Following a successful reboot of the franchise, Paramount has been trying for years to get a fourth “Star Trek” movie together. Previous incarnations attempted to bring back the cast led by Chris Pine as James T. Kirk and hoped to employ time travel conceits to include Chris Hemsworth, who plays Kirk’s father, seen in the initial 2009 “Star Trek” reboot by J.J. Abrams. Talks broke down over salary with the cast— “Star Trek Beyond” wasn’t all that financially successful, and the studio had to hold a hard line over cost— and the studio attempted to consider other “Star Trek” films, including one from Quentin Tarantino and screenwriter Mark L. Smith (“The Revenant”), and another from Noah Hawley.
Now, things have changed, and Paramount seems to have inadvertently put themselves in the same position and at an even greater disadvantage. Last week, during Paramount’s big investor day event, the studio announced they were planning to shoot “Star Trek 4” by the end of 2022 with the original cast, Pine et al., returning. But one major problem. The announcement was apparently premature on Paramount’s part. The Hollywood Reporter revealed that agents representing Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldaña, and John Cho were just as surprised as fans that their clients would be returning for a fourth film since no talks had resumed and certainly no deals were in place.
THR says, according to sources, the sci-fi adventure movie has yet to be greenlit, and a budget isn’t even in place. Two key things that need to be completed before production dates, prep, and scheduling can begin, a clear sign that the next movie isn’t a sure bet just yet. In other words, Paramount’s announcement was meant to act as a big flex to Wall Street investors, but no deals and no real plan is in place. This means Paramount has lost all leverage with the cast’s agents, and those agents can now easily gouge the studio who has already announced a fourth film is coming with their talent involved. Talk about the left hand not talking to the right hand and Paramount totally screwing themselves financially (studios never learn from situations that are just a few years old, evidently).
A script is still currently in development, and “WandaVision” director Matt Shakman is attached to helm. Paramount still hopes to have a completed movie by December 22, 2023, but if every agent for the cast decides to take advantage of this unforced error, aren’t we looking at the same situation, where the budget has ballooned, the cast salaries take up most of it, and Paramount is either forced to can the film, or swallow their pride and go ahead with it regardless, knowing they already announced it to the world?
Given how obvious a strategic blunder this is, even you or I can see how this cart before the horse tactic is going to totally backfire, does this not make one wonder what is going on at Paramount and how in god’s name they’re going to have a successful “Star Trek 4”? Stay tuned to this space because it’s likely not the last time we will hear about the situation before the film is actually greenlit.