Paramount Pictures has closed the deal bringing Captain Kirk and Spock back for the rebooted Star Trek‘s fourth installment before the third has even hit theaters. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, the actors who have portrayed the iconic characters since 2009, have agreed on new last-minute terms and pay raises with the studio.
The franchise has gone through several ups and downs over the years. The first Star Trek film did not perform at the box office quite as well as Paramount’s other blockbuster franchises, Transformers and Mission: Impossible. After the second installment, Star Trek: Into Darkness, turned out large numbers, the studio put the third film into production. Star Trek 3 has had rough development process, however, after the Roberto Orci screenplay got scrapped (he also co-wrote the first two scripts) and Trek actor Simon Pegg and Doug Jung were hired to do re-write. J.J. Abrams also stepped down to make way for Fast & Furious director Justin Lin to take the lead, with Abrams acting as producer.
Since the first two films, both Pine and Quinto have raised their star power, putting pressure on Paramount to re-negotiate their contracts. Pine has starred in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Horrible Bosses 2, and Disney‘s Into the Woods. Quinto has been appeared on Ryan Murphy’s anthology series American Horror Story, Lena Dunham’s HBO comedy Girls, is currently starring in the TV mini-series The Slap, and will soon appear in the video game adaptation Hitman: Agent 47.
With Pine and Quinto officially back for a fourth installment, the Star Trek franchise looks to be in clear waters for the foreseeable future. The announcement also suggests Paramount’s confidence in the potential performance of Star Trek 3 and its new creative team.
Leave a Comment