Lin was on the shortlist for the gig with Rupert Wyatt ("Rise of the Planet of the Apes"), Morten Tyldum ("The Imitation Game"), and Daniel Espinosa ("Safe House"). Wyatt was reportedly at the top of the list but Lin was the only one actually offered the job.
Orci co-wrote and produced J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek" '09 and "Star Trek Into Darkness" with longtime partner Alex Kurtzman and is still involved.
Abrams commitments to the Star Wars: Episode VII kept him from coming back. Other names like "Attack the Block" filmmaker Joe Cornish and G.I. Joe: Retaliation" director Jon M. Chu were in the mix to call action--before Orci got the gig. Jonathan Frakes, best known to Trekkers as Commander Riker in Star Trek: The Next Generation, indicated he wanted to sit in the director's chair but knew it was a long shot...Edgar Wright was mentioned as well.
"Thor" and "X-Men: First Class" writers and "Fringe" producers Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz were eyed to script the sequel but opted not to do it.
Now J.D. Payne, Patrick McKay and Orci were co-writing the next film. Orci confirmed the first draft of the screenplay was completed and will be closer in tone to the original 1960s show than the previous two films.
Badass Digest reports that the studio is gonna go in a new direction with the next film, albeit one that still retains the "Star Wars" style of storytelling. The report suggests that one reason that Orci is no longer sitting in the center seat is because the studio wanted to go with a different tone and style - something more like this year's biggest domestic box-office film "Guardians of the Galaxy".
Sure original Trek has done light-hearted stories before with eps like I, Mudd, The Trouble with Tribbles, A Piece of the Action and the feature film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, but why on earth would the suits want to replicate GotG at all? The last 2 films-as successful as they were--get knocked for being too much like "Wars" Why alienate those critics/fans further? I liked the last 2 films a lot but I understand the "too much Star Wars and not enough Trek" mantra and think that those folks have a point. Now it's gonna be "too much like GotG"...Hmmm. Lin is a very capable director...
Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin and John Cho are all expected to return to the Final Frontier in their respective roles as Kirk Spock Uhura Dr. McCoy Scotty Chekov and Sulu.
What started as rumors are now all but confirmed that Star Trek-TOS star William Shatner is returning to the franchise in Trek 3. Shatner has admitted that one of the challenges of getting him into the rebooted timeline is that Kirk Prime died in 1994's Star Trek: Generations.
Shatner was originally in the script for a cameo in the '09 film but the notion was nixed. According to reports, a sequence in the Trek 3 script reunites Shatner and Leonard Nimoy as Kirk and Spock for their first canon appearance together since 1991's "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country". Kirk Prime's appearance is said to be 'plot-driven' rather than some throwaway cameo which means it will likely stay in the script despite any rewrites.
Abrams Bryan Burke Orci and David Ellison will produce the film
The sequel is seemingly still going to move forward quickly so that it can make a July 8, 2016 bow for Paramount--coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the "Star Trek" franchise. Filming on the next "Star Trek" hopes to begin in the Spring with pre-production aiming to start in very early 2015.
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