J.J. Abrams to Produce Two New ‘Star Trek’ Films in Development at Paramount – Here are The Details

Paramount is setting its sights on bringing Star Trek back to theaters in a big way now that its merger with Skydance Media is complete. According to a report from Deadline, the studio currently has multiple Star Trek movies in development, two of which will be produced by J.J. Abrams.

One of the projects will be directed by Toby Haynes, known for his work on Star Wars: Andor, with a script by Seth Grahame-Smith. This film will focus on a completely new set of characters.

The other project, which sounds more familiar to longtime fans, will bring back classic Star Trek faces like Kirk, Spock, and the crew of the Enterprise. That movie is being written by Steve Yockey. No release dates or production timelines have been announced yet, but Deadline notes that Star Trek is considered a “high priority” for Paramount moving forward.

The news comes as Skydance and Paramount try to plan their big blockbuster movies. There hasn’t been a new Star Trek movie since 2016’s Star Trek Beyond, which marked the franchise’s 50th anniversary. While Beyond got positive reviews, it underperformed at the box office, earning $343.3 million worldwide on a $185 million budget, making it the lowest-grossing film in the Kelvin Timeline series that started with J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot.

Star Trek movies have been in development for years without coming to fruition. A fourth Kelvin Timeline movie went through several writers and directors, and at one point, Quentin Tarantino was rumored to be interested in directing a standalone Star Trek film. Noah Hawley’s planned Star Trek project was even canceled during casting, partly because the story centered around a pandemic, which made Paramount hesitant.

Haynes’ new movie seems to follow the idea of introducing an all-new crew, something Star Trek has done successfully before with shows like The Next Generation. This approach is important to keep the franchise fresh and appealing to new audiences. “It’s great to see the studio is interested in creating new characters while also honoring the legacy of the original crew,” the Deadline report explains.

At the same time, there’s still excitement for the Kirk and Spock film. Fans of the Kelvin Timeline cast are eager to see these characters return, and giving the actors one last big adventure could be satisfying. It’s unclear which of these two projects Paramount will prioritize first, but both have the potential to bring something exciting to the Star Trek universe. Haynes’ film could launch a new chapter for the franchise, while Yockey’s movie could give longtime fans a proper farewell to the original reboot cast.

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