Holly Hunter Is A Star Trek Captain & Paramount Wants X-Men Producer For Big Screen Return
Starfleet Academy's new chancellor is an Oscar winner.
Two bits of news dropped today, the first of which is an exciting and confirmed addition to the Star Trek family of actors; the second is one of those older hopes with the possibility of a fresh behind-the-scenes face. As Seán scrambles to find a camera, let's start with Holly Hunter.
In an exclusive for Variety, it was revealed that the Academy Award winning actor has been cast in the role of captain and chancellor of Starfleet Academy in the upcoming Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, which is set to start filming this summer in "the largest contiguous set ever constructed for a 'Star Trek' series". Aimed at young adults, although those of us a little older will surely be able to enjoy it too, Starfleet Academy will also take place in the 32nd century, after over a hundred years of closure for the campus we were all used to in the 24th.
Little more detail, and certainly no name at this stage, is given about Hunter's character, other than the fact that she will be "presiding over the faculty and a new class of Starfleet cadets". We can only hope that amongst her permanent teaching staff will be Lieutenant Tilly, and hopefully as many visiting professors from the Discovery (and elsewhere) as possible. What is for sure is that we continue to be spoilt for talent in contemporary Star Trek; Hunter adds her name (and Oscar for Best Actress in 1993's The Piano) alongside that of Michelle Yeoh, who will be reprising the role of (former Emperor) Philippa Georgiou in the Star Trek: Section 31 Long Trek. Previous Trek Oscar winners have tended bar and given sound advice, found their way in and out with the Pah-wraiths, and sparked an insurrection. Let's hope Hunter's Captain goes the Guinan route!
The second bit of news comes to us via The Hollywood Reporter. Star Trek 4, you say? We'll believe it when we see it, and even then, after all this time, we might still have our doubts! In this case, it is Simon Kinberg, X-Men producer, and director of Dark Phoenix (just sayin'), who is "in talks" with Paramount to hop on board the latest film in the Star Trek project (re-)started by J.J. Abrams another of my lifetimes ago. Star Trek 4 has been in development hell since, well, Star Trek 3 (Beyond) in 2016, and has even had the Tarantino treatment. In its current form, as The Hollywood Reporter points out, the movie is "set decades before the events of the 2009 movie" and is "said to involve the creation of the Starfleet and humankind's first contact with alien life". That sounds awfully like a reboot mash-up of Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Enterprise, but we'll judge that bridge when we come to it… if we and Kinberg come to it!
As ever, details are slim about the proposed film, which is set to be directed by Toby Haynes and written by Seth Graham-Smith.
Puck was the first outlet to break the news about Simon Kinberg.