The announcement follows the news that there will be a fourth film in the Star Trek reboot, which was revealed earlier this week.

A sadness lingers with the news, as it does with the release of new film Star Trek Beyond this week, due to the untimely death of one of the stars of the film, Anton Yelchin.

The 27 year old actor died last month in a freak car accident.

Yelchin’s friends, family and co-workers have expressed their grief at his loss – most recently Zoe Saldana paid tribute to the actor on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

JJ Abrams, the film’s producer, has stated that Yelchin’s character, Pavel Chekov, will not be recast in the franchise out of respect for the young thespian.

Speaking to the Toronto Sun, Abrams said: ‘I would say there’s no replacing him. There’s no recasting. I can’t possibly imagine that, and I think Anton deserves better.’

When asked if the death of the character would be written into the next instalment, Abrams answered: ‘I have thought about it, we’re working on it, and it’s too early to talk about it.’