Paramount Reportedly Wants a Fresh Star Trek Movie, but Not With Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and the Rest of the J.J. Abrams Reboot Crew - IGN | Goose Pod

Authors: Wesley Yin-Poole

Publisher:

IGN

Published: 11/4/2025

Language:English

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Elon

Good morning Norris, I'm Elon, and this is Goose Pod for you. Today is Friday, November 07th.

Taylor Weaver

I'm Taylor Weaver. We are here to discuss Paramount Reportedly Wants a Fresh Star Trek Movie, but Not With Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and the Rest of the J.J. Abrams Reboot Crew.

Taylor Weaver

So, the big headline is that Paramount, now under Skydance's control, wants a fresh start for Star Trek on the big screen. It seems they're moving on from Chris Pine's Captain Kirk and the rest of the Kelvin timeline crew.

Elon

It's a numbers game. Skydance just closed an eight-billion-dollar deal. They need a return. The last film, Star Trek Beyond, only pulled in 343 million dollars globally. That’s a downward trend, and in business, you can't ignore the data.

Taylor Weaver

But the story feels unfinished! The actors, like Zachary Quinto and Simon Pegg, are practically campaigning to come back. Quinto said, "now's the moment," and Pegg said he'd be "delighted." There's so much love and energy there from the cast.

Elon

Passion doesn't pay the bills. The box office for Beyond was a clear signal. You can't build a multi-billion dollar franchise on sentiment. You need a product that sells, and that one didn't perform as expected. It's time for a hard reboot.

Taylor Weaver

It's just such a long and winding road to get to this point. The saga of a potential 'Star Trek 4' has been a Hollywood epic in itself. It’s been in development hell for nearly a decade with a revolving door of creators.

Elon

Inefficient. They had S.J. Clarkson attached to direct, then that fell apart over salary negotiations with Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth. You can't let talent negotiations derail a major franchise. It shows a lack of control and a flawed strategy from the start.

Taylor Weaver

And remember the Quentin Tarantino version? A gangster film in space, he called it 'Pulp Fiction in space.' It was this wild, creative swing! It had a script and everything, but he eventually stepped away. It's this fascinating 'what if' in the Star Trek narrative.

Elon

A distraction. Then came Noah Hawley, then Matt Shakman, who left to direct Marvel's Fantastic Four. It's a classic case of a project losing momentum and vision. Meanwhile, Skydance, led by David Ellison, has been a long-term partner, co-financing these films.

Taylor Weaver

Exactly! So when Skydance finally merged with Paramount this year, it was clear things would change. Ellison is a huge Star Trek fan, but he's also a businessman. He's looking at this entire history of false starts and wants a clean slate to build his own legacy.

Elon

The core conflict is simple: legacy versus profitability. The studio sees a franchise with diminishing returns and a decade of failed development. The logical move is to wipe the slate clean, reduce the budget, and build something new from the ground up. It’s disruptive innovation.

Taylor Weaver

But for the fans and the cast, it's about the emotional investment. This cast had incredible chemistry. They honored the original series while creating something new. To just abandon that narrative feels like a betrayal of the story they built over three films.

Elon

A story that ended with a movie that underperformed. You have to separate emotion from the business case. David Ellison isn't J.J. Abrams. He's not emotionally tied to that specific iteration. He's looking at the IP as a whole and making a strategic play for its long-term future.

Taylor Weaver

It's a classic head versus heart conflict. The business strategy makes sense on paper, but it risks alienating a dedicated fanbase who connected deeply with these specific actors and their portrayal of these iconic characters. It's a huge gamble.

Taylor Weaver

The immediate impact is a sense of closure, but not a satisfying one, for the Kelvin timeline. It effectively marks the end of an era. For fans who grew up with this version, it's like their favorite show getting canceled on a cliffhanger.

Elon

The broader impact is a signal to Hollywood. It shows that even major IP with a beloved cast isn't safe if the numbers don't add up. Under Skydance, Paramount is going to be more ruthless and data-driven. This sets a new precedent for their other big franchises.

Taylor Weaver

And it creates this massive void. What is the cinematic future of Star Trek now? The TV shows are thriving, but the movies have always been the big, tentpole events. This decision leaves a huge question mark hanging over the entire franchise's big-screen strategy.

Elon

The future is bifurcated. On television, Star Trek is secure with shows like Strange New Worlds and the upcoming Starfleet Academy. That's the safe, established pipeline. For the movies, they're going back to the beginning with a rumored "origin story" film.

