Toby Haynes is tapped to direct the new origin story movie with Seth Grahame-Smith penning the script, while 'Star Trek 4' starring Chris Pine remains in active development.
- Jan 11, 2024
AceShowbiz - Paramount Pictures is expanding the "Star Trek" universe with a new film separated from the already existing movie series. The studio has tapped "Andor" director Toby Haynes to helm the new prequel movie with Seth Grahame-Smith penning the script.
According to Deadline which first reported the news, plot details are still kept under wraps, but sources said the project will be an origin story that takes place decades before events in the 2009 "Star Trek" film that rebooted the franchise. J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot is producing the film, which is yet to have an actor attached to star.
Meanwhile, a fourth installment in the existing "Star Trek" film series remains in active development. "Star Trek 4", which is slated to be the final chapter in the main series, has been long in development and has been going through a number of iterations.
In February 2022, Abrams said at a Paramount Global investors day presentation that the new "Star Trek" movie would begin shooting by the end of that year, before it was removed from the studio's film slate in September of the same year.
Recently, "Star Trek 4" writer Lindsey Anderson Beer assured that the movie is "still on the tracks." She told Collider in September 2023, "It is, it's still on the tracks. I love that project, and it was another one that I had to hop off of to direct this movie, and that was a hard thing to do. But I love that everybody involved with that project."
Chris Pine is set to reprise his role as James T. Kirk. The actor previously admitted he is "frustrated" about being kept out of the loop after it was removed from Paramount's release calendar following Matt Shakman's departure as director. Back in March, Pine told Esquire magazine, "I don't know anything. In 'Star Trek' land, the actors are usually the last people to find out anything. I know costume designers that have read scripts before the actors."
The "Wonder Woman" actor admitted that he and his co-stars were taken by surprise when producer J.J. Abrams announced that "Star Trek 4" was in the works and has become used to a lack of clarity by movie bosses. He said, "I would say it's frustrating. It doesn't really foster the greatest sense of partnership, but it's how it's always been. I love the character. I love the people. I love the franchise. But to try to change the system in which things are created - I just can't do it. I don't have the energy."
