For a franchise dedicated to boldly going forward, Star Trek’s most promising big-screen saga just found itself back at square one. While Star Trek TV has been flourishing the past few years, the film trilogy that brought the saga back to life has withered on the vine. That’s the Kelvin Timeline, the alt-universe reboot that began in 2009 with J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek. The film and its two sequels earned respectable box office numbers and a loyal fandom, one that’s been wondering about future films since Star Trek Beyond in 2016.
Paramount seemed keen to shake the cobwebs off the Kelvin saga, especially after the studio’s recent merger with Skydance. Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg, the studio’s new co-chairs, affirmed that Trek was “a priority across the company,” with development beginning on Star Trek 4 in August. Abrams was even in talks to return and produce the film, with screenwriter Steve Yockey reportedly working on a script. As quickly as those plans were taking shape, however, it seems like they’ve been shelved just as fast.
