You and Chris can then go have a beer, knowing you’re free to pursue other projects. Paramount isn’t doing anything with the film franchise into the foreseeable future, I’m afraid….

Won’t hold my breath.

Zach is one of the best things about this trek. Great actor and super nice guy. I love him, he was a bit sidelined and wasted in beyond honestly so I’d hope if they made more movies he had a more active and interesting role.

“Sidelined and wasted”? He had a complete character arc in Beyond, as well as several great scenes with Bones. Hard to see how you can call his role in that film “sidelined and wasted.”

Yeah I thought he was fine in Beyond. In STID they turned him back into ‘angry crazy Spock’ again which only made more fans angry. And he and Bones together throughout the movie also made it feel like classic TOS again which I felt was missing in the first two movies. Quinto and Urban has great chemistry together.

Spock was co-protagonist in the first two but basically was just a sidekick in beyond.
His interactions with Mccoy don’t make him have a big or important role in the story, necessarily. And see, I get people wanted him to interact with Bones and all that tos nostalgia, but they didn’t need to ostensibly pair him with the doc the whole movie, lol. He barely interacted with the others, hence the sidekick treatment. He didn’t even interact with the villain this time.
It speaks volumes that Uhura was sidelined in terms of screentime and yet, she has a far more important role in the main story with the villain than Spock. You see her skills and she even ends up saving her boyfriend (and she saved Kirk at the beginning). What are Spock’s own skills as first officer and scientist? His contribution to the main plot? Very little.
As a Spock fan I can’t be 100% satisfied about how they handled his personal arc, thus his own individual story, (or Kirk’s for that matter, to be fair ) either. After st09, it seemed like the aftermath of the vulcan diaspora was only used to create drama between him and Uhura (and not even that, in spite of being very important for his character, is given enough screentime in beyond, it’s all happening off screen).

I see your point, but I had no problem with it. In Beyond, it was more about Spock dealing with Ambassador Spock death and his decision to quit Starfleet or not. It was more character driven I guess. He was given an arc it just wasn’t directly about the main story line like the first two. And they gave him the stuff at the end with Bones in the ship. And they were all kind of paired up though: Kirk/Chekhov, Uhura/Sulu, Spock/Bones and Scotty/Jaylah That’s just how the film handled all the characters in general. And it was easier to do it that way since they were separate from each for the entire middle of the film. So you can’t just say Spock was separated from the group, they all were. And only Uhura, Kirk and Sulu directly interacted with the villain, its not Spock alone lol.

I like your posts Jemini, I do, but what I always find funny in them is you seem to suggest Spock and Uhura were being neglected, but then you seem to neglect practically every other character in the movie. This kind of shows it.

But you made it clear Spock is your favorite character so I understand you want to see more of him. I thought how he was handled was fine and it was nice to see others like Chekhov and Sulu get a little more, so others like he and Uhura had to be scaled back a bit. One thing I will say about Beyond is its probably the only film most got more equal time at least.

They all were paired in groups yes, but Kirk still got to interact with everyone and had a big active role while Spock didn’t. He wasn’t treated as a co-protagonist anymore, hence he didn’t access to the narrative elements that made him one previously. The fact his personal arc too isn’t given enough screentime exacerbated this but this also is an issue for all the characters, tbh. I have a feeling the director is to blame more than the script. I mean, Kirk’s conflict was handled even worse than Spock’s. And the movie didn’t ignore the kirk/bones bromance but it still sidelined it because Mccoy isn’t to allowed, for example, to have feelings about his friend wanting to leave the ship.

“what I always find funny in them is you seem to suggest Spock and Uhura were being neglected, but then you seem to neglect practically every other character in the movie. This kind of shows it.”

Or it’s just that some of you believe that the bros are default more important than anything else in the story, so liking those dynamics and neglecting other things just to give the guys more screentime is ‘ok’.
Proof is in the pudding that I’m complaining Spock’s role as co-protagonist was lessened in beyond and you guys tell me that it isn’t just because he interacts with Mccoy, as if that is enough or the be all end all of his character. I suspect some also prefer Kirk so they wouldn’t care that much, or even notice it, if the role of this Spock was reduced because they default only see him as the friend of hero.

It seems you believe that liking particular dynamic (s/u) that is unique to this trek, and wanting it to get proper screentime is more ridiculous, biased or less valid than those who are partial to bromance and want him to interact with Mccoy all the time just because they did in tos (and they give beyond a pass for being a tad forced with the pretexts found to ostensibly make him interact with the doc)
And yet, I never wanted him to only interact with Uhura or make their dynamic THE whole story. I think all the movies did a fine job making it the second most important dynamic of the trilogy (after k/s) without making it the be all end of the story, without overinflating it. I wouldn’t be happy to have a movie where he only interacts with her and gets nothing else.

