Star Trek 3 May Film In 2014, Zachary Quinto Says J.J. Abrams Still Wants To Direct

Clearly J.J. has more hours in the day than us.

By Rudie Obias | Updated

This article is more than 2 years old

SpockWhile Star Trek Into Darkness was only released in theaters two months ago, Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot Productions are already looking to capitalize on the film’s success with another sequel. Star Trek 3 would continue the story of the rebooted crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, as it would also hopefully honor the complete Star Trek universe for the franchise’s 50th anniversary in 2016. Although there is no director or writer officially attached to the project at this point, we know that the main cast, including Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, and John Cho, have been signed for a three-picture deal. And according to Lucien from BuzzHub, Star Trek 3 might go into production sooner than expected. Lucien writes:

I attended a public interview with Zachary Quinto at the Galway Film Festival in Ireland on Friday, and during it, he revealed that Paramount have told the Star Trek cast that they’re planning to shoot ST3 in 2014, and that J.J. still wants to direct! He also told the audience he does not want to be in Episode VII, but he would like to cameo in The Big Bang Theory!

Quinto said that Star Trek 3 should be “made a lot quicker than the last one,” but emphasized that nothing is confirmed or set in stone at this point.

Star Trek Into Darkness was released four years after the release of the first Star Trek reboot film, which released in 2009. If Star Trek 3 starts shooting in 2014, would the picture be completed by 2015 or 2016? Considering that J.J. Abrams will be very busy shooting Star Wars: Episode VII in London, England at the beginning of 2014, it seems very unlikely he could still man the director’s chair for Star Trek 3, even though Abrams has expressed interest in doing so.

Could Abrams shoot Star Wars: Episode VII and Star Trek 3 back-to-back in 2014? If this were the case, I would worry that both movies might suffer in quality from the process. It just seems like it would be too much for one man to handle in one year. Imagine if Star Wars: Episode VII and Star Trek 3 were to be released in the same year; one in the summer of 2015, while the other would be target Thanksgiving or Christmas 2015. Along with The Avengers 2, Prometheus 2, Terminator 5, and Avatar 2, that’s a lot of sci-fi goodness packed into one year!

In regards to The Big Bang Theory, Quinto’s interest in wanting to appear in an episode is a bit unsettling, but understandable. Love it or hate it, The Big Bang Theory is one of the most popular TV comedies on network television today, and many geek icons have appeared on the show, including Neil deGrasse Tyson, Stephen Hawking, Stan Lee, and Summer Glau. The Big Bang Theory has even hosted a few Star Trek alums, such as George Takei, LeVar Burton, Brent Spiner, and Sheldon’s mortal enemy, Wil Wheaton.

Star Trek Into Darkness will be released on Blu-ray/DVD on September 10.