Orci Responds To Star Trek 3 Rumors and Speculation

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Ever since news broke last week that Roberto Orci would no longer be directing the next Star Trek film, there has been a great deal of confusion, speculation, and misinformation regarding Orci’s continuing role as well as the future of the feature film franchise. We don’t profess to have all the facts here, but we’re going to try and provide some clarity, using Orci’s comments here at TrekMovie, and elsewhere on Twitter.

Orci tweets about Paramount status

This week has had a whirlwind of reports and speculation about the next Star Trek feature. Last night, Roberto Orci (who has dropped out as director but is still a producer on the film) took to twitter to quash at least one of the rumors with the following tweet:

Orci responds: No Time-travel, still involved in film

Earlier in the week Orci has also responded to some specific reporting coming from Badass Digest. Not long after the news broke about the status of the next Star Trek movie, Badass Digest’s Devin Faraci posted a story which claimed that the plot of the next Star Trek film involved time travel. Upon seeing this, Orci responded:

boborci – December 6, 2014

no time travel was ever considered, fyi

Based on Orci’s response, whatever plot device they are/were planning to use to put Chris Pine and William Shatner on the screen together will not involve any kind of time travel.

Faraci (via his Twitter account) also claims that Orci has lost creative control of the film, and is essentially a figurehead:

Orci responded directly to this addressed the question of his involvement both here and on Twitter with two comments:

boborci – December 6, 2014

I will be very involved:)

boborci – December 6, 2014

185. not at all. still excited to make Trek 3! And on time. We’ll find the right director!

— Roberto Orci (@realboborci) December 8, 2014

And earlier today Orci again debunked a report from Badass in a response to a question here at TrekMovie.

56 Jack – December 11, 2014

…Faraci says you fought against Cornish/Wright. True?

boborci – December 12, 2014

56. Not true! I didn’t fight against anybody!
 

Orci: Abrams will not be helming

There has also been speculation that JJ Abrams will drop his huge Star Wars commitments and coming riding to Star Trek’s rescue. This seems like an incredible long shot, a notion echoed by Orci when the subject came up:

boborci – December 7, 2014

499 I am so escited to see what JJ does FOR THE NEXT YEAR with Star Wars in post production.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens only recently began post-production in earnest, and since the film is due for release almost exactly a year from now, it’s very likely Abrams and his colleagues will be finessing the film until the last possible second, which would preclude JJ from directing a film that is (as far as we know) intended for a Summer 2016 release.

Orci talks of ‘bigger chairs’

The next bit of speculation is derived from Orci himself, who responded to a post here on TrekMovie with a cryptic answer that can be interpreted several ways:

428. OneBuckFilms – December 7, 2014@boborci,

You seem to have forgotten Kirk’s advice to Picard: “Don’t let them do ANYTHING to take you out of that chairs. Because while you’re there, you can make a difference.”

I hope you can still be heavily involved from the Admiral’s office, and I hope you get a great director, who can take us where no man has gone before.

444. Boborci – December 7, 2014

428. Have not forgotten. On the contrary, factored into decision. Their are bigger chairs to consider😜

“Bigger chairs to consider” means what? Becoming the new creative head of the entire franchise, ala Rick Berman? Launching a new television show? In television, producers wield all the power, not the directors. Perhaps the grass is greener on the small screen after all…

So far that is all that there is, on the record. TrekMovie is contacting sources and hopes to bring more details on the status of the next film soon so stay tuned.

 

 

 

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It seems kind of a stretch to interpret the chair comment as meaning there will be a new TV series, but I don’t care. When does the new show come out?

Orci is legally bound to be a positive source of comments on the film — contracts contain a non-disparagement clause preventing him from crapping on production, the supervisory or corporate suits, his peers, or anyone else involved with the project. That’s pretty standard legal stuff.

He could be feeling like taking a shotgun into the office over whatever’s truly going on behind the scenes at TREK 3 and still be required to be the super cheerful fountain of joy you’re quoting above.

2. Ha. True.

Star Trek teleplays belong on television. I want to believe a return to television – with Kirk, Spock, McCoy – underlies all the speculation.

It would be more informative if we hear from other sources, not just the damage control messages from Orci.

@2. Kevin

Yep

who can believe anything orci says

Just gives me a press release frm Paramount announncing a new director and I am all good.

