Last summer, in the days and weeks leading up to the release ofStar Trek Beyond, the third installment of the theatrical reboot series, a fourth movie was announced, with quite the surprising twist. Just days beforeStar Trek Beyondhit theaters, Paramount Pictures confirmed thatStar Trek 4is happening, withChris Hemsworthset to reprise his role from the 2009Star Trekadventure as George Kirk, the father of James Tiberius Kirk (Chris Pine). Since George died just as James was being born, father and son never had the chance to meet, until now. While it still remains unclear as to how this will happen,Chris Hemsworthknows that it will be amazing.
The last update we had onStar Trek 4was in early December, when writer/starSimon Peggteased that he had already started writing the script with his partnerDoug Jung, who co-wrote the script for last year’sStar Trek Beyond. During the Golden Globes red carpet last night,MTVcaught up withChris Hemsworth, who revealed that he has spoken to producerJ.J. Abramsand heard his pitch on the story. Here’s what he had to say below.
“I’ve spoken toJ.J. Abrams, and he has an amazing pitch on the whole thing.”
Unfortunately, the actor couldn’t reveal much more than that. When asked how this reunion between the late George Kirk and the living James T. Kirk would happen, the actor could only say, “I honestly don’t know.“Chris PineandZachary Quintowere previously confirmed to return as Kirk and Spock, and withSimon Peggworking on the script, he’ll most certainly be back to play Scotty as well. The rest of the main cast,Zoe Saldana(Uhura),Karl Urban(Bones) andJohn Cho(Sulu) are also expected to return. This sequel will be missing one beloved cast member, though, who isn’t expected to be re-cast.
Just a few weeks beforeStar Trek Beyondhit theaters, a tragic and freak accident occurred that took the life ofAnton Yelchin, who played Chekov in 2009’sStar Trek, 2013’sStar Trek Into Darknessand last summer’sStar Trek Beyond. ProducerJ.J. Abramsconfirmed that the studio will not re-cast another actor to play Chekov, although the producers aren’t sure how to explain Chekov’s absence in the new movie. At the time,J.J. Abramssaid it was still too early to determine how the character’s absence will be explained, but now withSimon PeggandDoug Jungworking on the script, perhaps a decision has been made about how the franchise will bid farewell to this character.
It hasn’t been confirmed who will directStar Trek 4quite yet, but it’s possible thatStar Trek BeyondfilmmakerJustin Lincould in fact return to the helm.Star Trek Beyondwas a hit with critics, earning an impressive 84% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but it fell quite short of both its predecessors at the box office.Star Trek Beyondearned $158.8 million at the domestic box office, and $343.4 million worldwide, from a massive $185 million budget. While those numbers are certainly solid, they’re down fromStar Trek’s $257.7 million domestic and $385.6 million worldwide total, andStar Trek Into Darkness' $228.7 million domestic total and $467.3 million worldwide total.Star Trek Beyondalso debuted in the midst of the franchise’s 50th Anniversary, which started with the originalStar TrekTV series that debuted in 1966.
