Despite Turmoil, 'Star Trek' Cast Embraces Films Beyond 'Beyond'

Karl Urban, Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto in ‘Star Trek Beyond’ (Paramount Pictures)

The Enterprise is going beyond Star Trek Beyond. With the latest big-screen episode in the vaunted 50-year-old franchise still days away, Paramount announced Monday that there would be fourth installment featuring J.J. Abrams’ rebooted cast.

Although the studio had moved to lock up stars Chris Pine (Kirk) and Zachary Quinto (Spock) to additional films over a year ago, there had been some question about the future following the troubled production of Beyond. Long before cameras started rolling in June 2015, the original writer-director, Roberto Orci, was dismissed. In his place, Abrams recruited Justin Lin (of the Fast & Furious series) to direct a new script by Simon Pegg (who also plays Scotty) and Doug Jung on a greatly accelerated schedule. As the behind-the-scenes drama played out, word came that Leonard Nimoy, who played an older, out-of-time version of Spock in the films, had died. As the cast and crew rushed to complete the film on an extremely tight timetable (“On the Fast movies when I didn’t have any time, I had more time than this,” Lin told us on the Vancouver set nearly a year ago), the cast members weren’t sure about the prospects of another Enterprise voyage.

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“We have such a great time when we make these films,” said Pine. “I feel really lucky to be able to come back to this. So should the chance arise, I’d be happy to come back again.”

After shooting his final scene last October, Quinto posted a video on Instagram with the caption: “this. maybe for the last time. maybe not.”

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Then came the horrible news about Anton Yelchin’s death in a freak accident, news that destroyed the tight-knit cast. “It’s devastating to lose a member of the family,” Karl Urban (Bones) said last week at a preview screening of Beyond. “The sudden, tragic nature of what happened has left us all reeling at a time where we should be celebrating this fun film.”

It would have seemed that Paramount and the Trek brain trust would have paused a moment to consider the viability of another episode.

Yet despite the turmoil, Beyond currently has a 91 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is tracking to debut with upwards of $60 million at the box office. While less than the previous two Abrams-helmed installments, the studio, which is facing its own backstage intrigue about its management and future, believes that extending Trek is worth the investment.

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Details were relatively scant on the untitled fourth film. We know it will bring back the same cast, minus Yelchin (there was no word whether the actor will be replaced or whether his death will be incorporated into the storyline, like Beyond does with Nimoy’s Spock Prime). We know that Chris Hemsworth, who played George Kirk in 2009’s Star Trek, will return and finally meet the son he died saving. The sacrifice of George Kirk has loomed large over the series — James Kirk is still struggling to live up to his father’s legacy in Beyond. The screenplay will be written by J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay (the two previously worked on the upcoming Flash Gordon reboot). J.J. Abrams will be on board as a producer, but no director has been named.

Chris Hemsworth in ‘Star Trek’ (Paramount Pictures)

Zoe Saldana (Uhura), for one, is ready to keep Trek trekking. “If they want me, if I look good in this little dress, I would love to continue to do it for as long as I’m able to,” she said on the Vancouver set last August. “Star Trek was such a beautiful show, conceived with the purest intentions — which was to bring people together — and that positive nature is what has kept this thing alive for so many decades. And for me to be a part of something so magical, it inspires me. If I get to do it, and get to see these people all the time, I’m going to be a happy camper.” Quinto said he’d be honored to “carry on the legacy of Leonard Nimoy”

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“This is the ‘continuing mission.’ This is a continuing story,” added Pegg. “It’s not like we have to bring it to a close now, it’s about an ongoing adventure which these characters, certainly in the other universe, the Prime Universe, went on until they were quite old. It’s fun to be able to dip into their lives. It’s not so say that our characters are safe in any way. This is a different reality, you know…. It’s nice to have that element of unpredictability.”