I’m a little concerned that Robert Orci, a writer of several movies and television episodes, has repeatedly used the word “their” when in ever case it should have been “there.” One instance can be attributed to a typo. When it’s done in every case, it means he doesn’t know the difference.

The very problem is that we are still having this somewhat childish decisions and discussion while other franchises are prospering beyond expectations.

I’ve said it before: I’m glad Orci won’t direct, not because I don’t like him, but because I feel that a newbie to the director’s chair is too high a risk given the significance of this 50th anniversary project. On the other hand, not having a movie in 2016 at all would be MUCH MORE damaging to the franchise, given the incredible success of Skyfall for 007 and the hype created by the Doctor Who special… Trek deserves AT LEAST that kind of attention, if not a lot more!

But these “speculations” about not producing Trek 3 at all are simply vomit-inducing to say the least. It cannot be pointed out often enough how incredibly successful the two reboots were from a financial point of view, at least by Trek’s recent standards! Paramount might have expected more from STID, but that notion is simply outrageous. Trek has never been that sort of tentpole blockbuster stuff… NEVER, not even in the early 80s… It’s never been like Star Wars, Middle-earth or Marvel. It’s simply sensational how well the two reboots managed to attract general audiences. Not pursuing a Trek 3 would be madness, especially given the 50th anniversary…

Honestly, I’m tired of having about 50 genre TV shows and 100 genre movies a year without any significant movement for the Trek franchise! I AM interested in other stuff, but Trek comes first, and it’s simply outrageous to have 10+ comic book shows on TV, annual Star Wars movies and 4-6 CBMs a year and still no future for Trek!

Everything seems to be working: Greek mythology, fairy tales, horror reboots / prequels, CBMs, teen angst dark future… even mid-range productions find their audiences…

In SciFi, we had Avatar, Guardians of the Galaxy, and incredible line-up of Star Wars movies, two very successful Trek reboots… and still no space-based TV show, still no annual Trek movies, or at least every other year… still stalling, stalling, stalling… This doesn’t compute!

@ 10. smike – December 12, 2014

“Paramount might have expected more from STID, but that notion is simply outrageous.”

Not to the bean counters in Paramount!

===============================

Paramount also will look to save money on another Star Trek — a franchise, but not quite in the top tier. This summer’s $190 million production Star Trek Into Darkness has earned over $462 million worldwide; its international haul has exceeded expectations at $234 million, but domestically, its $228.5 million hasn’t matched the first film.

Whereas the first two were shot in L.A., the next will be filmed in a more tax-friendly location. “We’re making it for what it should have been shot for last time if we had made it outside of L.A., which we would have done except that [director J.J. Abrams] didn’t want to,” says a studio source. “That was a $20 million issue.” (Abrams, busy with Star Wars, is unavailable for the third Trek.)

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/summer-box-office-bombs-studios-619389
===============================

“and still no space-based TV show”

A new space miniseries called “Ascension” will premiere on December 15 on Syfy

http://www.syfy.com/videos/Ascension/vid:2822469

@9. Mike Williams,
“One instance can be attributed to a typo. When it’s done in every case, it means he doesn’t know the difference.”

Or it says he’s a busy guy typing his responses on an iPhone with autocorrect which in my experience seems to prefer “their” over “there”, and posts quickly without proofing, as he has numerous times. Rarely does he correct substantial mistakes unless they are detrimental to the intended meaning. I’m sure he knows the difference.

So, Bob, I take it that this means a promotion of sorts is in the works? Getting flag rank braid on your cuffs? Hmmmm?

Hmmmm……………

I think the “bigger chairs” comment means that if Orci didn’t want to be a team player and step aside for a new director, that he would simply be removed by the “bigger chairs” from any position where he could “make a difference.” In other words, he had two choices: (1) stay on but cede creative control to the new director, or (2) have no involvement with the project.

It’s undeniable that Orci was in S. Korea talking to the mayor about filming there, and in Vancouver as well. Why would he do that if he (1) hadn’t been hired as director, (2) the proposed movie had no budget, and (3) the proposed movie hadn’t even been green-lighted? The rationale offered by Para Mobius is that Orci and BR were doing all this to try and generate fan enthusiasm and momentum for their vision of the movie with Orci as director, to try to pressure Paramount to greenlight it and hire Orci.

