The two captain’s of this year’s Star Trek movie have been working even more deals at Paramount in recent days. The trades are reporting that Star Trek producer/director JJ Abrams has put yet another film into development, with a $2M script purchase. Plus, Chris Pine is now in talks to star in a new Paramount drama directed by DJ Carauso. Details below.
Another movie for JJ
It seems a week doesn’t go by that JJ Abrams production company Bad Robot doesn’t add a new project to its slate. Variety reports that Abrams, along with Star Trek exec producer Bryan Burk, will be co-producing an untitled feature for Paramount based on a script which they bought for $2M from writers Aline Brosh McKenna and Simon Kinberg. Variety notes that it is surprising for such a large purchase "at a time when most other studios have shut down development spending for the rest of the year." No details on the plot, but the pairing of the writers is surprising as McKenna is known for female-driven films like The Devil Wears Prada and 27 Dresses, while Kinberg does action movies like Mr. and Mrs. Smith and X-Men The Last Stand. Could JJ be trying to create some kind of alchemy of the perfect ‘chick flick’ that is also a summer action movie with explosions?
Variety also notes how Abrams company is becoming a big part of Paramount:
Bad Robot continues to develop into an increasingly important supplier of pictures for Paramount. Aside from the Roger Michell-directed "Morning Glory" — which stars Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton — Abrams, Burke and Tom Cruise are producing a fourth installment of "Mission: Impossible" that the studio hopes to put into production next year.
What about Star Trek 2011?
In addition to all of that, last week at the Paramount DVD/Blu-ray press event, Abrams said that he is currently writing a script for a film he hopes to direct "next year" and in May Abrams told TrekMovie that if he were to direct the next Star Trek movie, he would want to do something before it. Putting this all together, it seems less and less likely that there will be a Star Trek sequel directed by JJ Abrams in 2011, although no matter what, Abrams will be producing the next Trek movie. Not only is Abrams plate filling up, but Paramount is already slated to distribute four movies in the summer of 2011 (Thor, Captain America, Kung-Fu Panda 2, and Transformers 3). And the Variety article above also notes that Paramount is hoping to put Mission Impossible IV into production in 2010 (for a 2011 release). That script is currently being written, whereas the Star Trek sequel is still in the very early concept phase, without even a story being currently written. It is still possible for there to be a Star Trek movie in 2011 (although most likely with another director), but Holiday Season 2011 or Summer 2012 looks a bit more likely now.
Pine is ‘Making Money’
JJ Abrams isn’t the only one making deals at Paramount. Variety is also reporting that the new Captain Kirk, Chris Pine, is in negotiations to star in The Art of Making Money, a fact-based film to be directed by D.J. Caruso (Eagle Eye). Pine would play Art Williams, the alias for a Chicago man who rose from petty theft to become a master counterfeiter. The film is based on a 2005 Rolling Stone article, which became the book "The Art of Making Money: The Story of a Master Counterfeiter."
Pine is currently on the East Coast shooting Unstoppable with Denzel Washington for director Tony Scott. If he signs on, he would go into production on The Art of Making Money in early 2010. If Paramount wanted a summer release for the Star Trek sequel, they would have to go into production next summer. Although the actors all have options, the studio would still have to block out time for all of the actors and with so many actors returning for the second go around, they would likely want to do that far in advance to make sure they got everyone.
Let’s hope time is allowed to make it… I am already impatien for it!
Oh well, if they can’t do it by 2011 then that just means that they’ll have that much more time to give us an even better Trek film! Look forward to Pine and Abram’s new movies.
The principle filming of the first Star Trek movie didn’t take all that long. Also didn’t they already say that JJ was considering turning the director’s job to someone else? Anyways the digital effects could be approved by JJ wherever he is in the world these days with the internet.
Effects wouldn’t have to be approved if someone else directed.
Nicholas Meyer didn’t say to Robert Wise are you happy with the effects did he?
