UPDATE: Variety is now confirming that Roberto Orci will direct STAR TREK 3. Orci is currently writing the script with J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay. No plot details are known at this time and no release date has been set.
With J.J. Abrams moving from STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS to STAR WARS: EPISODE VII, rumors have been swirling as to who would helm the already in development STAR TREK 3. ATTACK THE BLOCK director Joe Cornish was in talks for a while and the latest rumor had screenwriter Roberto Orci as a candidate. Now, sources are saying that Orci is not only the frontrunner but that he is in talks to helm the third voyage of the rebooted starship Enterprise.
This would mark Roberto Orci‘s big screen directorial debut. Alex Kurtzman, Orci’s writing and producing partner until just recently, helmed the drama PEOPLE LIKE US back in 2012, but Orci has remained content to write and produce. Bringing in a rookie director to a project as big as STAR TREK 3 may seem like a risk, but Orci is not a special effects artist or production designer like we have seen cause trouble on movies like MALEFICENT and 47 RONIN. Orci, while sometimes bashed by fans, knows enough of the ins and outs of big budget movie-making that he can rely on his friends and co-workers to guide him through the process.
Deadline states that Skydance and Bad Robot have been in Orci’s corner but that Paramount has been who has needed convincing that the project could be handled by the writer. STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS grossed less domestically in comparison to the 2009 reboot but almost $100 million better in global box office. STAR TREK 3 has no release date but expectations are it could hit theaters for the original series’ 50th anniversary in 2016.