10 years ago, JJ Abrams saved his best Star Trek movie for last

Star Trek Beyond, the last (and best) Star Trek movie produced by J.J. Abrams, premiered 10 years ago, and the remarkable cast led by Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto has been wasted ever since. Directed by Justin Lin and written by Simon Pegg and Doug Jung, Star Trek Beyond premiered on July 22, 2016, in the United States, and grossed over $343 million worldwide.

Director J.J. Abrams' Star Trek (2009) reboot stands as the top-grossing Star Trek movie at the domestic box office with $257 million. Although far less liked by American audiences, 2013's sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness, was huge internationally and topped its predecessor at the worldwide box office with $467 million to Star Trek (2009)'s $385 million.

Sadly, Star Trek Beyond marked a downturn at the box office. At $158 million domestic and $343 million worldwide, Star Trek Beyond was the lowest performer of the trilogy. Rotten Tomatoes tells a slightly different story, with Star Trek Beyond's 86% Fresh Rating below Star Trek (2009)'s 94% Fresh chart-topper.

However, Star Trek Beyond brings something vital that Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness lacked: a greater adherence to the spirit of Gene Roddenberry in Star Trek: The Original Series.

Star Trek Beyond Was The Closest J.J. Abrams Movie To The Original Star Trek

Star Trek Beyond came the closest of J.J. Abrams' trilogy to what a Star Trek movie is meant to be. Abrams' Star Trek (2009) succeeded in its mission to inject youth, propulsion, and visual splendor into the venerable franchise. J.J.'s 'mystery box' storytelling approach then backfired in Star Trek Into Darkness, which turned out to be an unwelcome remake of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

For Star Trek Beyond, writers Simon Pegg and Doug Jung genuflected to Star Trek: The Original Series' source material. In this third outing, Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) had, mercifully, matured from the hothead he was in the prior films. Pine's Kirk embodied more of William Shatner's courage, judgment, and love and respect for his Starship Enterprise crew.

While Star Trek Beyond still played by summer blockbuster action movie rules, there was greater character depth, with Spock (Zachary Quinto), Uhura (Zoe Saldana), and Scotty (Simon Pegg) shining, in particular. Star Trek Beyond also introduced a winning new alien heroine, Jaylah (Sofia Boutella), who seamlessly fit into Captain Kirk's crew.

Star Trek Beyond's adherence to Star Trek: Enterprise's canon, which predated the incident that created J.J. Abrams' alternate Kelvin Timeline, was the movie's most pleasant surprise. Idris Elba's mutated alien terror, Krall, was revealed to be a human Captain named Balthazar Edison, who was from Captain Jonathan Archer's (Scott Bakula) era.

With themes of friendship, reaffirming Kirk's dedication to his USS Enterprise crew, and "finding hope in the impossible,"Star Trek Beyond was the clearest and most uplifting embrace of Star Trek's noble soul in J.J. Abrams' trilogy. By the time the USS Enterprise-A launched at the end of Star Trek Beyond, anything truly seemed possible in the Kelvin Timeline's final frontier.

Paramount Wasted 10 Years By Not Making Star Trek 4

A full decade later, Paramount Pictures bafflingly never managed to produce Star Trek 4, squandering the USS Enterprise's dream cast led by Chris Pine. Star Trek Beyond's diminishing box office and expensive costs led Paramount to ice Star Trek movies, but the studio's polling found that audiences wanted to see J.J. Abrams' movie cast again.

Years of Star Trek 4 development hell then followed. Big-name directors like S.J. Clarkson, Matt Shakman, and even Quentin Tarantino took stabs at Star Trek 4 before walking away because of "creative differences." Abandoned Star Trek 4 concepts included Kirk teaming up with his dead father, played by Chris Hemsworth, to Tarantino's R-rated gangster remake of a classic Star Trek episode.

Despite Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana (now an Academy Award winner), Simon Pegg, and Sofia Boutella all publicly stating that they wanted to return for Star Trek 4, Paramount could not get the sequel off the ground. Paramount was then bought by Skydance Media in 2025, and the new studio heads scrapped Star Trek 4 entirely, ending J.J. Abrams' franchise for good.

Paramount Skydance announced a new Star Trek movie that will not be tied to previous Star Trek movies and TV series, but if it happens, it will still be years away from hitting theaters. Maddeningly, Star Trek lost an entire decade-plus and has voluntarily surrendered what the movie franchise's greatest asset was: the brilliant, note-perfect Star Trek cast J.J. Abrams assembled.

Chris Pine’s Star Trek Cast Not Reuniting Again Is A Crime

While fans had issues with J.J. Abrams' Star Trek trilogy, the cast always shined brightly. In 2009, Abrams disproved the long-held belief that Star Trek: The Original Series' iconic actors could not be recast. Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho, Simon Pegg, and Anton Yelchin vividly embodied the younger Kirk, Spock, Uhura, Bones, Sulu, Scotty, and Chekov.

Star Trek 4 would have taken Chris Pine's USS Enterprise cast to the next level. A decade later, they would not have been the 'young' Star Trek cast anymore. Presumably serving together since Star Trek Beyond, the USS Enterprise crew would have transitioned into experienced and fully capable Starfleet legends-to-be.

Chris Pine's Kirk not coming back for Star Trek 4 is especially disappointing. Pine portraying what was once his impulsive ladykiller, young Kirk in middle age, was an enticing prospect. William Shatner added new depth and endearing gravitas to his older Admiral Kirk in his Star Trek movies, and Pine not getting the chance to do the same is a profound loss.

Star Trek Beyond is now the only glimpse of what Chris Pine and his USS Enterprise crew could have become. Their innumerable voyages together will never be known. After the Kelvin Timeline's radical beginning, Star Trek Beyond was the payoff that gave fans the alternate reality Kirk and crew that they wanted all along.

Sadly, Star Trek Beyond is now, forever, yesterday's Enterprise.