Star Trek 4 has been an incredibly difficult movie for Paramount Pictures to get off the ground. Originally announced in 2016 before the release of Star Trek BeyondThe original plan was to have Chris Pine’s Captain Kirk team up with his late father George Kirk, played by Chris Hemsworth. ‘s underperforming cash register Star Trek Beyond and the breakdown in wage negotiations with the cast delayed the film.
Paramount Pictures has struggled to get a new Star Trek film since then, after multiple directors confirmed the project at different times. Most recently they had WandaVision director Matt Shakman hired to direct with a December 22, 2023 release date. However, Shakman stepped down to direct Marvel Studios Fantastic four. Paramount photos deleted Star Trek 4 from their release schedule and supposedly went back to the drawing board.
Recently, a filmmaker has started making headlines that might suit them perfectly Star Trek 4 — Michael Giacchino. Giacchino is an acclaimed composer, who has written the score for many iconic films, including winning an Academy Award for Upwards, and worked on some of the biggest films in 2022, including: the batter, Jurassic World: Dominion, light year, and Thor: Love and Thunder. Most recently, he was in the spotlight directing the Marvel Studios Special Presentation Werewolf at night, which premiered on Disney+ on October 7, 2022. The one-hour Halloween special received positive reviews from fans and critics alike, praising how different it was from the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Now Giacchino is no longer just a much sought-after composer, but a much sought-after filmmaker. Although a lot of people can jump straight to him to direct the Marvel Studios Sheet reboot, Giacchino should really be Paramount Pictures’ pick to take over Star Trek 4.
Giacchino has a long history with Star Trek
Giacchino is closely associated with the current era of Star Trek movies, as he was the composer of all three movies in the Kelvin timeline as of 2009 Star Trek and continue with 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness and 2016 Star Trek Beyond. While Werewolf at night is Giacchino’s most high-profile directorial appearance to date, previously directing the episode “Ephraim and Dot” for the Paramount+ streaming series Star Trek: short treks, which consists of short anthology stories based on various characters in the Star Trek franchisee. Giacchino clearly has a long history with the franchise and a genuine love for the material, and it would be a dream come true for both him and the fans to have him at the helm of the next Star Trek movie.
It would also be a similar song to another Bad Robot production, Mission Impossible. Directed since JJ Abrams Mission: Impossible 3, Bad Robot Productions has been involved in every following Mission Impossible movie. Screenwriter Christoper McQuarrie was originally brought on board to work on the script for Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and was eventually hired to direct Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. Since then, McQuarrie has become the leading voice of the franchise, directing Mission: Impossible – Fallout and the two part Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning. Giacchino could follow a similar career path within Star Trek from composer to director.
Giacchino the franchise in the Bad Robot family
Since JJ Abrams directed Star Trek in 2009, his production company Bad Robot was involved in the two subsequent sequels and the long development of Star Trek 4. Giacchino composed seven Bad Robot Production films (Mission: Impossible III, clover field, Star Trek, Super 8, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Star Trek Into Darknessand Star Trek Beyond) and all of his television work has been on the Bad Robot series.
He has also composed the score for all of the films by director Matt Reeves, who also has close ties to JJ Abrams and Bad Robot Productions who directed the films in 2008. clover field. There seems to be a strong working relationship between the different people of the company and the direction of Giacchino Star Trek 4 can lead to a sense of creative continuity in the Star Trek films while embracing a new directorial vision.
Werewolf at night serves as a great calling card for directors
Werewolf at night may seem like a simple Halloween special that introduces some great new characters to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But it’s so much more, essentially acting as a great showpiece for studios for what Giacchino can do. While he has certainly earned his credit as a composer, moving from one field to another in the film industry is difficult, especially when it comes to moving from two very different jobs on a film from composer to director.
Werewolf at night showcases Giacchino’s ability to play within a larger established franchise, his ability to pay tribute to classic genres and work within a budget. He maintained many practical effects for the production and, despite it being a program to be shown in people’s homes, made an effort to Werewolf at night as cinematic as possible. This visionary eye shows a director waiting to erupt, and someone who is a Star Trek movie that is on a reasonable budget, but can also have the visual flair you would expect from a big budget movie, as opposed to one of the many Star Trek TV series currently on air.
Paramount Pictures struggles to get a new Star Trek film off the ground but it feels like they might be thinking too much about it as the right director to usher in the next episode might have been with the rebooted Star Trek films all the time.