Star Trek

Written by Davy Perez

Directed by Jeff Byrd

J.J. Abrams rebooted the "Star Trek" franchise in 2009, and since then, the three films in the new Kelvin timeline have been a smashing success. Altogether, the first "Trek" reboot, 2013's "Star Trek Into Darkness," and 2016's "Star Trek Beyond" have grossed more than a billion dollars at the global box office. They've also done fairly well critically, so with all that love, it seems pretty obvious that Hollywood would want to get "Star Trek 4" to theater screens at warp speed.

However, the road to "Star Trek 4" has not been a smooth one. Instead, it's one filled with starts and stops, various creatives coming and going, and a release date that keeps getting beamed all over the place. So what do we actually know about the fourth installment of the "Star Trek" reboot series, and what will it look like when it finally makes first contact? Well, read on for everything we know so far about "Star Trek 4."

What is the release date for Star Trek 4? Paramount Pictures "Star Trek 4" has been in the works for a long time ... a really long time. In June 2015, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Chris Pine (Kirk) and Zachary Quinto (Spock) had signed up for "Star Trek 4." For context, Barack Obama was still president, the MCU's Phase 3 hadn't kicked off yet, and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" was still months away from hitting theaters and becoming the highest-grossing movie of the year.

All this time later and there's still no sign of "Star Trek 4." Pine and Chris Hemsworth (who was returning as Kirk's dad) allegedly left a potential fourth project over pay disputes in 2018 (via The Hollywood Reporter), and in 2019, it was announced that the film had been shelved (via Deadline). Eventually, the project started moving again and earned a release date of June 9, 2023, but that eventually got kicked back to December 22, 2023 ... before vanishing from the release slate completely.

In other words, we have no idea when "Star Trek 4" will be released. But we do have reason to believe it's still in the works. Speaking with Collider, former director Matt Shakman (who left the project to direct "Fantastic Four") said, "I think what they're still working on is a version of what I have been working on for the time that I was involved." With that, it seems that the Enterprise is still heading to theaters, although we have no clue when the ship will fly back onto the big screen.

What is the plot of Star Trek 4? Paramount Pictures At this point, no plot details for the upcoming fourth "Star Trek" movie have been revealed, but we'd assume it will take place after the events of 2016's "Star Trek Beyond," which was directed by Justin Lin ("The Fast and the Furious" franchise).

In "Star Trek Beyond," Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise see their beloved ship crashed on the planet Altamid, after an ambush by a pre-Federation human soldier, Idris Elba's Captain Balthazar Edison. When Kirk and the gang discovered Edison's plans to use an ancient bioweapon to destroy the Federation, they're forced to stop him, without the help of their ship. That film also saw the death of Leonard Nimoy's Ambassador Spock, as well as the end of the relationship between Spock and Uhuru.

One story we know "Star Trek 4" won't be exploring is a reunion between Captain Kirk and his father George involving time travel. Chris Hemsworth briefly played George Kirk in 2009's "Star Trek," but turned down a chance to reprise the role in a bigger story in 2018 (via ​​Digital Spy). "Star Trek 4" also won't tie into any of the current TV series about Star Trek, like "Star Trek Picard" or "Star Trek Below Decks," as those series take place in a universe separate from the Kelvin timeline.

Wilson Cruz will never forget the bullying he endured while in high school in southern California.

“I don’t even know what it was like not to be bullied,” the “Star Trek: Discovery” star says. “I was called f—– every day. It got to the point where I didn’t even hear it anymore.”

Cruz turned to fellow LGBTQ students and teachers for support. “I went to high school in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s before there were gay-straight alliances,” he says. “The only way I got through school was with my best friends –- the other four gays kids I knew at school. I know because I had them in my life that I had a sounding board and that there was someone who could reflect back my own experience and make me feel like I was not not normal. They saved my life. We saved each other’s lives.”

It’s that experience that has fueled Cruz’s involvement with GLSEN, the 33-year-old nationwide organization that works to make schools safe for LGBTQ students and educators. He has been active with the group for more than a decade. Cruz shared with Variety that he has been named chair of GLSEN’S board.

“Every student should have the ability to have the best experience in school where they can learn the most and feel the most supported,” Cruz says. “They shouldn’t have to feel like they have to get out of there as soon as they can and by the skin of their teeth. If you believe that our schools are the place that our students need to feel the safest, this is the organization you need to be supporting.”

