Hollywood giveth, and Hollywood taketh away. Not long after Ryan Reynolds declared Hugh Jackman is reprising his role as Wolverine for Marvel’s next Deadpool movie, word came down from the stars that Paramount removed the next Star Trek sequel from its release calendar. This disappointing news comes a month after the project lost its director, Matt Shakman (WandaVision), who’s now the captain of the ship for Marvel’s Fantastic Four. Paramount is looking for a new director to helm its Star Trek sequel but has removed the film from its upcoming slate.
While there was some confusion about the development of the Star Trek sequel, Chris Pine boarded the project to reprise his role as Captain Kirk, with Lindsey Beer and Geneva Robertson-Dworet penning the screenplay. Initially, Paramount’s Star Trek sequel would have boldly gone into theaters on June 9, 2023, but was pushed back to December 22, 2023.
Hopefully, this development is a temporary setback for the anticipated film, which also has Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, and Zachary Quinto beaming up to reprise their roles from previous films in the Kelvin Timeline.
Produced by J.J. Abrams, who also directed Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), the new Star Trek films have been embraced by long-standing fans of the science-fiction franchise. Coupled with the third film in the Kelvin Timeline, Star Trek Beyond, directed by Justin Lin, the latest silver screen Star Trek odyssey earned $1.96 billion at the box office. While the newest movie in the series is temporarily pulled, there’s no way Paramount is letting Star Trek go adrift for too long. As the studio’s search widens for Shakman’s replacement, it’s only a matter of time before fans get beamed up for another adventure with some of their favorite characters.