It’s time again to continue the cycle on the sequel to 2016’s Star Trek Beyond. Last week it was reported the long-gestating project has yet another writer, and right on queue we have one of the stars of the Kelvin movies weighing in on where Trek goes next on the big screen.
Ready for another wonderful Trek experience
Zoe Saldana is out promoting her new movie Absence of Eden, due in theaters next week. Naturally, she gets questions about some of her iconic roles including playing Nyota Uhura in 3 Star Trek movies. In an interview with The Playlist’s Discourse podcast, the actress remains optimistic about returning to Trek, saying:
“I still have hope. I had a wonderful experience through and through and through the three times that I was a part of that team.”
Saldana’s desire to return to her Star Trek role is in contrast to the MCU. In the same podcast interview, she confirmed she has no intention of returning to the role of Gamora, although she hoped the Guardians of the Galaxy series continued, possibly with Gamora being recast.
Zoe Saldana as Uhura in Star Trek Beyond (Paramount Pictures)
Screenwriter Steve Yockey (The Flight Attendant) is reportedly taking on the latest draft of the Beyond sequel. As reported last week, Paramount has multiple Trek films in development, with a new “franchise origin story” which may be further along than Star Trek 4. Saldana acknowledged the complicated logistics of bringing the Kelvin crew back together while also launching this new movie:
“I know that they’re always trying to sort of aim to wrangle everybody together, but I also know that Paramount is working on a new sort of fresh take on ‘Star Trek,’ which I think is such a wonderful franchise that should live for a very long time, whether or not us as the original remake cast can come back. I don’t know, but I certainly hope so.”
Unlike the Star Trek 4 project, the origin story movie already has a director (Andor’s Toby Haynes) and a script (from Seth Grahame-Smith of The Lego Batman Movie). Reportedly it is on track to start filming by the end of this year. Paramount has yet to put a Star Trek film on their release schedule and 2026 (the 60th anniversary year of Star Trek) is coming up fast.
Find more news and analysis on upcoming Star Trek feature films.
I don’t blame her for wanting to do another, particularly so if it was a pleasant experience with the rest of the cast and crew. Ms. Saldana, like the rest of her castmates, seems pretty clear eyed that they shouldn’t be turning down real work on the possibility there “might” be another Trek movie in their future.
When Simon Pegg chimes in that it’ll be mind blowing, then we’ll know it’s not happening.
I guess trying to line up all those schedules is really making it more difficult than everyone ever thought. 😊
LOL at “When Simon Pegg chimes in that it’ll be mind blowing, then we’ll know it’s not happening,” as that is so true.
She was short changed in Beyond for Bele/Lokais love child
I doubt that would’ve happened in Orci’s ST3
What?
J/k
Er……. huh?
Just a little joke..
Reminded me more of CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR makeup … and i’ve never even seen the movie!
He means Jayla.
Aww, nobody remembers the black-and-white cookie? Look to the cookie, Elaine. Look to the cookie.
better hurry, these actors are starting to get gray hair
Lol Pine already had grey hair in Beyond.
Maybe he’ll dye his hair jet black to match Shatner in TMP
And add a BradyHawaiiCurl?
Feel sorry for this cast. They fit their roles perfectly and ST09 was a great reboot. I watched it recently and was actually surprised at how good the movie was. Better than I remembered.
But ST:ID effectively torpedoed this crew’s run. A four-year gap. Ruining Khan (to the point that the fanbase doesn’t even want ST to go there again). Special Khan blood. Tribble experiments. Carol Marcus strip scene for no reason. Third ST film in a row with a big OP villain ship. It was just…bad.
Beyond wasn’t a bad movie, but it could not get the ship back on track. Not sure if a ST4 could do any better. What could they possibly do on the back of these three Kelvin movies, that would bring in at least $400m B.O. (assuming a $150m budget).
A real shame. There was genuinely a lot of potential for the Kelvin timeline after ST09, but it was wasted.