Whatever the reason, it makes perfect sense that Paramount would not have appreciated BR and Orci promulgating these news stories about filming locations when Paramount hadn’t even agreed to finance the movie. And that being the case, the “big chairs” at Paramount rejecting Orci as director makes a lot more sense than Paramount rewarding Orci for misleading the public as to the status of the proposed movie.

It says: “Take you of the BRIDGE of that ship,” not chairs.

Also, as has been mentioned by several people in the other Orci thread, his comment that “Paramount cares about Trek!” says absolutely nothing. It was a non-answer to Bill Peters’ question, which in line with what Kevin says in #2.

It has been interesting to see Orci turn on the flattery from time to time. He suddenly started making very flattering comments about Paramount people a couple of months ago, how they’re so wonderful and gave him (and Alex) total freedom to write ST09 and STID, and they offer great ideas. I’m wondering if that was around the time that trouble started brewing between him and Paramount, and he was on a charm offensive. Para Mobius reported on Oct. 30 that Orci was out, but I don’t remember exactly when Orci made those flattering comments about Paramount—comments which, as I recall, were not related to any question put to Orci by anyone here. He just decided one day to talk about how great Paramount had been to work with. Maybe it’s nothing. Just curious….

Bob, someday when you can,
I hope that you clarify the “bigger chairs” comment for us.
Someday.

whoever they pick better not be that nemesis guy stuart bird lol the range should be bryan singer/frakes/spielberg/nolan

if you need a creative consultant or a coffee lackey give me holler boborci lol

#12 – The difference between “there” and “their”. I have noticed that these two words are constantly being used incorrectly by lots of different people. Perhaps what you say about the autocorrect preference might be part of why I see so many mistakes.

The other common mistake comes with the misuse of the apostrophe and that is even more prevalent. There seems to be complete confusion, even among the more educated professionals.

What I get from these tweets and comments is that Bob Orci has stepped down as the movie’s director, but he will have a substantial role to play, just as he did with the last two films. Just *business* as usual. Whether he was told to step down or decided for himself is not that important. Frankly, I suspect it was a mutual decision reached by all parties involved in the movie making process.

There is nothing to suggest (apart from the unsubstantiated rumours, and VERY negatively biased ones at that) that the story as written by the three writers, Orci, Payne and McKay, will not be filmed. Perhaps it may have some aspects tweaked, but that is a normal part of the film making process.

I did think that perhaps JJ Abrams may be able to direct this next Star Trek, but obviously he still has a lot more work to do on the Star Wars film, however he has always said that he will be available as producer and adviser on the next Star Trek. After all, this is a Bad Robot production and Bad Robot is his “baby”.

Nothing has changed, other than the urgent need to find a more experienced and suitable director.

Paramount and co. were great in their openness to give a rookie a chance to see if he was up to the task and Orci no doubt gave it his best shot. I do not think that either Paramount/Bad Robot or Orci have anything to be ashamed about – quite the contrary.

Jonathan Frakes, being clearly available and willing, does seem like a good choice. Time will tell…

I doubt that pre-production has shut down altogether. It was in soft-prep mode and it is the director who puts everything into full swing partly because he is given the budget proper to do all that needs doing. It is delayed, but hopefully not for too long.

20.
I agree .
And wr dont have rock solid proof that Paramount three out the script either.
Wr shall see.

I hate Hollywood. Just make the damned movie. Look at the leaked crapola about Angelina Jolie, Sony, and Cleopatra.

BTW — What’s with the hair, boborci? You look like you’re auditioning for American Hustle II.

its obvious to me that a new series will air the same week that the movie comes out and they need Mr Orci for that, so that the movie continues after the movie is gone from the big screen, so a new crew will feature in the film with small screen pay.
LolL why not?

If Shatner is in the movie and if he plays James T. Kirk, there are only very few ways to give him a proper amount of screen time without some kind of time travel being involved. I kind of doubt the current Star Trek writing staff is creative enough to come up with something else. And the possible plot the Badass site revealed just sounds like something they would come up with.

And just because Orci denied time travel and the whole Badass article, doesn’t mean it isn’t true. He lied before. This is what he said about STID in 2012:

https://trekmovie.com/2012/05/10/orci-star-trek-sequel-is-not-remake/

“No remakes. No rehashes.”

