Years before the TV side of the Star Trek franchise was revitalized on CBS All Access-turned-Paramount+ with shows like Discovery, Picard and Lower Decks, moviegoers were watching the crew of the USS Enterprise in the Kelvin timeline on the big screen. Roberto Orci co-wrote the first Star Trek reboot movie with Alex Kurtzman, and following that flick’s successful run, the two men paired up again for Star Trek Into Darkness. However, Orci now finds himself in the news not because he’s working on the frequently-delayed Star Trek 4, but because he’s filed a restraining order claiming that his wife burned him with “scalding hot soup.”

As detailed in legal documents that The Blast acquired, Roberto Orci filed for divorce from his wife, Adele Heather Taylor, and has asked the court to file a restraining order against her domestic violence. Orci claims that Taylor has been abusing him for years, and her allegedly burning him with soup was the most example of this. According to Orci, the two of them were arguing on December 22, 2022, with Taylor threatening to divorce him and “clean” him out, as well as insulting him in various ways. Orci says he tried not to engage with her and instead went into the kitchen and heated up a bowl of soup.

After the soup was heated, and while Adele Heather Taylor was still yelling at him, Roberto Orci started walking up the stairs, and she allegedly “pushed the bowl of scalding hot soup” into his face. Orci says he was able to block the bowl with his hand, but this led to him sustaining second-degree burns on his arm from the hot soup contents, and upon him reacting to the pain, Taylor allegedly snapped back at him to “shut up” and that he would be “fine.”Along with delivering this account, Orci also shared photos of his burnt arm.

Other incidents of alleged domestic abuse that Roberto Orci recounts in these legal documents include Adele Heather Taylor strangling him while they were in a hotel room in Las Vegas (he says the police arrested her for domestic battery), her pushing him down a flight of stairs last November, her punching him in the face three times while he was driving after he’d stopped her from getting into a fight earlier in the night and macing him in the face back in 2019. Orci also mentioned a time when Taylor allegedly hit their bedroom door with a baseball bat after he refused to engage her in an argument. Returning to the present day, Orci cites “irreconcilable differences” for why he’s separating from his wife, and he’s asking that a judge order Taylor to stay away from him.

Roberto Orci and Adele Heather Taylor will now have to argue their sides through their legal teams, after which a judge will rule whether or not a restraining order will be filed. It’s also worth mentioning that Orci acknowledged that he didn’t cooperate with police when Taylor was allegedly arrested, so no charges were filed against her. Should there be any major updates in this legal saga, we’ll pass them along.

Like the majority of Star Trek movies and TV shows, if you’re wanting to watch Roberto Orci’s work in 2009’s Star Trek and 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness, you’ll need to have a Paramount+ subscription. Orci was also involved with 2016’s Star Trek Beyond as a producer, but there’s been no word about him being involved with Star Trek 4, which lost director Matt Shakman last August.

Go, go, Power Rangers… movie! The announcement of a new live-action movie around our favorite group of morphing teenagers with attitude sent all of the franchise’s diehard fans (including this reporter) into a frenzy. Not much has been revealed about the film, other than it promises to be a re-envisioning of the characters, but it’s set for release on July 22, 2016. While no director or cast has been announced, the film is still on track to kick everything off this year.

The latest Power Rangers development comes from a mainstay of the franchise: Jason David Frank. Known for playing the original Green (and then White and Red) Ranger, he’s constantly involved with Power Rangers-themed events. More importantly, he’s in constant contact with Lionsgate and Saban Entertainment, which are releasing the upcoming movie. During an interview with ComicBook.com, Frank said:

We reached out to Lionsgate for clarification on his statement, and they confirmed that the release date for the film is still the same. Though they didn't confirm Frank's statement, it seems as though he's referring to the production start time instead of an earlier release date. However, we’re glad to hear that everything is still on track despite a few upsets. Roberto Orci, who’s been on the Star Trek production team with J.J. Abrams and was thought to direct Star Trek 3 for a while, was put on Power Rangers as an executive producer. He eventually dropped out, as his work on Star Trek took precedent over anything going on in the Ranger-verse. It still has X-Men: First Class co-writers Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz on board, and those two turned out one of the best X-Men movies.

