It’s been nearly two weeks since it was made official that J.J. Abrams would be directing the first movie in a new ‘Star Wars’ trilogy for Disney and Lucasfilm. Since then everyone has been weighing in on social media and wondering if the director will still honor his obligations to other franchises like his newly targeted ‘Portal’ and ‘Half-Life’ films, ‘Mission: Impossible’, and, of course, ‘Star Trek’, just to name a few. Chris Pine, the captain of the Starship Enterprise himself, threw his two cents into the conversation not too long ago, and now a few more crewmembers weigh in on their leader’s new endeavors with the “rival” franchise.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly (via Comic Book Movie), Zachary Quinto and ‘Star Trek’ co-writer Roberto Orci share their thoughts on Abrams directing the ‘Episode VII’. First, Orci expresses that he’s happy that his colleague is pursuing a life-long dream of his:
“For J.J., this is achieving a childhood dream. ‘Star Wars’ is what got him in the business. So watching him go to his Super Bowl like this? It’s genuinely joyful for me. [But] as a guy who is in love with ‘Star Trek’ and in love with this version of it? It puts a scared lump in my throat. It’s like hearing one of the band members is going to do a solo album. I know ‘Star Wars’ is going to be better for it, and I suspect ‘Star Trek’ will be fine with the rest of us still here.”
Quinto speaks on the possibility of Abrams stepping back from the director’s chair for the sequel to ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’:
“I don’t think anybody feels like he’s going. We feel like he’s growing. J.J. surrounds himself with talented people, and if the day is coming where he has to hand off the director’s chair to someone, then we will all embrace that person and trust that [the new director is] the next best choice. We’re excited that is being so bold and so declarative about what he wants to do and sees ways to bring his talent to a classic franchise — like ‘Star Trek’ four years ago — that can use a fresh injection of new perspective. And we all benefit as moviegoers. And he’ll be around. He’ll still produce our movie even if he doesn’t direct it. And maybe there’s some version of this where [an upcoming Trek film] fits in [to the release calendar] in a way where he can come back around as director for us as well.”
It good to hear that the whole ‘Star Trek’ crew is being very supportive of J.J. Abrams and his opportunity to pursue this passion project. Are you as supportive as Spock, Kirk, and the rest? Share your thoughts about J.J. Abrams directing ‘Star Wars: Episode VII’ in the comments below!
