Star Trek Prequel Overtakes Star Trek 4, X-Men Producer Simon Kinberg Taking Over Next Movie [UPDATED]

X-Men producer Simon Kinberg is reportedly in negotiations to take over the next Star Trek movie franchise, and the upcoming origin movie has major implications for Star Trek 4. As Star Trek goes from strength to strength on the small screen, the big screen adventures of the Starship Enterprise have stalled since 2016's Star Trek Beyond. With a new Star Trek origin movie confirmed by Paramount for release in 2025, a new report suggests that Simon Kinberg, best known for producing Fox's X-Men movies, could soon take over as head of the Star Trek franchise.

The most recent edition of Puck's What I'm Hearing newsletter contains a deep dive into the state of play at Paramount Pictures amid the ongoing process of selling its parent company. The report contains some fascinating information about the future of Star Trek movies, and reveals the contract negotiations for Simon Kinberg to come aboard and produce the new origin movie. Read the full quote from What I'm Hearing below:

And I’m told Simon Kinberg, the prolific producer of X-Men and other Fox-Marvel movies, is negotiating to join Star Trek as its new steward in film. If his deal closes, Kinberg will technically produce just the prequel being directed by Toby Haynes (Andor) and written by Seth Grahame-Smith. But since Star Trek 4 has script and schedule issues with that famous (and expensive) cast, the prequel will likely shoot in early 2025 and could very well end up as a reboot. Plus, Paramount sees Kinberg as a franchise shepherd à la Alex Kurtzman for Trek TV projects, even though J.J. Abrams remains as a producer. Whether that new film is a Paramount or Sony release remains a question to be answered by Shari Redstone, of course, but the studio’s other suitor, Skydance, does retain its option to co-finance and produce the Kinberg Trek movie."

The Hollywood Reporter has followed up on Puck's report about Simon Kinberg joining the Star Trek movies as producer, with new details on Toby Haynes' Untitled Star Trek Origin Movie. Check it out below:

The project is said to be set decades before the events of the 2009 movie that was directed J.J. Abrams, likely around modern times. It is said to involve the creation of the [sic] Starfleet and humankind’s first contact with alien life.

Star Trek's Prequel Could Spell Bad News For Star Trek 4

Currently, Simon Kinberg is in negotiations only to produce the Star Trek origin movie, written by Seth Grahame-Smith, and directed by Toby Haynes. This makes a lot of sense as Kinberg already has a working relationship with Grahame-Smith from producing the movie adaptation of his novel Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter back in 2012. The most interesting element of Puck's report is the implication that, should the origin movie perform well, Paramount may drop Star Trek 4. If the Star Trek origin movie becomes a defacto reboot for the movie franchise, then it will need some creative stewarding from a producer with a creative vision.

As ever with the fate of Star Trek 4, there are still a lot of unknowns, not least whether Simon Kinberg will actually sign a contract with Paramount. However, the fact that there are already rumblings within the studio about playing the origin movie off against Star Trek 4 isn't a good sign. Publicly, Paramount have reaffirmed their desire for a fourth Chris Pine Star Trek movie, and have brought in Steve Yockey for another pass at the script. More privately, however, it appears that their preferred option may be a brand-new Star Trek movie franchise, led by X-Men's Simon Kinberg.