Things looked bleak last month when word emerged that negotiations between Paramount and Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth to return for a fourth ‘Star Trek’ film had broken down. Both were virtual unknowns when they appeared in 2009’s ‘Star Trek’, but since then, Pine has starred in a string of high profile projects including the DC superhero epic ‘Wonder Woman’, while of course, Hemsworth is Thor. Despite what appears to be a crippling stalemate, Karl Urban, a.k.a. Doctor “Bones” McCoy, thinks things will work out and that ‘Star Trek 4’ (whatever it winds up being called) will happen. He noted that the sequel has a script and director, S.J. Clarkson and even noted that the plan was to shoot the film in England, where Clarkson is based and where executive producer J.J. Abrams is currently working on ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’.
“Hopefully, we get back for another movie, or two of them. We are just sort of waiting on negotiations. I’m confident we will… The last film did pretty well. I think it made about $320 or 350 or 380 globally [Editor’s note: actual Star Trek Beyond global box office: $343 million] But still, for a movie that cost what it cost to make, the profit margins aren’t that great and so particularly Chris Hemsworth and Chris Pine subsequently have done big movies, and their quotes have gone up and so I am pretty confident though that Paramount and those guys, they will figure it out. Because I know Chris [Pine]. We were all in touch recently and everybody wants to do it and make it happen. So, if Paramount is willing there will be a way to make it happen. So, fingers crossed.”
It sounds like it’s just a matter of Paramount paying Pine a higher rate to return, but as Urban noted, the profit margin on these movies is slim. The ‘Trek’ movies have gradually diminished in their box office success with each installment. In fact, it’s a little surprising that they are even moving forward with another one.
Hemsworth played George Kirk, Pine’s character’s father, who died in a flashback at the start of the first movie. The plan was that he would return via time travel for the new movie. But if his inflated pay rate is an obstacle, they really don’t NEED to bring George Kirk back. But then again, if that’s already in the script, it may be cheaper to keep him rather than write a whole new one.
In the meantime, there is also the matter of the Quentin Tarantino ‘Trek’ movie which will reportedly feature the Kelvin crew but will be rated R. That is still in the works, but at the moment Tarantino is busy working on his next film, ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ so that is some distance off.
Likewise, Pine is currently filming ‘Wonder Woman 1984’, and Hemsworth is at work on the spin-off of ‘Men In Black’. For his part, Urban has been cast as the lead character, Billy Butcher, on Amazon’s upcoming dark superhero satire series ‘The Boys’. But should any ‘Star Trek’ news emerge, we will keep you updated!
Source: Trek Movie
