It seems that nothing is certain in this world except three things: death, taxes, and the inability of Star Trek 4 to get into production. Principal cast member Zoe Saldana (Uhura) weighed into the fray last week, pointing out during a podcast interview with Deadline that an attempt to get schedules to align for cast and crew this fall failed, but also expressing the suspicion that there were other, more serious issues with the project.

The film’s announced release date of December 23, 2023, was recently retracted, adding to the uncertainty over the franchise’s future. It has seen diminishing returns for each film in the U.S. and Canadian markets since the 2009 reboot.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

Fingers have been pointed in many directions, but one of the most common complaints from fans is that the new film series seems indebted to the originals in all the wrong ways. Misjudged references and retconning may sound like good fan service, but they can work against the filmmakers, being read by audiences as a lack of new ideas. The second film, Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), lifted wholesale or reworked several plot points and beats from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), while the third film, Star Trek Beyond (2016), borrowed several plot points from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), including the destruction of the Enterprise and the saving of the day by Captain Kirk and his crew via the deus ex machina solution of finding another ship in the nick of time.

So if the pattern holds, we can expect the fourth Star Trek film to take its 1980s counterpart Star Trek: The Voyage Home, as its source material. Will Chris Pine and his crew find themselves voyaging back in time as per the 1986 film, or will the makers choose to boldly go where no Star Trek film has gone before?

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home Is a Triumphant Adventure

     Paramount Pictures

Star Trek fans revere what has come to be informally known as the “Spock trilogy,” namely the three films from The Wrath of Khan to The Voyage Home. They are thought-provoking, tightly plotted, well-directed, and exciting pieces of sci-fi cinema.

The Voyage Home is the most ambitious of the three and sees Admiral Kirk and the Enterprise crew travel back to 1980s Earth in order to find and transport humpback whales to the future to ward off disaster from an alien probe that is destroying the future Earth’s oceans.

The premise may sound loopy, but with everyone playing it straight and the principal cast clearly having a grand old time on the streets of contemporary San Francisco, the film was an enormous commercial and critical success. The film’s environmentally conscious subtext played well with audiences increasingly aware of the importance of conservation and green issues and offered a good blend of droll humor and high drama.

Sci-Fi Films and Recycled Plots

     Lucasfilm Ltd.

Today’s sci-fi franchises don’t exactly have a spotless record when it comes to acknowledging their own pasts. The Star Wars sequels films of the past few years are a case in point, with The Force Awakens (2015) and The Last Jedi (2017) largely recycling the plots of the first two Star Wars movies. The Rise of Skywalker (2020) is criticized in particular for bringing back Emperor Palpatine for a climactic final scene that bore more than a few resemblances to Luke Skywalker’s face-off with the same character in Return of the Jedi (1983).

The Star Trek films have already fallen foul of this tendency, with J. J. Abrams getting called out in 2013 for leaning too heavily on The Wrath of Khan for dramatic beats during Star Trek: Into Darkness. Perhaps, then, a trip through time and space should be left to the Tardis.

Will Star Trek 4 Be Something Entirely New?

But what about breaking the mold and doing something new entirely? The Wrath of Khan producer Robert Sallin was eager to explore this option and wrote a pitch for the fourth movie that he described as “unlike anything that has been done in Star Trek” in 2020.

There are plenty of possible plot threads that could be picked up from the first three films, such as the fate of Jaylah (played by Sofia Boutella), the alien who joined Starfleet Academy at the end of Star Trek Beyond. Or even George Kirk, Captain Kirk’s father, who Chris Hemsworth expressed interest in playing again earlier this year.

But perhaps the best advice to be given to the makers is the simplest. Regardless of how many explosions, chase scenes, and breathtaking special effects the film contains, what brings audiences into cinemas is the allure of a good story.