2016’s Star Trek Beyond seemed like it was a new beginning from the franchise, but after some poor marketing, the film didn’t manage to make the numbers that the studio expected—and now the franchise is on a hiatus.
Despite Trek 4 still being in development, Paramount has decided to move forward and start development on a prequel spinoff. According to Deadline, Toby Haynes is set to direct a new film which will be written by Seth Grahame-Smith. The film is said to be an origin story for the original Trek and will take place decades before the 2009 reboot. It’s also worth noting that the man who launched the Kelvin franchise—J.J. Abrams—is also attached as producer via Bad Robot.
If anything, the closest thing we have to an origin story for Trek is the series Star Trek: Enterprise which ran from 2001-2005. The story is set a century before Kirk and Spock came aboard the Enterprise, and showcased the early days of Starfleet before they were able to travel outside of Earth’s solar system.
With the Trek movies now taking place in a new timeline, it’s possible this spinoff film can tell a completely new story, but I’m sure there would be fans who would want even just a reference to what’s come before.
Take note, a fourth Trek film with Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Zoe Saldana is still in the works, but we have no idea when we’ll get our official first look.
No release date has been set for the next Trek movie to hit theaters.