Taylor Weaver

So, we're in for another reboot. It feels like we're caught in a time loop! The hope is they find a fresh narrative that can capture a new generation without erasing the affection people have for the last crew.

Elon

That's the end of today's discussion. Thank you for listening to Goose Pod.

Taylor Weaver

See you tomorrow.

Paramount, under Skydance, is reportedly rebooting Star Trek films, moving away from the Chris Pine-led Kelvin timeline crew. Despite cast interest, the studio prioritizes profitability over sentiment, citing underperforming box office results and a decade of stalled development. A fresh start, possibly an origin story, is planned.

Paramount Reportedly Wants a Fresh Star Trek Movie, but Not With Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and the Rest of the J.J. Abrams Reboot Crew - IGN

Read original at IGN →

Paramount reportedly wants to make a new Star Trek movie without Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and the rest of the J.J. Abrams reboot crew.In August, Skydance closed its $8 billion deal to take over Paramount, which owns Star Trek, with a new board led by Skydance boss (and Star Trek fan) David Ellison.

While there hasn't been a full Star Trek film released in theaters for nearly a decade, stars of Abrams’ Star Trek films are often asked about reprising their roles in interviews, and always say they would love to do so. For example, in August Simon Pegg, who played Scotty, said the time was right for another Kelvin Universe movie.

(The Kelvin Timeline is an alternate universe in the Star Trek franchise created by the 2009 movie reboot. It diverges from the original "Prime" timeline when the U.S.S. Kelvin is destroyed by a Romulan mining ship from the future, which leads to a new history for the characters, including a young James T.

Kirk, played by Chris Pine.)“Well, I know David Ellison is a big Star Trek fan,” Pegg said during a recent STLV: Trek to Vegas panel, according to TrekMovie.com. “I know he cares about the series. So I would love it. I would be delighted if we could make another film. I love those guys. And despite how we had a tragedy in our group [the death of Anton Yelchin in 2016], which was extremely painful.

It would be wonderful to come together again. J.J. [Abrams] has always said that there are scripts being developed and this and that. I think it’s about time. It would be great to see us 10 years after the five year mission, where we are.”(Paramount partnered with Skydance for the last two Stark Trek films, with David Ellison down as executive producer for Into Darkness and Beyond.

)Zachary Quinto, too, has spoken enthusiastically about returning to Star Trek. Recently, he said that with Skydance in charge of Paramount, “now’s the moment” for a new Kelvin Universe movie.Speaking to Today in September, Quinto said: “I feel like it’s a great time. It’s been 10 years since the last film.

We all love each other. We had a great time making those movies. I think we’d all love to come back together and tell them more. I think fans would be really excited by it. And I think the time is right, if you ask me. So, we email. I was in touch with [J.J.] about something else recently, and sort of floated it out there that it feels like now’s the moment.

So let’s bring it back around.”“I would love to put back the ears on,” he added.Eric Bana, Zachary Quinto, JJ Abrams, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho and Chris Pine at the premiere of Star Trek. Photo by Franziska Krug/Getty Images.You’d think, then, that Ellison would be into the idea of continuing the Kelvin Universe, but according to a report by Variety, he wants to move past it and release yet another Star Trek reboot.

Here’s the note from Variety:The hope is to have a fresh Star Trek movie, though the studio has moved on from the idea of bringing back Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and the rest of the ensemble from the J.J. Abrams reboot.Perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise. Star Trek Beyond, released in 2016, disappointed at the global box office with $343.

4 million, down versus 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness ($467.3 million), and 2009’s Star Trek ($385.6 million), not adjusted for inflation.“Beyond didn’t perform as well as we wanted it to,” Pegg continued from the same panel referenced above. “I personally think the marketing wasn’t quite right. I felt like they were almost frightened.

It was the 50th anniversary of Star Trek. It was a perfect moment to celebrate the entirety of Star Trek and lean into that. But they kind of didn’t. Some of the posters, you couldn’t even tell what the film was. It just said ‘Beyond’ and then the Enterprise. It wasn’t going to draw anybody new in.

”So, the Kelvin Universe dream appears dead, but there is more Star Trek coming down the line in the form of TV shows. Strange New Worlds Season 4 is due out next year, with a fifth and final season coming afterwards. Starfleet Academy kicks off early 2026.Photo by Franziska Krug/Getty Images.Wesley is Director, News at IGN.

Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.In This Article

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