Roberto, You suck at Star Trek. Go play with J.J. and make horrible meaningless films. Leave Star Trek to Rick Berman and Brandon Braga. You just do not get it. I will be writing to Paramount very soon about why they should remove you entirely from the project. Good Day.

The negativity here from Star Trek “fans” towards Bob Orci and the rest of the creative team that brought the series back from irrelevance is unbelievable.

Not time travel, but the Nexus.

I’m just speculating but maybe Shatner said no to the script so they had to scrap it because it didn’t work without his involvement. That is probably not the case at all but could have had something to do with the story. It’s anyone’s guess at this point what happened.

@ 26

Using the Nexus would still involve time travel for the old Kirk character. He would get from the future to the past with it. Just because it wasn’t via the Guardian of Forever or a slingshot manoeuvre with a starship or some temporal anomaly in space or thanks to Q, it is still time travel. Just like it was time travel for the old Spock who got to the past via a black hole.

@18. somethoughts,
“the range should be bryan singer/frakes/spielberg/nolan”

I really don’t get how anyone can put Frakes in the same league as those other directors. I really don’t.

If they chose Frakes (and they won’t), I would be as dissapointed as if they had given it to Orci.

“TrekMovie is contacting sources and hopes to bring more details on the status of the next film soon so stay tuned.”

Well, hopefully you guys will publish whatever you hear this time around, rather than ignoring it.

28

I don’t agree. The Nexus is basically whre we “left Kirk.” Makes sense that Shatner and Pine meet there.

I speculate that it will be Nimoy’s Spock who mind melds with Pine in an attempt to make a return to his true timellne through the Nexus.

The only question is how Nimoy would still play a pivitol rule in the continuing nuTrek storyline.

Boborci should just adopt the merged word, “theiy’re”. It’s multi-purpose.
.
And incursions from alternate universes aren’t time travel.

Orci has a big head. He ruined ST II with his Khan ripoff.

Nexus???? Beahahahahaha!!!!! Never in a million years.

No offense to whoever wrote this article by where is there nothing mentioned about the other side of the story like the Para Mobius leaks as well as the other sources supporting these leaks? Aren’t news articles supposed to be written objectively instead of just from one source? There’s already a bunch of speculative articles plus Orci has lied before, so why isn’t the other side of the story mentioned? I am starting to think that people are definitely sucking up to Orci. Again no offense to anyone but just some constructive criticism.

34 the news article is titled “Orci responds” not “Para Mobius talks BS”

There are always Multi-verses where Prime Kirk could still exist if someone from the future returned sometime in the past ! Each time is a reboot from that point.Kirk would still be prime Kirk and could still be alive.But I see some sort of Time travel or universe jump only makes sense for Pine / Shatner hook up! Even if the Nexus can transcend alternate realities why would the Nexus cause Kirk to age? EGADS!

@35- Orci is a known liar, and the leaks have many different sources backing them up. I think it’s messed up that these articles seem to be a bit biased just cause Orci posts here.

33. You got it an incursion!

@35. Dalek

I suppose that you don’t believe TrekCore as well

“TrekCore has heard rumors for some time that the Trek 3 pre-production machine has been having some issues, with reports that the film’s art department was put on hiatus in late October”

http://trekcore.com/blog/2014/12/rumor-alert-roberto-orci-out-as-trek-3-director/

And TM11 is correct, an article like this one should include the other side of the story, not just one side.

37 – Where is the proof that he’s a known liar. If its to do with the content of his movies before the movie is released, that’s just misdirection from spoiling the film! When has he lied about the actual facts of the production process I’d like to see quotes.

Para Mobius kind of embelished the Orci not directing with multiple commentaries that have yet to be backed up or proven.

36 – If Orci’s rules of time travel are that any time a traveller changes the time line the change exists in another universe, Kirk Prime never died because in that timeline the Enterprise D was destroyed by the shockwave from the star exploding and Picard failed. Similarly if Soran is stopped BEFORE Picard originally entered the Nexus there is still a Kirk in there that never came out because Picard didn’t need to go get him.

39 – I’m not talking about him stepping down as Director. I brought up the other ridiculous claims from Para Mobius in the other thread.

