It's been a while since we've had a Star Trek film on the big screen. While other side projects have been developed such as Discovery, Short Treks, and Picard, the last theatrical entry for the franchise was actually in 2016 with Star Trek Beyond, which starred Chris Pine as Captain Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, and Zoe Zaldana as Nyota Uhura.
Now, it looks like another Star Trek cinematic project is in the works, and this one could be very different from the other films we've seen so far. According to recent reports, Paramount has set the release date for this film for June 9, 2023, and it will serve as the franchise's newest entry.
The news was given as part of Paramount's recent scheduling update, which included release dates for the Fast & Furious films as well as Top Gun: Maverick. While not much has been revealed yet about the script, Paramount said the untitled Star Trek film is a top-secret project the studio is developing with J.J. Abrams producing. Fear The Walking Dead's Kalinda Vazquez is also supposedly writing a Star Trek film, but this may be separate from the Abrams project. Fans are expecting to receive further updates on the project at the official Star Trek convention that is happening in Chicago this April. Many are hoping that producers will finally give the untitled film a much-needed name.
Previously, there have been a couple of potential Star Trek projects that were reportedly in the works, including a film by Legion's Noah Hawley and another by Quentin Tarantino himself. Unfortunately, these projects seemed to have been stopped at the studio level, and so far, Abrams' film looks to be the only one that is actually moving forward. It will be interesting to see what he will do this time around, considering his track record with the franchise.
Abrams directed the first two films in the franchise reboot, Star Trek and Into Darkness, and served as producer for the third film, Star Trek Beyond. The fact that he is linked to this fourth installment could mean that we will see Pine's Kirk and the rest of the squad back in action; however, that is not necessarily a guarantee.
After all, Abrams is known for producing films that don't always fully tie into the rest of the titles in a franchise (we see this in his work with the Cloverfield films), so it's entirely possible that this "top-secret project" could involve an entirely new story and cast that is only loosely connected to previous titles.
The untitled Star Trek film is scheduled for release on June 9, 2023.
Source: TheWrap