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It's a good day to be a Star Trek fan. Two of the latest movies in the long-running sci-fi franchise are blowing up on streaming, with the best part being that fans don't need to pay a penny to watch them.

FlixPatrol is reporting that 2013's Star Trek Into Darkness is currently ranked No. 3 on Pluto TV's Top 10 chart in the United States, with its 2009 predecessor, Star Trek, not far behind in the No. 8 spot. Since Pluto TV is a free streaming service, fans don't have to shell out anything to watch the first two installments in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek reboot series today. Audiences can also check...

Quentin Tarantino's R-rated "Star Trek" movie isn't happening anymore, but that doesn't mean people are ready to stop talking about it. The thought of Tarantino boldly going where no man -- including him -- has gone before is an intriguing prospect. After all, until the trashy B-movie hoot that is "Star Trek: Section 31" came along and showcased the sleazier side of the "Star Trek" galaxy, the sci-fi franchise was PG. A carnage-filled Tarantino take on the lore, with Mark L. Smith writing the script, could have been fun, and it would have been interesting to see if the filmmaker could work within the parameters of Gene Roddenberry's "Star Trek" rulebook. (Spoiler: He probably wouldn't have.)

Based on what we do know about Smith and Tarantino's unmade movie, however, it seems that it really would have marched to the beat of its own drum. Speaking at a 2025 Fan Expo panel moderated by Collider,...

The news that filmmaker Quentin Tarantino was planning to direct a Star Trek movie was met with surprise and excitement in equal measure by Trekkies. Star Trek 4 had completely stalled at the time, and his R-rated take on the franchise was bound to be unlike anything seen before.

The project never came to fruition, with Paramount Pictures shifting focus to a new prequel movie with Andor filmmaker Toby Haynes attached to direct from a screenplay by Dark Shadows writer Seth Grahame-Smith.

The studio reportedly still intends to make the "final chapter" of the Chris Pine-led era of Star Trek movies, with Steve Yockey (The Flight Attendant) attached to write a new draft of that screenplay. As for Tarantino's scrapped plans, it reportedly boiled down to his desire to helm 10, and only 10, movies.

Appearing at the Fan Expo Boston on Saturday, Scotty actor Simon Pegg confirmed that he...

The last theatrically release "Star Trek" movie, Justin Lin's "Star Trek Beyond," was released way back in July of 2016, more than nine years ago. It was the third film in the rebooted Kelvin continuity, which featured a hip, hot new cast playing familiar characters from the original "Star Trek" series. It was successful -- it made over $343 million on a $185 million budget -- but those numbers were considered a disappointment. The future of "Star Trek" movies was thrown into flux. 

The following year, "Star Trek: Discovery" debuted on CBS All Access, marking the return of "Star Trek" to TV for the first time in 12 years, and a proud return to the original, non-Kelvin continuity. CBS All Access, which later became Paramount+, began flooding its service with piles of new "Star Trek" shows -- some good, some bad -- and the franchise was officially headed in a new direction.

Nine years have gone by since the last theatrically released Star Trek movie made its way out into the world – but that’s not for lack of trying on the part of Paramount Pictures and various writers, directors, and producers. Back in 2018, S. J. Clarkson was hired to direct a fourth film in the rebooted film franchise that would have seen Chris Pine’s Captain James T. Kirk teaming up with his time-displaced father George, played by Chris Hemsworth… But that fell apart when contract negotiations with the actors fell apart. In 2019, Noah Hawley was hired to write and direct a Star Trek movie, but executives put that on hold. Quentin Tarantino pitched an idea for an R-rated Star Trek movie and Mark L. Smith wrote the screenplay based on Tarantino’s story, but that got shelved when Tarantino confirmed in 2020 that he wouldn’t be directing it. In 2021, WandaVision...

In February 2022, Paramount (re)announced that it was developing Star Trek 4, intended to be the fourth and final installment in Captain Kirk's Kelvin timeline era, but multiple directors have come and gone on the project. Since that initial exciting announcement, Star Trek 4 has languished in development.

One such director was The Fantastic Four: First Steps leader Matt Shakman, who, fresh off the success of Disney+'s WandaVision, was set to direct Star Trek 4 in 2022 before being reeled in by Marvel Studios. In a new profile published by Variety, Shakman revealed that progress on Star Trek 4 was coming along swiftly that year. "We had stages, we had crew, we were moving ahead," he explained.

At the same time, Shakman met with Marvel execs and producers about Fantastic Four, and they were immediately convinced he was the right man for the job. Committing to Marvel's first...

Fans waiting for another Star Trek film in the Kelvin Timeline are going to have to wait a little longer. Nine years after Star Trek Beyond was released in theaters, former Star Trek 4 director Matt Shakman is opening up about the difficulties getting the film to the finish line.

