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Star Trek Into Darkness

After the crew of the Enterprise find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one-man weapon of mass ... Read all After the crew of the Enterprise find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one-man weapon of mass destruction. After the crew of the Enterprise find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one-man weapon of mass destruction.

• J.J. Abrams
• Roberto Orci
• Alex Kurtzman
• Damon Lindelof
• Zachary Quinto
• Zoe Saldana
• 1.3K User reviews
• 590 Critic reviews
• 72 Metascore
• 7 wins & 58 nominations total

Top cast 99+

• (as Zoë Saldana)

• Spock Prime

• Carol Marcus

• Thomas Harewood

• Rima Harewood

• Ensign Brackett

• Lieutenant Chapin

• Ensign Froman
• (as Jonathan H. Dixon)

• Navigation Officer Darwin
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• Trivia Leonard Nimoy 's final film role (and by extension, his final time portraying Spock) before his death on February 27, 2015 at the age of 83. It's also the first in the Star Trek franchise (either movie or TV series) after the death of Majel Barrett .
• Goofs (at around 1h 24 mins) While planning the space jump, Sulu's display incorrectly labels the Enterprise as NCC/0514, which is the registry for the USS Kelvin from Star Trek (2009) . It should read NCC/1701.

James T. Kirk : The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Spock : An Arabic proverb attributed to a prince who was betrayed and decapitated by his own subjects.

James T. Kirk : Well, still, it's a hell of a quote.

• Crazy credits There are no opening credits in the film except for the title card, making this the third consecutive Star Trek film that does not list its cast at the beginning.
• Connections Featured in The One Show: Episode #7.133 (2012)
• Soundtracks Theme from 'Star Trek' TV Series Written by Alexander Courage & Gene Roddenberry

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• May 8, 2013

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• May 16, 2013 (United States)
• United States
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• Star Trek: En la oscuridad
• The Getty Center - 1200 Getty Center Drive, Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, USA (Star Fleet Headquarters)
• Paramount Pictures
• Skydance Media
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $190,000,000 (estimated)
• $228,778,661
• $70,165,559
• May 19, 2013
• $467,365,246

Technical specs

• Runtime 2 hours 12 minutes
• Dolby Digital
• Dolby Atmos
• IMAX 6-Track
• Dolby Surround 7.1

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In defense of the J.J. Abrams Star Trek movies

J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies dared to go boldly go where 'some men' had gone before.

For a fanbase as passionate as the one Star Trek has collected over the years, change is often met with collective suspicion rather than communal excitement.

Star Trek is sacred, and those who cut their teeth on the William Shatner -starring original series or the much loved Next Generation are fiercely protective of their darling franchise. Anyone brave enough to reimagine the series for new audiences has a cosmically high bar to leap, with many believing the task to be a no-win scenario (a ' kobayashi maru ', perhaps?).

In the age of remakes, remasters and reimaginings, Star Trek has seen numerous iterations of its winning formula, some garnering success and others catastrophic failure. Losses be damned, though, as when it does succeed, the seasoned sci-fi franchise does so in spectacular fashion.

While shows like Discovery and Lower Decks take us to a new branch of Starfleet or a new story in the Star Trek universe, the 2009 self-titled film tackles the Kirk and Spock story head on, and it's bravery is rewarded. The 2009 film is a masterclass in contemporary science fiction, and by building Kirk and Spock respectively and setting them for a collision course in the film's opening act, it reminds us of the pair's polarizing differences, as well as their critical similarities.

It’s a new Star Trek for a new audience, and in forging something fitting for the current climate of films and media it’s crucial that the seasoned franchise makes small, yet significant differences to ensure that new releases don’t feel like a relic from the past.

Leap Before You Look 

The success of the Star Trek license has been a result of a winning formula; one that’s sure to capture the hearts of many, and - critically - is future-proofed to continue to appeal to new fans. J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot Productions didn’t do away with what made the original series special (unlike some sci-fi properties), instead they reflected on the past and evolved them significantly. Thus, the Kelvin timeline was born.

Old friends and new alliances prop up the plot of the first in the trilogy, and the familiar face of series icon Leonard Nimoy is simply a wonderful wrinkle that pays dividends. The passing of the torch from Nimoy to Quinto was simply excellent, and though the role was somewhat short-lived for the Heroes actor, it was more than prosperous as his performance as the stoic, yet compassionate Spock impressed critics and fans alike. In fact, it's hard to pluck a bad or out of place performance from the entire trilogy, as the glut of talented actors presented offer some of their best to date. 

It has to be said, however, that though the performances remain top notch, it's evident that some of the magic is lost as the trilogy develops. Into Darkness reintroduces us to an iconic villain but lacks the emotional weight of the first and while Beyond provides more of the USS Enterprise crew that we’ve come to love, it does have an air of the 'soulless Summer blockbuster' feel to it. What makes the trilogy more than a one hit wonder is Abrams and co’s ability to develop authentic, grounded and human character quirks for a whole host of personalities that are often anything but.

Star Trek Into Darkness was largely a victim of a poor release window. Set out into a world cluttered by cookie-cutter offerings in the MCU like Ironman 3 and lackluster Shyamalan sci-fi attempts like After Earth, the consensus was that it didn’t offer much that the scores of other summer blockbusters didn’t. It’s a great film, and a continuation of a story that thoroughly deserved another chapter in the tale. The chemistry of the Enterprise crew is as good as it’s ever been and the injection of a menacing villain was a much needed correction to the only significant flaw of the first film.

Beyond was helmed by Justin Lin of Fast and Furious fame, and while he brought his own flavour to the franchise (and far fewer lense flares), it saw our heroes depart on a fun --albeit linear-- adventure that served as a platform for the already-developed characters to flourish. No origin story was necessary to maintain the viewers’ attention, as the chemistry that three films across seven years had forged between the actors and their respective roles.

Furthermore, the somewhat vague reports of Quentin Tarantino circling the Star Trek IP is enticing to anyone familiar with his previous work, and though many believe the recent trilogy to be concluded, there's always a possibility of a continuation, and the Pulp Fiction director's supposed interest is enough to garner more than a little excitement. Will it happen? Who knows, but it's enough to make keen cinephiles (Star Trek fan or not) curious.

The trilogy is flawed, yes, but with the franchise providing less-than-stellar action sequences and over the top acting in decades past, it's clear to viewers that Star Trek wears its flaws on its sleeve. In truth, most of said viewers would find such blemishes charming rather than distracting, and a reminder that the franchise has always blazed new trails rather than retreading old ones. 

Like James T. Kirk and his father before him, Star Trek is a franchise that always leaps before it looks, which has resulted in a few harsh lessons and more than a few home runs. A quick glance at our Star Trek movies, ranked worst to best article will show that when J.J was firing on all cylinders, his Trek movies were up there with the best of them.

To Boldly Go... 

Nostalgia is a frightfully difficult impulse to overcome. When we find something we love in fiction, the characters, its stories and the adventures that they take us on are forever etched into our minds, only maturing with age to the point where the rose-tinted spectacles are in full effect.

