Zoë Saldañawants to seeStar Trek 4happen soon and feels like it should have happened years ago. WhileStar Trekhas remained consistently on the air through various television series on Paramount+, it has been eight years since the lastStar Trekmovie hit theaters, marking the longest gap in the franchise’s film history.Star Trek 4has 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 withDeadline, Saldaña touched on the status ofStar 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 feel like a lot of us have a full head of gray hair, so we need to do this quickly, if this is the same cast that’s going to reprise it again.”
Saldaña herself is no stranger to waiting a long time between sequels. She reprised her role asNeytiri inAvatar: The Way of Waterthirteen years afterAvataropened in theatersand will be back again inAvatar: Fire and Ashin December 2025. The gap in Star Trek movies though is so large that the actress has managed to pretty much play out her entire MCU career sinceStar Trek Beyondwas released. Saldaña played the role of Gamora in four feature films since 2016:Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, andGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Star Trek 4 is a Problem
The fact that the cast is getting older might be thematically appropriate for the franchise. While it feels like a shame that fans only got three films of the youthful Enterprise Crew prequel series, having the characters deal with their fears of aging and mortality would align the KelvinStar Trekfilms with the themes of the original sixStar Trekmovies, which brought back the cast ofStar Trek: The Original Series. There was a ten-year gap betweenStar Trek: The Original SeriesandStar Trek: The Motion Picture, with the gap betweenStar Trek: BeyondandStar Trek 4getting close. Willam Shatner was 48 when he reprised his role as Captain Kirk for the first of many occasions, so at 44,Chris Pine still has plenty ofStar Trekadventures left in him if he wants to. Same goes with Saldaña’s Uhura, Zachary Quinto’s Spock, and the rest of the cast.
5 Reasons J.J. Abrams' ‘Star Trek’ Might Be Cinema’s Greatest Reboot
Fifteen years later, J.J. Abram’s ‘Star Trek’ is one of the best films in the franchise and what every franchise reboot should strive for.
The real concern now is Paramount Pictures' struggles with gettingStar Trek 4off the ground.Despite numerous episodes ofStar Trekthat could be reworked into a great future film, it appearsStar Trek 4is difficult to crack. The news that the Kelvin Timeline cast would be returning was made in 2022 despite no script being written and no offers being made to the actors.Director Matt Shakman was initially set to helm the filmbut departed in favor ofThe Fantastic Four: First Stepsand the film failed to meet its June 06, 2025, release date. While a 2026 release date forStar Trek 4would be appropriate as it would be the franchise’s 60th anniversary, at the rate it is going, it feels unlikely the movie will even have a script by then.
Star Trek 4
