In a new Esquire profile, Chris Pine speaks candidly about his leading man roles, his earnest hero typecasting, and the tentpole franchise that turned him into a household name: Star Trek. The 2009 reboot of the beloved series quickly fuelled two sequels, but the rumoured fourth movie has yet to materialise.
During a Paramount investor meeting in early 2022, Star Trek director and producer J.J. Abrams revealed “We are thrilled to say that we are hard at work on a new Star Trek film that will be shooting by the end of the year that will be featuring our original cast and some new characters that I think are going to be really fun and exciting and help take Star Trek into areas that you’ve just never seen before.” The end of the 2022 has obviously come and gone, and Pine has not started shooting. He’s also apparently still not heard anything about the film. “In Star Trek land,” he told Esquire, “the actors are usually the last people to find out anything.” Esquire followed up with Abrams, who said that he still hasn’t hired a director, but said “it’s the first time [since the original reboot] that we have a story that feels as compelling as the first one.”
Pine says that this oblique work environment is “frustrating,” but conceeds that’s just typically how these big franchises are. It’s not ideal, and he might not be completely in love with the way the partnership works, but “I love the character. I love the people. I love the franchise.” Will Star Trek 4 ever happen? We’ll be waiting along with its presumed star to find out. In the meantime, there’s plenty of Star Trek to be found on Paramount+, including the currently streaming third season of Star Trek: Picard, and you can see Pine on the big screen when his next film, Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves, releases March 31.
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