Spock’s personal relationship with Uhura has consistently been an important aspect in his own individual story since the first movie (it is in beyond too, even his interactions with Mccoy are mostly about her one way or other), but it honestly is the fans of the guys who neglect it just because it wasn’t in tos and she isn’t a male character.

I have said many times I like the Spock and Uhura relationship and even hoped to see them get married in the future. I simply didn’t mind seeing a different dynamic in Beyond with Spock and Bones either since that friendship was a very important element of classic TOS which the entire film was trying to emulate and many fans said were missing in much of the first two films. But if they focused back on Spock and Uhura in the next film, I would’ve been just as fine with that too. It’s not an either/or situation, its just wanting to see new things in a movie.

And I don’t consider Spock and Uhura the center of the films as you do either, nor HAVE to, they are simply characters in a bigger ensemble for me. Just because they had a bigger role in one film doesn’t mean they have to have one in another. But as usual, it comes down to the usual sexism claims and all of that for you, so I’m done. Its pretty insulting, especially as I don’t have any issues with Michael as the lead of Discovery and Janeway is one of my favorite captains. I just never cared that much about Uhura herself. Is that OK?

You have a strange obsession over this and almost a chip on your shoulder over it, so its no point of talking about it anymore. And these films are most likely done anyway so its probably moot at this point.

Tiger, once again you get defensive and play oblivious when the accusatory tone was all yours, to begin with.
YOU said I was neglecting the other characters. I never read you using that tone or making the same accusations to those who complain that Mccoy got sidelined, or to the ones who think bromance is or must be the whole focus of these movies. I think you gotta be honest with yourself here because the double standard isn’t a product of my imagination and neither is the impression that some believe that liking some aspects or characters is being less valid as a fan than those who only care about the bros and complain when they feel they are neglected.

It seems my comments are OK only until you remember that, basically, I’m not one of those fans who only care about original trio stuff or the interactions between the guys.
In fact, my original comment was about Spock and the problem about it seems to be that I disputed the idea that his interactions with Mccoy are enough to contradict my complain that Spock got sidelined as a co-protagonist and that even Uhura, who is a secondary character compared to him, uses her skills and has a more important role in the story than him. I also don’t think the fact he got a personal arc contradicts my original point either because even his personal arc isn’t given the focus it maybe deserved. However, like I said above I recognize it is a generic issue of the movie because I don’t think Kirk’s arc was handled better than Spock’s, for example. They also treated both Uhura and Mccoy with superficiality in their dynamics with Spock and Kirk because neither of them is allowed to express their feelings about the guys possibly leaving. Splitting the group was a great idea but the execution wasn’t that great and it ultimately wasted those pairs (especially sulu/uhura and kirk/chekov). Another director and editors would maybe make a better use of the script and all that potential. But we can’t know of course.

I didn’t accuse you of being a racist or sexist just because you don’t have a bigger interest in the other characters like you imply here CONSTANTLY because not everyone is in love with Uhura. I like her, I just don’t care about her all that much. That’s OK, right? Anyway I’m done.

I never did that so stop derailing. You always derail my points.
It is funny you ask me if it’s OK to not care about Uhura when you are the one here who is suggesting that it’s not OK for me to not care too much about some characters eg. accusing me of neglecting the other characters when, honestly, I care about the ensemble more than original trio stans do since years. I never see you having issues with biased Mccoy or original trio fans and their unreasonable expectations when they complain that those characters aren’t front and center, hence the double standard.
It seems like you are default prejudiced against me because even when I’m not even talking about Uhura or s/u, you get defensive and bring it up to have a straw man argument and derail my actual point.
What was my original point here? I complained Spock got sidelined as co-protagonist and I explained why. How did you derail it into something about Uhura, again? I could say anything but the results would always be the same.

Its clear nothing is moving forward at all right now probably due to Pine sticking to his original salary raise for ST4. I think after 3 years since Beyond with no follow up in sight its unlikely this cast will continue unless Pine agrees to less money up front & soon. Paramount have a big problem though if they ditch this cast they need a new crew, new ship & or relaunch the Enterprise into space from spacedock both options are not cheap to credibly show on the big screen with modern spectacle. Shame Pine is not prepared to just accept less money & hope to make it up on the backend somehow. Its not like he is in demand much anyway more of a B lister than true A list star. Paramount’s new management are very cost averse they just cancelled the WWZ sequel with Pitt & Fincher attached due to budget concerns!

