A new update on the next Star Trek movie raises new questions about its place in the timeline. Star Trek has been a popular and profitable movie franchise since Star Trek: The Motion Picture premiered in 1979. There have been 13 theatrically released Star Trek movies, and one made-for-streaming film, Star Trek: Section 31.

At CinemaCon 2026, Paramount Skydance formally announced a new Star Trek movie being developed for theatrical release. Months earlier, the studio canceled Star Trek 4, ending a decade of development hell. Star Trek 4 was supposed to reunite the USS Enterprise cast led by Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto under producer J.J. Abrams, but now, there will be no follow-up to 2016’s Star Trek Beyond.

Although Paramount Skydance didn’t offer specifics about the next Star Trek movie in the works, it is believed to be the reported project being developed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, the filmmakers behind Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. There are also rumors of even more Star Trek movies in development.

Star Trek’s Next Movie Being Set In The Future Raises New Questions

Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley were part of San Diego Comic-Con‘s Directors on Directing panel, attended by ScreenRant‘s Brandon Zachary. Daley confirmed that their new Star Trek movie is “in progress, and…we’re very excited about it. I think people will be surprised. I really can’t say anything other than that.” However, Goldstein offered more hints about its setting in Star Trek‘s timeline:

Jonathan Goldstein: I think we’ve said in the past… it won’t be the characters that you’ve seen previously in your Star Trek movies. So there will be a new take on that. And I think it’ll probably be a little further into the future than we’ve been before…. what draws us to it is the opportunity to do a different spin.

The screenwriters confirming that the next Star Trek movie will be “probably a little further into the future than we’ve seen before” raises some pertinent questions.

The first is: Which timeline is the new film set in? Star Trek’s movie franchise takes place in two different realities: the Prime timeline of Star Trek I – XIII (as well as every Star Trek TV series) and the alternate Kelvin timeline of the J.J. Abrams-produced trilogy.

With Paramount Skydance reportedly aiming for a “holistic” approach to the Star Trek franchise, which has been interpreted as reuniting the TV and film divisions, which have been separate for 20 years due to various corporate upheavals, we guess that the Kelvin timeline will be abandoned, and the new Star Trek movie will be set in the Prime timeline’s future.

However, “a little further into the future than we’ve seen before” gets complicated when it comes to Star Trek‘s Prime timeline. Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy are set in the late 32nd century, which is now the farthest continuing point of the Prime Timeline.

Goldstein and Daley may be thinking of moving further into the future than we’ve seen before in the Star Trek movies. The farthest point the feature films have established in the Prime timeline was 2379 in Star Trek: Nemesis. However, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Star Trek: Prodigy, and Star Trek: Picard have all taken place after that, with Picard season 3 opening up the early 25th century.

It’s a reasonable bet that Goldstein, Daley, and Paramount Skydance will ignore the Star Trek TV series on Paramount+ and are setting the next Star Trek movie in an unexplored era after Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s 24th century. This will allow for a brand new starship, a new crew, and any upgrades and developments to Starfleet’s technology they can imagine.

Alternatively, Goldstein and Daley’s Star Trek movie might continue in the Kelvin Timeline, which is also vast uncharted territory. Star Trek Beyond was set in 2263, which gives hundreds of years of open space in the Kelvin timeline to explore.

Whether set in an era of the Prime timeline that Star Trek fans haven’t seen, or continuing the Kelvin timeline past Star Trek Beyond, this would allow Daley and Goldstein free rein without rebooting Star Trek completely like J.J. Abrams’ did in 2009. Unless they do a reboot anyway. It remains to be seen.

Movies Are Paramount’s Star Trek Priority (For Now)

Star Trek movies seem to be the focus of Paramount Skydance in the immediate future. New CEO David Ellison named Star Trek as a crown jewel I.P. along with Transformers, G.I. Joe, Top Gun, and World War Z that Paramount plans to bolster its movie slate for years to come. Paramount’s decade-long inability to launch a new Star Trek movie has also, frankly, been embarrassing.

With John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein speaking publicly (as much as they can) about their Star Trek movie, it seems like their project is the farthest along and was the film that Paramount Skydance announced at CinemaCon, although the studio still hasn’t officially confirmed it.

At least Star Trek movies have more forward movement than the streaming TV franchise on Paramount+. Every Star Trek TV series executive produced by Alex Kurtzman has been canceled, with nothing new in development or greenlit for the first time in a decade. Paramount+ is expected to release Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ final seasons in 2027.

The consensus from the creative teams who have been producing Star Trek on Paramount+ for the last decade is that Paramount intends to let Star Trek TV series lie fallow for an undetermined period of time before a big relaunch. In the meantime, movies will be where Star Trek fans will get their next fix of the final frontier.

There has been at least one Star Trek movie released in theaters every decade since 1979. Paramount Skydance has only 4 years left to produce and premiere a new Star Trek movie to keep this record intact. If a new film does make it to theaters, it will be the 15th Star Trek movie overall.

From what Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley are planning, their Star Trek movie will be a new vision fans haven’t seen before. (If, of course, a new Star Trek movie gets made.)

TV Show(s)

Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Animated Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Short Treks, Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek Lower Decks, Star Trek: Prodigy, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

Cast

William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Deforest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, Jonathan Frakes, Patrick Stewart, Michael Dorn, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Wil Wheaton, Avery Brooks, Nana Visitor, Rene Auberjonois, Alexander Siddig, Cirroc Lofton, Armin Shimerman, Colm Meaney, Terry Farrell, Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Dawson, Jeri Ryan, Robert Duncan McNeill, Robert Picardo, Ethan Phillips, Garrett Wang, Jolene Blalock, Connor Trinneer, Dominic Keating, Scott Bakula, Linda Park, John Billingsley, Anthony Montgomery, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho, Chris Hemsworth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Anton Yelchin, Idris Elba, Sonequa Martin-Green, Mary Wiseman, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, Wilson Cruz, Oyin Oladejo, Emily Coutts, Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Rebecca Romijn, Michelle Yeoh

Created by

Gene Roddenberry