To many, Star Trek was the first series that took our impressionable minds to the moon and back, providing hours of escapism amongst the stars and allowing us a glimpse at what the future could be like.

As the swinging 60's stretch further into the rear view mirror and Star Trek's humble beginnings feel even more humble in comparison to modern CGI, the JJ Abrams-produced  trilogy is proof that, in the face of immense adversity, the franchise still has more to give.

Abrams' take on the seasoned sci-fi franchise provides bright-eyed viewers of today the opportunity to feel the same way our parents and grandparents felt the first time their screen was graced by the frightful Gorn or the sinister Khan. It's made Star Trek fans of the sons and daughters of those faithful Trekkies from decades past, which is all the evidence you need to believe that J.J. Abrams created something truly special.

If you're looking to revisit the latest Star Trek trilogy, check out our Star Trek streaming guide to find out where you can watch the movies online. And if you're wondering where the Kelvin movies fit into the rest of the Trek timeline, well it's complicated, but our Star Trek movies in chronological order guide explains it all.

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J.J. Abrams

Abrams used his production company, Bad Robot Productions , to develop his Star Trek films in collaboration with their distributor, Paramount Pictures , and co-financing production company Skydance Productions . His production partners on the films were Damon Lindelof and Bryan Burk . The films were written by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci , who have written for Abrams several times in the past.

In 2010, the Producers Guild of America nominated Abrams and Damon Lindelof for the Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures for Star Trek . [1] (X) In addition, Abrams won Best Director at the 2009 Spike Scream Awards . In 2010 Abrams was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Director for his work on Star Trek . The film received five more nominations. [2] (X)

• 3 Awards and honors
• 4 Involvement with Star Trek
• 6 External links

Personal [ ]

Abrams is the son of Gerald W. Abrams and Carol Abrams, both television and film producers. Abrams Sr. was a friend of writer/director Nicholas Meyer . [3] After being raised in Los Angeles, California, Abrams attended Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, from which he graduated in 1988.

Abrams married Katie McGrath in 1996. The couple have had three children together: Henry, born 1998; Gracie, born 1999; and August, born 2006. Abrams and McGrath are partners of The Mission Continues charity co-founded by Eric Greitens , which benefits post-9/11 veterans.

Abrams' first foray into films was Nightbeast (1982), for which he was a composer and sound effects editor. The first film he wrote was 1990's Taking Care of Business , which featured Star Trek: The Next Generation performers Gates McFadden and John de Lancie in supporting roles. He next co-wrote 1992's Forever Young which co-starred J.D. Cullum , Eric Pierpoint , Richard Ryder , and Nicolas Surovy .

Abrams in 2006

Abrams acquired his claim to fame and a huge fan base as the creator of the popular television shows Felicity and Alias . He also served as executive producer on both of these series. Star Trek writers Orci and Kurtzman worked with Abrams on Alias . Abrams and fellow Star Trek producer Damon Lindelof later became two of the creators and executive producers of Lost , which starred Terry O'Quinn , Daniel Dae Kim , and Sam Anderson .

He has also written for a number of popular big screen features, including Armageddon (1998, co-starring Jeff Austin , Brian Brophy , Jim Fitzpatrick , Googy Gress , Anthony Guidera , Jason Isaacs , John Mahon , J. Patrick McCormack , Marshall R. Teague , and Lawrence Tierney ) and 2001's Joy Ride with Jim Beaver , the latter of which he produced through his newly formed Bad Robot Productions. Other films he wrote include Gone Fishin' (1997, featuring Louise Fletcher ).

Abrams directed and co-wrote (with Kurtzman and Orci) 2006's Mission: Impossible III for Paramount Pictures. Following the release of this film, Abrams signed a five-year contract with Paramount, of which the next Trek films are part. He has also signed a six-year contract with Warner Bros.; both contracts together are worth more than $55 million. [4] Tracy Middendorf and Simon Pegg were among the actors Abrams cast in Mission: Impossible III ; he later cast Pegg as Montgomery Scott in Star Trek . [5]

In addition to Star Trek , Abrams produced the hit film Cloverfield with Trek executive producer Bryan Burk. This film, in which a giant creature attacks New York City, was released in January 2008. In that film were Margot Farley , Scott Lawrence , Pasha Lychnikoff , and Kelvin Yu . All of those actors were then cast by Abrams for Star Trek or Into Darkness . It was later repored that Abrams was attached to direct an adaptation of Stephen King book series The Dark Tower . However, in November 2009 he and Lindelof publicly stated that they were no longer looking to take on that project. [6]

In October 2007, it was announced that a pilot for a one-hour comic drama developed by Abrams had been purchased by ABC. The show, called Boundaries (which he executive produced with Bryan Burk and Jill Soloway ), was the first sale made by Abrams as part of his television deal with Warner Bros. [7] (X) Shortly thereafter, it was announced that Abrams had made his first network series sale for Warner Bros., Fringe , which was subsequently purchased by Fox. Abrams received executive producer credit on the show, along with Star Trek executive producers Bryan Burk, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci. [8] Fringe premiered on the Fox network in September 2008 and ended in 2013 after five seasons and a recurring role by Leonard Nimoy .

Abrams later created Undercovers , which premiered on NBC in fall 2010. His next film project was Super 8 , which he wrote and direct. He also produced Super 8 with acclaimed filmmaker Steven Spielberg , co-starring Jack Axelrod , Jason Brooks , Michael Giacchino , Bruce Greenwood , Tim Griffin , Greg Grunberg and Marco Sanchez . [9] In addition, Abrams returned to the Mission: Impossible franchise as a producer on the fourth film Ghost Protocol with Simon Pegg. In September 2011, it was revealed Abrams had officially agreed to direct the Star Trek sequel. [10]

Following the cancellation of Abrams' Undercovers in 2011, Alcatraz in 2012, and Fringe in 2013, he worked as executive producer on Person of Interest (2011-2014) and Revolution (2012-2014, starring Billy Burke ).

Abrams later directed and produced Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016), producer on Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015), and the science fiction film Half-Life . Other projects as executive producer include Believe (2014) and Westworld and as producer the thriller The Cellar (2016) and 11.22.63 .

Awards and honors [ ]

Abrams was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for his work on the pilot of Alias . Additionally, he and the producers of Alias shared a Television Producer of the Year Award in Episodic Television from the Producers Guild of America Golden Laurel Awards.

Abrams and the other producers of Lost (including Damon Lindelof and Bryan Burk) received one of television's highest honors when their show won the 2004 Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series. Abrams and the producers of Lost also won the 2005 Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series and were nominated for a second WGA Award. In addition, they shared a Television Producer of the Year Award in Episodic from the Producers Guild of America Golden Laurel Awards, received a second nomination from the PGA, and a British Academy of Film and Television Arts TV Award nomination.

