One of the big stories of the past year has been the “Will they or won’t they?” status of the “Star Trek” film franchise. In 2018, it was revealed that contract issues with actors Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth seemed to prevent director SJ Clarkson from filming her version of “Star Trek 4.” Then in 2019, rumors abound that Quentin Tarantino might move forward to direct a new “Star Trek” film. And finally, it was revealed that Noah Hawley signed on to direct a new version of “Star Trek 4” with Tarantino’s film still being discussed as a spin-off sort of thing.
Long story short — no one really knows what’s going to happen in the future of “Star Trek.” And according to a new interview with actor Simon Pegg (who stars in the film franchise and co-wrote the previous ‘Trek’), not even he knows what the hell is going on.
Pegg spoke to GoldDerby recently and was asked about the future of “Star Trek.” He mentioned the news of Hawley taking over a new film project, but doesn’t think the new film features Pegg’s cast and isn’t sure it’s actually “Star Trek 4.” Don’t worry, if you’re confused, we all are.
“I don’t know anything about it,” Pegg says. “I think Noah Hawley’s been hired to write something for ‘Star Trek,’ which is very exciting. He’s a brilliant writer and always creates interesting stuff. Whether or not we’re involved with that, I don’t know. I don’t think so and I don’t think Noah’s thing is necessarily going to be ‘Star Trek 4.’”
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Of course, just because Pegg isn’t aware of what exactly Hawley is writing doesn’t mean that the actor won’t be part of the film. Perhaps it’s just a bit of miscommunication between Pegg and those who have a plan for the future of the franchise. But it sure does sound like Hawley’s film might not be the “Star Trek 4” we were thinking it was.
Now, there’s also the chance that the next film doesn’t feature the cast of the 2009 “Star Trek” reboot, as there’s always the option that the franchise could go in a different timeline, universe, or whatever. That wouldn’t be all that unusual given the history of “Star Trek.” That being said, it wouldn’t make much sense to ditch the reboot cast, as fans seem to generally enjoy their work.
Guess we’ll just have to wait and see. I mean, at this point, given the franchise’s recent track record, there’s no guarantee that Hawley is going to stick around.