Shakman had been named director of the fourth Star Trek movie in 2021. But a year later, he bowed out to direct Marvel's The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which is debuting on July 25, 2025. In an interview with Variety, Shakman is giving more details as to why -- and why Star Trek 4 is still in limbo

Shakman revealed that when he was asked to return to the Marvel Cinemati Universe after WandaVision,Star Trek 4 was already in pre-production. “We had stages, we had a crew, we were moving ahead," he claimed. Yet by late summer 2022, he said the new Star Trek movie had “changed dramatically,...

A new TV spot for The Fantastic Four: First Steps aired during yesterday evening's ESPYs, and while it's primarily made up of familiar footage, there are still some exciting new scenes from the MCU movie.

That includes a shot of the Silver Surfer riding across the water on her surfboard, and Mister Fantastic and The Thing doing battle with Galactus. Neither of them appears to be faring particularly well, though it seems they're attempting to distract the Devourer of Worlds.

Variety has published a piece on The Fantastic Four: First Steps director Matt Shakman, explaining that he was initially working on the next Star Trek movie when Marvel Studios found itself without a director for the reboot (that came after Spider-Man: No Way Home helmer Jon Watts' departure from the project).

Explaining that Star Trek 4 "had stages" and "we had crew...we were moving ahead," the filmmaker added...

The Fantastic Four: First Steps director Matt Shakman reveals why he dropped out of Star Trek 4and seemingly teases what might have gone down behind the scenes. In the summer of 2021, Matt Shakman was hired to direct Star Trek 4 following the critical and ratings hit of WandaVision, the kickoff film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Multiverse Saga. At the same time, Spider-Man trilogy director Jon Watts was set to help the MCU reboot of The Fantastic Four. Yet by April 2022, Watts had dropped out, and Shakman ultimately took the gig in September of that year, leaving Star Trek 4.

Ahead of the release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Shakman detailed his decision to leave Star Trek 4 and the film's development. Shakman said in the spring of 2022, they "had stages, we had crew, we were moving ahead." However, by summer 2022, Shakman said things "changed dramatically" as they lost their crew,...

With the merger of Paramount Global and Skydance Media (creating Paramount Skydance Corporation) pending, the fate of Star Trek TV and movie projects is uncertain. And after years of false starts with a Star Trek 4 movie, it’s anyone’s guess as to when we will see our favorite crew of the USS Enterprise (on the big screen) exploring the Alpha Quadrant anytime soon.

However, Simon Pegg, who portrays Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the Star Trek Kelvin Timeline franchise movies, has an opinion on what just might work. In a recent Variety interview, Simon played a game on his skills to identify his lines from his movies, when he got a question about a line as Scotty from Star Trek Into Darkness.

Simon joked that he didn't recognize the line because "I didn't read it in the right accent." Which moved the topic to his opinion on Star Trek 4,...

Simon Pegg revealed last month his hopes for Star Trek 4 and a tonal shift in its direction, which has already been done better by Strange New Worlds. Created by Akiva Goldsman, Jenny Lumet, and Henry Alonso Myers, Strange New Worlds follows Christopher Pike and the Enterprise crew on weekly adventures across the galaxy, calling back to the Tos era.

Pegg mentioned that he was done with the Kelvin movies being dark and gritty and hopes that Star Trek 4 would go back to the Tos era of asking profound questions while still being fun adventures. He said (via Variety),

Science fiction doesn’t have to be full of death and swearing, and questionable morals to be consumed by adults. It just has to be thoughtful and imaginative. I’d like to see Star Trek kind of get back to the spirit of The Original Series a little bit. And...

Chris Hemsworth reportedly walked away from Star Trek 4 after the studio failed to negotiate the right number for his salary in the movie. Hemsworth played George Kirk in J.J. Abrams’ 2009 reboot of Star Trek, but the character died in the first movie in the trilogy. However, through some space hijinks, he was set to return and join Chris Pine in an adventure.

Hemsworth has given other reasons for his departure from the sequel, with his concerns mainly being the script. He also had reservations about his return now, as it had been over fifteen years since the character was killed on screen, and any kind of ‘Time Nexus-y’ concept would require him to look the same age. He said to Josh Horowitz,

It wasn’t what I sort of where I was thinking it would have been or could have been. I thought there would be, ‘Okay, cool,...

Star Trek’s Captain Kirk has always been the symbol of masculinity in the ‘60s era. The way he talks and takes charge was seen as a representation of the ideal man of that age, and William Shatner’s performance added a lot to this identity. So, when Chris Pine came into the role, he tried to do his best to break it and not make it toxic.