“The negativity here from Star Trek “fans” towards Bob Orci and the rest of the creative team that brought the series back from irrelevance is unbelievable.’

The state of movie fandom saddens me. All people talk about is what they want. I’ve said this on a SW blog and I’ll say it here, we used to go online to celebrate, analyze, and critique the things we love. Now all people do is gobble up morsels of information and regurgitate hatred. I see blogs and forums spend months, years, DECADES describing at length the things they expect of the film their “owed” and spew vitriol when we’re given something outside the box of what we wanted.

More and more studios churn out movies explicitly designed to please fans in the most bland, unimaginative blockbusters. We were lucky to have such a good filmmaker as JJ in the first place. Tons of people hate on him for “what he did to Trek” but JJ does what JJ does. Paramount hired him to turn Trek into an action adventure spectacle that would bring in mainstream audiences in order to turn any kind of profit on this wildly expensive movies.

Star Trek is in such an awkward position compared to all other franchises. The concept is best on TV. The CBS/Paramount split should widely be regarded as the worst thing to ever happen to Star Trek.

Look at what Paramount has done with Transformers, Ninja Turtles, G.I. Joe, I could go on. They don’t care about quality and they hardly care about pleasing fans since they believe they’ll come no matter what (and most will). I worry Trek 3 will be Paramount doubling-down on action and steering even further away from what many on this site call “real science fiction”. Think about it. Bob is the ultimate ST geek. I bet his script was too “Treky” and Paramount got cold feet.

…meanwhile, in an ‘alternate’ universe somewhere…

Trek’s 50th Annivesary year will be celebrated with a kick ass movie which somehow re-unites Elderly Kirk and Elderly Spock together onscreen one last time…

…the Director’s Cut of Star Trek The Motion Picture gets a HD remastering on Blu-ray…

…a classic TOS ‘Lego’ game takes it’s rightful place on the shelves for the kids amongst the numerous other popular franchise versions…

…the old Star Trek Animated series gets an up-to-date makeover using the original master audio recordings…

…a widescreen version of the Star Trek Remastered shows are given an additional effects makeover…

…and a new weekly Trek show is announced to begin before the year ends…

In the meantime, we are where we are. *sigh*

Helpful to see some of this aggregated in one spot – thanks Brian.

1) Devin Faraci is a hack and always has been. The guy has a poor track record, accuracy-wise, and is a very weak writer with little understanding of journalism–he’s basically the offspring that Rich Johnston and Harry Knowles would produce if they ever had a kid. Why anyone ever gives credence to anything he reports is beyond me.

2) While I do wish Orci was still directing the film, I have to admit that seeing him say “me and the rest of the producers have to figure that out” makes me cringe. That’s HORRIBLE grammar. Isn’t he supposed to be a pro writer? There’s no excuse for his using a construction like that.

3) Same goes for “Their are bigger chairs to consider.” Come on, Bob. Take some pride in your writing, man. When you write for a living, presentation is everything.

It might not be too late for a kick ass 50th anniversary Trek film.
Fingers crossed.

One reason I like Bob is because he interacts with other fans! Bob is a Trek fan and he was the only one that admitted he was from day one.JJ is a good producer and director but he said he was more of a Star Wars and Twilight Zone fan. He didn’t make the movies for Trek fans but Fans of movies! I think Bob did a good job keeping true and relevant. All the Trek movies had plot holes,mistakes and even changed Picards ethics to suit a plot( First Contact and Insurrection) but enjoyed every one.
Star Trek 09 I loved and STID was still entertaining regardless of KAAAAHN! I also love Hawaii Five-O!
Thanks Bob Orci!

The more I hear about this story the more I fear that Faraci was right on – that Orci, for all the good he could do, is gone. At this stage this could be the last Bad Robot Trek outting. As money creating as these movies have been, a 50th anniversary blowout of a film could be the way to retire the franchise altogether.

Paramount has already said absolute ZERO on the possibility of a TV series (meaning they have said a firm NO, including from Bad Robot). With JJ doing Star Wars post production, he’s not available for Trek 3. With Orci’s script possibly deep-six’d, and the man himself staying overly (and by that I mean he is overdoing to the point he’s giving it all away) positive about (sadly) being fired, Faraci’s comments are making much more sense.

I love Trek. This might be our last outting though, outside of fan films…