'Star Trek 4' news: Chris Hemsworth to return?

Star Trek - Chris Hemsworth as George KirkParamount Pictures

"Star Trek Beyond," the third film in the rebooted film series now dubbed the "Kelvin Timeline," is set to launch this July 22. Despite the film still a few days away from release, a report from Collider confirms that the studios and executive producer J.J. Abrams, who also directed the first two films, may be working on ideas for the fourth film.

"Yes, and there's something that hopefully we're figuratively minutes away from talking about. The answer is 100 percent yes, and it's incredibly exciting," Abrams explained.

Following his statement, reporter Scott Mants revealed via Twitter that the studios intend to bring back Chris Hemsworth for the fourth film. This would require another time travelling plot line as Hemsworth's character, George Kirk, died during the opening sequence of the 2009 reboot film "Star Trek."

There are also possibilities that George may have somehow survived his crash against the enemy ship and may have been in hiding or suffering from amnesia throughout the past decades and may only regain his memories or family connections when James T. Kirk comes looking for him. Hemsworth has yet to respond to the possibility of returning.

In the original timeline, referred to by fans as the "Prime Timeline," George is alive and even gets to see his son James T. Kirk (played in the 1960s by William Shatner and now by Chris Pine) become the captain of the USS Enterprise. 

Bringing back Hemsworth may also fill in the gap by a few missing cast members if the fourth film is to be released soon. Actress Zoe Saldana may no longer be able to reprise her role as Uhura in the fourth film as she is currently locked into the "Guardians of the Galaxy" sequels and "Avatar" sequels and actor Anton Yelchin recently passed away in an accident.

"Star Trek Beyond" opens in theaters this July 22.