Eyebrows cranked higher than Mr. Spock's when Roberto Orci – intimately linked with the franchise through co-writing and producing J.J. Abrams’ first two Star Trek films – announced he was directing the third outing for the Starship Enterprise, despite zero helming experience. It’s less of a surprise to report that he’s no longer in the big chair.
No reason was given for his departure, but he will be staying on the film as a producer, especially since he’s been overseeing the script he’s co-written with J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay. Perhaps, as production crept towards him, he decided he simply wasn’t ready to go from no directing credits to a massive, technically complicated film in one step.
So who might take on the job now? Deadline has heard that Edgar Wright is among those on the shortlist to tackle the gig, and while he would be a fine – he and the current Trek films' Scotty have a bit of a history, after all, and he’s proved he can juggle effects and emotion – the **Ant-Man **experience may have made him wary. Can an Edgar Wright-style film fit in with the needs of an established blockbuster universe?
We’ll have to wait and see who eventually does take on the task, but with Paramount looking to have the film shooting next year ready for a 2016 release (to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the franchise as a whole), they’ll need to be in place soon.