New director, entirely new possibilities think Star Trek 2, Superman 2, Die Hard 2,
#4: “New director, entirely new possibilities think Star Trek 2, Superman 2, Die Hard 2,”
And if we don’t get another horribly-timed writer’s strike, the director (whether Abrams or someone else) could have more fully-directorial powers to manhandle the screenplay.
4, even if Abrams doesn’t direct, he would still be producer, for that, there is no question.
Why doesn’t someone ask Nick Meyer if he would like to direct? And…wait a tick…let him write the script. He actually wrote a script in 12 days? Wow…give this man a cigar! And a directing job! I would, if I were calling the shots
And that’s why you aint calling the shots ‘Bob’.
LMAO. You’re right, makes too much sense. It’s Hollywood.
Abrams produces
Meyer directs (and has script input)
they could even put on the posters/trailers ‘From the director of The Wrath of Khan’
cmon give Meyer another shot
Theres no way Meyer could direct a $150 million dollar hollywood blockbuster of today and he would be the first to admit it.
How about Roger Guyett, he did the second unit stuff from Trek XI and perhaps he and Abrams have a good working relationship and might be able to make that work?
I am reminded of Empire Strikes Back and Lucas giving the reins to Irvin Kershner…… that worked out great in the end!
11. why?
I just hope there’s enough budget for the lens flare.
Quick correction: “Not only is Abrams plate filling up, but Paramount is already slated to distribute four movies in the summer of 2009 (Thor, Captain America, Kung-Fu Panda 2, and Transformers 3).”
That should read 2010, of course.
12–
“I am reminded of Empire Strikes Back and Lucas giving the reins to Irvin Kershner…… that worked out great in the end!”
This is true, however, not only was Kershner a better director than Lucas, but he had the amazing script from Lawrence Kasdan. Who does Abrams have? The Wondertwins, Orci & Kurtzman? No, thank you.
#15- Actually, that should read 2011. I think Michael Bay’d have a hissy fit if he had to put Transformers 3 out by next year.
#16- And what’s wrong with Orci and Kurtzman? And before you toss Transformers 2 at me as so-called “proof” of their failure as writers, let me say that Transformers and Star Trek are for totally different audiences. They knew this and wrote the movies accordingly. They caught flak for Trans2 and jumped the boat, allowing any blame to fall in Bay’s lap, where it belongs. The two did a wonderful job with Star Trek, and I can’t wait to see where the new voyage takes us.
Get Leonard Nimoy to Direct
@ 17… You know that wouldn’t be a bad idea. I’d try talks with Nick Meyer though. With the writting talents of K&O and the ability of JJ Abrams, Meyer could do a heck of a job in the director’s chair for the next film.
i can wait until 2012 if it means all the actors are able to come back and that we get the best possible Star Trek movie we can! :)
I say pull the release date back to summer of 2012. So what we have to wait another year. We had to wait seven years from Nemesis to Star Trek (11) to be made and the wait was well worth it. Even by then, if JJ does not still want to direct he will get somebody that knows what their doing to direct Star Trek 12. He will still produce and call majority of the big decisions anyways for the sequel. Plus George Lucas decided to produce than direct on Empire Strikes Back so he could have more time running his company Lucas Films just like JJ is doing now with Bad Robot. Plus the extra year can give more time for the two busy writers to finish a better script rather than to spit a bad quality one in a short time. Remember the rush job they had to do on the script on Transformers 2 because Paramount wanted the movie out so quickly. The film really was a bad film, even compared to the first one. How I see it the film is going to be out in 2012 anyways, there is too much on JJ’s plate already with movie deals and TV shows. I say wait. We want quality not quantity.
#15 – David Bowles – “That should read 2010, of course.”
Why? Abrams and company already have Paramount well steeped in time travel…
#13—-For one thing, he has a self-professed aversion to CGI effects.
Meyer last directed a Star Trek feature film in an entirely different era. I just don’t think it is a realistic option. The game has changed too much.
As for “script input”, I think there are enough horses at the trough with Orci, Kurtzman, and now with Lindelof in a more direct role in the writing process.
Meyer’s days with Star Trek are long gone….and that’s okay. They were good ones.