His direction of Lost 's pilot episode won Abrams an Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Drama. He also earned a Directors Guild of America Award nomination for directing the pilot. Abrams shared an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series with co-creators Lindelof and Jeffrey Lieber for the pilot episode of Lost . In addition, he and composer Michael Giacchino shared two American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Awards in the category of Top TV Series for their work on Lost .

Entertainment Weekly has named Abrams the 29th Smartest Person in Hollywood. [11]

On 5 November 2012 it was announced that Abrams would be honored with the 2013 Norman Lear Achievement Award by the Producers Guild of America. The award ceremony was held on 26 January 2013. [12]

Involvement with Star Trek [ ]

Abrams is a fan of both Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation and refers to the franchise as "smart television".

Even though he has not followed the other Trek spin-offs as closely, Abrams stated prior to its release that his film will be faithful to established Trek canon . [13] (X)

When Abrams signed on to produce Star Trek in April 2006, he was also given the option to direct the picture. Abrams, however, declined to accept the director's position until the script was complete and he was sure he was the man for the job. Abrams worked with Kurtzman and Orci on the story throughout 2006 and early 2007 and finally signed on to direct on 23 February 2007. Abrams was convinced to direct the film by his wife, who felt the film had strong female characters, and by acclaimed director Steven Spielberg, who was impressed by the script. [14] Of his imminent involvement with Star Trek , Abrams stated:

Appearing at San Diego's Comic-Con International with the writers and producers of Star Trek on 26 July 2007, Abrams admitted that, although he loves Star Trek , he was more interested in Star Wars while growing up and his favorite television series was The Twilight Zone. He also stated that, after reading the script for the new Trek film, he would have been jealous if anyone else directed it. He then gave the first official casting news for the new Star Trek film, announcing that Zachary Quinto had been cast to play young Spock and that Leonard Nimoy would be coming out of retirement to portray the older Spock , which was met with much enthusiasm.

When describing his and his team's involvement with Star Trek at Comic-Con, Abrams stated:

In addition to Orci, Kurtzman, Lindelof and Burk, many other people working on Star Trek have worked with Abrams in the past. These include cinematographer Dan Mindel , production designer Scott Chambliss , composer Michael Giacchino , editor Maryann Brandon , casting director April Webster , executive producer and unit production manager Stratton Leopold , previz supervisor David Dozoretz , and actors John Cho , Rachel Nichols , Simon Pegg, and Zoë Saldana .

Star Trek started shooting on 7 November 2007 , and wrapped on 8 April 2008 . In addition to directing and producing Star Trek , Abrams also wrote and performed two pieces of music heard in the film: " Awasoruk Jam ", which was played in the Shipyard Bar ("Awasoruk" is Kurosawa spelled backwards), and " Josh Greenstein ", played in the scene with Kirk and Gaila and named after the head of Paramount's marketing department. He was credited as " Cyrano Jones " for both songs. He also voiced the Iowa Cop , portrayed by stuntman Jeremy Fitzgerald , who stops a young James T. Kirk after he crashes the Corvette. ( Star Trek DVD commentary)

A sequel was announced as being in development on 30 March 2009 , with Abrams returning to produce. [16] Abrams chose to direct the 2011 film Super 8 : following its release, it was announced he would direct the Star Trek sequel, which began filming in January 2012. [17] He was nominated for a 2014 Saturn Award as Best Director. [18] For Star Trek Into Darkness , Abrams co-wrote the songs " The Growl " and " The Rage That's In Us All ".

It has been reported that Abrams and Bad Robot will continue producing the Star Trek films after he chose to direct Star Wars: Episode VII in January 2013. [19]

See also [ ]

• Memory Alpha:Ask J.J. Abrams/Answers

External links [ ]

• J.J. Abrams at Wikipedia
• J.J. Abrams at the Internet Movie Database
• J.J. Abrams at Lostpedia
• J.J. Abrams at Wookiepedia, the Star Wars wiki
• 2 Daniels (Crewman)

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J.J. Abrams teases the return of his original cast in new Star Trek film

Maureen Lee Lenker is a senior writer at Entertainment Weekly with over seven years of experience in the entertainment industry. An award-winning journalist, she's written for Turner Classic Movies, Ms. Magazine , The Hollywood Reporter , and more. She's worked at EW for six years covering film, TV, theater, music, and books. The author of EW's quarterly romance review column, "Hot Stuff," Maureen holds Master's degrees from both the University of Southern California and the University of Oxford. Her debut novel, It Happened One Fight , is now available. Follow her for all things related to classic Hollywood, musicals, the romance genre, and Bruce Springsteen.

Star Trek is ready to boldly go where they've gone three times before.

On Tuesday, J.J. Abrams announced plans for a fourth Star Trek film at the Paramount Investors Day presentation. The film will be directed by Matt Shakman ( WandaVision ) with Abrams producing, and the aim is to bring back many of Abrams' original stars from his 2009 reboot of the long-running franchise.

"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 and some new characters that I think are going to be really fun and exciting and help take Star Trek into areas that you've just never seen before," Abrams said. "We're thrilled about this film, we have a bunch of other stories that we're talking about that we think will be really exciting, so can't wait for you to see what we're cooking up. But until then, live long and prosper."

However, EW has learned that the studio has yet to enter negotiations with that original cast at this juncture. The cast features a litany of high profile names, including Chris Pine as Captain Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, Zoe Saldana as Uhura, John Cho as Sulu, Karl Urban as Bones, and Simon Pegg as Scotty. Anton Yelchin , who featured as Chekhov in Abrams' previous three entries , died in 2016 before the previous film in the franchise, Star Trek Beyond , hit theaters.

The new film will feature a screenplay by Josh Friedman ( Avatar 2 ) and Cameron Squires ( WandaVision ) based on a earlier draft by Lindsey Beer ( Sierra Burgess Is a Loser ) and Geneva Robertson-Dworet ( Captain Marvel ).

With his 2009 film, Abrams reset the Star Trek timeline, originally established in Gene Roddenberry's 1960s groundbreaking sci-fi television series. He followed it up with 2013's Star Trek Into Darkness, but the last time the characters' were seen on the big screen was in 2016's Star Trek Beyond, which Abrams produced with Justin Lin directing.

Plans to bring them back — including a 2018 announced sequel set to team Pine with Kirk's late father as portrayed by Chris Hemsworth in the 2009 film — have stuttered along the way. For a time, Quentin Tarantino was even circling a project .

Of late, Star Trek fans have turned back to television for new content on series Picard and Star Trek Discovery.

Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly 's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.

Related content:

• See Whoopi Goldberg reprise her beloved Star Trek role as Guinan on Picard
• Sonequa Martin-Green takes the chair as captain in Star Trek: Discovery season 4 trailer
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J.J. Abrams and Paramount Reveal Star Trek 4 to Begin Shooting This Year

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Frozen Star Wishes They Hadn't Given Their Voice to This Beloved Character

Liam neeson shows of his skills once again in new trailer for latest action thriller, dave bautista’s new action movie suffers death blow at the box office.

