Simon Pegg Is Still Game To Do Star Trek 4, But He Explained Why The Sequel Is ‘Forever Tainted’ (2024)

If you have a Paramount+ subscription, then the TV gates of Star Trek have been opened back up to you since 2017, with shows like Discovery, Picard, Strange New Worlds, Lower Decks and Prodigy (which is now on Netflix) breathing new life into this corner of the franchise. Film-wise though, it’s been eight years since the release of Star Trek Beyond, and development remains stalled on Star Trek 4. Although Simon Pegg, who plays the Kelvin Timeline’s Scotty, is still game to return for this Star Trek sequel, he did acknowledge that it will be “forever tainted” for a specific, yet understandable reason.

On June 19, 2016, a month before the wide release of Star Trek Beyond, Anton Yelchin, who played Pavel Chekov in these movies, tragically died at the age of 27. So regardless of whether Chekov is recast or it’s decided to retire the character, Pegg explained to Katee Sackhoff on The Sackhoff Show that it’ll be sad for him and the other leading actors to tackle Star Trek 4 without their late co-star, though that wouldn’t stop Pegg from agreeing to come back. As he explained:

I’d love to do more. Obviously it’s been forever tainted because we lost Anton, and that was a really hard thing for everyone involved, and for the real world, let alone anything else. If we do come back, if there is another opportunity to come back, then I’d love to. Because as we were saying earlier on, it’s a group of guys that I dearly, dearly love and don’t get to see very often. It would be good to get back together with them.

Simon Pegg’s history with Anton Yelchin stretched back to November 2007, when the first Star Trek movie in this film series began shooting. Naturally when making a movie starting different versions of the crew of the USS Enterprise, Chekov needed to be included, and Yelchin was cast in the role after impressing in movies like Along Came a Spider and Charlie Bartlett. So a certain degree of sadness would be unavoidable when coming back for Star Trek 4, but nevertheless, Pegg would welcome the opportunity to reunite with Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldaña and John Cho.

Even a nearly a decade after Star Trek Beyond, it remains up in the air if Star Trek 4 will ever happen. On the one hand, it was reported in March that The Flight Attendant’s Steve Yockey was writing the script for what’s expected to be the final installment of this saga. On the other hand, Chris Pine was caught off guard by this news in May, and he still doesn’t know where things stand on the project.

Additionally, it was officially confirmed in May that the vaguely-described Star Trek origins movie, which was first reported on in January, would be moving forward. Andor’s Toby Haynes and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’s Seth Grahame-Smith are respectively directing and writing the feature, which will take places decades before the events of 2009’s Star Trek. In other words, the Kelvin timeline is intended to stick around, but we’ll be going backwards within it next rather than forwards. That in turn begs the question of if this means Star Trek 4 is now off the table or if it’s just been pushed back again.

Hopefully Paramount Pictures will provide some kind of official update on Star Trek 4 in the coming months. For now, there are a handful of upcoming Star Trek shows to look forward to, and Simon Pegg can be seen playing Hugh Campbell Sr. in The Boys, which is streamable with an Amazon Prime Video subscription.

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Simon Pegg Is Still Game To Do Star Trek 4, But He Explained Why The Sequel Is ‘Forever Tainted’ (1)

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Connoisseur of Marvel, DC, Star Wars, John Wick, MonsterVerse and Doctor Who lore, Adam is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend. He started working for the site back in late 2014 writing exclusively comic book movie and TV-related articles, and along with branching out into other genres, he also made the jump to editing. Along with his writing and editing duties, as well as interviewing creative talent from time to time, he also oversees the assignment of movie-related features. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Journalism, and he’s been sourced numerous times on Wikipedia. He's aware he looks like Harry Potter and Clark Kent.

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Simon Pegg Is Still Game To Do Star Trek 4, But He Explained Why The Sequel Is ‘Forever Tainted’ (2024)

FAQs

Simon Pegg Is Still Game To Do Star Trek 4, But He Explained Why The Sequel Is ‘Forever Tainted’? ›

As he explained: I'd love to do more. Obviously it's been forever tainted because we lost Anton, and that was a really hard thing for everyone involved, and for the real world, let alone anything else. If we do come back, if there is another opportunity to come back, then I'd love to.

