Chis Pine seems just as frustrated as fans are about when he will be back as Captain James T. Kirk. Talking to MTV at this week’s Cinemcon (where he was promoting Wonder Woman), Pine was asked if he had seen a script or knew anything about the latest status on the previously announced follow-up to Star Trek Beyond. Just like the last time this came up, Pine is still in the dark, although there is an added sense of a growing frustration. Here is what he told MTV:

I am literally one of the last people to find out. Costume designers find out before me. Prop people find out before me. I can’t wait to make the film. I love everyone in the film. Know that. I love the world. I will be back as many times as they ask me. I love the tall man they call Thor. I’ll do this film. If you can talk to [Star Trek producer] J.J. [Abrams] for me. Let him tell me. I’d like to find out so I can plan my life.

Here is the full MTV interview with Pine at Cinemacon.

Logistics Are No Joke

While Pine didn’t provide any news on progress, the fact that he hasn’t heard anything yet is noteworthy; eight months after announcing the movie, the star remains in the dark. The comment about planning his life is actually important for in-demand actors who have to book their schedules well in advance. As we recently reported, Pine’s co-star Zoe Saldana looks like she’s going to be booked up through next year with Avatar sequels.

And then there is the issue of securing a director, something producer J.J. Abrams would need to lock down before getting a greenlight. Beyond director Justin Lin has seemed non-committal on the question of returning for another Trek, and even if he were interested he too has a very busy schedule, recently adding a Netflix film to his growing list of attached projects for the next couple of years.

Pine’s mention of “the tall man they call Thor” is, of course, actor Chris Hemsworth, who played George Kirk (Jim’s dad) in the 2009 Star Trek movie. The Thor actor, who is also very much in-demand, was mentioned in Paramount’s Star Trek announcement last summer, and as recently as January was talking about J.J. Abrams’ “amazing pitch” for his return to the Trek franchise.

For his part, the last we heard from Abrams was last summer during Comic-Con, when he hyped plans for his fourth Trek with :

So one of the reasons that I’m hoping [Star Trek Beyond] does well is so that we can, without question, get that movie made. It really is an amazing story. It’s really the reason we made the deal with Chris Hemsworth as soon as we could because we really wanted that story to be told, so fingers crossed.

Earlier this week Paramount Pictures finally found a new CEO, but Jim Gianopulos actually doesn’t start until Monday. So it looks like we, along with Abrams and Pine, will have some time to wait before the new boss decides what to do next with the Trek film franchise.

Pine explains his new lack of hair (twice)



It was hard to miss Pine’s shaved head at Cinemacon. Now compare that to Pine’s look just a week ago, when he was flying with the USAF Thunderbirds. You might think the new look is for a part, but the actor told E! News that he was home with the flu and “bored,” watching the Showtime series Homeland, and got “inspired” to shave his head.

But don’t carve that in stone. On Saturday afternoon, CBS aired a promo for the NCAA Final Four featuring Pine, where he said he shaved his head over the sheer excitement over the basketball tournament:

For glory. For redemption.

The Final Four has gone west. pic.twitter.com/nc30BYXnWx — March Madness TV (@MarchMadnessTV) April 1, 2017

Pine does Lecter

In other Pine news, he will be appearing in the upcoming season the TBS police parody show Angie Tribeca. There is a new trailer featuring Pine–with a full head of hair–doing his take on Hannibal Lecter. Check him out as he channels Anthony Hopkins:

Keep up with all the news on the next Star Trek movie at TrekMovie.com.