Matt Shakman is no longer set to direct the long awaited fourth Star Trek film in the J. J. Abramsverse.

He is considering a return to the Marvel family and is in early talks to direct their upcoming Fantastic Four film.

Which will be the third version of Fantastic Four in modern cinema.

Critics and entertainment media heap a lot of praise on Shakman directed WandaVision but we were not impressed.

We're not sure if Shakman is responsible but we weren't encouraged by the announcement of him helming Star Trek 4.

Unbelievably, that film is still scheduled to release in cinemas in December 2023.

Paramount began the year boldly announcing filming would commence this year and that they would begin negotiations with cast.

Without speaking with any of those cast beforehand.

In the interim we've heard cast say that they won't sign a contract without first seeing a script and repeatedly we've heard that no script has been forthcoming.

Truly it's a film in development hell, but we wonder if it might be by design.

It isn't clear from Paramount's statement whether Shakman chose to or was asked to leave and his Fantastic Four talks are only in the early stage.

Matt Shakman is an incredibly talented filmmaker, and we regret the timing didn’t align for him to direct our upcoming Star Trek film.

Possibly Paramount are paralysed in a similar fashion to Lucasfilm with the next Star Wars film also stuck in limbo.

Having alienated a large proportion of their fanbase, proceeding with any film is a risky endeavour where failure is spelled out for all to see in box office performance.

[ Main Image: Fantastic Four 2005 - Poster. Credit: 20th Century via IMDb.com. ]

References

D'Alessandro, A & Kroll, J. (August 26, 2022). Matt Shakman Departing ‘Star Trek’ Following ‘Fantastic Four’ Directing Gig Talks. Deadline.