Chris Pine says Star Trek franchise “feels like it’s cursed”
If you know where the Star Trek film franchise is going with its next instalment, then you know more than lead actor Chris Pine does.
In a recent interview with Esquire magazine covering everything from Don’t Worry Darling to the new Dungeons & Dragons film, Pine was asked about any details that might be surrounding the fourth instalment in the billion-dollar Star Trek franchise.
“I don’t know anything,” Pine claimed in the article. “In Star Trek land, the actors are usually the last people to find out anything. I know costume designers that have read scripts before the actors.”
That comes as a bit of a shot at the production staff, namely director and producer J. J. Abrams, who has helmed the franchise’s direction since the first film in the series back in 2009. The fourth Star Trek film has been in development for nearly a decade, with the last addition to the franchise, Star Trek Beyond, coming out in 2016. In the same article, Abrams claimed that the percolating script for the upcoming fourth film is “the first time [since the original reboot] that we have a story that feels as compelling as the first one.”
Still, whatever is in that script, Pine has yet to see it. “I would say it’s frustrating,” Pine adds. “It doesn’t really foster the greatest sense of partnership, but it’s how it’s always been. I love the character. I love the people. I love the franchise. But to try to change the system in which things are created – I just can’t do it. I don’t have the energy.”
Pine also doesn’t mince his words when he claims that the Star Trek franchise “feels like it’s cursed.” Although the franchise has been massively successful, Pine claims that the return from Star Trek Beyond didn’t meet expectations and even references the death of cast member Anton Yelchin, who died in a freak accident just a month before the release of the third film.
“I’m not sure Star Trek was ever built to do that kind of business,” Pine claimed. “I always thought, ‘Why aren’t we just appealing to this really rabid fan group and making the movie for a good price and going on our merry way instead of trying to compete with the Marvels of the world?’ After the last one came out and didn’t do the $1billion that everybody wanted it to do, and then Anton [Yelchin] passed away, I don’t know, it just seemed…”
Pine doesn’t finish that thought, but whether he’s involved in the process or not, it appears as though a fourth Star Trek film is coming sometime in the future. Everyone from WandaVision director Matt Shakman to Quentin Tarantino had been involved in the film’s pre-production. Still, as of 2023, there doesn’t seem to be any progress other than Abrams’ assistance that the film currently has a script in development.
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