‘Star Trek 3’ director list narrows to five after Roberto Orci exit

Paramount Pictures, JJ Abrams and Skydance Productions have reportedly narrowed the list of directors to five. Fans are eager to learn who will replace Roberto Orci for Star Trek 3.

Roberto Orci (right, on the set of Star Trek Into Darkness) takes over in the director’s chair

“Studio is high on and has met with Rupert Wyatt, who helmed Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and the new remake The Gambler with Mark Wahlberg for Paramount. He seems to be atop this list, but he’s got company. Morten Tyldum, director of the Oscar bait film The Imitation Game, is on a list that also features Safe House helmer Daniel Espinosa, who has wrapped Child 44 with Tom Hardy; Justin Lin, the Fast & Furious helmer who became available when his Bourne Legacy sequel with Jeremy Renner got pushed back to make way for another Bourne Identity with Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass,” Deadline writes.

“… there is also Duncan Jones, the Source Code helmer,” they claim in their Dec. 15 article.

Orci exited the project earlier this month after being tapped to replace JJ Abrams, who left to reboot the Star Wars franchise. Orci remains a producer with Abrams and others, and Orci helped craft the first two Trek installments that Abrams directed.

Jonathan Frakes has been rumored to have shown interest in directing the film, but that seems unlikely.

Orci has claimed Star Trek 3 will be the beginning of the “five year mission” to boldly go…

“They have set off on their five-year mission. So their adventure is going to be in deep space,” Orci said. “In [Into Darkness] they set out finally where the original series started. The first two films – especially the 2009 [Star Trek] – was an origin story. It was about them coming together. So they weren’t the characters they were in the original series. They were growing into them and that continues on in the second movie. So in this movie they are closer than they are to the original series characters that you have ever seen. They have set off on their five-year mission. So their adventure is going to be in deep space.”

Star Trek 3 is pegged for a 2016 release, coinciding with the franchise’s 50th anniversary.

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