The ‘Kelvin-verse’ is history. Where do the Star Trek movies go from here?

<p>One of the new Paramount ownership’s first acts has been to end the Chris Pine/Zachary Quinto series of Trek movies. But surely they can’t stop making them forever?</p><p>There have been many Star Treks over the decades. First up we had a 1960s morality play performed on cardboard sets; then it became a billion-dollar movie saga about space diplomacy. More recently we’ve been gifted an ever-expanding collection of streaming spinoffs, each one more determined than the last to prove itself the true keeper of the sacred flame. Now we have a franchise that no longer has any idea what to do with itself. <a href="https://variety.com/2025/film/features/david-ellison-hollywood-takeover-paramount-warner-bros-1236569136/">According to Variety</a>, its producer Paramount has shelved the most recent film trilogy, known unofficially as the “Kelvin-verse”, that starred Chris Pine as Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock. What comes next is anyone’s guess.</p><p>Perhaps the more pertinent question here might be whether this grand old sci-fi saga is now really suited for the big screen at all. The recent films – 2009’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/may/08/star-trek">Star Trek</a>, 2013’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/may/01/star-trek-into-darkness">Star Trek Into Darkness</a>, and 2016’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jul/15/star-trek-beyond-review-zachary-quinto-spock-anton-yelchin">Star Trek Beyond</a> – won critical plaudits, yet were also criticised by fans for trying to turn a utopian thought experiment about empathy, cooperation and the perils of militarism into a knockabout space opera.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/nov/07/kelvin-verse-star-trek-movies-chris-pine-zachary-quinto-paramount">Continue reading...</a>