Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth will longer be starring in Star Trek 4.

The two actors were in negotiations to star in the sequel but talks between the two actors and the companies making the new installment, Paramount Pictures and Skydance Media, have fallen apart, with both sides walking away from the table.

Deals for the other Trek veterans, including Zoe Saldana, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg and John Cho, are expected to close soon.

Pine was due to reprise his role as iconic sci-fi hero Captain Kirk, which he has inhabited for three movies, while Hemsworth was to have played his father in a time-traveling adventure. (Hemsworth played the role in the prologue in the 2009 movie that rebooted the franchise.)

The deal points came down to the usual suspect: money. Pine and Hemsworth, among Hollywood’s A-list when starring in DC or Marvel movies, are said to be asking the studios to stick to existing deals. Paramount, according to insiders, contends that Trek is not like a Marvel or Star Wars movie and is trying to hold the line on a budget.

The actors insist they have deals in place and that the studios are reneging on them, forcing them to take pay cuts as they try to budget a movie that is following a mediocre performer.

Pine, at least, has had a deal in place for several years. The actor, now a key player in the Wonder Woman franchise, signed up for a fourth movie when he made his deal for 2016’s Star Trek Beyond. Hemsworth has been attached to Trek 4 since Paramount, then run by the previous regime headed by Brad Grey, announced the fourth installment in 2016, although his exact status remains murky.

The studio, however, is backing its budget tough talk with past performance numbers. The last movie, Star Trek Beyond, grossed only $343 million worldwide on a budget of $190 million. In fact, one insider says the companies lost money on the movie.

The 2009 reboot that kicked off this run of movies, titled simply Star Trek, made $386 million while 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness, is the top earner of any Trek movie, with $467 million. Meanwhile, Marvel, DC, or Star Wars movies regularly gross north of $700 million if not hitting $1 billion. Not for lack of trying, the Trek movies seem to have a ceiling, especially globally.

It is unclear what the next step is for Trek 4. The project could recast Kirk and his father. Or perhaps the two sides could come back to the table.

Either way, Paramount and Skydance insiders say the movie remains a priority and is not being put on hold. J.J. Abrams and Lindsey Weber are producing for Bad Robot. S. J. Clarkson (Jessica Jones, Succession) will be the first female director to sit in the captain’s chair.

Are you hoping Paramount renegotiates with Pine and Hemsworth? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter