While production on the third Star Trek film (possibly titled “Star Trek Beyond”) just began this week, The Hollywood Reporter brings word that Paramount Pictures is already looking toward the future of the franchise. Having renegotiated their contracts for the third film, stars Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto have been given options for a fourth “Star Trek,” though they are the only members of the principal cast given the option at this time.
Co-stars Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin and John Cho reportedly did not sign sequel options, though this does not preclude them from signing a new deal should a fourth film materialize.
Star Trek 3 is set to feature the return of the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, along with Idris Elba as the film’s villain and Sofia Boutella in a mystery role. J.J. Abrams, who directed the last two films, is producing the third film in the rebooted franchise. Justin Lin, four-time The Fast and the Furious director, is set to direct from a script by Simon Pegg and Doug Jung.
Paramount Pictures has Star Trek 3 scheduled for a July 8, 2016 release, which happens to be exactly two months to the day before the franchise’s 50th Anniversary. Although it wasn’t the first episode produced, “The Man Trap,” in which the crew of the Enterprise encounters a deadly shapeshifting salt vampire, introduced the world to “Star Trek” on September 8, 1966.
