Why Star Trek 4 Hasn't Happened Yet, According To Simon Pegg

Star Trek Beyond was released in 2016 and though a fourth installment was planned, Paramount pulled the plug on it in 2019. Since then, fans were left wondering if the next Star Trek movie would ever come to fruition. Actor and co-writer of Star Trek Beyond, Simon Pegg explained in a GamesRadar interview why he thinks the franchise has been in a holding pattern.

The actor who played Montgomery "Scotty" Scott commented, "The fact is, Star Trek movies don’t make Marvel money. They make maybe $500m at the most, and to make one now, on the scale they’ve set themselves, is $200m. You have to make three times that to make a profit.

Losing Anton Yelchin, who passed away in 2016 and played Chekov, was also a "huge blow to our little family, and [the] enthusiasm to do another one might have been affected by that." Pegg added, "I don’t feel like the last one...They didn’t really take advantage of the 50th anniversary. The regimen at the time dropped the ball on the promo of the film."

This isn't the first time Pegg has commented on the link between Star Trek Beyond's marketing and lackluster box office performance. He told Geek Exchange in 2018 that, "It was left too late before they started their marketing push. It still did great business, but it was disappointing compared to Into Darkness." While Star Trek Beyond did receive warm reception from audience and critics, it financially underperformed, earning $343.4 million worldwide against a $185 million production cost.

A new Star Trek movie is reportedly in the works, but it's one with a new cast and new characters. Director Noah Hawley has been tapped to create it and he told Hollywood Reporter that "Calling it Star Trek IV is kind of a misnomer. I have my own take on the franchise as a life-long fan."