Roberto Orci Talks Star Trek 3 Now That He Is No Longer Directing
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There’s been a lot of talk about Star Trek 3 lately, especially with Roberto Orci leaving the director’s chair on the third installment of the rebooted franchise. We’ve also heard rumors that the plot of the film may have involved time travel, or at least some kind of time travel device. 15 months after going dark on the internet, Orci briefly reappeared to shed some light on his exit, his continued involvement in the Trek series, and those reports about the story.
Back in September of 2013, Orci went onto the forums at TrekMovie and got into it with some fans over disparaging comments about Star Trek Into Darkness. He apologized, but shortly thereafter deleted his Twitter account and hasn’t been seen much, or at all, online since. However, that changed the other day when he hit up the same website to respond to some questions about his leaving.
There was no reason given for the departure, and we’re still not sure if it was his choice or the decision of the studio. It would have been his first ever directorial effort in any capacity, so you can understand if the Paramount executives were nervous handing the reins over to a relative newcomer, especially after the last film didn’t perform so well.
Orci did, however, confirm that he will still be “very involved” with the film, that he is “still excited to make Trek 3,” and that will “find the right director.” That definitely seems to indicate that he wasn’t the right choice for the job, and many fans will agree on that point. There were also rumblings of Edgar Wright possibly being in the running to take the helm, which is an exciting prospect. But he was also recently mentioned as a candidate to direct Ready Player One, so we don’t know how much credence to give these reports.
Other reports made the rounds saying that the script Orci was working from saw the Enterprise, a new alien race, and the Vulcans all competing to find a time travel device. The latter group wants to go back and stop Nero from destroying their home planet, and the whole scenario could lead to another rumored moment, where Chris Pine and William Shatner’s respective Captain Kirk’s might share the screen. All in all, this sounds like a soft reboot, which, three movies into an already rebooted run, seems a wee bit soon.
Orci chimed in on this topic as well, saying, “No time travel was ever considered, fyi.” While that seems straightforward and clear, you have to remember that he was part of the regime that straight up lied about the identity of Khan in STID, so you have to take this with a grain of salt.
None of this is Earth-shattering, but it does shed a bit more light on the situation. Star Trek 3 could begin filming as early as February 2015, with an eye on a summer 2016 release to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the franchise. If that’s still the case, we’ll probably find out who is going to direct before too long. Hopefully it’s someone worth getting excited over.