Paramount finally confirmed today something that Star Trek fans have wanted to know for a few years; that J.J. Abrams will be producing the sequel to Star Trek Beyond with Chris Pine , Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg and John Cho all set to boldly go where they have been three times before. A fourth entry in the rebooted Star Trek franchise was originally discussed six years ago, but for a while, there had been no word on whether a new Star Trek movie would be moving forward until today.

As reported by Variety , during the Paramount Investors Day Presentation, among the many movie and series announcements, J.J. Abrams himself made the announcement that a sequel to 2016’s Star Trek Beyond would be looking to begin shooting by the end of the year, and will also be intending on bringing back all of the available cast members from the previous movies in the rebooted series that began in 2009.

“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 and some new characters that I think are going to be really fun and exciting and help take ‘Star Trek’ into areas that you’ve just never seen before,” Abrams said. “We’re thrilled about this film, we have a bunch of other stories that we’re talking about that we think will be really exciting, so can’t wait for you to see what we’re cooking up. But until then, live long and prosper.”

The yet-to-be-titled movie will be produced by Abrams through Bad Robot Productions and sees WandaVision’s Matt Shakman take over directing from Justin Lin, who helmed Star Trek Beyond to great praise from critics. It seems like this movie is looking to avoid the fate of the original sequel proposition that was announced and then abandoned in 2018, when it was alleged that the studio had not been able to reach a deal with Chis Pine to return as Kirk, or Chris Hemsworth, who was to reprise his 2009 role as Kirk’s father in that particular story.

Paramount Have Taken Time to Work Out How to Avoid a New Star Trek Movie Being a Flop

According to numerous reports, Paramount has been eager to return to the Star Trek movie series, and as one of their biggest IP’s, with multiple spin-off series and movies in production, it is not surprising that they want to get the best return possible from a third sequel to the 2009 blockbuster return of Captain Kirk and Spock. This time around, though, it looks like they are not coming into the project without having done some groundwork to find out if there is still an appetite to see Pine, Quinto and the rest of the crew reassembled.

Despite good reviews and a reasonable performance on the surface, Star Trek Beyond actually ended up losing money for Paramount, so they were not about to jump into another movie without making sure they avoid that scenario rearing its head again, and it looks like their research has confirmed that fans do want to see the cast returning to their roles once more. However, the challenge now before Abrams and the production team is going to be getting all of the actors together again.

Chris Pine has multiple projects already in production and an upcoming Wonder Woman sequel on the horizon. Zoe Saldana is in the middle of filming Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 , and has a potentially mammoth run of Avatar films coming up, while Keith Urban will be seen in Amazon’s The Boys in June, and Simon Pegg is working on the final Mission: Impossible movie. Fellow 2009 cast member Anton Yelchin will be missing from the returning lineup, following his sad death in 2016, just before the premiere of Star Trek Beyond . It was revealed at the time that his role of Chekov would not be recast in any future sequel, and that isn’t expected to have changed.

• Star Trek 4

J.J. Abrams to Produce Fourth Star Trek Film, Full Cast Returning

By Anthony Nash

Paramount is set to boldly go back to the world of Star Trek , with J.J. Abrams announcing that a fourth film in the series was in development.

RELATED: A Quiet Place Part III Announced, Release Date Window Set

The news was announced by Abrams during Paramount’s Investors Day Presentation on February 15, but the director won’t be behind the upcoming film. Instead, he will produce the film, which is set to be directed by Matt Shakman ( WandaVision ) with a screenplay by Josh Friedman ( Avatar 2 ) and Cameron Squires ( WandaVision ) based on an earlier draft by Lindsey Beer ( Sierra Burgess Is a Loser ) and Geneva Roberston-Dworet ( Captain Marvel ).

According to Abrams, the original cast of the three most recent Star Trek films — including Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho, and Simon Pegg — will all be returning, along with some new characters.

“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 and some new characters that I think are going to be really fun and exciting and help take Star Trek into areas that you’ve just never seen before,” said Abrams. “We’re thrilled about this film, we have a bunch of other stories that we’re talking about that we think will be really exciting so can’t wait for you to see what we’re cooking up. But until then, live long and prosper.”

RELATED: Transformers Animated Series & Film Announced Alongside Live-Action Trilogy

It’s been quite some time in between Star Trek films, with the last film, Star Trek Beyond , releasing in 2016. Since then, according to a report from Variety , Paramount has been doing market research into potential audience interest for another Star Trek film and determined that fans still cared enough about the cast for another movie to be made with them.

Anthony Nash has been writing about games and the gaming industry for nearly a decade. When he’s not writing about games, he’s usually playing them. You can find him on Twitter talking about games or sports at @_anthonynash.

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JJ Abrams's new Star Trek 4 movie teases return of Chris Pine and more

The journey continues.

It's looking like Star Trek 4 will bring back Chris Pine and more of JJ Abrams's trilogy cast.

Paramount Pictures has revealed it would enter talks to bring back Pine for another sequel as Captain Kirk, alongside Zachary Quinto as Spock, Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Simon Pegg as Scotty, Karl Urban as Bones and John Cho as Sulu.

The news was reported on Tuesday (February 15) by Variety after producer JJ Abrams made a special announcement at the Paramount Investors Day Presentation.

Abrams said: "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 and some new characters that I think are going to be really fun and exciting and help take Star Trek into areas that you've just never seen before.

"We're thrilled about this film, we have a bunch of other stories that we're talking about that we think will be really exciting, so can't wait for you to see what we're cooking up. But until then, live long and prosper."

WandaVision 's Matt Shakman will direct. Abrams's return for a fourth movie was revealed last year, but it was not clear whether Pine and his trilogy co-stars would be a part of the next Star Trek instalment.

Talks had previously stalled for the main cast for a fourth film, with Paramount considering other stories from Quentin Tarantino and Noah Hawley in the interim.

Keep in mind that Abrams's Star Trek movies take place in a parallel universe – called the Kelvin timeline – from the main timeline seen in Star Trek: Discovery , Picard and all of the classic series.

To make things more confusing, Spock Prime – played by Leonard Nimoy from Abrams' earlier films – has crossed over from both universes in the past.

Star Trek 4 doesn't have a release date yet.

Paramount Star Trek: Discovery season 4 [DVD]

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Star Trek 2009 Ending & Movies Future Explained

James mcavoy's lost star trek role means his perfect casting can still happen, jurassic world rebirth casting rumors addressed by joel mchale.

• Chris Pine stars as Captain James T. Kirk in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek reboot movies, which revitalized the franchise after previous films failed to perform.
• The success of Abrams' Star Trek trilogy showed that iconic roles like Kirk and Spock could be successfully recast, inspiring new Star Trek series.
• Chris Pine's Star Trek movies can be streamed on Paramount+ and other services, and they are also available for rent on various platforms.

Chris Pine stars as Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek reboot movies produced by J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions, also known as the Kelvin Timeline movies. Abrams reinvigorated the Star Trek brand with his 2009 film about characters from Star Trek: The Original Series, after the fourth Star Trek: The Next Generation movie, Star Trek: Nemesis , failed to perform at the box office amidst dismal reviews from critics and fans alike.

