After several creative shifts, Paramount has officially announced they are forging ahead with Star Trek 4. Matt Shakman was set as the director last year, and the studio and franchise director J.J. Abrams confirmed his involvement today at the ViacomCBS Investor Day presentation. Paramount also confirmed they have begun discussions with Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Zoe Saldaña (among other cast members) to reprise their respective roles, with production set to begin later this year.

The studio is also pursuing Karl Urban, John Cho, and Simon Pegg to reprise their roles as Dr. Bones, Sulu, and Scotty respectively. Audiences will of course recognize Pine as the enigmatic James T. Kirk opposite Quinto‘s straightforward Spock. Saldaña portrayed the role of Lieutenant Uhura. Shakman is overseeing a script written by Josh Friedman (Snowpiercer) and Cameron Squires (WandaVision). Those two adapted an earlier draft that was penned by Lindsey Beer (Sierra Burgess is a Loser) and Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Captain Marvel). Plot details are thin at the moment, though it’s expected to pick up following the events of Justin Lin‘s third film, Star Trek Beyond.

An early version of Star Trek 4 was set to reunite Pine with his 2009 Star Trek co-star Chris Hemsworth, who played his father. This of course would have been made possible via time travel, as Hemsworth‘s George sacrificed himself early in the film to save his son. Hemsworth himself noted that he found this edition of the film underwhelming, leading to its eventual demise. None other than Quentin Tarantino expressed interest in developing a Star Trek film, though it was never made clear if it would have continued the adventures of this cast with Pine and Quinto. Noah Hawley (Legion) also expressed potential interest in tackling this film.

A fourth Star Trek film was fairly inevitable, given the positive reception to Lin’s Star Trek Beyond. The disappointing box office returns are likely what has made this sequel linger in development for so long, and the various potential directors certainly speak of some creative shuffling. Yet aside from Mission: Impossible, Star Trek is one of the studio’s biggest franchises, so it’s no surprise that Paramount has never given up in its pursuit of the next film.

There is currently no release date for Star Trek 4.

via Collider