But isn’t the issue with Pine that Paramount suddenly doesn’t want to pay him what they actually agreed on? I would really love another movie with this cast,so I’m still hoping.

Pine took a lower salary to get Beyond made & signed a 2 deal contract promising him $6M for ST4 as per his former agents court battle filling! Paramount’s position is as Beyond lost money or did not perform as expected so do not wish to honour that contract made with the previous Paramount front office executives who are all no longer @ Paramount either fired, quit or passed away. You can see both sides of the argument but Pine is not an A Lister yet surely a few million is better than no millions & no more this cast movie adventures! ST09 after all put Pine on the path to almost A list status!! He should be loyal to them now & hope ST4 performs as expected. Paramount will not back down they already cancelled a Brad Pitt and David Fincher WWZ sequel last week so they are not going to suddenly reverse their decision. Pine probably needs a new talent agency who can convince him its not a good idea to play hardball with a studio over a few million as all the studio CEO’s hang out together so word will get around town making some think twice about hiring him incase the same thing happens again!!

There’s no argument that Paramount is very cost conscious these days. There won’t be another Trek movie made until a production house can agree to bring it in closer to 100MM then 200MM. That said, that’s also not Pine’s problem. He’s not having an issue finding work these days; this notion that he’s just sitting around the house waiting for Paramount to call is laughable. Whatever Trek ends up looking like, it’ll probably be with a different, less expensive cast.

Pine SHOULDN’T accept less money. This isn’t on him.

He’s already insanely rich, what’s a couple of million less to him at this point?

The more time goes by the less I care about another Kelvin-verse movie and I think what little noteriety this franchise enjoyed has all but evaporated away. I liked the cast, though always thought Quinto’s Spock was weak and Pegg’s Scotty just way too comic relief. Anton Yelchin is gone too and that leaves a void as recasting the role would be very problematic. The movies were moderate successes at best (and Beyond couldn’t even reach that benchmark) and never really developed that buzz like other, more successful franchises. I really don’t see fans breaking down doors, clamoring for more Kelvin-verse movies. I’m honestly surprised Paramount was even considering going forward with another one.

End of the day, this is the real problem, no one seems all that hyped or interested in another Kelvin film. And with Trek back on TV, even less so. I like the Kelvin cast and loved them in Beyond but I’m not exactly biting my nails for the next one to happen either. I’m ten times way more excited about the Picard show then anything else to be honest. The films are fun but end of the day more of a fun distraction then they were serious Star Trek fare, especially not being in the prime universe. I think a lot of Trek fans feel that way, even if many are still not sold on Discovery yet.

that’s quite true. The return of Patrick Stewart is a big deal for Trek. As entertaining as the JJ films are they are abit like SNL sketchs with 200m budgets (with Nimoy cameoing to help buy it). Having the REAL Picard back in the lead again and set in ‘Prime’verse immediately verifies it as ‘genuine’ Trek. In roughly 2008-2015 (from the Enterprise construction teaser trailer for ST09 to the F&F/evel kirkevel/rocksong teaser for Beyond) everything was about JJTrek, THAT was the new Trek like TNG really…but Ive noticed since Beyond made literally no impact anywhere or to anyone and the introduction of Discovery set in the Primeverse (despite its controversy) and now featuring the ENT/Pike/Spock that the JJverse/’Kelvin’verse has sort of become something of an aside/an afterthought..like who cares whats happening in the fake alternate universe now we are back in the Prime verse? and now Picard is coming back..its like it could be the final nail in the coffin for JJTrek. So in a way its come full circle – TNG took over from TOS in the 90s as ‘main’ Trek but was run into the ground… then (fake) TOS came back making Trek bigger than ever, before fizzing out…now TNG is coming back

I’m still more interested about the “fake alternate universe” and its cast than jj-wannaby-discovery pretending to be in prime trek when it’s, in fact, a reboot too.
Approved-by-Nimoy-kelvinSpock’s backstory is less canon au, now, than in prime trek retconned by discovery.
And the Picard show will feature the aftermath of an important plot point from the first movie.

These movies are the reason why you have TV trek right now; the general audience doesn’t care about TV trek being ‘prime trek’, it doesn’t make it more valid to them, let alone a good product just because. They don’t even know it’s prime trek, they don’t even know the distinction.
TV trek isn’t a hindrance to the movies, but I have a feeling those who produce TV trek right now may prefer it if there aren’t more movies.

