Star Trek 4 has hit another snag. Director Matt Shakman has left the project due to changes in production.
In 2021, Matt Shakman, who had just directed WandaVision, was hired to direct Star Trek 4 with J. J. Abrams producing. By spring 2022 everything was looking good: venues were booked, the team was hired and production was about to start. But then everything fell apart. Shakman said the project “changed a lot” by late summer as they took down the stages and released the crew. He left the project to direct Marvel’s Fantastic Four: First Steps saying he had a scheduling conflict and a history with Marvel. This wasn’t just a random decision by the director.
People close to the situation say Paramount had a hard time finding a new director and the contracts of stars like Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto were running out. This is why the film was pulled from its December 2023 release.
Star Trek 4 has had its ups and downs since 2016. At first Chris Hemsworth was supposed to play George Kirk in a time travel story but pay disputes killed that in 2018. Directors S. J. Clarkson and Noah Hawley were attached but Hawley’s project almost filmed in Australia before it was put on hold. In 2022 J. J. Abrams said the Kelvin cast was coming back which included Pine, Quinto, Zoe Saldaña, Karl Urban, John Cho and Simon Pegg.
But the actors were surprised and didn’t know about these plans. A script was rewritten which may change the direction of the story. This added to the confusion as confirmed by makeup designer James MacKinnon and creature designer Neville Page who both worked on it for a short time before the shutdown.
Despite the delays Star Trek 4 is still happening. It’s being called the “final chapter” of the Kelvin Timeline. In March 2024 Steve Yockey who worked on The Flight Attendant was brought in to write a new version but not much is known. Chris Pine recently said he’s frustrated because he doesn’t know if anything has been done on the script. Meanwhile Paramount is working on another Star Trek origin story directed by Toby Haynes which may come first. The death of Anton Yelchin who played Chekov makes any possible reunion a little sad.
