Simon Pegg has said Noah Hawley’s Star Trek film might not be the long-awaited Star Trek 4. Following the 2016 release of Star Trek Beyond, the future of the film franchise kicked off by J.J. Abrams’ 2009 reboot appeared to be in limbo. Early reports suggested Star Trek 4 was in development and would bring back Chris Hemsworth as Captain Kirk’s (Chris Pine) father, but that later seemed to fall through after failed contract negotiations. In late 2017, reports surfaced that Quentin Tarantino would write and potentially direct a new Trek film, but lately it has been uncertain as to whether that was still happening.
Last month, it was officially announced that Noah Hawley (Fargo, Legion) will write and direct the next Star Trek film. No further details were given at the time, but many assumed Hawley’s Star Trek film would be the fourth installment of the rebooted series that features Pine’s Kirk, Zachary Quinto’s Spock, and Zoe Saldana’s Uhura.
Now that idea seems less certain. While speaking with Gold Derby, Simon Pegg (Scotty in the films) said he isn’t sure if Hawley’s film will bring the reboot cast back. Pegg wrote Star Trek Beyond alongside Doug Jung, and some wondered if he would end up writing Star Trek 4 before Hawley was hired. His full comments are in the space below.
Pegg then went on to say that Tarantino’s Trek movie is “still kind of in the mix”, and that there has been talk of potential spin-offs. He also added that he would be happy to return to the Star Trek universe, though it would feel bittersweet since Anton Yelchin would not be involved. Yelchin, who played Chekov in the films, tragically passed away in 2016 just before the release of Beyond. That film was dedicated to him and Leonard Nimoy, the original Spock who passed away in 2015.
“No, I don’t know anything about it. I think - Noah Hawley’s been hired to write something for Star Trek, which is very exciting because he’s a brilliant writer and always creating interesting stuff. Whether or not we’re involved with that I don’t know. I don’t think so. I don’t think - I don’t think that Noah’s thing is necessarily gonna be Star Trek 4. I’m talking out of my a** as usual, which gets me into trouble all the time. But we’ll see what happens with that.”
Fans were excited to hear there were new developments surrounding Star Trek 4 when Hawley was tapped for the film, and hearing that he might not even be working on the fourth film is both disappointing and concerning. While Star Trek Beyond was generally well-liked both critically and with audiences, it under-performed at the box office. Star Trek now appeared to be another franchise that after suffering from diminishing box office returns, would get shelved by the studio. Hawley’s involvement seemed like a step in the right direction, but it looks like the Star Trek franchise is still in the same spot it was in before: with some films in development, but nothing confirmed. Fans will have to wait a bit longer to learn exactly what’s coming from the Star Trek universe.
More: Star Trek 4: What New Director Noah Hawley’s Previous Movies & Shows Reveal
Source: Gold Derby