Of course I’m sure there are lots of Trek fans who wants another film, I just don’t think its enough for Paramount to feel confident the film would succeed or we wouldn’t still be talking about if they will make another one three years later. I just think the hype for the films have completely died. It really died in STID and then Beyond confirmed it.

But I do agree with you that we probably wouldn’t have Trek on TV now if the first two films weren’t at least profitable. I think it told CBS there is still a lot of fans who care about the fanbase but there was always going to be another show one way or the other. It was just a matter of what and when.

But for most fans Star Trek really belongs on TV first. That’s where it started, thats where most of its acclaim comes from. All of us enjoy the films but its never going to be on the same level as a weekly show that can be about what makes Star Trek special which is ultimately discovering the unknown.

I like the JJ films but I have said this before they haven’t done anything new or interesting. Its been three movies about super villain who wants to destroy the Federation and very little else. They look amazing, great FX, etc, but there is NO sense of wonder in any of them. They are big loud action movies and thats fine but for many Trek fans thats why the shows will always win out. You can present real ideas. Bigger doesn’t always equal better, especially with Star Trek.

that’s all true but theres no denying the JJ movie series is sort of done at the moment and interest is now on the TV stuff. if however Tarantino announces shortly that hes going to direct the 4th movie interest in the Kelvinverse will detonate across the interweb like the Genesis device at the end of TWOK and the Picard series will be waving its arms trying to get attention like ‘hey everyone im still here..hello..im still here.. coming soon yeh..’

“TV trek isn’t a hindrance to the movies, but I have a feeling those who produce TV trek right now may prefer it if there aren’t more movies.”

This is something Kurtzman has touched upon in interviews. He didn’t come out and say we don’t need the movies but he spoke about the danger of the 2 divisions cannibalising each other and about how the line between TV and movies is so blurred now that it’s about finding the right story to tell in movies. I’m pretty sure though that If the merger does eventually happen and everybody is singing from the same hymn sheet he’ll be much more enthusiastic for the movies.

Coming to America 2 of all things is now coming Aug 2020 so its not like Paramount will not greenlight if its the right concept, budget & actors for them!! Then Top Gun2, MI7+8 so Paramount clearly want sequels at the right price with the right talent attached!! If when Bad Robots deal expires next month we do not get any announcement anytime soon this cast is pretty much done they are already just the right age in 2-3 years time its going to be more of an issue.

LOL, I did not know about Coming to America 2. I’ll watch it.

At this point would Paramount want to make a fourth JJ movie when CBS and co are sorting themselves out with their universe?

It took them almost ten years to get 3 films into theaters. I honestly don’t believe Trek was ever a priority. Look at how many Mission impossible films and fast and furious and transformers films they have made.

Paramount took 10years to make the 1st 3 MI movies (although they making up for it now)

Skyjedi, I mentioned this to you before but Paramount doesn’t own Fast and Furious, Universal does.

But yes you’re not wrong either, I said this many times before if a studio TRULY believes in a franchise, they will devote every resource and dollar to get a film made, period. You obviously see that with Disney and the Marvel/Star Wars movies. Solo has set back some of Disney plans but its not like they aren’t preparing to make more Star Wars, they are scaling back but its no doubt more films will get made and Episode 9 is coming out this year.

As for Paramount, the recent announcement of not one, but two Mission Impossible movies told you where their priorities are. Fallout came out less than a year ago and they not only made a deal with Cruise and McQuarrie to do more just six months after that film came out, but they have already announced those movies opening dates. And my guess is they are paying both Cruise and McQuarrie $20+ million each plus back end deals for those movies. Meanwhile the entire future of the Kelvin movies are in limbo because Paramount doesn’t want to pay Pine and Hemsworth probably a few million they promised them years ago.

And this is the longest we waited for another Trek film to be green lit since Nemesis bombed.

Sorry i thought they were by Paramount. Still making more Transformers and Ninja Turtles before Star Trek is crazy. As a fan. I guess financially it makes sense. Beyond made no money.

No worries! And yeah those other franchises made money, in Transformers case, tons of it, so they are going to focus on the ones that will bring in a better ROI. This is as basic as you can get for a business.

This is true. Trek has always been important from the merchandising standpoint more than an anything and now of course they can use it bring in paying subscribers to their Streaming service. The movies always seemed more of a by product that was necessary to keep the merchandising revenue stream flowing.

It did happen. It’s called star Trek the voyage home.

