The Star Trek franchise might finally be inching closer to returning to the big screen. With Skydance now fully merged with Paramount, the company has made it clear it wants Star Trek films back in theaters.
A Starfleet origin movie is already in the works, and there’s still talk of a fourth Kelvin timeline film despite years of stalled development. Now, Zachary Quinto is stepping in to push things forward in his own way.
Quinto, who plays Spock in the reboot films, recently spoke with Collider while promoting the upcoming season of his medical drama Brilliant Minds. When asked if the merger might improve the chances of another movie following 2016’s Star Trek: Beyond, the actor revealed that he personally reached out to J.J. Abrams about it:
“I actually just emailed J.J. this week to say, ‘Hey, this would be really exciting.’ I think fans would be really open to it and really welcome a final movie. We’ve been talking about it for long enough that it seems like time to move it forward.
“So, I’m beating that drum as much as I can. I think it would be really great to do a fourth movie, and let’s make it happen. There are so many possibilities in the stories we could tell.
“I think there’s something really wonderful about coming back to characters that we all have a history with, and we all have a real deep connection to, and a fond relationship with. I hope that we can, and I hope that we do.”
It’s kind of amusing that Quinto is firing off emails to abrams reminding him that movie fans have been clamoring for over the past decade. After all, this is the same project that’s gone through multiple failed scripts, so it’s hard to fault Quinto for keeping the pressure on.
For now, Paramount has not confirmed a Kelvin film is officially in production, but Quinto remains hopeful, making it clear he’d be back in a heartbeat:
“I would absolutely love to do another Star Trek movie. I don’t understand why we haven’t done one yet, but hopefully now that the Skydance and Paramount merger is moving forward, Skydance was the financier of all the Star Trek movies that we’ve done so far, and have been great partners in those films, and I would love to revisit it.
“I think all of us would. It’s been ten years since we made the last movie, and nine years since it came out, and I do think that it would be a really wonderful way to close that chapter of the story and the characters that we’ve all come to love and come to enjoy inhabiting as much as we have. I think it would be really wonderful.”
That “all of us” is the big question mark. Getting the entire ensemble back, which includes Chris Pine, Zoe Saldaña, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, and John Cho, won’t come cheap.
All of them are in demand across Hollywood, which makes the logistics and contracts as much of an obstacle as the story itself. And then there’s the matter of casting new talent to fill villain roles or fresh characters, which would only drive the budget higher.
Even so, the passion is still there. If Quinto is ready to jump back in, you can bet the rest of the cast would rally if the green light finally comes. Fans are just as eager. It’s been nearly a decade since the last Kelvin movie, and it would be cool if we got at least one final adventure with this crew.
Until that day arrives, there’s hope that Trek can find new ways back to theaters.