Furthermore, Orci promised back in the day that, after reading through the entire story treatment, they wouldn’t ruin the Power Rangers franchise. There’s too many fans who watched it when they were kids and don’t want to see their childhood heroes ruined. Everyone involved certainly recognizes this, and Orci had even said that the film will have some continuity with the original series. Of course, he couldn’t say anything more.

No one has been officially announced as the director or in the cast yet, so if Lionsgate is planning on getting this work up and running, they’ve gotta step up their game. Frank, though, is rumored to be involved in some capacity. As he continued saying to ComicBook.com, the studio feels "there's no movie, at least, without [him.]"

Today’s groan-inducing moment: Roberto Orci has been trolling around fansite comments sections again. This time, he was firing back at fans who expressed displeasure with the plot idea to reset the timeline for Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise.

Orci said this deep in the comments section of an article on TrekMovie.com, claiming:

While Orci originally jumped into the no-man’s-land of the internet to clear up misconceptions on his role in Star Trek 3 -- there have been rumors swirling that he would be a co-writer for the film, but Orci is only slated to produce the film -- he continued engaging with fans in the comments section, proving that Roberto Orci is a glutton for fan punishment. Fans are quite concerned over the direction of the third installation in the new Star Trek franchise, from Orci’s timeline reset idea to the film’s new director, Fast and Furious director, Justin Lin. So I have to say, it was a pretty interesting choice on Orci’s part to jump into the comments section and essentially tell fans to stop whining.

The release of Star Trek 3 is set to be in conjunction with the franchise’s 50th anniversary. With such a big date coming for the Trek universe, it makes sense for fans to express concern when they feel like their beloved franchise is running off the rails. If you’re thinking Orci’s super mature, incredibly professional parting line of "this is the reason I make movies and you don’t" sounds familiar, that would be because this isn’t Orci’s first time jumping into the comments section to lash out at fans. This also isn’t his first example of him virtually sticking his tongue out at fans telling Trekkies he gets to make movies and they don’t. In September of 2013, Trek Movie decided to run an article titled "Star Trek Is Broken--Here Are Ideas How To Fix It." Orci read the article and decided to join the discussion in the comments section, lashing out at fans for daring to not love the second Star Trek film, and then tossing his now signature line at them, "There is a reason why I get to write movies, and you don’t."

Okay, I get it. You’re putting your blood, sweat, and tears into these films. It is annoying to work so hard on something and simply have fans tell you it sucks, the idea is stupid, or the franchise as a whole is broken. It has to be even more frustrating that on top of the Into Darkness criticism, Roberto Orci is already hearing from unhappy fans on a film that hasn’t even hit theaters yet. However, there is a problem when a fan-directed Orci temper tantrum becomes such an expected and commonplace occurrence. Fans complain, they point out the problems with their favorite franchises, and they challenge those franchises to do better. While I’m sure that can be a tough thing to constantly deal with, there has to be a better way for Orci to blow off steam than to be a troll in the comments section, right?

Hopefully Roberto Orci will calm down soon. Now that the film has officially selected on a director, the studio has felt comfortable setting a release date for the film. While we still don’t have a title apart from Star Trek 3, the film will hit theaters on July 8, 2016.

As James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy box office numbers began to soar when the film was released this past summer, the big studios began to notice something: audiences really like big, sci-fi space adventures. The Marvel Studios was as much a comedy with oddball characters as it was a big space-set action adventure, and its success has already been having a big impact on the industry. For example, it's reportedly at the center of what's causing all of the drama behind the scenes of Star Trek 3.

In a write-up about the shortlist of directors that are currently being looked at to replace Roberto Orci at the helm of the 2016 blockbuster, Badass Digest has revealed insider information regarding what was at the center of the disagreement between the filmmaker and Paramount Pictures, and the answer is Guardians of the Galaxy. According to the site, Paramount wants Star Trek 3 to be made with the same kind of sensibilities as the Marvel Studios blockbuster, and because they felt that Orci didn't share their vision, they "basically forced [him] to quit." There aren't many details beyond that, outside of the mention that the pre-production team working on the movie was completely surprised when reports came down that Orci was no longer going to be at the helm of the project.

While the goal of making Star Trek 3 into something more like Guardians of the Galaxy is certainly a lofty one, as history has shown us it's not always easy to create a perfect blend of comedy, drama and action, but the big thing gnawing here is the scary idea of sci-fi homogenization. There are few genres out there that can really expand the limits of creativity and imagination, and if Hollywood's output all just starts to feeling the same then we will lose something important. I'm not saying that the Star Trek franchise shouldn't take a few pointers from what Guardians of the Galaxy did right, but at the same time there is a very real value in Star Trek being Star Trek, bringing its own voice to the pop culture table (a voice that's been a part of pop culture for nearly half a century).

