While The Star Trek 4 Wait Continues, The Sci-Fi Franchise Has Unveiled Another Big Movie That Has Me Intrigued

The TV side of the Star Trek franchise has been thriving for seven years now thanks to various shows being delivered exclusively to Paramount+ subscribers (although if you’re a Star Trek: Prodigy fan, you’ll now need a Netflix subscription to keep following along with it). Film-wise, however, there hasn’t been anything delivered since 2016’s Star Trek Beyond, and we’re still no closer to Star Trek 4’s arrival. But while the public continues to wait for the next entry in the Kelvin timeline, another big movie has been unveiled for the sci-fi franchise that has me intrigued.

Word’s come in that Paramount Pictures has tapped Andor’s Toby Haynes to direct a Star Trek movie that hails from a script being written by Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’s Seth Grahame-Smith. Deadline describes this specific project as “an origin story that takes place decades before” 2009’s Star Trek. It was also clarified that Star Trek 4 remains in “active development” and is described as the “final chapter in the main series,” but that particular tidbit can be talked about another time.

Between Haynes’ experience on Andor, the popular Star Wars show that’s returning for a second season, and Grahame-Smith’s other genre work, like The LEGO Batman Movie and IT (which he produced), I’m interested to see what this duo can do together in the Star Trek franchise. It’s also good to hear that this new Star Trek movie is something separate from Star Trek 4, akin to what Fargo’s Noah Hawley had been working on until late 2020.

What I’m especially curious about, though, is how closely this Star Trek movie will be tied to the Kelvin timeline movies, if at all. The fact that it’s described as taking “decades before” the flick that introduced us to Chris Pine’s James T. Kirk and Zachary Quinto’s Spock, among others, would indicate there will be a notable connective thread. However, it’s also important to remember that the Kelvin timeline’s divergence from the main Trek timeline occurred on the day Kirk was born. Technically speaking, within that timeline, everything up until that day should have happened the same as it did in the main timeline.

On the other hand, perhaps when it comes to the Kelvin continuity, that one change may have produced ripples that led to alterations to the entire timeline, similar to what happened in DC Comics’ Flashpoint storyline. I may just be overthinking this, but regardless, I don’t mind the idea of the Star Trek franchise’s film side continuing to expand the Kelvin timeline rather than delve back into the main timeline. That reality is already getting plenty of attention with the shows on Paramount+, and the streaming service also has the Michelle Yeoh-led Section 31 movie coming up. Let the movies keep carving out their own distinct corner.

Still, with so many Star Trek movie-relate false starts in recent years, there’s no guarantee just yet that Toby Haynes and Seth Grahame-Smith’s movie will be officially greenlit. If that happens though, naturally we’ll share the news on CinemaBlend. Meanwhile, although the Kelvin timeline movies are still accessible on Paramount+, if you want to watch any of the first 10 Star Trek movies, you’ll need a Max subscription.