‘Star Trek 4’ Is Searching for a New Director

Star Trek 4 is still moving forward. However, the movie has lost its director, Matt Shakman.

Shakman, who was set to direct the upcoming film, had to pull out of the project due to a scheduling conflict over Marvel Studios upcoming Fantastic Four movie. 

“Matt Shakman is an incredibly talented filmmaker, and we regret the timing didn’t align for him to direct our upcoming ‘Star Trek‘ film. We are grateful for his many contributions, are excited about the creative vision of this next chapter and look forward to bringing it to audiences all around world.” Paramount Pictures says in their statement.

But fans should worry about the news.  According to The Hollywood Reporter, the search for a new director will be underway soon.

Star Trek 4 casting news

Star Trek 4 follows 2016’s Star Trek Beyond, which starred Chris Pine as Captain James T. Kirk.

Along with Pine, Zachary Quinto and Simon Pegg are set to reprise their roles as Spock and Scotty, respectively. Additionally, Zoe Saldana (Uhura), Karl
Urban (Bones) and John Cho (Sulu) are also attached to the sequel.

The late Anton Yelchin, who played Chekov, sadly died before 2016’s Star Trek Beyond hit cinemas, and it’s not known if his character will
return with another actor.

JJ Abrams promises Star Trek 4 will take fans to areas they’ve never seen

JJ Abrams, who previously rebooted the series,  has teased that they will take “Star Trek into areas that you’ve just never seen before”.

“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 when announcing the fourth film.

“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.” Abrams adds.

Star Trek 4 was scheduled to release on December 22, 2023. No confirmation yet whether the loss of Matt Shakman as the film’s director will impact that date. But we’ll keep you posted as more details and news about Star Trek 4 surface!