While Roberto Orci is out of the director's chair on Star Trek 3, Rupert Wyatt (The Gambler), Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game), Daniel Espinosa (Safe House), Justin Lin (Fast & Furious 6), and Duncan Jones (Source Code) are reportedly now the top candidates to replace him, and there's a good chance one of them will be announced as having the job soon. After all, the production really wants to have a release date lined up with the 50th anniversary of Star Trek in 2016, and in order to do that filming has to start next year - and they can't do that without someone at the helm.

It was announced last week that Roberto Orci was officially stepping away from his role as director of Star Trek 3. Understandably, rumors were swirling over Orci’s departure, leaving fans wondering how much--if any--involvement he would have in the production of Star Trek 3. Orci has finally broken his silence and spoke to a Star Trek fan site about his departure, what his role will be in the film, and if there was any bad blood surrounding his departure.

As Slash Film reports, Orci told TrekMovie.com that he still plans to be very involved in the making of the third film, and that he is incredibly excited to be a part of the team bringing the film to the big screen. His announcement to still be a part of the Star Trek 3 team lines up with the news Deadline has widely reported, stating that Orci will stay on board as producer instead of director. Roberto Orci also told fans at TrekMovie.com that there is no plans to change the film’s production schedule. Given that the team at Paramount had planned Star Trek 3’s release to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, I’m sure they aren’t terribly keen to mess around with the film’s release date.

Still, the question remains why did Orci give up the director’s chair? During his impromptu Q&A with fans at TrekMovie, a fan quoted the one and only Captain James T. Kirk to Orci, saying, "Don’t let them do ANYTHING to take you out of that chair [sic]. Because while you’re there, you can make a difference." Orci responded to the fan by saying, "Have not forgotten. On the contrary, factored into the decision. There are bigger chairs to consider." Orci’s comments almost make it seem like his ultimate goal was to obtain the role of producer, or at least that Orci feels he can best serve the film as producer.

Another interesting development from Orci’s comments on TrekMovie centered around the plot of Star Trek 3. Rumors had circulated that Star Trek 3 would center around the Vulcans traveling through time to stop the destruction of their home planet, which would allow Chris Pine to get a chance to be onscreen with William Shatner, just as Zachary Quinto shared the screen with Leonard Nimoy in the 2009 Star Trek and Into Darkness. However, Orci shot that down the plot rumors right away, saying "No time travel was ever considered, fyi." Shatner has been widely rumored to have a cameo in the third Star Trek, so it’s now incredibly unclear what role he’ll play in the upcoming film--if a Shatner cameo is even happening, at all.

Right now it is heavily rumored that Edgar Wright is on the short list of directors being considered to take up the director’s chair for Star Trek 3, but no official announcements have been made, and no official comments on the names residing on the shortlist have come out. Of course I can’t help but get excited over the thought of Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg getting the opportunity to work together again. Maybe we can make Star Trek a fourth Cornetto film??? Okay, maybe not…

Barring any schedule changes, Star Trek 3 will be heading to theaters in 2016.

The ever-evolving tale of William Shatner’s possible return for the third film in the rebooted Star Trek series has taken another strange turn – with Shatner now confirming that he has been in contact with the production.

Trek Movie has the latest twist in the tale worthy of being an M. Night Shyamalan production, with video footage of Shatner himself addressing the topic at the Nashville Comic Con. The actor broached the subject of Star Trek 3 when asked if he had any interest in playing Kirk again. In his response, the actor told a funny story about how Abrams approached him for the first Star Trek reboot, showing him a dummy script that Shatner says "stunk." As we all know, Shatner’s appearance in the first film didn’t pan out, but then the actor then revealed that Abrams recently called again, and said:

Shatner says he’d be interested in Star Trek 3 if the part is "meaningful", which presumably rules out a simple cameo, but added he’d be "delighted" to do it. Abrams apparently swore Shatner to secrecy about it, hence his Twitter denial – which he seems to only be breaking now because the cat is pretty much out of the bag at this point.

