It’s been nine years since Star Trek Beyond hit theaters, and there are still no more Star Trek movies on the long-range scanners, even as the franchise returned to the small screen. However, Simon Pegg, who starred as Montgomery “Scotty” Scott in all three of the J.J. Abrams-led big-screen reboot films, thinks that’s about to change with the recent acquisition of Paramount by Skydance. He discussed the situation at a panel at the STLV Star Trek convention in Las Vegas this week.

Pegg noted that David Ellison, the chairman of the new media conglomerate, is “a big Star Trek fan,” and knows “he cares about the series.” Pegg, personally, would love it, despite the tragic death of Anton Yelchin, who starred as Pavel Chekov in the films: “I love those guys. And despite how we had a tragedy in our group, which was extremely painful, it would be wonderful to come together again. J.J. has always said that there are scripts being developed and this and that. I think it’s about time. It would be great to see us ten years after the five-year mission, where we are.”

What’s Happening With a Fourth ‘Star Trek’ Movie?

Star Trek Beyond, the third adventure of the rebooted USS Enterprise crew, was released in 2016. It was well-reviewed by critics, and grossed $343 million USD on a $185 million budget. A fourth film was in development that involved a team-up between Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and his father, George Kirk (Chris Hemsworth), who was killed in the first film. However, negotiations broke down with the actors, and a number of creatives were brought on to develop the project in the intervening years, including Fargo‘s Noah Hawley, WandaVision‘s Matt Shakman, and even Quentin Tarantino. Two new Trek films are now in varying stages of development Hell: a fourth chapter of the series starring Pine, Pegg, and company, and an origin story for the Federation of Planets, which is to be directed by Toby Haynes and written by Seth Grahame-Smith.

Pegg recently closed the book on another franchise: this summer, he starred in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, the apparent final chapter of the long-running action series he joined with its fourth installment, Ghost Protocol. He is next set to reprise his voice role as prehistoric weasel Buck in the upcoming Ice Age 6.

A fourth Star Trek film is in development.

via Collider