#17—-Nimoy has already stated that he wouldn’t know what to do behind the director’s chair anymore. Once again, it’s just too different now.
Asking Nimoy or Meyer to direct a Summer blockbuster Star Trek film now (or worse, in 2011-2012) would be like asking Mike Ditka to come in and coach an NFL football game this season. Too much has changed, and things have become much more intricate and complex. Neither of them (Meyer/Nimoy) has remained in that area of the business throughout their time away from directing Trek. The “mechanics” of it all have simply passed them by.
Beyond that, neither of them even directed a big budget film when they *were* in their heyday as directors…Asking Nimoy to come in and direct Star Trek after a 25-year absence from the director’s chair and with a budget the likes of which he has only seen from an actor’s point of view is something even he knows (and has admitted) is beyond his ability. And asking Meyer to do the same after a 20 year absence is almost as big a stretch.
I don’t know who will end up directing, but I’m sure it will be someone of Abrams’ choosing who has his trust and won’t be in over his head with a $150 million budget film in this day and age.
Personally, I’d like Abrams to go at it again without the hinderance of a writers’ strike. But I understand if he wants to move on to something else. He has thusfar only directed movie adaptations of old television series. One can hardly blame him for wanting to expand his range a bit.
I don’t want them to rush a thing.
#20 – Lucas didn’t direct “Empire” because he had such a terrible experience directing the first film. It wasn’t until “Episode I” that he decided to direct again (Fox was only distributing, the studio could not interfere as they did on the first film) and originally had intended others to direct Episodes II & III but had such a positive experience on “I” that he decided to do the rest.
#4 – Robert Wise had nothing to do with TWOK so of course he didn’t have to approve any visual effects. Meyer & Bennett did. For the new TREK film Abrams would still get approval even if he didn’t direct it because he would be a producer.
Ehh…
I never thought I would say this, but wait until JJ is free and push the film back. Switching directors at this point is too risky. JJ is a main factor in the first film’s success.
4:
david b
“New director, entirely new possibilities think Star Trek 2, Superman 2, Die Hard 2”
Superman 2 was directed primarily by Richard Donner, and shot simultaneously with Supes 1. Some now legendary conflicts with the producers, the details which I’ve forgotten, led to Richard Lester being called in to round it out with his own scenes, and then get full credit for it.
Another factor is the availability of ILM. It seems JJ is asked on a weekly basis about the next Trek, yet the writers have been “throwing ideas around” since the summer, and he has yet to move to the ‘next step.’ Also, other 2011 films already have directors and actors signed on which leads me to believe that the next film has yet to be penciled in anywhere on the calendar.
Has the film even been officially green-lit?
Don’t rush it.
I can wait til 2012.
Just as long as the DVD comes out before the end of the world… :-)
I’d be fine with another director, I mean as long as its a good director. I think it would be interesting to see Frakes take the chair again. I think in a lot of ways, considering the budget of the films and such, he did more as a director as JJ did, plus he knows Trek a good deal better. Id rather have it a 2011 release, but its not the end of the world if its 2012, just as long as they dont change the date around again.
Nick Meyer. STOP already!!!
And Nimoy commented in Toronto that the scope and technical challenges of film making today are WAY beyond his abilities.
JJ would probably get some associate of his to do it.
I suspect that Nicholas Meyer could probably do a good job. He knows ILM, and knows how to work with Blue-screen.
His aversion to CGI is probably due more to the fact that CGI was not quite there yet.
The problem is, if JJ isn’t directing, we need someone who knows how to draw on the visual style established for Star Trek, and adapt it.
Perhaps the real way to go is to find a talented relatively unknown director who knows how to use the latest tools to tell a story, and knows how to create a fast-paced movie.
Nick Meyer could probably do a great job, but of course, I think JJ should direct this one.
I’m a patient man, but it may be necessary to strike while the fire is still hot.
Wait too long, and people will need more of a re-introduction than a continuation for the next movie.
The next one could take a slightly more serious tone, have a little more interpersonal drama, and perhaps have a slightly more dangerous edge to it. And a little less lens flare, but keep enough to maintain a stylistic thread, since overall they worked.
