When the main cast for the reboots (Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, John Cho and Anton Yelchin) all signed up for 2009's Star Trek they did so with a three film contract should Paramount wish to continue the series. These contracts were never re-negotiated for Into Darkness with Paramount keen to continue making Star Trek films set in the JJverse but not having viewed the 2009 reboot as a massive success having made grossed just $385.7 million and the cast therefore not being worthy of receiving improved pay deals. Now whilst $385.7 million at the box office doesn't sound like a bad figure if we put that figure in perspective by comparing it to Paramount's 2007 reboot of Transformers which made $709.7 million at the box office it does sound pretty pathetic. As cool as giant fighting robots that transform can be Star Trek should have performed much better in relation to it.
For Star Trek: Beyond there was some contract re-negotiation following legal challenges by some of the stars and their representatives given the age of their contracts and the delays to Star Trek: Beyond thanks to Roberto 'I hate Star Trek fans! Why don't the fans love me?' Orci's shenanigans. The result? Raises and better performance bonuses for everyone.
Quinto and Pine have already signed for a 4th film.Whilst Paramount has kept the terms of the new contracts under wraps it was wildly reported in Summer of 2015 that Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto had scored the biggest pay increases, Pine was reported to have been paid $600,000 for the original movie, and $1.5 million for Into Darkness and was set to receive $3 million for Beyond, thanks though to the new deals Pine is now set to earn $6 million for the new movie but that pay deal comes with a catch.Apparently both Pine and Quinto had to sign on to do a 4th Star Trek film should Paramount wish to make one. All of this isn't news though, as I say it was reported back in 2015 so what has changed? Well, a few days ago Paramount officially registered 'Star Trek 4' with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).
This doesn't necessarily guarantee a new film entry to the series, it could just be that Paramount wants to keep it's options open but it isn't the sort of thing they would do on a whim, typically you don't register something unless you are planning to do it at some stage and with the rising star power of some of the cast, mainly Pine, Saldana and Pegg, if Paramount do want to make another Star Trek film they might not want to wait too long unless they want to contend with lots of overlapping movie commitments and having to offer even bigger pay deals, something Paramount have clearly shown they don't want to do.
What do you think?
Is Star Trek 4 a foregone conclusion or are Paramount just keeping their options open?
If they do make a Star Trek 4 will we see a completely original Star Trek story like 2009's entry in to the series or something like Into Darkness where a classic Star Trek story is given a new twist?
If they do make a Star Trek 4 do you think the rest of the cast will sign up? Which cast member is most expendable?
