The Next ‘Star Trek’ Sequel Remains a Mystery

Published on December 30, 2019

Over the last few years, another Star Trek sequel has been waiting in the wings. An array of directors have come and gone from helming the next installment in the franchise, including S.J. Clarkson, who would’ve been the first woman to direct a Star Trek movie.

That iteration of the sequel fell apart after contract disputes between Paramount and stars Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth. After that version of Star Trek 4 was canned, another option was Quentin Tarantino’s R-rated Star Trek, which Q.T. recently said he may quietly step away from making. 

Noah Hawley Takes Over the Captain’s Seat 

So, where does all these changes leave the franchise? In the hands of Faro creator and Lucy in the Sky director, Noah Hawley. The author, showrunner, and filmmaker landed the job after the disappointing performance of his first feature film, which was torn apart by critics and underwhelmed at the box-office.

Lucy in the Sky was one of the most notable bombs of the year, but it ultimately led to Hawley, who’s made very few creative missteps in the last few years, to the Star Trek series. According to star Simon Pegg, Hawley’s vision may not involve the new crew of the USS Enterprise. 

During an interview with Gold Derby, Pegg — who plays Scotty and co-wrote the last sequel — said Hawley’s Star Trek may not include the original cast and do something new with the franchise: 

No, I don’t know anything about it. Noah Hawley’s been hired to write something for Star Trek, which is very exciting. He’s a brilliant writer and always creates interesting stuff. Whether or not we’re involved in that, I don’t know. I don’t think so. I don’t think that Noah’s thing is necessarily going to be Star Trek 4. I’m talking out of my ass, as usual. But we’ll see what happens with that.

All of this, of course, is up in the air and unconfirmed by Paramount or Hawley. For all we know, we’ll see the most recent cast members back on more space adventures, but Pegg’s response doesn’t inspire confidence. 

The Tarantino Star Trek 

In the past, Pegg has expressed doubts about Tarantino’s Star Trek happening. Recently, even Q.T. himself cast doubt. Pegg says, though, that his R-rated version of Star Trek is still a possibility if the director decides he wants to make the film: 

As far as I know, Quentin Tarantino’s Star Trek idea is still kind of in the mix. That’s down to [him] about what he wants to do next, you know. There’s been talk of various spinoffs possibly. We’ll see. I’m always happy to get back into that universe. I think it’ll be bittersweet for us now to do another one after losing Anton [Yelchin], just because we were very much a family. And we’ll miss him more than we normally do, because he will be conspicuous by his absence. But we’ll see what happens.

The only downside of Tarantino directing a Star Trek movie is it would be his 10th and final film rather than another original Tarantino story. Tarantino ending his film career with a sequel or I.P. property doesn’t sound right. That’s just not Tarantino’s style.

A Recap of the Franchise’s Up and Downs 

Over the last ten years, Paramount has had mixed success with their Star Trek reboot. J.J. Abrams kicked the series off with a bang in 2009 with a fresh and exciting spin on the series that was, as you may remember, “not your father’s Star Trek.” It’s a great piece of spectacle with pitch-perfect casting. 

The new crew remained charismatic in Star Trek Into Darkness, but Abrams dropped the ball on the sequel, botched the return of Khan, and the fun was no longer. Star Trek Beyond, however, was a blast thanks to Fast & Furious director, Justin Lin. He directed a great action movie with character and personality, but for whatever reason, it was the lowest-grossing Trek pic in recent history.

The under-performance of the sequel left Paramount uncertain of where to go next.

Jack Giroux is a Staff Writer at Grit Daily. Based in Los Angeles, he is an entertainment journalist who's previously written for Thrillist, Slash Film, Film School Rejects, and The Film Stage.

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