All opinions of someone who knows nothing about filmmaking beyond DVD Commentaries and playing with 3D software in a very amateurish way :)
JJ will direct this movie…
even if he has to pick between this and Mission IV:
JJ– in addition to being a wonderfully gifted artist–
has always been a shrewed business man. And after the
release of the first movie, there have been WAAYYY too
many mentions of him being “the next Steven Spielberg”
for him to ignore.
Well, with ‘Star Trek’ grossing $258 million, the next one
is essentially guaranteed to make $300m with its momentum
alone. And if they make a motion picture for the ages (like
Dark Knight) the sky is the limit.
There are very few times a filmmaker can CHOOSE to make a
$300 million movie. Iron Man 2, Transformers…not too many.
I would argue that Indy 4 wasn’t even a sure thing. And even
Half Blood Prince was the first Harry Potter to make $300m’
since the first film. The next Trek is one of those instances.
Would JJ really deprive himself of this opportunity?
Especially when Mission Impossible III only made $133m? And
the top grossing Mission barely made $215m? I think he’s
going to fullfill his destiny as the next Spielberg.
@ 11
I don’t know if you have the new Sstar Trek DVD/Blu ray set, but on the TWOK commentary with Manny Coto and Nick Meyer, Mr. Meyer stated he wouldn’t mind directing a new Trek in the near future. Now as we all know, when Nicholas Meyer is in any way shape or form connected with a Trek movie, you can very well guarantee that its going to be a hit. Therefore, if you are reading this Roberto Orci or Alex Kurtzman, ask JJ weather he would consider Mr. Meyer to direct the next movie. Would be great to have Meyer at the helm one last time.
22 – Closet-trekker
I agree with you completely. While it may sound like a cool idea, neither Meyer or Nimoy are realistic choices. I wouldn’t mind seeing JJ direct the sequel at all…
And while some are asking Bob Orci to recommend various directors to JJ Abrams, has anyone ever thought of asking Bob Orci or Alex Kurtzman to direct the film? There is absolutely nothing to suggest they COULDN’T do it (unless they simply wouldn’t want to do it).
I don’t think you can say films like The Devil Wears Prada and 27 dresses are female driven.
Female exploitative maybe.
Screw it, let’s keep just over half of population in crappy genre loop of mindless girl hate.
rant over.
________________
To reiterate my two cents regarding the Trek sequel and the film makers wish to tackle relevent themes:
Portray a socially advanced society that turns a blind eye towards it’s belittling treatment of a majority of it’s population.
I hear female starfleet captains make less then male captains.
For reals though, i like the idea of the Federation getting a wake up call to their own hypocrisy.
What’s Jamers Cameron doing?
Oops, soory
Thats JAMES Cameron
The 2011 date wasn’t making any sense anyway given that a story hasn’t even been gotten together. 2011 would be a rush job. So I will continue to refer to the sequel as ST.2012.
Hey! And that’s just in time for the end of the world!
I always thought Summer, 2011 was pushing things a little too hard anyway, and with the recent news that Abrams & Co. haven’t even decided on a villain for the movie yet, my thoughts are that they aren’t remotely ready and shouldn’t rush out a script just to make the 2011 target. Go with Summer, 2012 and do it right. And run the story through an extra set of eyes before filming, to get rid of stupidity like Spock banishing Kirk to the conveniently nearby Delta Vega.
34. First time directors don’t get $200M budgets. If O/K wanted to do Trek2, I imagine they would start with a small feisty cool movie to prove their chops, like the Wachowskis and “Bound” (a rather incredible little thriller).
It’s not a far-fetched idea, that. They have the producing power to get it done, and they have hinted at wanting to be involved in a product that isn’t so overtly commercial and genre-driven.
I was thinking that Abrams fellow-traveller Matt Reeve would be a natural for the gig if JJ didn’t want to have to top himself. He’s practically in-house and wouldn’t need to put his auteur stamp on it.
Although, for a far-out choice, I’d love to see what Tarantino would do with this property, he’s such a pop-culture nerd, and now a terrific action director.