The hitch here remains whether or not director Bob Orci and his team can concoct a way to bring both Kirk and Spock – Shatner believes they’re a package deal – back in the new film. Orci apparently has an idea, but will it be meaningful enough to get Shatner back into his tunic? The actor isn’t sure, adding that he has no idea how they’d bring Kirk back all these years later. But he’s obviously interested.

So, what does this mean in the grand scheme of things? It appears that Orci and Abrams have ideas about bringing both Nimoy and Shatner back for the new Star Trek, but it’s not a done deal yet. It’s too soon to really guess which way things will go, but if I were a betting man, I’d guess that Shatner is going to be in Star Trek 3.

We’ll keep you up to date as more details emerge in this constantly-evolving drama.

Head over to page 2 to watch the video of William Shatner talking about Star Trek 3 at Nashville Comic-Con!

Cold water time, Star Trek fans. I’m sorry to have to do this to you, after teasing the possibility for days. But William Shatner just responded, publically, to the rumors that there is a cameo waiting for him in the still-developing Star Trek 3 (or whatever Paramount decides to call it), and the news is less-than-earth-shattering.

"Rhetoric to cause hype," eh? Touche, Captain Kirk.

OK, so William Shatner shares on Twitter the fact that no one has contacted him about a possible cameo – or supporting role – in the next Star Trek movie. That, however, is relatively understandable. While we understand that the sequel is on its way, with a 2016 release date in the studio’s sights, there hasn’t been enough movement on the Star Trek front to guarantee that Shatner’s telephone would need to be ringing. That hasn’t stopped tongues from wagging, forcing Shatner to take drastic measures (from a social media standpoint):

Here’s what has triggered this furious speculation. Star Trek screenwriter/producer Roberto Orci is expected to step behind the camera for the first time when Trek comes back to theaters, allegedly in 2016. It has been rumored that there is a substantial role for William Shatner’s beloved Captain Kirk, one that it plot-driven and somewhat crucial to the narrative in play. The rebooted Star Trek movies have gone out of their way to pay homage to the original series (and the subsequent movies), making room for Leonard Nimoy’s "Spock Prime" not once, but twice; shaping a sequel around Khan; and attempting to get Shatner in 2009’s Star Trek (before J.J. Abrams cut the scene).

Another reason why Star Trek fans believe that it’s a perfect opportunity to get William Shatner involved is because the franchise celebrates a 50th anniversary in 2016, and a sequel reaching theaters that year has the potential to bring real closure to Captain Kirk’s journey, while also freeing the new cast from the obligations of the past, opening them up to completely new voyages for the future.

Wishful thinking? Kismit? The planets aligning? We don’t know yet. We’re holding out hope that William Shatner can be part of Roberto Orci’s Star Trek 3, and have even come up with great reasons why his participation makes sense. But for now, no one has called the legendary Star Trek actor. Let’s change that, and soon.

With actor Zachary Quinto recently revealing that Star Trek 3 could begin filming in the next six months, and screenwriter (and presumed director…) Roberto Orci reporting that the first draft of the script is done, it’s time to do what the Internet does best. Wait, don’t start surfing for porn. It’s time to do what the Internet does second best – speculate on things we have no way of possibly knowing!

Orci and co-screenwriters Patrick McKay and John D. Payne seem unlikely to spill the beans about what the story of the rebooted franchise’s third entry will be (all we know so far is that Orci says this film will bring the characters ever closer to their original television counterparts and will take place in deep space with a focus on exploration), but that hasn’t stopped me from looking back through all 79 episodes of the original Star Trek to find stories that would be a fantastic inspiration for a new film. Naturally, not all of those old installments lend themselves to being part of a feature film (sorry, episodes where alien societies are built on ancient Greek/Roman/American cultures!), but I’ve found a solid five that have either plots or thematic ideas that could work really well in a third film. With that in mind, let’s get to it.

Arena

Let’s just get this one out of the way right up front. I have little reason to believe that we’ll ever see a big screen version of season one episode "Arena," primarily because it’s a Kirk story and the Star Trek films are ensemble affairs. I love the Gorn, though – and dream of the day they’re featured in one of these movies.

"Arena" is arguably one of the most instantly recognizable of all Star Trek episodes, thanks in no small part to the silly lizard costume an actor is forced to wear as a captain of a Gorn ship. When said captain orders the destruction of a Federation colony, Kirk sets out for revenge. He’s about to get it when an alien race known as the Metrons intervene and demand Kirk face the Gorn captain in close quarters combat. An epic battle ensues, with Kirk eventually using his ingenuity to get the upper hand and emerge victorious, but not before he learns the Gorn captain had legitimate reasons for acting the way he did.

