Star Trek 4 confirmed with Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Zoe Saldaña returning

Star Trek 4 is getting the gang back together and production is due to start this year, Deadline reports.

Although no official deals have been made yet, Paramount is reportedly in talks with original cast members Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldaña, and John Cho. They played Enterprise crew Kirk, Spock, Scotty, Bones, Uhura, and Sulu in 2009’s Star Trek and its two follow-ups, 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness and 2016’s Star Trek Beyond.

Anton Yelchin, who played Chekov in the movies, passed away in 2016, just a month before Star Trek Beyond was released. Whether or not the character will be recast in Star Trek 4 has yet to be confirmed.

WandaVision director Matt Shakman is helming the movie – he’s also directed episodes of shows including Game of Thrones, Succession, Mad Men, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. J.J. Abrams, who directed the first two movies, is returning as a producer, and filming is due to start in late 2022. Josh Friedman, who co-wrote Avatar 2 with James Cameron, and Cameron Squires, who worked with Shakman on WandaVision, are on screenwriting duties.

Talk of a new Star Trek movie has been around for a while, with both Quentin Tarantino and Fargo showrunner Noah Hawley reported to be directing new installments – The Revenant screenwriter Mark L. Smith worked with the former to script the unmade movie. 

While we wait for Star Trek 4 to arrive on the big screen, check out our list of the other upcoming movies to get excited about in 2022 and beyond.