I’d also love to see what Kathryn Bigelow could do with $200M.
16-
“This is true, however, not only was Kershner a better director than Lucas…”
So…The eyes of Laura Mars and Robocop 2 are better films then American Graffiti and THX 1138?
Yea Empire is the best. But honestly, that’s his best work and it was created under Lucas who had his hand in every pie of production
New Paramount Film Deals For JJ Abrams & Chris Pine – Is There Still Time For Star Trek Sequel in 2011?
————
If they aren’t filming by March of 2010, then no. They’re dragging their feet and are going to do whatever they want.
I’d rather see it come out 2012. That way they can avoid rushing it in a sloppy way. Also, 2011 is just way, way too crowded right now, they should just hold off. What’s wrong with waiting another year? I think that 3 years between sequals is the perfect amount of time, two years is just too quick.
40 Yammer
Yes, I understand that first time directors don’t typically get a big-budget film out of the gate. It has happened, but it is certainly rare. However, I do think — considering the team surrounding Orci/Kurtzman — it is not totally outrageous. If JJ said one of these guys was going to direct the next film, I’d be supportive. As Kirk said, “We learn by doing.”
And, if the film comes out in 2012, in order to accomodate Abrams, I’d be supportive of that, as well.
Star Trek is in their hands, so we have to trust that their imaginations will unfold as they should…
I don’t like to think I’ve told people so (not here, but elsewhere) – but I had a pretty good feeling that this sort of thing would happen.
The cast just doesn’t have the devotion to the franchise to stick around.
If Pine (or any of the rest of the cast) has to chose between Star Trek or holding out 4-6 months wile the production crew are on other projects, I’m pretty certain that other projects will take precedence, especially if it is an opportunity to work with someone legendary or showcase something “new” or different (better chance of staying in the biz as a commodity). They have no long-term commitment to the franchise. The original crew stuck with it because it was their gravy train, these actors and actresses are potential hot commodities – and it only takes some offer of millions of dollars more before you run into a scheduling conflict that will seriously impede production.
Unless filming of #3 occurs at the same time as #2, expect them to recast characters or simply write them out of the film (kill them off like Cyclops in X-Men 3) because I doubt that the entire ensemble will stick around until a 2015 release of Star Trek “XIII”
I half-way joked earlier in the year that Star Trek would be rebooted again by 2019. I don’t doubt it now.
The best thing they can do is keep Spock around for the remaining films, and “fix” the time line in the third film (or allow Spock to pass back into the “Prime” universe to be reunited with his friends) and walk away from the franchise before they start having to explain why there’s a new actor for Kirk, Uhura, and Chekov or why Brett Ratner is directing #4.
@38
Excellent point – premiere the last Star Trek movie on December 21, 2012, at which point the Vulcan censors will finally say “enough is enough” and blast the world back to the 1960s where all was right with the world of Star Trek. At least that would be one of my friend’s dream scenarios….
I always thought 2011 was way too close, basically because all of the 2011 stuff is hip-deep in pre-production by this point with a lot more people attached to the project than just writers. (Okay, Captain America only has a director and writer, but that should shore up quickly). Also, Paramount has a full summer slate. I can maybe, MAYBE, see 2011 Christmas, but I doubt it. Summer 2012 will be good, because then it’ll dive up anticipation more. A new movie every 2 years gets a bit tiresome, but 3 years is a decent gap to get people’s blood boiling.
#45: “I half-way joked earlier in the year that Star Trek would be rebooted again by 2019. I don’t doubt it now.”
Amen. I hold to my earlier prediction that, if all goes well, we’ll have this crew (both in the “creative team” and “crew aboard the Enterprise” senses) for the obligatory trilogy, and then next time around it’s all new all over again.
I’d just rather they not rush things.
Summer 2011 is looking awful crowded – isn’t Spiderman 4 out as well? and isn’t there another Potter due then? what else??
2012 looks to be the best bet – be like the 1979-1982 gap then
Also be the 30th anniversary of Star Trek II