Yep this series had so much potential back then and it was quickly squandered by the second movie by a really horrible script and a four year wait. And by the time they got to the third it really showed how directionless things truly were with the Orci firing and just truly bad marketing with Beyond. Add to the other problem a lot of hardcore fans were put off after STID and new fans had mostly moved on by then that movie’s fate was probably written after that first infamous teaser trailer.
And eight years on it’s all just been a complete waste of time with silly announcements and still no movie in sight.
Originally I really did want at least one more movie with this cast but I have stopped caring long ago. And I suspect a large number of others feels the same way now. I don’t even see the point of trying to make another one since they already stated it will be the last anyway and they want to go another direction with new films back in prime universe. Just put all your money and effort on that since clearly we’re not talking about the MCU here.
It’s been so long, I don’t even know how you would sell another Kelvin movie to a general audience.
It would have to be a stand alone project in that universe.
We’ve been over this many tines but I 100% believe it was the Orci ST3 falling apart is what caved in the film franchise , had we had Shatners return (as OG Kirk), and the canon event shattering plot of the new timeline under threat, and maybe some Klingons & Romulans (and potentially Nero/USS Kelvin cameo stuff tied back to ST09) .then the 3rd film might well have made more BO (the magic 500m?) and we’d be waiting on kelvin ST6 about now
Imo STID wasn’t as damaging as some make out, general audiences actually liked that movie , just some angry hard fans didn’t like the alt universe take on TWOK and ‘white khan’ (bc Benicio Del Toro turned it down so we got the comic book spin off about him getting Die Another Day DNA treatment lol)
You’re right. I believe STID obviously made money, hence the ST: Beyond sequel.
I didn’t have a problem with them bringing back a Kelvin version of Khan at all. Plus, it’s Benedict Cumberbatch, he’s great!
What I didn’t care for is the white-washing and obfuscation of Khan. He was Indian, not a white guy. Like the first film, they had to have a comic book series explain the discrepency.
Also, you add Carol Marcus (now with an English accent and in Starfleet, but you don’t really do anything with her and Kirk, except show that there’s some obvious attraction? Why bother with her then? Just to add sex appeal with Alice Eve in the film? Anyway, Abrams admitted they messed up some of the writing on STID. That said, STID is much better than The Rise of Skywalker. That script had holes galore and I just do not think it was a worthy end at all for the Star Wars Saga. I think they really dropped the ball there and it’s such a shame.
Actually, my biggest problem with STID was when the Enterprise was suddenly going to crash into the Earth. As a mission design guy, that still really bothers me.
We don’t need a trek movie every two years.
I would welcome a quality Trek film every two or three years. Emphasis on the word ‘quality.’ Not a remake, no ‘reimaginings.’ And get away from recasting Kirk and Spock over again. Enough already. Write an original film that respects the past. Do better.
I agree with all of this.
I had the impression that when ST09 failed to hit super blockbuster status, Abrams et al. just sort of saw it as a second tier franchise. Worth doing another one for sure, but not worth putting it on the front burner.
Except it did hit blockbuster status, beating Terminator, XMen and the Da Vinci sequel that summer
The problem is they were probably expecting at least $500 million at the time. Still enough to justify another one but yeah.
Back in 09 400m ww was considered a healthy BO take
But it didn’t make $400 million it made $385 million. I’m not trying to split hairs but it goes to the point it did JUST ENOUGH to keep making them but the hope was the next would do better, MUCH better. It did better but not certainly much better either and with a budget that was $40 million more.
I always go back to Nolan Batman movies. The first one actually did a bit less than the first Kelvin movie did and they both had the same budget. Then TDK came out 3 years later and it literally did a billion dollars and with a budget of $185 million…. five million less than STID.
That’s probably the kind of thing Paramount was hoping would happen with the sequels. Maybe not a billion dollars but you’re certainly not spending that kind of money just to do under a half a billion either.
Transformers first film was also made for $150 million and that made $750 million out of the gate.
