With the hiring of J. J. Abrams to direct Lucasfilm/Disney’s Star Wars: Episode VII, the question as to what would happen to Paramount’s Star Trek franchise that Abrams revived for the studio has hung in the air, unanswered. Will the studio wait until Abrams finishes up his work in a galaxy far, far away or will the forge ahead with their own franchise and a new director?
Current rumors swirling all suggest that Paramount would like a new Trek movie in theaters in 2016, which would not be enough time for Abrams to finish Episode VII for 2015 and move over to Trek 3. And just about every reasonable guess for a possible new director for the film has been floated out there.
For example, Latino Review is reporting that G. I. Joe: Retaliation director Jon M. Chu is at the top of Paramount’s list of director’s under consideration to direct Star Trek 3. Chu’s G.I. Joe sequel has earned $371 million to date at the global box office, so it seems reasonable to guess that he might be on the studio’s short list of contenders for the job.
Of course, as always with these types of stories, a grain or five of salt is needed. The site reported a few months back that Attack The Block director Joe Cornish was being eyed by the studio as were possibly Justin Lin and Brad Bird. Latino Review further hedges their bet on Chu by saying that they got conflicting information from various sources. The thing is that these stories are usually hard to verify and when someone else is announced, it is easy to say, “Well, I guess the studio went in another direction.” Until we get an actual announcement I would suggest “Caveat emptor.”
