The project had been in trouble for a while
'Star Trek 4' was going to have the first female director in the franchise's history in S.J. Clarkson. However Clarkson, who is best-known for her TV credits, having helmed episodes of 'Dexter', 'Bates Motel', 'Orange is the New Black', 'Jessica Jones', and 'Marvel’s The Defenders', is now set to helm the 'Game of Thrones' prequel series instead.
According to Deadline, she was available to direct the series because the 'Star Trek' project was shelved.
The fourth instalment of the reboot movie series has been in trouble for a while now. Last August, it was reported that Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth had bowed out of the project. Their reason was doing so was, as it almost always is, money. Paramount was reportedly trying to force the actors to take pay cuts, despite already having signed deals in place. Talks ultimately fell through.
The rest of the crew - including Karl Urban as Bones, Zachary Quinto as Spock, Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Simon Pegg as Scotty and John Cho as Sulu - were all set to return. Clarkson was to helm a script from uncredited 'Star Trek: Beyond' writers J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay.
Trekkies will just have to find consolation in the TV products of the franchise, such as 'Star Trek: Discovery' (season 2 is coming to Netflix this month) and the series based on Patrick Stewart's legendary Picard which is coming later this year.