In addition to Chris Pine's Kirk, Abrams' Star Trek movies cast Zachary Quinto as Mr. Spock, Zoe Saldaña as Lt. Nyota Uhura, Karl Urban as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, John Cho as Hikaru Sulu, Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov, and Leonard Nimoy as Ambassador Spock. The success of Abrams' Star Trek trilogy proved that the franchise could successfully recast iconic roles like Kirk and Spock, and Abrams' films inspired the cinema-quality visuals of Star Trek: Discovery and the new wave of Star Trek series on Paramount+ from 2017 into the present day.

J.J. Abrams' Star Trek 2009 saw the young Kirk and Spock join forces to save Earth. A deep dive into how Star Trek 2009 ended and what it all means.

How Many Chris Pine Star Trek Movies Are There?

There are three Star Trek movies starring Chris Pine. Star Trek (2009) is an introduction to the new cinematic series, as Pine's James Kirk and Zachary Quinto's Mr. Spock come together to save the day despite their fiercely clashing philosophies, with Leonard Nimoy's Ambassador Spock passing the proverbial torch to his younger self. Star Trek: Into Darkness sees Starfleet take extraordinary means to increase its defenses in the wake of the previous film's conflicts, with Benedict Cumberbatch as the villainous Khan Noonien Singh . In Star Trek: Beyond (2016), the Enterprise crew faces off against brand-new enemy Krall (Idris Elba), with help from newcomer Jaylah (Sofia Boutella).

Where To Watch Chris Pine’s Star Trek Movies

Chris Pine's Star Trek movies can be watched on limited streaming services and are also available to rent online. In North America, Great Britain, Europe, and Australia, all three Chris Pine Star Trek movies are available to stream for subscribers on Paramount+, and services that have a Paramount+ channel, like Apple TV+, Amazon Prime, Roku (US) and Binge (Australia). In the United States, Star Trek (2009) is also on Hulu, and Star Trek: Into Darkness is also on DIRECTV. Star Trek movies starring Chris Pine are available to rent on Apple TV, Google Play, YouTube, Amazon Prime, and Microsoft Movies, as well as region-specific video rental services like Sky and Rakuten in the UK and Cineplex Store in Canada.

Kelvin Timeline In Chris Pine's Star Trek Movies Explained

The timeline that Chris Pine's Star Trek movies take place in is known as the Kelvin Timeline, to differentiate it from the Prime Timeline that the Star Trek TV shows and all the films prior to 2009's reboot take place in. The Kelvin Timeline so named because of its inflection point, in which the USS Kelvin is destroyed by the time-traveling Romulan ship Narada. James Kirk's father, George (Chris Hemsworth), goes down with the Kelvin, so Chris Pine's Kirk never knows his father, and grows up to be a very different character from the James Kirk played by William Shatner in Star Trek: The Original Series.

In previous time travel stories in Star Trek , alternate realities are created when a point of divergence creates a new, branching timeline, but the Kelvin Timeline doesn't work that way. Instead, the Narada's appearance 150 years in the past creates a ripple effect that reverberates throughout the Kelvin Timeline, causing changes to both its past and its future. This means even events prior to the inflection point may be different from those in Star Trek: The Original Series, allowing for narrative changes such as Chris Pine's Kirk being born in space instead of Iowa, and an in-universe explanation of the updated production design not matching the 1960s aesthetic from TOS.

Will There Be Star Trek 4 Starring Chris Pine?

There's certainly interest in seeing Chris Pine's Captain Kirk back on the silver screen, but creative differences and scheduling conflicts have prevented Star Trek 4 from being realized. Between 2016 and 2020, three different scripts were written. Quentin Tarantino's gangster-inspired Star Trek film was a tonal departure that never took off. The father-son story between Pine's James Kirk and Chris Hemsworth's George Kirk was slashed after Star Trek: Beyond 's disappointing box office figures. Noah Hawley's third version of Star Trek 4 left the Kelvin Timeline behind , projecting a new direction for the franchise, but was also shelved in 2020.

The success of new Star Trek TV series like Star Trek: Discovery reinvigorated audience interest as well as Paramount's faith in Star Trek . A new version of Star Trek 4 was announced at a Paramount investor event in February 2022, with several actors set to return, including Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Zoe Saldaña. With a release date set for June (later December) 2023, it looked like Star Trek 4 might finally be made, but director Matt Shakman's departure from the project in spring 2022 left Star Trek 4 adrift. As of October 2023, plans for a fourth Star Trek movie with Chris Pine remain nebulous at best, but there's still hope as the studio continues its search for a director.

Hear Me Out: JJ Abrams’ Star Trek Movies Are Better Than His Star Wars Films

Say what you will about JJ Abrams (and film audiences often have a lot of opinions about his features), but the man has a Hollywood credit that no one else can claim. He has directed films in both the Star Wars and Star Trek franchise . That type of crossover is virtually impossible – and our only comparison seems to be James Gunn transitioning to DC for The Suicide Squad after helming to Guardians of the Galaxy films for Marvel Studios.

Coincidentally, JJ Abrams also has two movies in what has become a recent trilogy of Star Wars and Star Trek films . They don’t line up the same way. Abrams did back to back Star Trek movies before passing the torch to Justin Lin for 2016’s Star Trek Beyond . Over on the Lucasfilm side of the fence, Abrams helped revive Star Wars with the spectacular The Force Awakens , but let Rian Johnson play in the sandbox before agreeing to land the plane with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker .

Given the fact that JJ Abrams has two movies in each series, it’s time to do what any movie-loving fan base would do (especially when we are in quarantine and are binging movies that we already own and have seen 1,000 times). We’re going to compare the four films and determine which series is better. And for me – while it’s close – I have to give the edge to Abrams’ work in the Star Trek saga over his two recent Star Wars movies . Here’s why:

The Star Trek Cast is Better

This one’s hard to argue against. JJ Abrams faced what seemed to be an uphill battle when rebooting the Star Trek franchise but finding new actors to play roles that are forever linked to actors like William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley and Nichelle Nichols. Abrams’ 2009 reboot, Star Trek , launched what has become known as the Kelvin timeline (in honor of the USS Kelvin) and rolled out with younger actors in the signature roles.

And he knocked it completely out of the park.

Chris Pine ’s Kirk is brash, arrogant, impatient, impulsive and dangerously cocky. He updates Shatner’s campy confidence and applies it to contemporary action formulas. He is brilliantly counterbalanced by his “man of science,” Zachary Quinto ’s cold and analytical Spock. As in the television series (and the movies it inspired), these two heroes work well together because of their opposing approaches, and Pine and Quinto are able to establish their own dynamic while also paying tribute to fans’ expectation of Kirk and Spock.

Beyond the two leads, Abrams nailed the casting for every member of the USS Enterprise. This includes the gruff Bones ( Karl Urban ), the overwhelmed Scotty ( Simon Pegg ), the alluring Uhura ( Zoe Saldana ), the composed Sulu ( John Cho ) and the dedicated Chekov (the late Anton Chekov).

