2016 may be a special year for trekkies as Paramount Pictures has confirmed the release date of Star Trek 3, which coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Gene Roddenberry-created film franchise.
While not much is known about the details of Star Trek 3 or who's returning as cast members, one thing is certain - J.J. Abrams won't be directing the upcoming Star Trek film.
According to the Inquisitr, Abrams needed to focus on a massive undertaking with the continuation of the Star Wars franchise under the supervision of Disney. Inquisitr also added that while George Lucas is still the film's consultant for Star Wars: Episode VII, he backed out as director and left Abrams to direct the upcoming movie.
Replacing Abrams in the director's chair will be Roberto Orci, who co-wrote and produced the earlier installments of the rebooted Star Trek movies. As Screen Rant puts it, "Since producer and screenwriter Roberto Orci was recently reported to be set as director for Star Trek 3, it was fairly safe to assume that the production would clash with previous director J.J. Abrams' commitment to the new Star Wars trilogy, and that therefore Paramount is planning to set things in motion for Star Trek 3 fairly soon. Sure enough, Paramount Pictures International SVP, EMEA Edward Ryan has now announced that Star Trek 3 is coming in 2016, along with several major releases."
In addition, Screenrant also said that while Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci both wrote and produced the last two Star Trek films, Kurtzman is taking a pass from writing, leaving Roberto Orci not only to direct, but to pen the script as well.
Meanwhile, Variety reported that during a podcast for Geoff Boucher's Humans From Earth, Roberto Orci said that he promises the latest installment of the franchise to stay true to its roots as it heads back to deep space.
Orci said, "In this movie, they are closer than they are to the original series characters that you have ever seen. They have set off on their five-year mission. So their adventure is going to be in deep space."
