Next Star Trek movie finds its director and writers

The next Star Trek movie has a new director (again) and writers (again)! Deadline report Paramount have signed up Matt Shakman to direct a script by Lindsey Beer and Geneva Robertson-Dworet.

According to Deadline, getting Shakman is a coup", as he is in much demand following success directing every episode (and executive producing all but one) of Marvel's WandaVision. His other credits include directing and producing numerous episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Great, and lots of other TV directing jobs.

Geneva Robertson-Dworet also has Marvel roots, having written Captain Marvel, and before that the 2018 Tomb Raider movie. Lindsey Beer doesn't have much made yet, but has written for several projects in development, including a number co-writing with Robertson-Dworet: Another Marvel story, Silver Sable, part of Sony's Spiderverse, and a couple of movies in Paramount's G.I. Joe and co universe, Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light and M.A.S.K.: Mobile Armored Strike Kommand, whose co-writers also include another trek scribe, Michael Chabon.

Next Star Trek movie coming in 2023

After half a decade of bouncing ideas around for the next Star Trek movie, Paramount Pictures seem to finally found one they like, as they have now scheduled the next Star Trek movie for release on the 9th of June 2023. The film will be produced by J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot productions, who also brought us the previous three Kelvin timeline movies. Officially, that is all we know so far. 

io9 report, via "a source close to the project" this is not one of the previously considered scripts that have been in the offing over the past few years - Even though the most recent project know about, from Discovery writer Kalinda Vazquez, was only revealed to the world a month ago!

Will this continue the adventures of the familiar Kelvin timeline crew? Will Jaylah come back? - I strongly hope for both! - Or will it be something completely new in the Kelvin or Prime timelines? Production must be getting underway fairly soon to make that date just over two years away, so we'll no doubt here some more details fairly soon.

Kalinda Vazquez to write latest Star Trek movie

The ongoing efforts to get another Star Trek movie into production seem to have started over once more, with Deadline reporting Paramount have signed up Discovery writer Kalinda Vazquez to write a new Star Trek movie. There's no detail just yet on which crew or timeline might feature in the film, although it will be a Bad Robot production, who of course previously brought us the three Kelvin timeline movies.

Vazquez's has previously written the Pike-focused Short Treks episode Ask Not, and Discovery's recent return to the mirror universe, Terra Firma, Part 2. She has also been a consulting producer for the latter half of Discovery season three. Her other cool Star Trek connection is that she is named after a Star Trek character! Kelinda the Kelvan, from the TOS episode By Any Other Name.

Paramount considering where to go next with Star Trek movies

It seems Paramount are taking a fresh look at their Star Trek movie options. According to Deadline, the new President of Motion Picture Group At Paramount, Emma Watts is apparently considering what path is best to take, in a hope of revitalising the movie wing of the franchise. Deadline's reporting of reveals new details of previously announced projects in development, and where they currently stand as prospects.

What Deadline have a feel of, is that while Paramount see some of the scripts they have in the works as good potential spin-offs - Working as stand-alones akin to Logan next to the wider X-Men franchise - They feel a need to first revitalise a core movie franchise, and to build on that.

Lower Decks, CBS All Access, and other Trek TV updates

A few Trek-TV updates today. No major news on releases just yet, but of sense of how things are progressing, and the media landscape Trek is working with. Continue below to find out more...

Mike McMahan, the creator of Lower Decks, the forthcoming Star Trek animated comedy, recently spoke to Inverse, about his other new animated sci-fi show, Solar Opposites, and gave a little update on where things are on the Trek front. He also gave a nice summary of what Lower Decks is all about, and it's relationship to wider Trek:

Within Lower Decks, there is a proper in-canon Star Trek show. It takes place during the TNG era. It's on a ship that feels like it’s always existed there and the bridge crew is dealing with big, never before seen Starfleet Star Trek type stories. So every episode has a thing like that happening in it. And then, on top of that, we've got A stories and B stories that are emotionally driven from the point of view of the lower deckers on the ships. So it was an area of storytelling that people had covered every once in a while on Star Trek, but never built a show around.

It was important to me that if you know everything about Star Trek and you watch this show then it fits into Canon and doesn't break Star Trek. In fact, it grows it. And if you know nothing about Star Trek, then all of the canon in Lower Decks feels like mythological, broad understandable sci-fi stuff. So you can still enjoy Lower Decks even if it's your first Star Trek show.

No Chrises (no Kirks) for Star Trek 4?

The forthcoming fourth Kelvin timeline Star Trek movie, which was supposed to see Captain James T. Kirk meet his late father George Kirk, appears to have lost both of said Kirks, as Chrises Pine and Hemsworth have reportedly both walked away from the roles due to negotationations on the pay for the increasingly high profile actors falling apart.

According to The Hollywood Reporter this apparently comes down to Paramount trying to keep costs low due to Star Trek Beyond not doing as well as hoped, this has led to them trying to get Chris Pine to take a pay cut despite him already being signed up to do Star Trek 4 as part of the deal that got him back for Beyond. Exactly when Chris Hemsworth signed up and to what is less clear, but the same effect seems to have occured.

Star Trek 4 finds its director

The new on-screen Star Trek news keeps coming! Variety report Paramount are in the process of signing up S.J. Clarkson to direct the next movie; a notable move in terms of representation behind the scenes, as this will make the next Star Trek movie the first in the franchise to be directed by a woman.

