A Star Trek Origin Movie Is Coming in 2025 From Director Toby Haynes

Star Trek may finally be coming back to the big screen. A prequel to the 2009 J.J. Abrams reboot of the franchise is in the works from director Toby Haynes. The news comes from Paramount’s presentation at CinemaCon today, as reported by Collider’s Steve Weintraub and Britta DeVore. With Haynes, who recently helmed six episodes of the acclaimed Star Wars series Andor, at the rudder, the film will be written by Seth Grahame-Smith.

So far, other details on the new film are scarce, but it will reportedly be an « origin story », taking place decades before the 2009 Star Trek film, which took place in 2255. That likely means that it will not feature the cast from the 2009 reboot, which has so far been difficult for Paramount to wrangle together for a fourth film, despite numerous attempts to do so. That doesn’t necessarily mean that a fourth movie isn’t happening: back in March, Paramount hired The Flight Attendant scribe Steve Yockey to pen a new script for the film. For their part, the cast is game as well, with Zoe Saldaña recently stating her willingness to return for a fourth mission on the USS Enterprise.

What Happened Decades Before Kirk’s First Missions on the Enterprise?

The history of the Star Trek universe prior to the celebrated voyages of the Enterprise is largely unwritten. The first starship Enterprise‘s adventures in the 22nd century were chronicled on the UPN prequel series Star Trek: Enterprise. That series ended with the founding of the United Federation of Planets in 2161, which leaves almost a century of mostly unexplored history between that and the history now being charted on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (and the first two seasons of mothership show Star Trek: Discovery).

At some point, the nascent Federation faces a devastating war against the Romulan Star Empire, while also engaged in a Cold War with the Klingons. The USS Enterprise will eventually be launched in the 23rd century, under the captaincy of Robert April, who has been briefly glimpsed on Star Trek: The Animated Series and Strange New Worlds, before being handed off to Christopher Pike. Apart from that, however, Haynes and Graeme-Smith have a near-blank canvas upon which to make their mark.

In addition to Andor, Haynes has also helmed episodes of Doctor Who, Sherlock, and Black Mirror; his work on the latter series includes the episode « USS Callister, » a loving pastiche of Star Trek. Graeme-Smith wrote the novels Pride & Prejudice & Zombies and Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter; he worked on the story for the upcoming horror comedy sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

A new Star Trek prequel film is in development; no date has yet been set beyond a 2025 release window. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.