The future of the Star Trek film franchise is in question after series star Chris Pine walked away from the negotiating table for Star Trek 4. Pine plays the iconic Captain James T. Kirk. Now the man who made the character iconic, William Shatner, has weighed in on the matter.
In an interview with Shatner, Trek Movie asked the Star Trek icon what he thought of the situation, and if his own negotiations ever turned so ugly.
“Well, we negotiated,” Shatner said. “I don’t recall, although there is something vaguely reminiscent about saying, ‘I can’t do that.’ But, Chris is in a wonderful position in that he is so good and such a leading man, that he has many opportunities to explore without being Captain Kirk. So he is in a really good negotiating position. I think he’s doing the right thing in terms of getting more money, as the movies seem to be making a lot of money.”
As for advice, Shatner says Pine should look elsewhere.
“I know nothing. I am a negotiator, but that is for travel,” Shatner joked, referencing his Priceline commercials. “I can get you a ticket you wouldn’t believe!”
Frankly, Shatner’s right. Even though Beyond wasn’t a massive hit at the box office, $343 million worldwide isn’t anything to scoff at and arguably, interest in the franchise is higher right now than it was back in 2016, thanks to Discovery, the newly announced series for Patrick Stewart and Tarantino’s in-development Trek project. As such, we imagine a fourth installment in the Kelvin timeline would perform pretty well.
So, with that in mind, hopefully, Pine will be able to work something out with Paramount so that Star Trek 4 can move forward with Captain Kirk on board the Enterprise.
Source: Trek Movie
