Last week came the news that Paramount, the freshly rebranded name for media conglomerate ViacomCBS, was set to do the fourth film in the rebooted “Star Trek” film franchise.
Announced during a high-profile presentation to investors, it was indicated that this will be another of the films with producer J.J. Abrams and the recent film’s cast members like Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto in discussions with filming aiming to kick off “by the end of the year”.
The news came as a surprise to many, including said cast members representatives according to The Hollywood Reporter. The trade’s sources say most, if not all, reps for the franchise’s key cast (Pine, Quinto, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana and John Cho) were not aware that an announcement for another film was coming much less that their clients would be touted as being in talks to be ready to film by year’s end.
Their sources say Pine, who plays Captain Kirk, is the first to enter into early negotiations for the movie which hopes to make a December 22nd 2023 release. In addition, the script is still being worked on, there is no green light or budget in place. In fact, the trade implies Paramount may have potentially lost some negotiating leverage in the talent deals with this public courting of Wall Street investors.
“Star Trek” remains a key part of the company’s streaming strategy and a lynchpin of the Paramount+ service where multiple shows are all running under the eye of producer Alex Kurtzman who has a rich deal in place through 2026.
That’s in contrast to the films which were revived by 2009’s big-budget reboot that was a big success on all fronts leading to 2013’s less well-received but more financially successful ‘Into Darkness’.
Disappointing returns for 2016’s “Star Trek Beyond” however saw the film series stall and multiple attempts to make more films in the years since have hit various walls.
Paramount itself however has undergone a major executive reshuffle since that time and is eager to be a major player in the streaming game – even as investors in recent months have begun to question the long-term economic profitability of streaming services.
Source: THR
