MOVIE NEWS – Star Trek fans can rest easy, as the rumours have been dispelled by Paramount’s happy announcement that a sequel: Star Trek 4 is on the way, and that the actors from the previous episodes will be returning.

In 2009, J.J. Abrams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) revived the iconic Star Trek sci-fi franchise with a spectacular movie starring Wonder Woman’s Chris Pine. The film has been a huge success, with two sequels to date (the most recent was released five years ago), but much to the chagrin of fans, rumours emerged a few months ago that Paramount had scrapped the idea of a fourth instalment – but now the tables have turned.

The studio has made a very welcome announcement, revealing that they are already hard at work on Star Trek 4, which is expected to feature the cast of the previous films – and they’ve even got a director in Matt Shakman, who also made Marvel’s hit WandaVision series.

The Star Trek 4 script is being written by Lindsey Beer (Chaos Walking) and Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Captain Marvel), and filming is currently scheduled to start next spring, so the new Star Trek movie could be in cinemas as early as 2022.

No official word on the story has been released, but it was previously rumoured that Chris Hemsworth (Thor), who only appeared for a few minutes in the first film, would be one of the central characters, suggesting that there may be time travel in the sequel, as he played Captain Kirk’s father, who sacrificed himself in a space battle at the beginning of the film.

The last movie in the franchise with the Chris Pine team was Star Trek Beyond.

Source: Deadline