That’s the kind of money they were probably hoping to get by the second or third one because that’s the type of money real blockbusters make. $385 million is decent but still nothing you keep making movies for with those budgets.
Im sure Par were rubbing their hands expecting around 600-700m for ID after the glowing response 09 got from moviegoers, fans, critics.. Must’ve been abit dishearting when it ‘just’ did 470m and maybe took the wind out the sails for the big anniversary
It was the lame ‘Beyond’ sequel that torpedoed the Kelvin movies. ST09 and STID did huge business, ST09 is one of the top selling blu rays of all time. Both had lucrative deals for the TV premiers too.
Beyond cost a staggering $200 mill, and it isn’t up on the screen. And, Beyond had lame competition in the form of Ghostbusters. ST09 and STID held their own against tough competition like Terminator Salvation (that franchise hadn’t been ruined yet).
Had Beyonds budget been 100-120 million, it’d be no worries to make another.
I knew something was up with Beyond when my old mates (who really weren’t Trek fans but had seen ST09 and ID at the cinema and were raving about how awesome they were) didn’t bother to go see it.. It was as if they were like meh we’re not bothered now ,(I remember one texting me about how awful the trailer looked in front of Star Wars VII saying it was trying to be like Fast & Furious with rock songs and motorbike stunts!) so yeah Beyond suffered from that terrible initial trailer (in front of the generational event of the real SWs return), and maybe how the next trailer seemed abit inconsequential/looking abit Insurrectiony/for trekkies only, (unlike all the impressive 09/ID trailers that appealed to all movie goers/fans alike),
also that summer each movie seemed disappointing so when ST came out audiences were abit burned out by lame sequels/remakes like XMen, GB, Bourne, Tarzan, ID:R etc (then again even more reason for Beyond to succeed had it been really good, whereas it was just considered another abit meh/for trekkies only). And yes in comparison 09/ID did have lots of tough competition and still did well, ST09 had XMen:Wolverine, Angels&Demons, Terminator 4 (which although was directed by McG and PG13 was the future war movie and starred Christian Bale hot off The Dark Knight!),in fact ST beat them all domestic and worldwide was only beat by A&D. likewise ID had Fast 6, Iron Man 3, Superman, World War Z as competition yet still did well considering
I bought the STID dvd only because I’ve bought all the Trek films. All the while knowing it makes a nice beer coaster.
Joker in a Batman film always give it a boost plus it was heath ledger in a spectacular version of the villain
150 mil or 165 mil budget, need 2.5 to just break even, that puts breakeven over 400, and doesn’t even count advertising, or the considerable cost of holding the finished film over for something like 6 months past its original release date to get it out in summertime. box office numbers don’t mean jack if you spend too much and 09 cost over twice as much as any previous film (tho if you count inflation, it maybe cost less than TMP’s 45 or so mil.)
Numbera IMO you have summarised the handling of the the Kelvin film series post the 09 reboot perfectly. I also thought it a shame that such potential was wasted.
IMO the only way the Kelvin TOS crew comes back for another movie is a Generations 2.0 type movie that reboots the TNG crew into their own movie franchise set in the Kelvin timeline. i’d actually be interested in a Kirk/Picard crossover movie done right / better. Tom Hardy as Kelvin timeline Picard would be my pick….him and Pine would be great together
This only reminds me how weird those Beyond posters made the actors’ faces look. Mannequin on the Move!
They should have one about both Gary Mitchell and Nomad.
It’s been too long, time to move on. This is the longest drought of Star Trek movies in theaters since the first one in 1979 (8 years since Beyond, the previous record was the 7 years between Nemesis in 2002 and JJ’s Trek in 2009). But we did have a lot of Star Trek on P+ since then, so it doesn’t feel so bad.
I am ok with just another re-boot. Perhaps with new characters set during the Romulan Wars or something.
Kelvin crew is the only viable option at this time otherwise your looking at $30-40M for new crew, new ship, new sets setup costs BEFORE you even make the movie! Too much to risk on a reboot!