"There are bigger chairs to consider", says Roberto Orci, as he clarifies his involvement in the next Star Trek film.
At the end of last week, a news story broke that suggested Roberto Orci was no longer in the frame to replace JJ Abrams as the director of the nextStar Trek movie. Orci, a man with no directorial credits to his name, had reportedly been lobbying for the job, and Paramount was inching towards giving him the keys to its $150-200m blockbuster.
That story at the end of last week though has proven to be true: Orci is no longer in line to direct the next Star Trek adventure.
Furthermore, he's taken to the comments field of the excellent Trek Movie site. There, he's clarified that he does remain active on the project. Orci has co-written the screenplay and is a producer on the newStar Trek films. And as he wrote at Trek Movie, "I will be very involved :-)"
He also commented on the rumour that was doing the rounds, which was arguing that the film was going to be based around a time travel mechanic. Bluntly: it isn't. "No time travel was ever considered, fyi," he noted.
Scrolling down the comments further though, and there's an interesting exchange. 'OneBuckFilms' wrote that "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."
Orci's response? "Have not forgotten. On the contrary, factored into decision. Their [sic] are bigger chairs to consider."
It's easy to read too much into such comments, but it does seem to suggest that Orci may have walked away from directing Star Trek for a bigger directing job? Which would be a little odd. Maybe a new television series, or maybe he's got other sizeable projects he needs to juggle? It may be a while before we find out.
There's still no formal news on who will be directing the next Star Trek movie, which is apparently still on course to land in 2016. As we find out more, we'll let you know.
As always, change the headline on this piece to say Star Trek 13 if you prefer.
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