Well, that escalated quickly. Two weeks ago, Roberto Orci dropped out of directing STAR TREK 3 only to be replaced a few days ago by FAST AND FURIOUS 6 filmmaker Justin Lin. Now, it looks like Orci is dropping out of writing the film as well.
During an appearance on the TrekMovie message boards, Orci dropped the news that he will be producing STAR TREK 3 and nothing else. When asked if fans of the J.J. Abrams reboot should boycott the film now that Orci is no longer directly involved, Orci said this.
“I won’t lie, I don’t know yet, but the story we are talking about would be awesome, hang in there!”
We will often see directors and writers continue to put on a brave face even when the decisions don’t go their way, but it certainly sounds here like Roberto Orci is not very pleased with where STAR TREK 3 is headed. This could be a double-edged sword as some may be happy to see the original crew of Orci, Kurtzmann, and Abrams go away to welcome in a new creative team while others may feel the continuity of what the first two films made may be in jeopardy.
Orci also defended the rebooted franchise with these snarky comments.
“Stop blaming [Bad Robot],” says Orci. “It was my idea so that you would not know what was gonna happen next. Nothing more or less. I stand behind it. And it, again, is the reason why I make movies and you don’t.”
Whatever becomes of STAR TREK 3, we know the cast will remain intact from the first two films. Whether the plans to bring William Shatner into the new series is still happening with Orci gone is still unknown. STAR TREK has always shifted directors, like the Bond and Harry Potter series before it, but with varying levels of success. I just hope we don’t return to the myth that the odd numbered films were worse than the even-numbered ones.
STAR TREK 3 hits theaters on July 8, 2016.