Pine has since made it his mission to break such stereotypes. The actor played a father who was willing to be the butt of the joke in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Theives, and he poked fun at ultra-masculine cult leaders in Don’t Worry, Darling. Perhaps his biggest exploration in this space was his role as Steve Trevor in DC’s Wonder Woman.

Chris Pine: I am “willfully emasculating myself” in Wonder Woman Chris Pine in Star Trek | Credits: Paramount Pictures

Chris Pine...

Despite the original series of Star Trek being iconic, the cast of Tos has been recast twice now. Actors like Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Karl Urban have replaced Kirk, Spock, and McCoy in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot, while Paul Wesley and Ethan Peck play the dynamic duo in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

While many of these characters have been recast in different iterations of the same era, the character of Pavel Chekov did not make a return after Star Trek Beyond. The reason was that the actor who played the part in J.J. Abrams’ reboot series, Anton Yelchin, died of a freak car accident and forever immortalized the character.

Anton Yelchin’s parents still visit his grave daily, 9 years on Anton Yelchin in Star Trek | Credits: Paramount Pictures

Anton Yelchin was a promising actor who gave life to a role that Walter Koenig had first played in Star Trek: Tos.

Prime Video’s long-in-development Mass Effecttelevision series just got a major update. Per Deadline, Amazon has hired Doug Jung as the series’ showrunner. Jung joins writer Dan Casey on the project based on the best-selling Electronic Arts sci-fi video game franchise. Casey has reportedly been writing on the project for nearly a year.

Mass Effect has been gestating since 2021. At that time, Amazon MGM inked a deal for the TV rights to the game. Jung and Casey will serve as executive producers on the show along with Michael Gamble of Electronic Arts, Karim Zreik of Cedar Tree Productions under the company’s deal at Amazon, as well as Ari Arad and Emmy Yu of Arad Productions.

The Show will be Based on the Game

The Mass Effect game first launched in 2007 and was developed by BioWare. It tells the story of System Alliance Navy Veteran Commander Shepard, who fights against...

Chris Pine just locked in his next project, and it is not Star Trek 4, with him back aboard the Enterprise as the heroic Captain James T. Kirk. According to the Hollywood trade paper Variety, the actor will star in and produce a film called Run the Night.

Variety states that Run the Night is an action tale to be directed by veteran second unit director and stunt coordinator Robert Alonzo. His many credits include Deadpool and The Batman, as well as Star Trek (2009). He worked on the film as second unit stunt coordinator and fight choreographer.

“Run the Night follows a banker, accused of betraying the Penose (the Dutch mob), who is dumped naked in the heart of Amsterdam with a $10 million bounty on his head,” Variety revealed. “Hunted by the city’s most violent gangs, he must fight his way across the city by dawn to save the...

Jonathan Frakes explained why newer shows in the Star Trek franchise have inconsistent VFX and CGI. In a Reddit Ama, Frakes joined writer Ken Lazebnik and science consultant Andre Bormanis to ask fans’ burning questions about the franchise. Among other things, the director and actor explained the reason behind Star Trek’s VFX woes.

The franchise has largely been successful in the longer format, with the original series starting out as a TV show. Unlike its competitor sci-fi franchise Star Wars, which only got into streaming and TV after the movies, Star Trek has always been a TV-friendly IP. Hence, a lot of time crunch has reportedly led to some inconsistent quality in the VFX.

Jonathan Frakes explained why the newer Star Trek shows have VFX issues A still from Star Trek: Tng | Credits: Paramount

While it is tradition for cast members to direct an episode in Star Trek,...

William Shatner got his breakthrough with the sci-fi series Star Trek, where he played Captain Kirk. He has since become a global icon, forever cementing his place in pop culture history. The actor has also been a major public figure, making several appearances at events, conventions, and has been vocal about his experiences.

Shatner has been married four times. His third wife, Nerine Kidd, was found dead back in 1999. Kidd had reportedly been a victim of alcoholism all her life, and there were reports of alcohol found in her system after her death. Shatner was reportedly so traumatized by her passing that he even got s*icidal thoughts.

William Shatner opened up about one of the darkest periods of his life following Nerine Kidd’s death William Shatner in Star Trek | Credits: Paramount

William Shatner may be best known for his role in Star Trek, but he has since been synonymous with many prominent characters.

Sir Patrick Stewart has played Captain Jean-Luc Picard for decades, starting with Star Trek: The Next Generation. The character was known for his diplomatic leadership style, which preferred talks over mindless action and blind heroism (unlike someone from the original series). However, even he too could not help break one cardinal rule.

Creator Gene Roddenberry was a former military man, and he included many of his experiences in the military in the Starfleet officers. The Enterprise crew had to follow multiple rules, and those were supposed to be taken into account by writers. One of the most important rules was that crew members were not to fraternize with each other.