This appears to be Clarkson's first movie, but she has numerous TV credits to her name, spanning a diverse range of series; starting out with episodes of UK series such as Hustle, and Life on Mars; before moving across the pond to work on numerous popular series including Heroes, Ugly Betty, House, Dexter, Orange is the New Black, Jessica Jones, and The Defenders. She has also been the sole director of a couple of miniseries; Love Nina, and most recently Collateral.

Variety believe Clarkson will be working on the project announced a couple of years ago, featuring the return of Chris Hemsworth as George Kirk, with a script by J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay. They also state that the other film currently in development, under the guidance of Quentin Tarantino will likely come after this fourth Kelvin timeline movie, while The Hollywood Reporter believe the Tarantino film will also be set in a separate timeline.

Two Star Trek movies confirmed in development

After much recent rumour and confusion about what path the next Star Trek movie is taking, Paramount Pictures CEO Jim Gianopulos has cleared things up a little by confirming that there are indeed two Star Trek movies currently in development. Details remain sparse, but The Hollywood Reporter report that he made comments at CinemaCon yesterday noting that Paramount and Skydance were at work on the two films.

Does that mean both will actually get made? Who knows! Or that both will be Kelvin timeline? Also a mystery! Zachary Quinto (Spock) seemed similarly unsure when he remarked on the current possibilities when talking to the Observer recently:

I mean the only thing I can say is there’s a lot of energy around more movies. Which ones are going to happen, which ones might happen first? I can’t really say, I don’t know honestly. I know there are lots of conversations being had about it. I know there are plans afoot to do at least one if not more movies.

I know Paramount, under their new administration, is eager to keep the franchise going. I feel like as soon as we go reconvene and then there’s a script that the studio believes in and a director, whether it’s Quentin or somebody else, that comes up… Hopefully, we’ll move it all forward. I’m pretty sure Quentin is doing his other project, which he wrote, so that might kind of contextualize things in terms of the chronology of how we might make more than one movie, if we make more than one movie.

Star Trek 4 gets a writer, and other updates

Tarantino and Abrams in 2009, via GQ

Work to bring Quentin Tarantino's vision for Star Trek 4 to life seems to be continuing apace, with Deadline now reporting the film has signed up a writer, Mark L. Smith. After a writers room exercise, it seems Smith was picked out of several candidates, and will now write the film while Tarantino is busy on his current project - Deadline's latest report suggest Tarantino remains keen to direct the Star Trek film too.

Best known for the gritty western, The Revenant, it is perhaps not a coincidence that Smith's next film, Overload (due next year), is being produced by J.J. Abrams, Bad Robot, and Paramount. Previous films generally have a horror bent, including Vacancy, and Martyrs.

Which is maybe fitting, given Deadline also report Paramount have oked the Tarantino Trek film to be R-rated. This could mean a bit of profanity being thrown around the bridge, more explicit violence, or sexual content. Which would all be fairly new to the generally not so edgy (in that regard) Star Trek universe - We might find ourselves with Kirk declaring something a little stronger than "double dumbass"!

Quentin Tarantino pitching for next Star Trek movie

Tarantino and Abrams in 2009, via GQ

Rumour is abound that Quentin Tarantino has come up with an idea for a new Star Trek movie, and having pitched it to J.J. Abrams work is afoot to develop it. As Deadline have reported:

Sources said that Tarantino has come up with a great idea for a Star Trek movie at Paramount. After sharing his idea with JJ Abrams (who himself is busy prepping Star Wars Episode IX), I’ve heard the plan is to assemble a writers room of scribes who’ll hear Tarantino’s take and begin to put together a movie. If it all works out, Tarantino might direct it, with Abrams producing.

Presumably, if Tarantino came to Abrams with this idea, it isn't related to the previously announced fourth Kelvin timeline movie set to feature George Kirk, which Paramount went as far as as announcing the casting of (Chris Hemsworth returning) last year. That was supposed to be written by J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, having a second go after their ideas for the third movie were put aside for what became Star Trek Beyond.

Daddy Kirk to return for Star Trek 4

Paramount must be feeling confident about Star Trek Beyond, as they have today announced the Kelvin timeline will continue in Star Trek 4 (actual title still to come), with a surprise returning star. Joining the rest of the crew will be Chris Hemsworth, aka George Kirk, who we last saw blowing himself up to cripple the Narada and allow the rest of the crew of the USS Kelvin (including his son and wife, James and Winona) to survive.

If Kirk manages to overcome the shadow of his farther in Star Trek Beyond, this could certainly throw a spanner in his emotional works!

Here's Paramount's brief press release:

Paramount Pictures, Skydance and Bad Robot today announced that the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise will return to the big screen for another voyage.

In the next installment of the epic space adventure, Chris Pine’s Captain Kirk will cross paths with a man he never had a chance to meet, but whose legacy has haunted him since the day he was born: his father.

Chris Hemsworth, who appeared in 2009’s “STAR TREK,” will return to the space saga as George Kirk to star alongside Pine.

The remaining cast is expected to return.

J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay will write the screenplay. J.J. Abrams and Lindsey Weber will produce through Bad Robot Productions. David Ellison and Dana Goldberg of Skydance will executive produce.