While the TV side of the Star Trek franchise is flowing along with Star Trek: Discovery and the upcoming Picard series, the movies side has been in stasis since the release of Star Trek Beyond in 2016. There's no word yet on when, or even if, Star Trek 4, a.k.a. the fourth entry of the reboot film series, will be released, but John Cho, who plays Hikaru Sulu, is hoping he and his costars get to return for a fourth outing since there's a cloud over the third one due to the tragic passing of Anton Yelchin. In Cho's words:
I think its an important part of American popular culture that speaks to Americas best impulses and I think that there will always be a place for Star Trek films and I just hope to be in it and there isn't another totally different group of people! I'm bullish about it, and honestly, for personal reasons I suppose the last film has a cloud over it, losing Anton [Yelchin] after the last one and for me it would be important personally to make one more at least. I think it would alleviate that part of us a little bit to make at least one more.
Like John Cho, Anton Yelchin was part of the main cast for the first three Star Trek reboot movies, but sadly, a month before Star Trek Beyond came out, Yelchin died in a freak car accident, making Beyond one of his final appearances. Producer J.J. Abrams already said that Pavel Chekov will not be recast for Star Trek 4, but as Cho sees it, making another movie in the film series allows the opportunity to leave things off on a brighter note.
It's a nice sentiment, and while these Star Trek movies won't feel the same without Anton Yelchin reprising Anton Chekov, I can understand why John Cho wants the gang brought back together. However, in terms of Star Trek 4's current progress, Cho couldn't provide any updates to The Playlist, saying he doesn't know what "the ins and outs at the studio are." That said, he's still "optimistic" that a new Star Trek movie will eventually come out.
Although it was announced shortly before Star Trek Beyond's release that Star Trek 4 would see Chris Pine's James Kirk meeting his father, Chris Hemsworth's George Kirk (remember, he died at the beginning of 2009's Star Trek), for nearly two years after that, there were no major updates on the project. Then it was revealed this past April that Star Trek 4 was in development concurrently with Quentin Tarantino's Star Trek movie, and later in the month, director S.J. Clarkson was tapped to helm Star Trek 4.
You'd think that update meant we'd see Star Trek 4 sooner rather than later, but then in August, both Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth walked away due to pay disputes with Paramount. The two men wanted to keep their existing pay deals intact, but the studio insisted they take pay cuts due to Star Trek Beyond not performing as well commercially as hoped. Now with 2018 almost over, it remains to be seen if Star Trek 4 will ever see the light of day, but at least John Cho remains hopeful it'll one day happen.
Rest assured, if there's any news regarding Star Trek 4's progress, we here at CinemaBlend will keep you updated on that front.
