Simon Pegg believes Star Trek 4 will kick off production early 2019

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

After STAR TREK BEYOND under-performed at the box-office, I didn't expect to Paramount to immediately move forward with a fourth installment of the rebooted STAR TREK series, but, after a bit of a delay, the studio tapped S.J. Clarkson to helm STAR TREK 4 and work is progressing nicely. Simon Pegg, who plays Scotty in the series, appeared on Larry King Now and spoke about meeting Clarkson in preparation for putting on his space suit once again as well as confirming that he'd be back as Scotty.

Yeah [I’m in the next Star Trek], as long as they want what they call the “Kelvin cast,” the sort of rebooted version of the Shatner era, and I am Scotty, as far as I know. I met the new director, S.J. Clarkson, who is the first female director of a Star Trek film, which is exciting, and she is just brimming with ideas and enthusiasm. I can’t wait to work with her.

There's nothing official yet, but when Simon Pegg was asked when he expected production to begin, he said, "As far I know, we are sort of in soft prep at the moment. I would imagine [starting production] next year at some point, hopefully early next year." Details on the fourth film are sparse, but we do know that Chris Hemsworth will be back to reprise the role of George Kirk, the man who sacrificed his life so that his crew and family could escape safely from Nero in STAR TREK. This will allow Chris Pine's Captain Kirk to "cross 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."

There's also another STAR TREK project in development which you may have heard about as it originates from Quentin Tarantino, who is currently busy shooting ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD. It's expected that the Tarantino film will come after STAR TREK 4 is released, but Simon Pegg indicated to Nerdist that he isn't about to look at the project as a done deal just yet.

As far as we know, Quentin came in an pitched an idea. Obviously, he’s real busy at the moment with “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” and that’s what he’ll be doing for the next few years. [sic] If there comes a time when [his Trek film] becomes a reality, then that would be incredibly exciting. I imagine it would be a passionate and very faithful take, you know. Quentin’s a big “Star Trek” fan, and wouldn’t just come in and… I think people [thought], ‘Oh, he’ll just come in and dismantle it.’ He’ll do something extraordinary with it, I’m absolutely certain of that. If that happens, that would be great.

Should STAR TREK 4 really begin shooting early next year, we could probably expect it to hit theaters sometime in 2020.