Matt Shakman Discusses Star Trek Four After Quitting As Director

Director Matt Shakman may no longer be the lead on Star Trek 4. However, he still gave statements about the film, detailing that it was still in development. Let’s remember that the film went into chaos when the filmmaker quit his position to take the throne on one of Marvel’s Phase VI productions, Fantastic Four.

Image via Marvel Studios

The director emphasized that he expects this film to be the best and praised the team developing this fourth instalment. He also explained the reasons why such productions are so expensive.

Matt Shakman Talks About Star Trek 4

In an interview, Shakman commented on Star Trek 4, which is still in production. He said they are adapting the plot to what he had done while working on it. The filmmaker emphasized that he can’t talk about a specific story as he doesn’t know what changes they have made.

Image via Paramount Pictures

In the interview, they talked about the film’s leading man, Chris Pine, who plays Captain Kirk. Shakman also mentioned Pine’s statement explaining that the budget for this film may be much smaller than for other productions. Pine commented at the time:

“I’ve always thought that Star Trek should operate in the zone that is smaller. You know, it’s not a Marvel appeal. It’s like, let’s make the movie for the people that love this group of people, that love this story, that love Star Trek. Let’s make it for them and then, if people want to come to the party, great”.

This could imply that costs could come down, although history doesn’t back them up. All the Star Trek films had a reasonably high budget ranging from 30 to 50 million dollars.

Reasons for ST to be Expensive

One of the questions Matt Shakman had to answer was about the costs involved in filming Star Trek 4. The director replied that all films involving spaceships, teleportation and outer space have a high price tag. This is due to equipment, special effects and other props to make a quality product.

Image via Paramout Pictures

On this, Shakman said, “I actually think that the way forward on a Star Trek movie is maybe to make one that’s like $30 to $50 million, that’s hard sci-fi, aimed right at the fans.” He then added, “On our day and age now, any time you go to space in a movie it’s expensive. When you’re flying around in the Enterprise, even if you’re going to land and be in one place for a long time, it’s still pretty expensive.”

Shakman stressed that the film could be a box-office hit despite its cost because f its top-notch cast, led by Chris Pine. The rest of the cast includes Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Zachary Quinto, John Cho, and Karl Urban. He also applauded JJ Abrams’ work in drawing audiences into the film.