Pine, Hemsworth Exit “Star Trek 4”

Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth have reportedly both walked away from the upcoming fourth “Star Trek” film following failed salary negotiations reports THR.

Pine was going to reprise his role as Captain James T. Kirk for a fourth time, while time travel elements of the story would allow his onscreen father to appear. Hemsworth played the role in the 2009 reboot film’s prologue.

When the original cast signed on it was with the option for three films, so a fourth meant contracts had to be re-negotiated. Pine signed on early for a fourth when he locked down his “Star Trek Beyond” deal, while Hemsworth has been attached as a potential returnee since 2016.

With the underperformance of ‘Beyond’ in 2016, grossing just $343 million worldwide at a cost of a massive $185 million, the studio is cutting costs for the next one. The franchise isn’t Marvel or “Star Wars,” its home is TV and so its films are effectively ancillary and don’t earn anything close to Marvel of “Star Wars” money – especially overseas.

This wasn’t a problem for the pre-Abrams films which had tight budgets, but since 2009 those budgets skyrocketed. While revenue has gone considerably up, its not been enough – not when similarly budgeted other studio tentpoles rake in $700 million to a billion worldwide.

In any case, the actor’s reps insist: “they have deals in place and that the studios are reneging on them, forcing them to take pay cuts as they try to budget a movie that is following a mediocre performer.”

Fellow cast mates Zoe Saldana, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg and John Cho are all expected to close their deals and return. Even so, this puts the project up in the air. While Hemsworth’s role could be recast, Pine was essential to the current ‘Trek’ films.

S.J. Clarkson remains slated to direct the film which hasn’t set production or releases dates as yet. The film world of ‘Trek’ is stumbling as the TV world is flourishing at the moment with more “Star Trek: Discovery” and numerous other Trek-related shows on the way.

Source: www.darkhorizons.com