According to Deadline,  Paramount has removed the upcoming Star Trek 4 from its release schedule. This development comes a month after it was announced that Director Matt Shakman of Disney Plus’s WandaVision fame, had departed from the project.

According to the Instagram account  Cinematic News:

“…Shakman departed the project in order to direct the Fantastic Four MCU reboot.“ Which is currently scheduled for November 8th of 2024.

According to Variety:

“Shakman first became attached to the “Star Trek” sequel in the summer of 2021, following his acclaimed run directing every episode of “WandaVision” — the “Trek” announcement even landed the same day Shakman was nominated for an Emmy for the show. “

The film starring Chris Pine as Captain James T. Kirk — with a script penned by the storied franchise’s first female writers, Lindsey Beer, known for 2019’s Pet Semetary  and Geneva Robertson-Dworet of 2019’s Captain Marvel —was originally set to open on Dec. 22 next year. However it bears mentioning that this was itself a push back from the films original summer release of June 9, 2023.

The recent trilogy of Star Trek films was produced by J.J. Abrams (two of which he directed) and starred young versions of the legacy TV characters have grossed $1.96 billion, such as Chris Pines Captain James T. Kirk, and Zachary Quinto as Commander Spock. A large factor in the delays is likely the actors getting signed.

According to the same Variety article:

“The only problem, according to insiders, was that Pine, Quinto and the rest of the cast had not yet officially signed up for the movie when Abrams made his announcement, leaving Paramount with less than a year to secure the in-demand actors.”

It should also be noted that Star Trek is no stranger to projects that fell through, especially lately. A film directed by Quentin Tarantino famously never came to fruition, as well as a project written by Emmy award winning writer: Noah Hawley, who famously penned Fargo. The previous entry in the Abrams produced Star Trek franchise Star Trek Beyond was a critical and box office success, earning 343 million against its 185 million dollar budget.

It is not known at present if the film has been flat out canceled, but luckily for Star Trek fans, there is no shortage of Star Trek content available. This includes the Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, and Star Trek: Lower Decks. To everyone except the executives at paramount, the future of this fourth film is unknown.