Star Wars director Toby Haynes is switching to Star Trek.
According to EW, the British director has agreed to helm a new Star Trek film for Paramount. Seth Grahame-Smith, the author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, is writing the script, which is referred to as a “origin story” and takes place decades before the events of J.J. Abrams’ 2009 Star Trek film. Additionally involved in production is Abrams’s business, Bad Robot.
Star Trek Beyond (2016), which starred Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto and was directed by Justin Lin, was the most current Star Trek movie to be released in theatres. Since then, a number of planned projects have fallen through the cracks: Quentin Tarantino was working on a Star Trek idea at one point, but it never came to pass, and Noah Hawley’s project also never got off the ground.
Haynes’ picture is unrelated to the currently untitled Star Trek 4, which is meant to be the last installment in the Star Trek film series and a more direct sequel to J.J. Abrams’ original Star Trek trilogy. In 2022, Abrams revealed that Star Trek 4 would begin filming by the end of the year.
Matt Shakman of WandaVision was slated to direct, however he has since departed to work on Marvel’s Fantastic Four reboot. Star Trek 4’s new director has not yet been revealed.
Naturally, Haynes is no stranger to Star Trek-esque narratives: in addition to his renowned work directing episodes of Doctor Who, Andor, and Sherlock, he also directed the acclaimed Black Mirror episode “USS Callister.” Set in a setting inspired by Star Trek, the exceptional 2017 episode stars Jesse Plemons and Cristin Miloti. Let’s hope for a cameo from Plemons or Miloti!