Patrick Stewart broke a cardinal rule as Captain Jean-Luc Picard Picard and Crusher in Star Trek: Tng | Credits: Paramount

When traveling across galaxies and cooped up in a self-sustaining ship for many years, there are bound to be a few...

J.J. Abrams achieved peak geekdom when he revived both Star Trek and Star Wars for the big screen. While he directed two movies in the Kelvin timeline, he sat it out for Star Trek: Beyond, after which a fourquel has been in development hell. From a Quentin Tarantino pitch to an origin story, Star Trek 4 has seen it all.

However, time might not be on Abrams’ side if he keeps pushing the development of the film. Actress Zoe Saldana, who plays Uhura in the reboot, urged the team to quicken the process as she felt the actors were getting older and would not suit the characters anymore. As the gap between sequels reaches almost ten years, it is high time Abrams greenlights a sequel.

Zoe Saldana urges J.J. Abrams to quicken the development of Star Trek 4 J.J. Abrams | Credits: YouTube/Brian Penny

The Star Trek franchise...

Here’s Which Star Trek Role Simon Pegg Wanted Nick Frosty To Play! (Photo Credit – Wikipedia)

Simon Pegg, who famously played Scotty in the Star Trek reboot, has always had a unique vision for the franchise. One of his more interesting ideas was casting his longtime collaborator and friend Nick Frost in an iconic Star Trek role. Pegg, known for his comedic brilliance, pitched the idea multiple times, seeing Frost as the perfect fit for one of the beloved characters in the Star Trek universe.

While the Kelvin timeline movies introduced new takes on characters like Kirk and Spock, Pegg’s enthusiasm for bringing Frost into the fold never panned out. As Star Trek 4 still seems stuck in development purgatory, Pegg’s idea remains a fun “what if.” Given Pegg and Frost’s longstanding friendship and history of on-screen chemistry, it’s easy to see how the duo could...

Simon Pegg wants his Cornetto trilogy co-star Nick Frost to appear as a classicStar Trek character in the Kelvin timeline films...and Frost is eager to join. Pegg and Frost have been long-time comedic collaborators since their days working on the cult television series Spaced. This is where they met Edgar Wright and led to the films Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World's End, referred to as the Cornetto Flavor trilogy, a reference to the Cornetto ice cream appearing in all three films. Frost and Pegg have also appeared together in non-Cornetto trilogy films, including Paul and The Adventures of Tintin. Now, Pegg wants a crowd-pleasing reunion.

Frost has not joined his longtime friend and collaborator on the Starship Enterprise, though not for lack of trying. During a recent panel at Awesome Con moderated by Screen Rant's Joe Deckelmeier, both Pegg and Frost were in attendance.

Actor and writer Simon Pegg still has hope for Star Trek 4. Speaking at Awesome Con, Pegg talked about how much he would love to return to the world of Star Trek. The popular sci-fi reboot began in 2009 with J.J. Abrams as the director and showed a new version of the classic crew by using an alternate universe.

Two more films followed, but fans have been waiting for a fourth movie ever since.

At the event, Pegg said, “I’d like us to do another movie. I would be happy to get back with those guys and do another movie, whatever the story is. I love my Enterprise crewmates; they’re the sweetest people. I was so proud of Zoe winning an Oscar this year.”

Pegg isn’t the only one ready to return. Chris Pine, who played Captain Kirk, also wants to come back. But everyone knows there’s a big challenge ahead.

Simon Pegg may have been taking on impossible missions in recent years, but he never lost hope of returning to a futuristic utopia. The actor and screenwriter spoke at the Awesome Con panel (via Screenrant) and addressed the potential for a Star Trek 4. Helmed by J.J. Abrams, the Star Trek reboot of 2009 was a fresh look at classic characters, implementing one of the most inspired storytelling devices.

Instead of running the risk of angering fans of Star Trek: The Original Series, Abrams set the world in an alternate universe. The film spawned two sequels, but fans had always been angling for a fourth. Creatives have been circling the project, and Pegg is the first to tell audiences that he would love to get back into the engineering room.

“I'd like us to do another movie. I would be happy to get back with those guys and do another movie,...

With the rumors and speculations soaring around the upcoming final installment (Star Trek 4 ) of the J.J. Abrams-produced Star Trek franchise, which is more than likely to include the reprise of the Enterprise crew portrayed by Chris Pine (Captain Kirk), Zachary Quinto (Spock), Zoe Saldana (Lt. Uhura), and others. Despite Quinto’s convincing performance as Spock in the Kelvin timeline, should Star Trek creators decide to go in a different direction with a new cast, here are four talented Oscar-nominated actors who could take on the role of the archetypal Vulcan.

