Summary
- Chris Pine stars as Captain James T. Kirk in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek reboot movies, which revitalized the franchise after previous films failed to perform.
- The success of Abrams' Star Trek trilogy showed that iconic roles like Kirk and Spock could be successfully recast, inspiring new Star Trek series.
- Chris Pine's Star Trek movies can be streamed on Paramount+ and other services, and they are also available for rent on various platforms.
Chris Pine stars as Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek reboot movies produced by J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions, also known as the Kelvin Timeline movies. Abrams reinvigorated the Star Trek brand with his 2009 film about characters from Star Trek: The Original Series, after the fourth Star Trek: The Next Generation movie, Star Trek: Nemesis, failed to perform at the box office amidst dismal reviews from critics and fans alike.
In addition to Chris Pine's Kirk, Abrams' Star Trek movies cast Zachary Quinto as Mr. Spock, Zoe Saldaña as Lt. Nyota Uhura, Karl Urban as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, John Cho as Hikaru Sulu, Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov, and Leonard Nimoy as Ambassador Spock. The success of Abrams' Star Trek trilogy proved that the franchise could successfully recast iconic roles like Kirk and Spock, and Abrams' films inspired the cinema-quality visuals of Star Trek: Discovery and the new wave of Star Trek series on Paramount+ from 2017 into the present day.
How Many Chris Pine Star Trek Movies Are There?
There are three Star Trek movies starring Chris Pine. Star Trek (2009) is an introduction to the new cinematic series, as Pine's James Kirk and Zachary Quinto's Mr. Spock come together to save the day despite their fiercely clashing philosophies, with Leonard Nimoy's Ambassador Spock passing the proverbial torch to his younger self. Star Trek: Into Darkness sees Starfleet take extraordinary means to increase its defenses in the wake of the previous film's conflicts, with Benedict Cumberbatch as the villainous Khan Noonien Singh. In Star Trek: Beyond (2016), the Enterprise crew faces off against brand-new enemy Krall (Idris Elba), with help from newcomer Jaylah (Sofia Boutella).
Where To Watch Chris Pine’s Star Trek Movies
Chris Pine's Star Trek movies can be watched on limited streaming services and are also available to rent online. In North America, Great Britain, Europe, and Australia, all three Chris Pine Star Trek movies are available to stream for subscribers on Paramount+, and services that have a Paramount+ channel, like Apple TV+, Amazon Prime, Roku (US) and Binge (Australia). In the United States, Star Trek (2009) is also on Hulu, and Star Trek: Into Darkness is also on DIRECTV. Star Trek movies starring Chris Pine are available to rent on Apple TV, Google Play, YouTube, Amazon Prime, and Microsoft Movies, as well as region-specific video rental services like Sky and Rakuten in the UK and Cineplex Store in Canada.
Kelvin Timeline In Chris Pine's Star Trek Movies Explained
The timeline that Chris Pine's Star Trek movies take place in is known as the Kelvin Timeline, to differentiate it from the Prime Timeline that the Star Trek TV shows and all the films prior to 2009's reboot take place in. The Kelvin Timeline so named because of its inflection point, in which the USS Kelvin is destroyed by the time-traveling Romulan ship Narada. James Kirk's father, George (Chris Hemsworth), goes down with the Kelvin, so Chris Pine's Kirk never knows his father, and grows up to be a very different character from the James Kirk played by William Shatner in Star Trek: The Original Series.
In previous time travel stories in Star Trek, alternate realities are created when a point of divergence creates a new, branching timeline, but the Kelvin Timeline doesn't work that way. Instead, the Narada's appearance 150 years in the past creates a ripple effect that reverberates throughout the Kelvin Timeline, causing changes to both its past and its future. This means even events prior to the inflection point may be different from those in Star Trek: The Original Series, allowing for narrative changes such as Chris Pine's Kirk being born in space instead of Iowa, and an in-universe explanation of the updated production design not matching the 1960s aesthetic from TOS.
Will There Be Star Trek 4 Starring Chris Pine?
There's certainly interest in seeing Chris Pine's Captain Kirk back on the silver screen, but creative differences and scheduling conflicts have prevented Star Trek 4 from being realized. Between 2016 and 2020, three different scripts were written. Quentin Tarantino's gangster-inspired Star Trek film was a tonal departure that never took off. The father-son story between Pine's James Kirk and Chris Hemsworth's George Kirk was slashed after Star Trek: Beyond's disappointing box office figures. Noah Hawley's third version of Star Trek 4 left the Kelvin Timeline behind, projecting a new direction for the franchise, but was also shelved in 2020.
The success of new Star Trek TV series like Star Trek: Discovery reinvigorated audience interest as well as Paramount's faith in Star Trek. A new version of Star Trek 4 was announced at a Paramount investor event in February 2022, with several actors set to return, including Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Zoe Saldaña. With a release date set for June (later December) 2023, it looked like Star Trek 4 might finally be made, but director Matt Shakman's departure from the project in spring 2022 left Star Trek 4 adrift. As of October 2023, plans for a fourth Star Trek movie with Chris Pine remain nebulous at best, but there's still hope as the studio continues its search for a director.