Black Mirror And Andor Director Tapped To Helm New Star Trek Movie
As reported in Deadline today, Paramount has officially announced that they are developing a new "Star Trek" feature film. It will be the first "Star Trek" movie since the release of "Star Trek Beyond" in 2016, but the fourteenth "Star Trek" film overall.
The new film will be directed by Toby Haynes, a prolific British television director who has helmed episodes of "M.I. High," "Doctor Who," and the British version of "Utopia." His most recent directing job was six episodes of the hit "Star Wars" series "Andor." Interestingly, he also directed the celebrated "Black Mirror" episode "USS Callister," which was a darkly humorous riff on "Star Trek" and science fiction fandom. He also directed the 2019 TV movie "Brexit: The Uncivil War" starring Benedict Cumberbatch. The new "Star Trek" film is slated to be written by Seth Grahame-Smith, the author of the books "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" and "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter." Grahame-Smith also wrote the screenplays for the film adaptation of "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," as well as Tim Burton's "Dark Shadows" and co-wrote "The Lego Batman Movie."
The new Trek movie will be produced by J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot studio, meaning it will connect with the three Kelvin-verse movies released between 2009 and 2016. Deadline reported that, while the plot is still unrevealed, this new film will take place many years before the 2009 "Star Trek" film, and will serve as an origin of sorts. It seems this new film will take a similar approach to "Star Trek: Enterprise" in 2001, as that series was set a century before the original 1966 TV show.
But what about Star Trek 4?
Buried in Deadline's report is a line that a fourth, Enterprise-centric film in the main Kelvin Universe isn't necessarily dead. In theory, that film could still get made and conclude the series, even if this new film sends the franchise in a different direction.
Rumors about a fourth Kelvin "Star Trek" film have been swirling ever since the release of "Star Trek Beyond," as Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto — who played younger versions of Captain Kirk and Commander Spock — had already signed a contract to appear in a fourth movie. Deadline announced at the time that the fourth Kelvin movie was going to feature a time travel plot wherein Kirk went back in time to interact with his deceased father. Chris Hemsworth briefly appeared as Kirk's father in the 2009 "Star Trek," and had become a massive movie star in the ensuing years.
This announcement swirled together with the news that Quentin Tarantino was writing a "Star Trek" script that he claimed was to be bleak and violent. Some speculated that audiences would soon see both movies, although it's unclear if they would take place in the same continuity. In 2018, Paramount must have felt ambitious, as they claimed to be actively developing three "Star Trek" movies simultaneously. This was after the launch of CBS All Access, now called Paramount+, and the accompanying onslaught of new "Star Trek" TV. In December of 2019, however, Viacom underwent a major merger, and the film and TV arms of "Star Trek" reunited after 14 years apart.
Ever since, various "Star Trek" movies have been in production, including one written by Matt Shakman, one by Noah Hawley, and one by Kalinda Vazquez. As far as we now know, those films have all fallen apart. Haynes' version seems to want to sidestep casting issues, opting for a new "Star Trek" story.
This is a developing story and we will report with more details as they become available.