As Star Trek 3 began production in Vancouver in Canada earlier this week, Paramount has signed two lead stars, Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, for a potential fourth instalment.
Pine and Quinto, who play Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock, respectively, have granted an option for Star Trek 4 as the studio renegotiated their deals, says the Hollywood Reporter .
Sources said Paramount and Skydance Entertainment “recently completed last-minute renegotiations [with Chris and Zachary], a move that has added as much as $10 million to $15 million to the budget.”
Pine, who earned $600,000 in 2009’s Star Trek , $1.5 million for Star Trek Into Darkness and $3 million for Star Trek 3 , reportedly scored $6 million for the fourth movie.
Paramount ultimately made some concessions to the original Star Trek actors including Pine, Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin and John Cho as the actors are getting more successful and more expensive.
The studio originally wanted to give nominal raises to the actors based on their 2007 contract, but their representatives argued that seven years had passed since then. Under California law, a personal services contract cannot bind someone for more than seven years. That meant the cast’s original deals were arguably invalid as of 2014. — PTI
