Summary
- J.J. Abrams advised Chris Pine to embody “less Shatner” when portraying James T. Kirk in the big-screen reboot of
Star Trek. - Pine starred as Captain Kirk in all three reboot films; he says the franchise feels “cursed.”
- A new
Star Trek
movie is part of Paramount’s “intent,” according to Roddenberry Entertainment’s C.O.O.
“Less Shatner.” Those two little words encompassed the advice filmmaker J.J. Abrams had for Chris Pine when the two collaborated on the big-screen reboot of the Star Trek franchise, which began in 2009. Pine was tasked with picking up the enormous mantle of the iconic character, James T. Kirk, who was portrayed brilliantly by William Shatner from 1966 until 1994. Pine said in an interview during his appearance on the Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me podcast:
“I think the biggest correction that
J.J. [Abrams] ever had for me was ‘less Shatner.’
Because it’s so deliciously fun. I mean, anything from how he sits in the chair to how he does a double take.
There are many… the Shatnerisms are long and deep, and they’re beautiful.
They’re beautifully crafted.”
Star Trek
- Release Date
- May 6, 2009
- Runtime
- 126
- Tagline
- The future begins.
Pine starred as James T. Kirk in all three of the reboot films, which began with Star Trek (2009) and was followed up by the sequels Star Trek Into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond. Abrams directed the first two movies, but he turned the director’s chair over to Justin Lin for the third installment. And nearly eight years have passed since Star Trek Beyond, and Star Trek 4 has still yet to warp speed into movie theaters.
Chris Pine Believes the Star Trek Franchise Is ‘Cursed’
While J.J Abrams’ 2009 reboot certainly isn’t the best of the Star Trek films, both critics and audiences alike enjoyed the U.S.S. Enterprise’s encounter with the rogue Romulan Nero (Eric Bana), which featured the return of Leonard Nimoy as the original Mr. Spock. Abrams’ new vision of the sci-fi phenomenon also made $385.7 million worldwide (per Box Office Mojo). So, a sequel was inevitable. And in the summer of 2013, Kirk and crew faced off against Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch) in Star Trek Into Darkness.
Star Trek Into Darkness made even more money ($467.4 million) than Star Trek (2009) did globally, but 2016’s Star Trek Beyond didn’t fare as well as its predecessors ($343.5 million), and the reboot series has been in limbo ever since. Co-star Zoe Saldaña (Lt. Uhura) still has hope that Star Trek 4 will come to fruition. But when it comes to the Star Trek franchise, Pine “feels like it’s cursed,” according to an interview he did with Esquire in 2023.
Star Trek 4: Plot, Cast, Release Date, and Everything Else We Know
Star Trek 4 is stuck in drydock, but that doesn’t keep us from hoping. Here is everything we know about the movie.
In March of this year, the C.O.O./President of Development for Roddenberry Entertainment, Trevor Roth, said “there is a plan” for a new Star Trek movie. Roth elaborated on the possibility in the same interview conducted at the SXSW film festival:
“I am not able to say much, but I can say that
it is Paramount’s intent to figure out the Star Trek side of movies
and what’s going on there.
There’s every intent of a new movie coming out in the very near future.
There’s a lot of secrecy around what’s going to happen there.
But there is a plan
getting into place.
And we’re very excited to see it return to the big screen.”
Most recently, Pine wrote and directed his first feature film,
Poolman.
Pine also stars alongside Danny DeVito in the comedic mystery, which opens exclusively in theaters on May 10. And fans can watch
the
Poolman
trailer
right now.
