Zachary Quinto Reaches Out to J.J. Abrams—Is Star Trek 4 Finally Happening?
Star Trek fans have waited years for news, and now Zachary Quinto is stirring the pot by revealing his latest move with J.J. Abrams—here’s what he said about the franchise’s future.
If Star Trek 4 ever actually happens in the Kelvin timeline, go ahead and put Zachary Quinto at the top of the thank-you list. He is out here banging the drum, emailing J.J. Abrams, and generally trying to will this thing into existence.
Where this is coming from
Quinto talked to Collider while promoting Season 2 of the series Brilliant Minds. Before he put on the Vulcan ears in J.J. Abrams 2009 reboot, he broke out on TV as the villain on Heroes, so he knows his way around a sci-fi fanbase. Asked if he wants back in? He did not hedge.
"I would absolutely love to do another Star Trek movie. I don't understand why we haven't done one yet, but hopefully, now that the Skydance and Paramount merger is moving forward, Skydance was the financier of all the Star Trek movies that we've done so far and have been great partners in those films, and I would love to revisit it. I think all of us would.
"It's been 10 years since we made the last movie, and nine years since it came out, and I do think that it would be a really wonderful way to close that chapter of the story and the characters that we've all come to love and come to enjoy inhabiting as much as we have. I think it would be really wonderful."
Yes, he literally emailed J.J.
J.J. Abrams still produces Star Trek, and whether or not he directs a sequel, he remains a key player. Quinto says he reached out directly this week.
"I actually just emailed J.J. this week to say, 'Hey, this would be really exciting.' I think fans would be really open to it and really welcome a final movie. We've been talking about it for long enough that it seems like time to move it forward. So, I'm beating that drum as much as I can. I think it would be really great to do a fourth movie, and let's make it happen. There are so many possibilities in the stories we could tell. I think there's something really wonderful about coming back to characters that we all have a history with, and we all have a real deep connection to, and a fond relationship with. I hope that we can, and I hope that we do."
Who could come back if this finally moves?
This is the part fans always ask about. Quinto says he stays close with Chris Pine and still talks to the rest of the crew, and he thinks everyone would be up for one more mission. Here is the current lay of the land:
- Zachary Quinto: loudly in
- Chris Pine (Captain Kirk): no official return announced yet, but Quinto says they are still close
- Simon Pegg, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Karl Urban: plausible returns if it comes together
- Anton Yelchin: tragically passed away; Chekov would need to be respectfully retired
The business wrinkle (aka the inside baseball)
Quinto is pinning some hope on the Skydance-Paramount deal moving forward. Skydance financed the previous Kelvin films, so if that merger actually streamlines things, it could help. To be clear: Star Trek 4 is not greenlit. The franchise has had more near-starts than warp jumps. At one point, Matt Shakman was attached to direct with Lindsey Beer and Geneva Robertson-Dworet linked to write, and that version did not make it to camera. The development history here is a corkboard full of index cards and string.
Where this leaves us
Nine years since Star Trek Beyond hit theaters (and roughly ten since they shot it), Quinto wants a final film to close out the Kelvin crew’s arc. He thinks the fans would welcome it. Honestly, same. If this ship finally leaves dry dock, you can thank the guy who keeps emailing the admiralty.