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This isn’t a slight against Abrams’ Star Wars casting. Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver actually hold down the Dark and Light as Rey and Kylo Ren, while Oscar Isaac and John Boyega are welcome additions. But their characters aren’t as pivotal to the success of the series (and are a little underused), while characters played by Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson and Gwendoline Christie went ultimately unfulfilled, giving Trek the advantage in this category.

Abrams’ Star Trek Makes Better Use of the Franchise’s Past

JJ Abrams loves referencing the history of his chosen franchises as he also moves them forward. But there’s no denying that the inclusion of Prime Timeline Spock (Leonard Nimoy) in 2009’s Star Trek was more seamless and essential to the overall story than was the inclusion of Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill or Carrie Fisher in the latest Star Wars trilogy.

Nimoy’s Spock, thanks to time travel, interacts with the younger versions of himself and his crew when he fails to prevent the destruction of a race led by Nero (Eric Bana). His actions trigger the plot, and Prime Spock essentially has to mend the fences between Pine and Quinto so they can ultimately prevail.

I’m not certain that Ford, Hamill and Fisher ended up being essential to the story being told in the latest Star Wars trilogy because I don’t think Lucasfilm had a firm grip on the story they wanted to tell. Was it a redemption story for Ben Solo? Was it an ascension story for Rey? Was it the classic “Rebels versus Empire” battle that has characterized Star Wars for decades? The answer ended up being “yes” to all of those, which means that it didn’t give proper attention to any of the subplots, and so the use of the original actors amounted to nostalgia with narrative heft.

Even Mark Hamill agrees with that stance, largely.

JJ Abrams never tried to shoehorn in other original Star Trek actors, so we’ll never know how he might have tried to use, say, William Shatner in the Kelvin timeline. But based on what we saw, I think Abrams did a better job of including the past in Trek than he ultimately did in Star Wars .

Into Darkness is Less Messy Than The Rise of Skywalker

Listen, this largely boils down to Star Trek Into Darkness versus Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker . Because both fanbases would likely agree that JJ Abrams’ first steps into both sagas were spectacular, and his follows ups had issues.

Which movie’s issues are more easily overlooked? My pick is Into Darkness . The biggest strike against Star Trek Into Darkness revolves around Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch), and the initial Mystery Box approach to his character. Desperate to protect the “twist,” everyone swore up and down that Cumberbatch was not playing Khan. Surprise? He totally was.

Which is fine. You can bring Khan into the Kelvin timeline. But Into Darkness couldn’t break out of the shadow of the superior Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan , and Abrams and his screenwriters never really decided if they wanted to homage the 1982 film, completely remake it, or strike off on their own. Also, they killed Kirk (Chris Pine) and brought him back… in the same film? Who thought that was a good idea?

But JJ Abrams’ Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has bigger issues that can’t be overlooked, and he really struggled (in my opinion) to bring closure to a 40-year-old saga. Maybe no one could have successfully brought closure to the entire Star Wars series? And Abrams faced obstacles no one could have overcome (the loss Carrie Fisher being the biggest). But the return of Palpatine in Rise of Skywalker felt way more egregious of a nostalgia grab than Khan did in Into Darkness . Too much of Rise seemed to directly contradict Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi (particularly with regards to Rey and her destiny). I find Abrams’ second Star Trek to be far more forgivable than his second Star Wars movie, which is another check in the Kelvin column.

So, have I won you over? I Tweeted this opinion the other night, and expected to get slammed. Instead, I discovered that a lot of people agreed with me. But that’s social media, and most folks on there are insane. What say you, CinemaBlend readers? Vote in the poll, and let’s settle this, once and for all.

This poll is no longer available.

Sean O’Connell is a journalist and CinemaBlend’s Managing Editor. Having been with the site since 2011, Sean interviewed myriad directors, actors and producers, and created ReelBlend, which he proudly cohosts with Jake Hamilton and Kevin McCarthy. And he's the author of RELEASE THE SNYDER CUT, the Spider-Man history book WITH GREAT POWER, and an upcoming book about Bruce Willis.

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Before J.J. Abrams, Star Trek Almost Got Its Own Version Of The Dark Knight Trilogy

The post-9/11 world was rough on "Star Trek." The not-super-popular "Star Trek: Enterprise" debuted on September 26, 2001, and the world wasn't in the mood. The U.S. president at the time, George W. Bush, began to affect violent, revenge-forward rhetoric, and many U.S. citizens were in a bitter, wounded mindset. While some may say that the utopian future of "Trek" was needed at that time, one can see how its idealism felt out of place. "Star Trek" would have us reaching out to our enemies and solving problems through diplomacy. That suggested course of action didn't sit well with a nation itching to enact justice. It's no wonder films like "The Avengers" took off in the post-9/11 milieu; the Avengers avenge the destruction of our cities. Diplomacy was out, freelance super-powered military mercs were in.

 So when "Enterprise" was canceled in 2005 after four seasons, it seemed that "Star Trek" was at an end. The "Trek" movies had also recently petered out with the release of the terribly unsuccessful "Star Trek: Nemesis" in 2002. Trekkies could now only look back on the previous 39 years of entertainment and hold those hundreds of hours of film and TV close to our hearts. Second star to the right and straight on 'til morning.

But it seems the head honchos at "Trek" weren't quite done yet. Trying to keep the franchise alive and relevant in 2005, executive producer Rick Berman conceived of an idea to explore the lives of a young Kirk and a young Spock in a new feature film. That film, called "Star Trek: The Beginning," is discussed in the notable oral history book "The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years: From The Next Generation to J. J. Abrams," edited by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross.

Star Trek: The Beginning

In 2001, screenwriter Erik Jendresen came into the public eye writing the hit TV series "Band of Brothers" for Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. He was in high demand and, perhaps naturally, got a call from Paramount about the possibility of writing a "Star Trek" movie. Jendresen was not a Trekkie, so he balked at the offer. Indeed, his view of sci-fi was very specific, literary, and classic. He said:

"Shortly after 'Band of Brothers,' I got a call from my agent, who said, 'Would you be interested in getting into "Star Trek?"' And I said, 'No.' First of all, because I don't really like science fiction. I'm kind of an odd purist that way. If it's not Jules Verne or H.G. Wells or Edgar Allen Poe or Arthur Conan Doyle, I'm not that interested. The space opera genre of science fiction is just something that has never held any interest for me. But they didn't take no for an answer." 

For producer Jordan Kerner, though, it was just a matter of convincing Jendrensen to find an "in." If he could be made interested in "Star Trek" as a concept, then he might want to write a screenplay. Knowing that the new film was to be about James T. Kirk — a forthrightly literary character — certainly piqued Jendresen's interest:

"Kerner really wanted to have a conversation, so they called me back and said, 'Would you come consult with us?' And I said, 'Sure.' And I was very honest with them. I loved two things about 'Star Trek.' The first was this sort of Horatio Hornblower aspect to Kirk. All of that boldness. It's sort of a throwback to a great kind of literary figure and hero."

