Captain Kirk's latest adventure was highly enjoyable, for me at least, but unfortunately it didn't perform nearly as well at the box-office as Paramount was hoping it would. The studio officially announced a fourth STAR TREK film before STAR TREK BEYOND even premiered and despite BEYOND's lackluster box-office, that movie is apparently still in the cards. STAR TREK 4 will see Chris Pine’s Captain Kirk crossing paths with a man he never had a chance to meet, but whose legacy has haunted him since the day he was born: his father.
Chris Hemsworth played the role of George Kirk in J.J. Abrams' STAR TREK and while his role was brief, it definitely left an impression on audiences which is why it isn't exactly a big surprise that Abrams wanted him back. It also doesn't hurt that Hemsworth's star has risen considerably since then thanks to his involvement in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Chris Pine recently spoke with The Huffington Post where he revealed what he thought about Hemsworth returning to STAR TREK.
It’s such a trip that, in the first one, Chris [Hemsworth] had such a small but super important part and he knocked it out of the park. He’s only on screen for so little time and he’s really emotionally the centerpiece of that film. I’ve only really seen him a couple times since then strangely, so it would be fun to reunite with him. I was honestly quite happy where the end of that father-son storyline ended, but I’d be happy to work with Chris again. He’s a great actor and a really nice man.
Given STAR TREK BEYOND's unimpressive box-office, I'd imagine that Paramount is a little more hesitant about giving STAR TREK 4 the green-light. J.J. Abrams is one person hoping that they'll move ahead as he's referred to the STAR TREK 4 story as his favourite of the rebooted Trek franchise.
One of the reasons that I’m hoping [Star Trek Beyond] does well is so that we can, without question, get that movie made. It really is an amazing story. It’s really the reason we made the deal with Chris Hemsworth as soon as we could because we really wanted that story to be told, so fingers crossed.
STAR TREK BEYOND will be released on Blu-ray/DVD on November 1st.