Chris Pine Tells Future ‘Star Trek’ Bosses to ‘Have Fun’ and ‘Good Luck’ With the Franchise: ‘Live Long and Prosper’

Chris Pine is in the dark about the future of the “Star Trek” franchise. During a Sundance interview at the Variety Studio presented by Audible, the actor was asked about Paramount’s new leadership and what they have in store for the space franchise. The answer was simple: “You probably know more than I do.”

As Variety reported last year, Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, the duo behind the Pine-starring “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” are writing, producing and directing a new “Star Trek” film that will seek to revitalize the franchise. The new film will not be a continuation of the J.J. Abrams-led reboot of the series and won’t feature Pine, who played Captain Kirk in three “Star Trek” movies between 2009 and 2016.

When asked if he had any advice for the new Paramount leadership in regards to “Star Trek,” Pine answered: “Advice? Have fun, good luck, live long and prosper.”

Pine opened the 2026 Sundance Film Festival with “Carousel,” a romance drama co-starring Jenny Slate and directed by Rachel Lambert. Pine stars in the film as a single father whose life is upended by the reemergence of his high school ex.

“Many a male character in film and in life… there is a difficulty for men to communicate feelings with clarity. He struggles with that,” Pine said about his character, noting how Slate’s ex-girlfriend “allows him in the messiest way to confront these feelings and purge them out of the system.”

Slate added of the film, “I was so excited by Rachel’s script for many reasons, but I think it’s a real opportunity when you get a full interiority. That makes for good drama. I started in comedy because it’s the easiest way to deal with my shadow, but not because I don’t have one. Now to sort of grow up into my adulthood as performer and to confront it straight on… I saw that opportunity in this script.”