Yesterday it was announced that S.J. Clarkson has signed on to direct and executive produce HBO’s Game of Thrones spinoff pilot The Long Night.
Clarkson was previously tapped to become the first female filmmaker to helm a Star Trek movie after being hired by Paramount to direct Star Trek 4, although Deadline is reporting that the studio has since shelved the project, freeing her up for a trip to Westeros.
Paramount originally intended to shoot the fourth movie in the rebooted NuTrek universe early this year, although it had been in doubt for the past few months after Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth rejected offers to return as Captain James T. Kirk and his father George Kirk.
Back in August, reports emerged that Pine and Hemsworth both had deals in place, but Paramount and Skydance wanted them to take pay cuts in an effort to balance the budget, given that Star Trek Beyond had grossed just $343 million worldwide. It was claimed that Paramount was considering recasting the roles, but has presumably opted against it.
In addition to Star Trek 4, Paramount has also been developing a Trek movie based upon an idea by Quentin Tarantino, who is currently occupied with his latest film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood ahead of its release in July. Whether the studio will look to move forward with that in place of Star Trek 4, we shall have to wait and see.
While the future of Star Trek on the big screen appears up in the air at present, the franchise is flourishing on the small screen; we’ve got the second season of Star Trek: Discovery set to premiere this month and series for Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard and Michelle Yeoh’s Georgiou in the works, as well as an animated comedy show Star Trek: Lower Decks.
