It’s been more than two years since Paramount announced plans for a fourth Kelvin Timeline Star Trek film featuring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and the rest of the gang — with big-name Marvel Cinematic Universe star Chris Hemsworth returning to the franchise as George Kirk from the 2009 initial film in the series.
Back in April, director S.J. Clarkson was named as the director for the upcoming project, and since then rumblings about pre-production plans picking up steam have been starting to bubble up, including comments from Star Trek Beyond co-writer (and ‘Scotty’ star) Simon Pegg about his excitement to get back into outer space.
Tonight, The Hollywood Reporter details a breakdown in new negotiations between Pine and Hemsworth and studio Paramount Pictures / Skydance Media over potential budget-breaking new financial contracts with the studio, citing the diminished box-office take of Star Trek Beyond back in 2016 — and the two Hollywood hunks appear to have walked away from the studio after their demands to “stick to existing deals” have not been met.
Per THR:
The deal points came down to the usual suspect: money. Pine and Hemsworth, among Hollywood’s A-list when starring in DC or Marvel movies, are said to be asking the studios to stick to existing deals. Paramount, according to insiders, contends that Trek is not like a Marvel or Star Wars movie and is trying to hold the line on a budget.
The actors, according to sources, insist they have deals in place and that the studios are reneging on them, forcing them to take pay cuts as they try to budget a movie that is following a mediocre performer.
Pine, at least, has had a deal in place for several years. The actor, now a key player in the Wonder Woman franchise, signed up for a fourth movie when he made his deal for 2016’s Star Trek Beyond. Hemsworth has been attached to Trek 4 since Paramount, then run by the previous regime headed by Brad Grey, announced the fourth installment in 2016, although his exact status remains murky.
The studio, however, is backing its budget tough talk with past performance numbers. The last movie, Star Trek Beyond, grossed only $343 million worldwide on a budget of $190 million. In fact, one insider says the companies lost money on the movie.
Paramount originally re-signed Pine and Quinto for a potential fourth film all the way back in 2015, but in the years since, Pine’s star has risen with success in films like Hell or High Water, Wonder Woman, A Wrinkle in Time, and the in-production Wonder Woman 1984.
Hemsworth, of course, has been one of the biggest faces of Marvels Avengers franchise for nearly a decade, with blockbusters Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Infinity War hitting theaters in the last year.
The studio intends to keep moving forward with Star Trek 4 development, THR reports.
Either way, Paramount and Skydance insiders say the movie, also produced by J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, remains a priority development and is not being put on hold. Adding a veneer of enterprise to the project is that for the first time in the franchise history, a female director, S. J. Clarkson (Jessica Jones, Succession), is sitting in the captain’s chair.
While Pine and Hemsworth were the first two key actors the studio wanted to lock down, Zachary Quinto, John Cho, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, and Karl Urban were expected to follow. (Executive producer J.J. Abrams has already confirmed that there would be no recasting of the late Anton Yelchin’s Chekov after the actor passed away in 2016.)
After three films, Chris Pine has certainly laid claim to the role of Jim Kirk for a new generation, and it’s difficult to see how the films series could proceed if the actor does not return to claim the captain’s chair for himself.
We’ll continue to bring you the latest news on this Trek 4 development as it breaks.