Matt Shakman left the Kelvin timeline film to direct Marvel’s “Fantastic Four.’
It appears that Captain Kirk fans will have to catch Star Trek: Strange New Worlds to have their fill for the near future. Variety has learned that Paramount has pulled the film’s title from their upcoming release schedule, and the film is set to be released on the 22nd of December, 2023. Although the film may not be finished, it’s certainly not an encouraging sign that Wikipedia has a whole page dedicated to only the process of the film.
The untitled Star Trek movie was set to follow the original timeline, dubbed the ‘Kelvin Timeline was first introduced by the director of Star Trek (2009) after an incident in which a Romulan ship that was in the future travelled to the past, prompting an entirely new sequence of events when the captain kills Vulcan to get revenge. The cast of the previous three films was expected to return, including Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban (who declared an interest but cited schedule conflicts because of The Boys), John Cho as well as Simon Pegg. The three previous films included Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov, who tragically passed away in the year of his death.
This is a natural progression due to Director Matt Shakman‘s departure from the film after being associated with Marvel’s Fantastic Four film. This kind of commitment, even though it’s probably a better option in the case of that Star Trek movie that isn’t able to escape development, so it’s not surprising that Shakman jumped between franchises. Since the release date had been pushed back a couple of times before Shakman’s departure, removing the film from the schedule allows the creators of this movie to go back on the drawing board and create an outstanding Star Trek film.
This isn’t the only time this concept film has been a source of controversy. Since the launch of Star Trek: Beyond in 2016, there have been numerous major names associated with the film, including Quentin Tarantino, S.J. Clarkson as well as Noah Hawley, to name a few. Many failed iterations failed because of creative choices or negotiation difficulties with the actors. The latest version came about following Matt Shakman’s successes off Wanda Vision. He was signed to direct the show in the summer of 2021; however, when the main actors were announced to return before even negotiating, faith in the project diminished.
However, the crew expressed their enthusiasm for the film, with Pine commenting, “Let’s make the movie for those who are in love with this particular group of people, who are enthralled by this story, who are amazed by Star Trek. Let’s make it just for them. And the moment people decide to join the event, great.” In the end, there are a lot of people still waiting for this event to be able to move past the preparations.