There’s been a fair amount of Star Trek-related material recently (the return of Short Treks, the DVD release of Discovery‘s second season and the imminent launch of the much-anticipated Picard) but while these televisual projects were garnering attention it did seem as if the cinematic strand of the Star Trek universe had somewhat stalled.
Quentin Tarantino’s plans for a R-rated adventure while still apparently under consideration seem to have been put on the back-burner for the moment and the stars of the franchise had recently indicated there was no real momentum for a fourth entry in the rebooted J J Abrams-steered continuity. It was 2016 that saw the most recent Trek film (Star Trek: Beyond directed by Justin Lin) and any follow-ups have failed to gain traction.
However in the entertainment industry, things can change on either a dime or a dilithium crystal and it now appears there is momentum of that fourth entry – with the unofficial news that director Noah Hawley is on board the Enterprise for a planned new voyage. Hawley is probably best known for show-running Fargo (currently filming its fourth season) and also his mind-bending Legion tv series (which featured an interesting but relatively minor character from X-Men continuity – David Haller, Professor Charles Xavier’s son and his multiple personalities and turned it into a literally mind-bending, surreal show, running for three seasons).
Paramount has yet to officially confirm Hawley’s involvement but if correct then it could show a vote in confidence for a return to the big screen with Hawley on both writing and directing duties. It is hoped that main stars Chris Pine (as a young Kirk), Zachary Quinto (Spock), Zoe Saldana (Uhura), Simon Pegg (Scotty), Karl Urban (McCoy), John Cho (Sulu) would all return – Anton Yelchin, who played Chekov, was killed in a tragic accident in 2016.
Thor star Chris Hemsworth, who played George Kirk, James T’s father in the first J J Abrams reboot, was originally rumoured to be making an appearance in a proposed new film but said earlier this year that was now unlikely. Both he and Chris Pine were believed to have an issue with the salary they were being offered given that they’ve both become more bankable stars in the interim, with widely-circulated but unconfirmed rumours that Paramount wanted to alter their existing contracts to reduce the production costs. Previously S J Clarkson was also being considered as the first female director to helm a Trek movie.