"Disclaimer - Chapter 5-7" Red Carpet - The 81st Venice International Film Festival - Kodi Smit-McPhee | Daniele Venturelli/GettyImages

1. Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Actor)

28-year-old Kodi Smit-McPhee has been racking up acting accolades since his feature film debut at age 11 with co-star Eric Bana in Romulus, May Father, for which he [Smit-McPhee] received the Young Actor’s Award from the Australian Film Institute.

Zachary Quinto played Spock in J.J. Abrams’ 2009 reboot of Star Trek. While it was impossible to replace Leonard Nimoy in the part, Quinto brought the logical and less empathetic Vulcan to life in a pretty decent way without ruining the legacy of the original. Quinto has since played a variety of roles, including Gore Vidal in a West End production.

Playing a political figure who was directly responsible for the shift in neutral news coverage to a more opinion-based reporting in media was reportedly interesting for Quinto. With true Spock-like candor, Quinto blamed the partisan news networks for the current divisive political discourse in the USA.

Zachary Quinto gives a Spock-like logical response to today’s divisive US politics Zachary Quinto in Star Trek (2009) | Credits: Paramount Pictures

The past year has been quite intense in terms of politics. Donald Trump entered the Oval Office yet again and has already...

On the 97th Academy Awards show which aired on Sunday, March 2, 2025, Zoe Saldana became the second Star Trek actress to win an Oscar in an acting category. Saldana won Best Supporting Actress for the groundbreaking film Emilia Perez in which most of the dialogue (barring a few moments in English) is sung in Spanish.

Saldana starred in the rebooted Kelvin timeline Star Trek movies (2009 – 2016) from J.J. Abrams, as Communications Officer Lt. Nyota Uhura. Saldana gushed over her husband [Marco Perego Saldana] and family in her teary Oscar acceptance speech saying “To my husband with that beautiful hair, you're just…the biggest honor in my life is being your partner…”

Saldana further expressed that she is the first American of Dominican origin to win an Academy Award, and she knows she will not be the last. Speaking of certainties, it seems certain that Star Trek creators have another in-demand Oscar-winning actress...

There’s a whole lot of James T. Kirk in the air these days. William Shatner recently said he’s soon to talk to a Star Trek show writer about possibly reprising the character, and Shatner voiced Kirk in the 2024 short film Unification (with Sam Witwer as the physical Kirk). Paul Wesley portrayed Kirk in seasons one and two of Strange New Worlds and has been confirmed to recur again in the upcoming third season of the series. And, one of these days, if the stars align, Chris Pine may yet again portray Kirk in a fourth feature with the Kelvin timeline Enterprise crew back in action.

But what if the Kelvin crew don’t return? Paramount will surely want to reboot Star Trek again as a film. And if that happens, who might settle into the captain’s chair? Let’s consider a couple of actors in their 40s,...

The Star Trek movie franchise is in a current state of flux with the cast of Star Trek Beyond (2016), led by Chris Pine, tapped to return for “Star Trek 4”. Given the understandable concerns about the cast’s age (after nine years since "Beyond") with reprising their roles in “Star Trek 4”, combined with the disappointing Paramount+ movie “Star Trek: Section 31” – the franchise needs to consider changes to reignite their fanbase.

Star Trek creators should completely flip the canon on its head with an entirely new approach. There was somewhat of an attempt at this in “The Burn” storyline in the series "Star Trek: Discovery" with the sudden act of Dilithium (the element needed for warp drive propulsion) becoming inert and destroying most of Federation starships across the galaxy. This rendered Starfleet and space travel obsolete and on a path of rebuilding the Federation.

As ambitious as the "The...

Star Trek 4 is an idea that may never be. It is supposed to be the next film in the Star Trek Kelvin timeline of films, which also includes Star Trek 2009, Star Trek: Into Darkness, and Star Trek: Beyond. Beyond, the most recent of the films, came out in 2016. It's nearly been nine full years since we've gotten the last film in this theatrical run. Frankly, it's becoming more and more clear we don't need a fourth film in the series.

Would we like a fourth one? Sure. Save for Beyond, I've ultimately found the films to be fun and engaging. Not pure Star Trek, but at a time when we had no new shows it was good enough fodder to hold us over. Yet, as we get further and further away from that era and more and more into the era of streaming, these films no longer have the same appeal.

Gene Roddenberry created Star Trek: The Original Series in 1966. Roddenberry’s vision for Tos was a space travel exploration in the 23rd Century for a society of planets seeking utopian ideals of the United Federation of Planets. Ufp was founded on the principles of peace, unity, diversity, and evolutionary autonomy expressed in a prime directive.

George Lucas created the original Star Wars movies which premiered in 1977. Lucas' vision for Star Wars was based on a classic good versus evil premise that he found intriguing, similar to the 1950s Flash Gordon series, Spaghetti Westerns (such as "A Fistful of Dollars"), and Akira Kurosawa's iconic Samurai sagas.