Dear Zachary Quinto,

I suggest:
1. ‘startrek 4: the cage’ with spock and captain christopher pike from mirror universe.
2. ‘startrek 5: excelsior’ with captain sulu encountering the borg.
That should give them time to negotiate with chris pine.

Cheers,

With ‘Beyond’ it seemed as though they had written the narrative to these big flashy sfx scenes instead of having that stuff following the narrative. It’s likely the result of writing the movie as it’s being filmed, and after post-production. The movie was poorly executed. The only thing that saved it was the last minute writing and the fans who worked on the movie. Just saying: It could have been much better if executed properly, IMO of course.

Fans who worked on the movie? What?

Beyond was just..bizarre. with the impending 50th anniversary release which meant the movie HAD to be ready for that summer you’d have thought in 2015 whenever it was they’d have just continued with the Orci/Shatner script as opposed to jettisoning that and having to scramble around looking for another story.. why not just use what they had already and got Lin to direct it (if they didn’t want to take a risk on Orci directing)instead of going to Pegg ‘er..you a Trek nerd right? You wanna write the next movie? in like a week?

..oh..and no Shatner. we cant stand that guy’

why is this guy in real life trying to look like Leonard

Another week no real news & Pine is clearly not coming back I doubt Paramount would even want him anymore either as his logic does not compute! Just because he has a contract does not take into consideration Beyond was not a financial success due to terrible marketing & wrong release date. Pine looks silly as well holding out for his promised salary vs a cost cutting studio under new management is only ever going to end in the studios favour! Tarantino Trek is most likely the next movie project with a new cast & crew.

You know despite (an exaggeration) gazillion breakdowns and insightful thoughts, opinions, wishes, and love of the ‘the father’ (albeit, the Kelvin father) of all that is Star Trek, behind all the ‘back and forths’ is the desire to visit the theater to view the original Star Trek as it has taken shape no matter its course. I was absolutely thrilled as a kid to watch the series. What a stroke of genius to make a movie, then to create further ‘stories’. Life without? Don’t know. But, life with the movies was pretty fun, didn’t care much if they were good, bad, great, etc. Once they finished, there was a void as when the series ended. But, I didn’t care, a new timeline! Star Trek was back and the void was filled as I felt it not deserve any rationalization, it entertained us and we were HAPPY, and that is what matters. ‘We Were Happy!’

Now, we have run into the money issue and sometimes I think actors and movie stars miss some of the societal issues that the actor’s profession us as a viewing customer. When watch golf tournament and I really pull for favorite and he does something wrong, loses, breaks a rule, or whatever, I probably feel for the guy even though he cleared $2,000,000 for the year. But, when they get interviewed afterwards and they say something like, “Hey, I’m not here for the gallery or those watching on TV, this my job.” Then they’ve missed the entire point and ruined the facet of professional sports because if we aren’t there, they won’t be there.

Take away all the diagnoses and all critiques/compliments of th ST movies, the point is, we want to see these actors love to know that they are there for the most ardent fans in the world. It’s rare for the actors, EMBRACE IT! If we want to enjoy our theater experiences with crew and wand want Chris Pine to pair with Father Thor let’s do this:
Create something similar to CROWDSOURCING, KICKSTARTER, or GOFUNDME, and find Cris and Chris their salary and enough to kick this cow! I think that they may realize that in this world that there is some time to take break from all this confusing news, not taking sides, and show us that you still love your part in the role that is actually ‘you’ that you developed and is no one else’s. Maybe both Chris’ will see how much we still want to have theater and our escapism. Let’s, as fans, buy them. First the original plan for Simon’s plan, then Quenten’s 2nd.
God bless the entertainment community! Please do not forget your insight into what we really really enjoy that you created for us.

The reboot movie franchise in terms of years is closing in on the VGer/Khan areas, but Khan is under control early and Vgr is something not eager to revisit.
So we’re off in another area entirely. I don’t wish to see Kirk scaling mountains, and we don’t have a Cold War as such to revisit. Kirk has already died once. They have sort of written themselves into a box movie wise and they can’t just ignore their own version of the Spore Drive, so they can’t take off as Voyager did. I say let it go and allow CBS to be the Flagship. It’s pulling subscribers, produces in a timely fashion, without all the wrangling.
I’d love to see a Captain Pike/Spock/Number One Star Trek series leading up to Pike’s disaster, then recast and fill in the last 2 years of Kirk’s 5 year mission, while revisiting some of the great episodes with some extra juice, ie City on the Edge of Forever, Amok Time, The Doomsday Machine, Spock’s Brain……mmmm don’t get carried away there, Bobarino!