Why didn't they make a Star Trek 4? ›

Star Trek 4 will be “final chapter” According to both reports, the “Star Trek 4” follow-up to 2016's Star Trek Beyond remains in “active development.” That film was originally set for a Christmas 2023 release but delays and disagreements over the script led to director Matt Shakman exiting the project in 2022.

Will there be a Star Trek 4 with Chris Pine? ›

For the last couple of years, since he has recommitted to return as James T. Kirk for a fourth Star Trek movie, actor Chris Pine has often expressed his enthusiasm for the return, but also some frustrations. His latest comments from from a recent appearance at ACE Superhero Comic in San Antonio, TX.

Who will replace Chekov in Star Trek 4? ›

Fans can breathe a sigh of relief now because according to producer J.J. Abrams, they will not be recasting the role.

Is Simon Pegg writing Star Trek 4? ›

The Wrap subsequently reported a source told them “three 'Star Trek 4' scripts are, indeed, in development.” However, if a third script is actually in development, it isn't being written by Simon Pegg, who now tells Happy Sad Confused that while he and Jung are working on a project with J.J.

Why did Chris Pine say Star Trek is cursed? ›

After the last one came out and didn't do the $1 billion that everyone wanted it to do, and then Anton—Yelchin, who played Chekov—passed away, I don't know,” Pine said. “It just seemed... feels like it's cursed.”

Why did Star Trek end so abruptly? ›

While on NBC, Star Trek's Nielsen ratings were low and the network canceled it after three seasons and 79 episodes. In the United Kingdom the series was not broadcast until July 12, 1969, coinciding with the Apollo 11 mission to land the first humans on the Moon.

Is Chekov from Star Trek alive? ›

Yelchin was crushed to death by his 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee on June 19, 2016, little more than a month before the scheduled release of Star Trek Beyond on July 22, 2016. All filming had been completed and post-production had started. A dedication to Yelchin's memory was inserted into the credits. J. J.

Is Chekov from Star Trek Russian? ›

His Russian accent is faked on the series, albeit his parents really were from Russia. He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television at 6679 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on September 10, 2012 (four days before his 76th birthday).

Is JJ Abrams making another Star Trek? ›

The long-gestating movie finally looked to be on track in February 2022 when it was announced that JJ Abrams was returning to produce with Matt Shakman directing, to the surprise of the cast as much as the fans.

Is John Luke Picard married? ›

Was Chris Pratt in Star Trek? ›

Chris Pratt missed out on parts in 'Avatar' and 'Star Trek' before landing a role in 'Parks and Recreation'.

Has Chris Hemsworth been in Star Trek? ›

Hemsworth's appearance in the franchise almost cost him the role of Thor, as producers of the Marvel film franchise feared fans would be put off. In 2009, Hemsworth played James T. Kirk's father, George Kirk, in the opening scenes of J. J. Abrams' film Star Trek.

Why was Star Trek Next Generation Cancelled? ›

Paramount's rationale for ending TNG was driven by the increasing budget for the series and the studio's desire to keep the Star Trek movie franchise going. By the early 1990s, the films that starred the aging cast of TOS were waning, and Paramount saw TNG as the future of the Star Trek movies.

Will there be a Star Trek 5? ›

When is the Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 premiere date? The final season of Star Trek: Discovery will premiere on Thursday, April 4, 2024 with the first two episodes.

Why was Star Trek Enterprise canceled? ›

UPN canceled Star Trek: Enterprise due to low ratings and a lack of network support for the series. Enterprise season 4 involved a creative shift with Manny Coto taking over as showrunner, but it couldn't save the series from cancelation.

Why did Paramount remove Star Trek? ›

While it's possible that moving the first 10 Star Trek films to Max is a sign of the studios cozying up to each other, it could just mean Paramount is reverting to a pre-Streaming Wars business strategy.

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