Although there is an 11-year difference between when Tos aired and when Star Wars premiered -both are sci-fi/fantasy adventures set in a fictional future timeline where space travel, aliens, and inhabited planets are commonplace in the galaxy. However, Trekkies and Star Wars fans...

Star Trek is coming up on a very important anniversary next year, celebrating sixty years since Gene Roddenberry created Star Trek: The Original Series. And there should be something to commemorate that achievement, specifically a theatrical release.

In 2016, when Star Trek turned fifty, Star Trek Beyond released. Though there wasn't a major release or announcement in 2006 for the franchise's 40th, this very well could be the last decade of celebration some of the major stars from Star Trek will see. And that's what makes it so important.

There has been talk about Paramount+ releasing a streaming movie every two years; however, the dismal reception of Section 31 may have eliminated that possibility. Even so, a streaming movie doesn't have quite the same pizzazz that one releasing in a cinema would have. But with Star Trek 4 still in limbo, as it has been for almost ten years, the only theatrical release...

In the coming months, we hope to hear news about the next two Star Trek films. We're supposed to get two of them and while neither have official names yet, we've been referring to them as Star Trek 4 and Star Trek: Origins. However, both names will likely be changed in time.

The theatrical films have long been a source of enjoyment for fans, with the series producing more good films than bad. Albeit the film franchise is far from perfect. Still, the last three films were successful to a degree, with it peaking financially with Star Trek 2009, only for things to come crashing back down with Star Trek: Beyond. The latest film in the modern franchise was praised for a lot of reasons, but the trailer did seem to turn off a lot of potential fans before the film even came out.

It was one of the worst-performing films of the modern era.

For better or worse, Star Trek: Section 31 is officially in the books. The final verdict? Maybe the worst piece of property Star Trek has ever produced. It's the truth, as fans, both old and new alike, have rejected this film. Even divisive series like Star Trek: Discovery have a strong, but small, fandom. There are people who will argue in defense of that series.

They'll cite season three as a high point, and with that, one more positive than Section 31 will ever have. That's because there's very little if anything at all redeeming about the film. At least on screen. To such a degree that, while it has some who liked it, the film is universally panned. There's a fan or two across the board who like it, but there isn't a sizeable community like you'd see for Discovery.

So, thankfully, the film is done and no sequel should ever be made.

Star Trek media is soaring to new heights in a medium that other shows and movies can often struggle to find success in. Monetary success on streaming platforms, like Netflix, Prime, and Hulu, is not guaranteed, so the high numbers the Star Trek franchise has been able to amass over the last four years is impressive to say the least. According to data from Parrot Analytics, The Wrap reports that the long-standing sci-fi franchise has gained over $2.6 billion in subscriber revenue for major streamers globally from the first quarter of 2020 to the third quarter of 2024.

The graph of Star Trek's revenue is nearly off the charts. The franchise began on September 8, 1966, with the release of the first episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, and has accumulated 12 series and various movies since then. Most recently, Paramount+ released Michelle Yeoh's risk-taking Star Trek: Section 31 on January 24. Originally planned...

The first TV film from the Star Trek franchise i.e. Section 31 opened to overwhelming negative reviews from fans. The Michelle Yeoh starrer saw her reprise her role as Philippa Georgiou in the film. Set between The Original Series and The Next Generation, the film was criticized for its incomplete plot and direction.

While the franchise has long moved away from Gene Roddenberry’s rules and regulations for Star Trek, executive producer Alex Kurtzman has defended the film for adhering to the creator’s ultimate vision. The producer mentioned that the setting and its direction were in line with Roddenberry’s intention with Star Trek.

Alex Kurtzman stands for Star Trek: Section 31 despite negative reviews A still from Star Trek: Section 31 | Credits: Paramount

Alex Kurtzman has been working non-stop in the Star Trek franchise since the recent surge of revivals and reboots. After co-writing the scripts for the...

For years, Star Trek canon has underutilized its female heroines. Strong females have always been part of Starfleet missions and their success; however, it’s rare when only females are shown leading the charge to save the day. Starfleet female officers are just as capable as their male counterparts, and creators should feature them in storylines to their fullest potential.

Until series such as “Star Trek: Voyager” and “Star Trek: Discovery” with lead female captains in Janeway and Burnham, Star Trek lore has mostly been a boy's club where the men get all the action to save the crew, lead the mission, or protect an endangered planet. Recently, we have seen female leads like Phillipa Georgiou (Emperor of the Terran Empire), heading a crew of unsanctioned Starfleet Section 31 missions in “Star Trek: Section 31.”

To this point in Star Trek canon there has rarely been an all-female away team, with...

