Ever since 2016’sStar Trek Beyond, the film franchise has been in a holding pattern. When the films first came back with 2009’sStar Trek, directorJ.J. Abramsgave them a heavyStar Warssheen, which then became irrelevant when realStar Warsmovies returned in 2015. While theStar Trekbrand hasn’t slowed down with Paramount pumping out a bunch ofTrekseries includingStar Trek: Discovery,Star Trek: Lower Decks,Star Trek: Picard, and the upcomingStar Trek: Strange New Worlds, not much has happened with the films. There was talk of a fourth installment that would uniteChris Pine’s James T. Kirk with his father George Kirk, played byChris Hemsworth,but that never came together. There was also talk ofQuentin Tarantinotackling aStar Trek, butthat seems more like a fleeting fancy than a serious pursuit. And then there wasFargoshowrunnerNoah Hawleypursuing a Trek filmthat then also evaporated.
And yet today Paramount announced that they’ve got an untitledStar Trekon the books for August 09, 2025. Of course, release dates are highly subject to change, and it’s now standard operating procedures for studios to claim weekends before they even have a script. The truth is that we don’t know anything about this newTrek. We don’t know if it’s a continuation of the Kelvin timeline started withStar Trek2009 or if it’s a fresh reboot, butio9reports that it’s being produced by Abrams.
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Personally, I’m hoping for the reboot route. While I thinkStar Trek2009 andStar Trek Beyondare fun movies, they still feel like they don’t completely understandTrek, althoughBeyondgets pretty close to the 1960s TV series in terms of the scope of its adventure. But maybe the best thing for aTrekmovie would be to simply rest on the brand name and build something from scratch. You could still interact with major Trek elements like the Borg or the Klingons or whatever, but you wouldn’t have to worry about alternate timelines or how your new take on Captain Kirk compares toThe Original Series.
Of course, with everything being big, interconnected IP these days and Viacom gobbling CBS back up (they were previously split apart during the Kelvin timeline), my bet is on something that can link back to what’s happening on the Paramount+ series so that in the name of corporate synergy if you watch this newStar Trekmovie you’ll be tempted to check outStar Trek DiscoveryorStar Trek: Picardor something that makes it so that the movies don’t stand alone. Everything is cinematic universes now, so why shouldTrekbe any different.
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