Classic "Star Trek." So far, so good.

The pitch experience

Jendresen also appreciated the franchise's tendency to be political. He said that he "loved the fact that the stories were always, at the time, of political or social relevance. There was a message behind them all. And it was kind of lovely. I really respected that."

Rick Berman noted that making a "Star Trek" movie was more of Kerner's mandate, as it was part of his contract when he took a job at Paramount. Hence, the hiring of a screenwriter. Jendresen recalled that Berman was ready to step away from "Star Trek," knowing that a lot of Trekkies weren't so fond of his position overseeing everything. This was a new regime, just beginning, and Jedrensen was going to be one of its golden children. He recalls the entire experience of pitching a new "Star Trek" movie over producer Donald De Line's desk, located somewhere in Southern California. It didn't feel right. Jendresen explained:

"We went in to pitch it to the head of the studio, Donald De Line. We sat down and started telling the story. I've been in a lot of rooms in Hollywood. I've pitched a lot of projects. I've never been in a more preternaturally dead room than this one. It was like being in a sensory deprivation tank. There was not a sound, and in the middle of the pitch I thought, 'This is really odd.' In the middle of it, I look over to the sofas and one of the producers is sitting there and he started doing that 'Kennedy just got shot' with his fist under his chin."

Despite the dead room, Jendresen continued to pitch his idea for 45 minutes. At the end, the producers shook his hand, suddenly ecstatic. He got the job.

The actual idea

According to Glen C. Oliver, one of the critics at Ain't It Cool News who had read Jendresen's script, "Star Trek: The Beginning" was to follow the adventures of a character named Tiberius Chase, one of Kirk's ancestors. The story would involve a genocidal campaign by the Romulans against Earth in an effort to kill all the Vulcans living there. Given the time frame, it seems that "Star Trek: The Beginning" was to take place only a few decades after the events of "Enterprise," but also a few decades prior to the events of the original "Star Trek" series. Oliver recalled that the tone of the script — perhaps borrowing from "Band of Brothers" — was very World War II-tragic. One of the speeches made by the Chase character even sounded like a letter written by a soldier in the 1940s: "I will still, and forever, wonder how one can go boldly and follow at the same time?"

One might take note that some of these concepts would appear in the eventual 2009 "Star Trek" film directed by J.J. Abrams . 

Jendresen elucidated by saying:

"This is all happening during the Serbian-Croatian conflict. So the whole notion was of this interstellar ethnic cleansing going on. It was really about something. And the fact that the Earth stands up against the Romulans and says, 'No.' The needs of the few outweighs the needs of the many. That is the moment when the Earth stands up and says no."

Oliver did note that "Star Trek: The Beginning" was a massive departure from the previous "Star Trek" ethos, which traditionally cleaved to pacifism. This new film was to be a straight-up military thriller of a type never seen in the franchise, not even during the days of "Deep Space Nine."

Respecting canon

Despite the tonal departure, Jendresen felt he was respectful to "Star Trek" canon, which he knew was massively important to the franchise's many fans. He still wasn't a Trekkie at the end of the experience, but he was proud of his work. He also came to understand Trekkies, as he began to equate their preoccupations with some of his own pop interests. Jendresen noted:

"By the time I was finished writing it, I was quite shocked about the whole thing. I really enjoyed the process. I was also very well aware of the fact that because of the agnostic feeling I had toward the genre, and I wasn't a die-hard fan, I was able to serve it better, because I wasn't precious. My own feelings about a story or a canon of material are as strong as most Trekkies are for the [Doyle] books. That was something I was crazed about as a kid. To this day, I still am."

One might find evidence of Kirk's family in expanded-universe lore and tie-in novels, but Kirk rarely talked about his family explicitly in any of the "Star Trek" shows or movies. Jendresen was free to explore that character. He also liked the idea of writing a character who didn't live into the rest of "Star Trek" canon. He was free to harm Chase or make him as tragic as he wanted:

"Having to come up with some kind of clever way to be able to have a human encounter a Romulan and deal with the notion that no one lives to tell of it. And it was really fun to try to tackle the idea of Kirk's progenitor. Who is this guy that he was named after? Where did his spirit originate from? I really embraced it."

The Beginning trilogy

Both Jendresen and Oliver noted that an ultra-military world was very strange for "Star Trek," but both acknowledged that Starfleet — by the franchise's own canonical history — couldn't be born before Earth survived several devastating wars. Jendresen merely wanted to see what the world of "Star Trek" looked like during those wars. There was a time in "Star Trek" history when the world was not placid and put-together, and looked more like "Starship Troopers." The critic said, however, that the cliffhanger ending of the screenplay to "Star Trek: The Beginning" left a lot to be desired. Oliver noted:

"It's difficult to completely assess the full success of Jendresen's overall intent here, though. My understanding is that 'The Beginning' was the first of three intended movies, and as such it ends somewhat ambiguously. Thus, the payoff of several important plot threads is currently, and will likely forever be, unclear. If whatever he planned next was as forward-thinking and out of the box as his first installment. We'd have seen a very unusual, very grown-up 'Trek' for the ages." 

Jendresen, meanwhile, already had begun to figure out what the next movie in the series might be, noting that "The Beginning" would indeed be the first part of a three-film cycle, all literarily inspired. In his words:

"I was so looking forward to the second one, because it was going to be a chase from Romulan space. And also, the great notion being that most of the Romulan fleet would be heading back to Romulus from Earth so they are sort of on a collision course with the whole Romulan fleet. During the course of this, there would be conflict, tension, and suspense. But, I was looking forward to inventing the adventures of Odysseus on his way home, back to Penelope."

Christopher Walken, captain of the Nazi UFOs

"Star Trek: The Beginning," then, was to be a sci-fi, WWII-inflected rendition of "The Iliad," with Kirk's grandfather serving as Odysseus. Not a bad pitch! The follow-up film was to be the soldiers returning home from the battlefield, very much like "The Odyssey." Jedresen even began to brainstorm what might happen on that Odyssey, and the kinds of character Chase would meet along the way. Most significantly, Jendresen wanted to include Chase's own father as a notable villain. He even knew which actor he wanted to play this villain:

"I did have one person in mind when I wrote it. But it's a tertiary character. Tiberius is Kirk's great-grandfather. So his great-great-grandfather is Tiberius' father, Otto Chase, who leads this group of xenophobes, and I was just absolutely convinced there was only one guy to play him. And that was Christopher Walken. I would have brought him back in the sequel. He was such a colorful character. The idea of Walken in this subterranean cavern with all of these ancient rotting Nazi UFOs would've been great."

The "Beginning" project likely fell apart because of a schism in Viacom in 2006, causing the film and the TV rights of "Star Trek" to be split among two companies. Jendresen's ideas about a Romulan attack fleet and the extermination of the Vulcans found their way into the screenplay written by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci for J.J. Abrams' 2009 film. The 2009 film was also extremely militant (the characters even wore army-like uniforms in "Star Trek Into Darkness") and looked back at events prior to the original series.

