Heavy illustration A New Star Trek Movie is in the works
Thanks to a concise note from StarTrek.com today, fans worldwide now know the date of the release for the next Star Trek film — June 9, 2023.
According to the site’s brief statement, Paramount Studios unveiled the date for a new untitled Star Trek Universe movie on June 9, 2023.
That was the extent of the announcement, which left many questions unanswered. One person, who is very much connected with the franchise, did let fans know his opinion. In an interview with PopCulture.com, Zachary Quinto made a few statements about a forthcoming Trek film. Fans will recognize Quinto from the three Kelvin-verse Trek films as Mr. Spock.
“Honestly, I have no real idea what’s going on with Star Trek,” Quinto told PopCulture.com.” [But] we all love each other, and we all love that experience and I’m sure if it comes back around and we’re all available, I’m sure we’d be happy to jump back on board.”
Though Paramount Studios’ announcement did not get into any details, Heavy did report back in March 2021 that J.J. Abrams gave writing duties of a new Star Trek film to Kalinda Vazquez. That announcement, which was initially reported by Deadline with the note that Abrams’ production company, Bad Robot, would be involved in the film.
Vazquez wrote two episodes of Short Treks and the Star Trek: Discovery episode “Terra Firma, Part 2.”
Unfortunately, the statement from StarTrek.com today made no mention of this earlier news, which makes it unclear if these are indeed the same projects.
Trek Movie Uncertainty
Since the release of 2016’s Star Trek Beyond, news of the “next” Trek movie has become something fans are used to. According to ComicBook.com, “Star Trek: Beyond” underperformed at the box office. Seemingly, every few months, the media reports of a new project that will either extend the series started by Abrams and Bad Robot or create something entirely new.
The first plan was, according to a report from Variety, was letting director S.J. Clarkson take the reigns of a “Star Trek 4” film. This was the treatment that would have brought back Chris Hemsworth as George Kirk. Hemsworth appeared in the role for just a few moments at the start of “Star Trek” (2009) and has since gone onto worldwide fame in the role of Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This idea didn’t get off the ground, as Chris Pine (James Kirk) and Hemsworth both left due to contract reasons, according to ComicBook.com’s reporting.
However, among the most talked-about “Star Trek 4” film possibilities was the interest from internationally famous filmmaker Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino’s idea for a Trek film, as reported by IndieWire, sounds a bit like “Star Trek” episode “A Piece of the Action.” That story centered around the crew of the Enterprise interacting with a New York-style mafia situation.
This story treatment of “Star Trek” did make the Kelvin Kirk (Pine) take notice. Pine was reported by IndieWire as saying a Tarantino-helmed Trek film would be “tremendously entertaining.”
Nick Meyer to the Rescue
Meanwhile, the man who Consequence.net once credited as the man who “saved ‘Star Trek'”, writer and director Nicholas Meyer, also took a turn pitching an idea to the brass at Paramount. Meyer got this reputation among some “Star Trek” fans, according to Consequence.net, after directing the much-loved film “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” which came on the heels of the less warmly-recieved “Star Trek: The Motion Picture.“ According to an interview with TrekMovie, Meyer said that this idea would not take place in the Kelvin-verse, which would mean that Chris Pine and the rest of the crew would likely not be involved.
A different insider from ”The Wrath of Khan” film, Robert Sallin, has his own ”Star Trek” film idea, which he told Den of Geek about in a lengthy discussion.
“I don’t have it completely written, but I have a lot of it written,” Sallin told Den of Geek writer Don Kaye in 2020. “I have a concept for another Star Trek feature that I’ve had discussions with Paramount about — at least on the phone. This one, I guarantee you is unlike anything that has been done in Star Trek, and it will be part of the canon, but they (the studio) don’t want to talk about it until they see what Noah Hawley does.”
Speaking of Hawley, the creator of the FX series Fargo was tied to Trek for quite some time. Slashfilm reported that the film would have centered on “a virus that wipes out vast parts of the known universe.” He is no longer connected to the franchise according to a report from Deadline.
Why Not Announce on First Contact Day?
Forbes has reported that CBS and Viacom have merged. Since the merger, the rights problems that plagued the “Star Trek” franchise were supposed to be no longer an issue, at least according to ScreenRant. Both Paramount (which oversees the “Star Trek” films) and CBS (which controls the “Star Trek” television) were expected to be united together after the merger. Some fans have wondered why the announcement for the release date of “Star Trek 4” came a few days after Star Trek First Contact Day, which seemed like an ideal venue for such an announcement.
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