A 2021 survey by GLSEN concluded that 82 percent of students feel unsafe at school. “That’s unacceptable,” Cruz says. “That is a flashing red light.”

He fears the number is even higher in the two years since the findings because of the political climate in the U.S., including more than 600 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in statehouses across the county. “I know our community,” Cruz says. “We fall down but we get right back up.”

In addition to Cruz being named board chair, TransLash Media creator and award-winning journalist Imara Jones is the new vice chair.

“Wilson Cruz and Imara Jones are incredible leaders and activists who have done amazing, impactful work to transform GLSEN over the last few years,” GLSEN executive director Melanie Willingham-Jaggers said in a statement. “We’re honored to have both of them in this fight with us as GLSEN moves forward into a new chapter, and we’re proud to have a leadership team that reflects the values, power, and beautiful diversity of the LGBTQ+ community. Together, we’re going to rise up for LGBTQ+ youth across the country and fight back against those who seek to erase them.”

The removal of Star Trek: Prodigy from Paramount+ has ruined any plans for a sequel to Star Trek: Voyager in the immediate future. Paramount recently announced the cancelation of Prodigy, despite season 2 being partly completed. Production will continue on season 2, while work continues to find Prodigy a new home on an alternative streaming service or network. It was a disappointing turn of events for Star Trek's first ever show aimed primarily at a younger audience, not least because it also continued the story of Admiral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) for older Star Trek fans.

Set several years after the Star Trek: Voyager finale, Star Trek: Prodigy sent Captain Chakotay (Robert Beltran) back to the Delta Quadrant to fix some problems left behind by the USS Voyager's previous visit. Chakotay's new starship, the USS Protostar was later left abandoned, discovered by a group of youngsters led by Dal R'El (Brett Gray), whose adventures on the ship put them on a collision course with Admiral Janeway. The Star Trek: Prodigy season 1 finale teased an exciting new dynamic between the Starfleet veteran and her young charges, but Prodigy's current status leaves these new adventures suspended in limbo.

With crews as large as Star Trek has, you know they couldn’t get along all the time. According to Star Trek icon Jonathan Frakes, the cast of one of the Star Trek series was particularly bad at one point.

In an interview with Variety, Frakes reflected on directing Star Trek: The Next Generation episode ‘The Offspring’. “Our cast, as you probably know, is notoriously rambunctious,” he says. “I was, for better or for worse, one of the leaders of that kind of behavior on the set. Some directors really didn’t like coming to work with us because we were that bad. We would be yakking right up until action.”

While in the hot seat himself, Frakes realized the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast were harder to handle that he thought. “It happened to be a Data episode, which are always great, because Brent is a genius,” he says. “The sound department gave me a bullhorn. I had a lot of support, including from my acting company. But I realized what these other directors had gone through and what assholes we were. And I had not a leg to stand on in terms of asking them to behave.”

Oh dear. Thankfully, the episode didn’t suffer one iota, and Frakes became a regular director within the Star Trek franchise. He states that there was still a level of professionalism because of Patrick Stewart, who was a true Star Trek captain.

“Part of it was because we were so well prepared because Patrick had set his high bar from the moment he showed up, that when you come into the morning, you have done your homework, and you’re in good shape,” Frakes adds. “The smart ADs actually built time into days that were all on the Enterprise bridge, knowing that we’d all have to catch up because we hadn’t seen each other.”

Really, all of this just contributed to Star Trek: The Next Generation being not just one of the best sci-fi series ever, but one of the best TV series. The clear chemistry across the main actors across every season and all their Star Trek movies elevated what was already strong material (mostly) to even higher standards.

(trying with a direct gif link instead of gifv - my other posts always seem to have a broken preview)

As a kid i loved watching the next generation and deep space 9 with my dad. Ive always liked sci fi, more of a (stargate fan) and wanted to get back into star trek, but Im just so lost on timelines and whats going on. There are like 6 kirks and I have no idea how/where to get started with watching this again.

Jonathan Frakes on Directing Next Generation, Lower Decks

This interview goes assorted places, but it has a small interesting bit about next year's Discovery finale.

“I directed the first half of the finale of Season 5, which turned out to be the real finale... And then [‘Discovery’ executive producer and director] Olatunde Osunsanmi had to go back up and do two or three days of new stuff to actually make the finale the finale." https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/jonathan-frakes-star-trek-director-strange-new-worlds-lower-decks-crossover-1235680140/

@startrek #StarTrek #StarTrekDiscovery

There were media reports last week noting that a new CBS Studios production, under the pseudonym ‘Dovercourt’, had been added to the Rumour section of the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) Ontario hotlist.