Would Jendresen's war trilogy have been better? We can only speculate.

Timothy Olyphant Was Almost Captain Kirk in J.J. Abrams’ STAR TREK Trilogy

Sometimes an actor is perfect for a role. For example, most MCU fans would agree that they cannot imagine anyone else besides Robert Downey Jr. playing Tony Stark/Iron Man. I’d argue that this is the same for Star Trek fans when it comes to J.J. Abrams’ Trek trilogy and its leading man Chris Pine. He truly makes a perfect young and brash Captain Kirk. (And Chris Pine seems like a cool dude who minds his business. Love it.) But there was another awesome actor who auditioned for that part and didn’t get it. Timothy Olyphant revealed that he auditioned for the role of Captain Kirk in the Star Trek movies but ultimately lost the Captain-ship to Chris Pine.

According to Entertainment Weekly , Timothy Olyphant recently talked about his near-Kirk experience on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast as he reminisced about his auditions for Star Trek . Olyphant said auditioning for Abrams was wonderful but the director decided to go with the younger Chris Pine instead. Interestingly, Timothy Olyphant went in to audition for the role of Dr. Leonard McCoy, not Captain Kirk. However, Abrams said they already had a guy. That random guy was someone named Karl Urban. He sounds vaguely familiar . But the director did encourage him to read for Captain Kirk because they were still searching for their leading Star Trek man at the time.

“I believe it was one of those things where it’s like they might have been prepared to hire me, but they wanted somebody younger, and [Abrams] was having a hard time finding somebody younger,” Olyphant said. “And somewhere along the line, J.J. called and said, ‘I found a guy, younger, who’s really good.’”

Everyone needs to watch their back. #JustifiedFX #CityPrimevalFX pic.twitter.com/k3sLsufrec — Justified (@JustifiedFX) August 7, 2023

Of course, Timothy Olyphant has no hard feelings about not joining the Star Trek universe. He later met Chris Pine and praised him for being a great guy and an awesome actor. As we know, Timothy Olyphant did very well after not getting the role of Captain Kirk. He nabbed a starring role as Deputy US Marshall Rayland Givens in Justified and its recent revival, Justified: City Primeval . He also made his way to the Star Wars universe as Cobb Vanth. Now, we can only imagine a Star Trek world with him as the captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise .

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James McAvoy Reveals Why He Turned Down Role In J.J. Abrams Star Trek Movie

| September 19, 2024 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 13 comments so far

Scottish actor James McAvoy is one of those avowed Star Trek fans who has expressed keen interest interest in appearing in the franchise, which is why it’s surprising to hear him talk about why he turned down a role in one of the Kelvin Universe feature films produced by J.J. Abrams.

Why McAvoy said no to J.J.

McAvoy was a guest on the Happy Sad Confused podcast when host Josh Horowitz brought up their shared love of Star Trek, and after talking a bit about their favorite shows and movies, McAvoy was asked how was it he never made it into final frontier. The BAFTA-winning actor then revealed he “came close” to landing a role in one of the recent Star Trek movies. McAvoy didn’t want to get specific about which role he was offered, but talked about how he tried to make it work:

“I got offered something. I didn’t want to do that. I suggested I can do something else. They wanted to camera test me and I was like, ‘Do you know what, it’s alright, don’t worry about it.’  Not because I wouldn’t, because I just didn’t think I was right.”

McAvoy went on to say that he thought Abrams eventually cast the right actor for the role:

“What I said to J.J. about what I thought the role should be and the kind of actor that should be, they absolutely got. I’m not saying that he got that because I said that. But the kind of person I thought that I’m not is exactly the person who got it. And it’s brilliant. And I love the new ones. I love J.J.’s films. They are excellent.”

It’s not clear what role McAvoy was offered (and requested), or even which of the three Abrams-produced films he’s referring to. Rumors that McAvoy was approached to play Scotty for Abrams’ first Star Trek movie start rumbling back in early 2007, several months before Simon Pegg was cast in the role. After initial denials, McAvoy became more evasive about whether he was in the running for the role of the USS Enterprise’s engineer. It’s unlikely he would have turned down such an iconic role as Scotty, so he was probably offered some other character.

You can see McAvoy talk Trek below.

McAvoy’s Trek dream

Even though he “came close” to that one role, over recent years McAvoy has made it clear he very much wants to get into Star Trek. When Star Trek: Picard was in development, he volunteered his services on more than one occasion to play a young Jean-Luc Picard, noting he was uniquely qualified as he had played a young Charles Xavier (originally played by Patrick Stewart) in 3 X-Men movies. He is such a big Trek fan that he used his time during the pandemic to create his own Trek fan film called “ Star Force: Sci-Fisolation. ”

More recently, McAvoy noted that as he gets into his mid-40s, he may be aging out of playing a young Picard but still hopes for a Trek role . There are currently two active Star Trek feature film projects at Paramount Pictures (the “origin story” and “Star Trek 4”), so maybe he will still have his chance. And of course, there could always be a role in the new Starfleet Academy show, which cast Trek fan Paul Giamatti, or maybe even the fourth season of Strange New Worlds . There are always… possibilities.

James McAvoy in homemade “Star Force” in 2020

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Let’s see, I’ll be under 30 kilos of makeup? No, thank you.

Idris Elba sould have delined Beyond for that reason alone …

That’s the first thing I thought of as well.

This was my first thought… they talked to him about Khan, and only a real fan would look at themselves and say ‘me playing Montalban? Not no, but hell no’. lol. I’m surprised if it was Scotty, because if I was in his shoes, I would have jumped at that. But I can certainly see where he figured Pegg was the right choice for that after the fact. No shade toward Cumberbatch here… but their whole concept for the role of Khan was just wrong, and I can see why they’d talk to him about it. He’s a helluva great actor, for sure.

Yeah, making Khan a white British dude was just super bizarre. I’m sure it was done for secrecy reasons, as JJ is way to obsessed with such things, but it really just amounted to white washing a great character and turning him into something he’s not.

I’d love to see McAvoy in the Star Trek franchise. I loved him in the X-men films!

Same! Fantastic actor. Interesting notes about Picard. I’d prefer he do something else though. Having him play a younger Picard after doing a younger Professor X just feels a little too cute. Too stunt casting. Cool that he was willing to consider it though.

I could see that.

no need for the caginess imo – what’s the big deal in just saying what it was.

Seems more like it was the camera test that made him tap out – and what he’s not saying by doing this tap-dance is really more like:

“I was offended that they wanted to camera test me – me! A big star! How dare they? So I walked and said why don’t you hire somebody not as famous as I am if you want to camera test them”

Yeah, Beyond is eight years in the rear view mirror now, and Abram’s seems peripherally in the franchise at best, now. Just spill it ..

Nero would make a lot of sense.

Scotty- of course, he didn’t want to play the jokey version we got, so he correctly suggested Simon Pegg.