On February 15, Paramount Pictures announced its ambitious plans for the Star Trek franchise, including a long-overdue fourth movie that would bring back actors like Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldaña, and John Cho. There was even a statement from J.J. Abrams who claimed, "We are thrilled to say that we are hard at work on a new Star Trek film that will be shooting by the end of the year that will be featuring our original cast."
The Hollywood Reporter, however, reveals most, if not all, of the teams representing those actors were aware an announcement was coming or that their clients would be part of it.
According to the trade's sources, Pine is the first to enter early negotiations, but there's nothing to say any of the original Star Trek cast members will actually return (or that they'll be available to start shooting by the end of the year). The script is still being worked on, while no budget or official green light for the project is actually in place as of right now. It sounds like the studio will also have no other choice than to spend big money if they hope to secure this entire cast for Star Trek 4.
In recent years, Paramount has struggled with its barely profitable Star Trek franchise and multiple movie ideas have been touted. Those include a fourth instalment that was set to star Pine and Chris Hemsworth, while reboot ideas were also touted by Quentin Tarantino and Noah Hawley.
With Star Trek currently finding so much success on the small screen, this calculated risk could work out for the studio or be another commercial disappointment. Right now, this fourth chapter has a tentative December 22, 2023 release date, though time will tell whether it's able to meet that.