Star Trek is in a weird limbo state. Most of the shows have been canceled, the long-gestating Star Trek 4 is nowhere to be seen, Star Trek: Section 31 was an utter disaster, the toy line they were so keen on failed, and they are all under the umbrella of a company that is struggling.

That said, they have two shows on the air a third in the works (Starfleet Academy), and rumors of not one, but two theatrical films on the way. All is not lost. The franchise is not as well off as it was heading into 2022 when it had five shows in development or on the air, but it's not failing. We went 12 years between Star Trek's Enterprise and Discovery.

We went 18 years between The Next Generation and Star Trek's original series. We've had worse stretches of time for Star Trek fans. We're not at...

Based on Tos, it has been 16 years since the theatrical release of the rebooted Star Trek trilogy, which ended with Star Trek Beyond in 2016. With fandom anticipation for Star Trek 4 at an all-time high, according to Trekmovie.com, J.J. Abrams and “Deadpool & Wolverine” producer Simon Kinberg are attached as co-producers with a possible start of production in 2025.

Star Trek 4’s former director, Simon Kinberg, is out and tapped to write and produce a new Star Wars trilogy. Various outlets have reported that Star Trek 4 will be an origin story of 2009’s Star Trek movie instead of a previous Kelvin timeline plot.

Star Trek 4 will be in capable directing and screenwriting hands with Toby Haynes (“Andor” and “Black Mirror” director) and Seth Grahame-Smith (“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” and “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” screenwriter). With the Grahame-Smith Star Trek 4 script completed with a possible 2026 release date. Although, there are some uncertainties.

There’s an old adage, taken from one of our holiest texts, that all nerds know well: “As sure as day follows night,” it goes, “sure as eggs is eggs, sure as every odd-numbered Star Trek movie is shit”. Technically Section 31 is “Star Trek 14” so we should be onto a winner. Alas, it doesn’t fit the pattern. That’s probably because this straight-to-Paramount+ special never really feels like a movie at all. It’s more akin to the double TV episodes they used to stitch together for VHS release, though it falls some way short of the best of those. Section 31 doesn’t have the budget or the onscreen weight to justify the “film” label. In the old days we’d have called it a “TV movie” or “straight-to-video”.

Some critics have been absolutely savage – “unwatchably bad … the single worst thing to carry the Star Trek name in...

Star Trek: Section 31 is the first feature film in the Trek universe since 2016’s Star Trek: Beyond, and will be the first streaming Trek film in franchise history. The movie, led by Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh, also stars Robert Kazinsky, who plays Zeph, and considers himself a true Trek fan. Per Trek Movie, the actor spoke with SFX Magazine about the film and why he’s scared that fans could reject it.

The movie focuses on Section 31, a covert Starfleet organization that was created by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine showrunner Ira Steven Behr. Kazinsky said as a superfan, he had a “wonderful” time working on the show.

Related 15 Controversial Star Trek: Tos Episodes That Wouldn't Fly Today

Star Trek: The Original Series has released several polarizing episodes that wouldn't work today, from "Omega Glory" to "Mudd's Women."

“Zero Disappointments” Says Section 31 Actor

“I love Star Trek with a real passion,...

Star Trek came into 2024 with five shows, two films, and an endless supply of uncertainty behind it. With the concerns over project funding due to Paramount's mismanagement and the impending sale/merger that was bound to happen (which ended up going to Skydance), we had no idea what to expect in 2024.

By the end of the year, two shows are finished, one show hangs in the balance (Prodigy), one show missed almost two years of air time (Strange New Worlds) and a fifth is in production (Starfleet Academy). The first of two films (Star Trek 4) never got announced and the second of two films (Star Trek: Section 31) isn't trending in the right direction as far as fan hype is concerned.

Star Trek has seen its budgets for projects limited, which isn't indicative of Star Trek, it's a byproduct of Paramount's struggles that is affecting most of their scripted projects.

It's just about time we put 2024 to bed. In a matter of days from when this post goes live, 2025 will be here, and with that, the hope of a new year. For Star Trek, 2024 was an up-and-down year. It did see a new show get announced; Star Trek: Starfleet Academy but two shows ended, with a third in limbo. A fourth show, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds saw all of its momentum halted by a significant delay, while the film side of things is a mess.

The theatrical side of the conversation remains in limbo over Star Trek 4, while the made-for-steaming side is not really doing well with the lead-up to Star Trek: Section 31. A film that doesn't feel or look like a Star Trek film in any way.

Yet, 2025 could help the franchise bounce back. That's why we have a few things we'd like to see happen in...

Star Trek is expected to have a quiet 2025. It's only natural, after all, 2024 saw Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Prodigy, and Star Trek: Lower Decks all release new seasons of their show. For Discovery and Lower Decks, it was the final season. For Prodigy, their fate remains unknown.