As of today, there is more confirming information, and a clear indication that this is the greenlit Star Trek Section 31 movie event starring Michelle Yeoh.

‘Dovercourt’ has moved into the firmer preproduction section of the list. It’s identified as a TV movie. Olantudne Osunsami is listed as the director, with the two other EPs based in Canada Frank Siracusa and John Weber also listed. These all line up with the previous S31 direct to streaming movie announcement in the spring.

Preproduction is listed as running from May 1 to October 22, 2023. This implies that production design and costume design are underway in the Greater Toronto Area.

Paul Henry Kirby is listed as Production Designer (PD). He seems to be new to Star Trek. I find listings that he was PD on Shazam! Fury of the Gods and several other cinematic releases. He was Art Director on Batman Begins. (His portfolio is listed on a personal website paulkirby.com.)

The production location is given as Toronto rather than Mississauga, which suggests that the big volume leased soundstages at Pinewood Toronto Studios may be getting one more redress for the movie rather than using CBS’ own stages.

The hotlist says it is compiled by the guild from “from deal memos, callsheets, crew lists and Members updating their availability.“

Paramount Exec Vows “This Will Not Be The End” For ‘Star Trek: Prodigy,’ Talks Up Season 2

Well for what it's worth.

https://trekmovie.com/2023/07/25/paramount-exec-vows-this-will-not-be-the-end-for-star-trek-prodigy-talks-up-season-2/

@startrek
#StarTrek #StarTrekProdigy #SaveStarTrekProdigy

Star Trek: Prodigy Is One Of The Most In-Demand TV Shows In The US, Data Shows

I mean, not *that* surprising under the circumstances.

https://screenrant.com/star-trek-prodigy-most-demanded-tv-show/

@startrek
#StarTrek #StarTrekProdigy #SaveStarTrekProdigy

Good morning Federation Members and Reddit Refugees,

I've got two Captains Chair tickets which I can no longer use, for the ST:LV event at the Rio on August 3-6th, row AB seats 054 and 055. My wife and I had planned to travel to the convention but my work schedule and some unexpected home repair bills nuked our fun-budget and so now we'll just be watching YouTube videos about it.

The tickets themselves are PDF documents which were sent by Creation to my email address, so they're easy to forward. The tickets will be sold ONCE and only ONCE and i will not be attending so i won't be there to use them. I know there's a lot of trust involved with a transaction like this so I'll be happy to chat by text/phone/facetime/zoom etc to confirm I'm a real person.

$800 for a single ticket or $1500 for the pair. I did not get any extra event add-ons so this is just what comes with the Captains Chair package, which you can read more about at: https://www.creationent.com/cal/cemission_lv_passes.html#captains

I'm open to payment through Zelle, Apple Pay, or Venmo, i can also use Ebay or Stubhub if you'd prefer but we'll need to add on any service fees to the price. No Paypal, western union, personal checks, or direct credit card numbers. Tickets will be emailed from me to you after payment clears. Your phone number and email gets mine.

Live Long & Prosper -

I am the kind of person who enjoys "big weird" scifi like Stanisław Lem. Stories about trying to relate to and find common ground with something so alien that the prospect of even understanding is basically hopeless. Star Trek usually doesn't do stories that, which makes sense as it often uses alien races as allegories or stand-ins for real-world human relations.

That said- I thought those early Klingons were super weird and scary because they were just so alien. It really made sense thinking about how it took a century before they could get to the events of Star Trek VI, and it made the Khittomer accords feel like so much more of an accomplishment. Like- you made a treaty with WHAT?

And just aesthetically their ships and armor looked like something out of HP Lovecraft or HR Geiger:

This is not to say I dislike how Klingons were portrayed previously, kinda like Mongols in TOS or Vikings in DS9, just that they never felt scary to me. They never felt like warriors. I was never afraid for the gallant crew of the Enterprise D (a science and exploration vessel) going into battle against Klingons. But I really enjoyed the alien-ness Disco tried to go with. Anyone else with me?

EDIT: PEOPLE I SAID WHO'S WITH ME NOT WHO ISN'T CM'ON

I'll be giving this a read after work, but if anyone else wants to share their thoughts on the book, go for it!