Chris Pine is in the dark about the future of the Star Trek franchise. During a Sundance interview at Variety Studio presented by Audible, the actor was asked about Paramount’s new leadership and what he has in store for the space series. The answer was simple. “You probably know more than me.”
As Variety reported last year, Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, the duo behind Pine’s Dungeons & Dragons: Honor of Thieves, are writing, producing and directing a new Star Trek movie aimed at revitalizing the franchise. The new film is not a sequel to J. J. Abrams’ reboot of the series, and Pine, who played Captain Kirk in three Star Trek movies from 2009 to 2016, will not appear.
When asked if he had any advice for Paramount’s new leadership regarding “Star Trek,” Pine replied, “Advice? Have fun, work hard, live long and prosper.”
Pine opened the 2026 Sundance Film Festival in the romantic drama “Carousel,” co-starring Jenny Slate and directed by Rachel Lambert. Pine stars in the film as a single father whose life is forever changed when his ex-girlfriend from high school comes back to life.
“A lot of male characters in movies and in life…men have a hard time articulating their emotions, and he struggles with that,” he said of his character, noting that Slate’s ex-girlfriend “allowed him to confront these feelings in the most troubling ways and get them out of his system.”
Slate added, “I was really excited about Rachel’s script for a lot of reasons, but I think the real opportunity is to fully embrace interiority. That’s what makes for good drama. I got into comedy because it was the easiest way to deal with my shadow, but not because I don’t have one. Now that I’m an adult as a performer, to confront that shadow head-on…I saw that opportunity in this script.”