Yet, due to the turnover at the top of Paramount, and the new principal owner entering the picture, plus uncertainty about the company's profits and available resources, the studio has been a bit lean this year. 2025 currently doesn't have a lot to offer for fandoms of various products. Star Trek isn't unaffected by this by any means.

Currently, there are only two Star Trek properties getting released in 2025, a far cry from the idea that Paramount wanted to have Star Trek airing new episodes of various shows for 52 straight weeks just a couple of years ago. That idea was unsustainable and those...

Zoe Saldana wants to make Star Trek 4 before she ages out of the role. This coming from the actress herself, who is hoping to return to the world of Star Trek soon enough to once again reprises her role of Uhura. She feels a need to get the next one out before they need to find new members of the cast. A concern that others don't share. Saldana is aware that there may be a ticking clock on her time with Star Trek, a concern that her screen partner Zachary Quintot doesn't have.

Quinto already said he could play Spock at any age, an idea that may not work with Saldana. She seems to be pressing to get the fourth film going before it's too late. After all, it's been nearly a decade since the last film, Star Trek: Beyond (2016), was released.

So a return is in order for...

Star Trek 2009 saw Uhura [Zoe Saldana] and Spock [Zachary Quinto] in a romantic relationship. While some fans didn't like the pairing, others liked that the chemistry first shown in Star Trek: The Original Series between Leonard Nimoy and Nichelle Nichols was at last given an outlet. Of course, Saldana and Quinto didn't have the same type of connection as their predecessors, but they seemed to make the relationship work...until it didn't.

Now, Saldana wants to know what will happen with her character and Quinto's if Star Trek 4 does get made. As she told Variety [via Trekmovie], "it just makes sense to see what is the next step in their relationship." Though the two parted ways with Uhura attempting to return the amulet Spock had given her, there is still plenty by way of storyline for the future of this couple. Saldana also wants to know how the couple will work together in the future.

As we approach the end of 2024, it looks like we’re leaving the year with just as much confusion about “Star Trek 4” as we entered. Paramount has still not confirmed what is going on with the film side of the franchise, and it appears the actors are just as in the dark as us.

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Speaking to Deadline, while promoting the release of her film “Emilia Perez,” Zoe Saldaña was asked about the current situation surrounding “Star Trek 4.” Apparently, she doesn’t know anything either, but she does hope that it happens soon because the cast is starting to show signs of aging.

Continue reading ‘Star Trek 4’: Zoe Saldaña Says Cast Is Getting Old “So We Need To Do This Quickly” at The Playlist.

Zoë Saldaña wants to see Star Trek 4 happen soon and feels like it should have happened years ago. While Star Trek has remained consistently on the air through various television series on Paramount+, it has been eight years since the last Star Trek movie hit theaters, marking the longest gap in the franchise's film history. Star Trek 4 has had a lot of starts and stops since it was first announced in 2016. Many fans are wondering if and when the film will happen, a sentiment that seems to be shared by many of the stars.

In an interview with Deadline, Saldaña touched on the status of Star Trek 4. “I wish we were able to do it sooner rather than later," said Saldaña regarding the film's long development cycle. Saldaña jokingly said the cast of the 2009 reboot is starting to get too old to play the parts, saying, "I...

The development of Star Trek 4′ has faced many delays and changes since 2015. Several versions of the film have been attempted, but none have worked out. Initially, J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay were hired to write the script.

Then, Quentin Tarantino pitched his own idea in 2017, but he later decided not to direct. Multiple directors, including S. J. Clarkson, Noah Hawley, Matt Shakman, and others, have come and gone due to various issues like actor negotiations and scheduling conflicts.

As of March 2024, Steve Yockey is writing a new version, which is described as the “final chapter” of the reboot series, but the project has faced many setbacks. There were also quite a few problems with the cast, mostly due to schedules and the numerous delays, but ultimately by 2022 new contracts were signed for the original core crew to return.

Zoe Saldaña, who played Nyota Uhura in ‘Star Trek Beyond’ has expressed...

Zoe Saldaña has a long history with the biggest franchises of all time, and starred in the three top highest-grossing films of all time: 2009's Avatar, 2019's Avengers: Endgame, and 2022's Avatar: The Way of Water. After working with some of the most famous directors of all time, the actress explained her need for self-discovery outside big blockbusters.

The Guardians of the Galaxy star addressed her journey into finding more challenging roles during a sit down for the Los Angeles Times' Actress Roundtable. The interview included Wicked's Cynthia Erivo, The Substance's Demi Moore, The Outrun's Saoirse Ronan, The Piano Lesson's Danielle Deadwyler, and Lee's Kate Winslet, who are all getting Oscar buzz for their respective performances. Saldaña addressed feeling grateful for the blockbusters and also explained how those felt "stifling creatively" at times.

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