After splitting with his long-time writing partner Alex Kurtzman in early 2014, it was announced that Roberto Orci would make his directorial debut with ‘Star Trek 3’, the sequel to ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ that he penned with J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay. However, the successor to J.J. Abrams’ director’s chair was dethroned last week when rumors were confirmed that Orci would no longer helm the upcoming ‘Star Trek’ feature film aiming for a 2016 release in time for the franchise’s 50th anniversary. While no details were mentioned at the time of the news breaking, a new report has emerged that might shine some light on the situation.
According to Badass Digest’s Devin Faraci, the script had a big part to play in the decision to relieve Orci of his directing duties. His sources even say that Paramount pulled the plug on production last month in order to work on the “direction of the screenplay.” Here’s the description of the story that he shares:
“My sources tell me that the script Orci was working on saw the Enterprise, the Vulcans and a new alien race competing to get a time travel device. The Vulcans want to go back and stop the destruction of their planet, and the time travel schtick is what would allow Chris Pine and William Shatner to share the screen.”
Obviously the studio was not happy with this version of the story, so word currently is that they dumped the script entirely. Who knows if Orci, Payne, and McKay are even the ones working on the script at this point, but it’s definitely certain that a new director should be named soon to join in the creative conversation so as to have everyone on the same page.
As this story develops, we’ll be sure to keep you updated, but until then, what do you think about the whole situation? Are you disappointed to see Roberto Orci go? Does this plot sound like something that you’d want to see in ‘Star Trek 3’? Or are you firmly behind Paramount’s decision to let it all go? Let us know in the comments below.