What Star Trek 3 could use: Obviously, the Gorn. These fan favorites have only appeared twice in all the years of Star Trek – here, and on an episode of Enterprise. Many Trekkies would freak out if they turned up in the new film. It’s time for a Gorn renaissance. Also, the idea that The Federation isn’t always right has potential.

The Enterprise Incident

This third-season episode is not as big and bombastic as one you’d expect to find in the new wave of Star Trek films, but with a little tweaking and finessing, it could make for a really compelling starting point for a much bigger story.

The Federation decides it really wants a Romulan cloaking device of its very own, and the best way to get one is to send Kirk (sporting some hilariously bushy eyebrows and Romulan ears…) and Spock aboard a Romulan warship undercover. Spock seduces the female Romulan Commander, while Kirk absconds with the device in this heist tale -- although Spock later acknowledges that any advantage gained by acquiring the device will be short-lived because the Romulans will just build a better one.

What Star Trek 3 could use: The Romulans have already been a villain in the franchise, but there’s always room for more stories about them. The heist set-up shows Kirk and Spock at their best, and could make an interesting set-piece in a larger story. Cloaking devices could be used in a lot of different ways.

Charlie X

The second episode of the first season seems sort of perfunctory and familiar at first glance, featuring an immature boy with psychic powers who uses them in all the wrong ways. However "Charlie X" isn’t just a riff on a classic Twilight Zone episode ("It’s a Good Life"). It’s a solid tale with elements that could easily be worked into a modern Star Trek film.

Kirk and the Enterprise crew pick up teenager Charlie from a ship called The Antares. Charlie was the lone survivor of a spaceship crash landing, and he spent 14 years alone on a planet called Thasus, where he learned to talk from a computer and developed psychic abilities. When he finds himself aboard The Enterprise, Charlie takes a liking to Yeoman Rand, and a disliking to anyone who laughs at his social awkwardness – which leads to numerous complications (including the destruction of The Antares) before the Thasians intervene and take him back to their world, despite Kirk and Charlie’s protests.

What Star Trek 3 could use: The petulant teenager with psychic abilities wouldn’t work in a feature film like Star Trek, but an older Charlie X (or a Gary Mitchell from "Where No Man Has Gone Before"), with more ambitious objectives than simply wooing Yeoman Rand, definitely has potential. Maybe instead of the traditional Klingons and Romulans, we could have someone with crazy powers be the big bad.

The City on the Edge of Forever

Widely regarded as one of the greatest Star Trek episodes of all-time, Harlan Ellison’s "The City on the Edge of Forever" would have to be drastically tweaked to work as a Star Trek movie, but the core idea – of Kirk loving a woman and being forced to choose between his personal needs and the needs of the masses – is pure Trek.

When McCoy accidentally overdoses himself with Cordrazine, he flees The Enterprise, winds up on a planet where The Guardian of Forever shoots him into the past, alters history, and Kirk and Spock must follow and make things right. They wind up in the 1930s on Earth, where they meet social worker Edith Keeler (Joan Collins). Kirk falls in love with Edith, but Spock eventually figures out that she was supposed to die (McCoy prevented this in his drugged out state…) and that by not dying, the Nazis will win World War II and history will be changed forever. Kirk has to let the woman he loves die for the greater good.

What Star Trek 3 could use: We already know that Orci and company like the whole time travel thing (hence Spock prime turning up in the 2009 film), and this is one of Trek’s best time travel tales. The main storyline would have to be tweaked considerably, but the core idea of being forced to choose between your own happiness and the best thing for humanity is one of the founding principles of the show’s universe.

The Doomsday Machine

Of all the Star Trek episodes that could provide a framework for Orci and company’s newest movie, season two’s "The Doomsday Machine" is the one with the most potential. Kirk and company square off against a giant, planet-destroying machine from another galaxy in what is one of the series’ high water marks.

The Enterprise is out investigating a swath of destroyed solar systems when it picks up a distress signal from the USS Constellation. Kirk and crew arrive aboard the ship to find a distraught Commodore Matt Decker babbling about being attacked. The attacker turns out to be a giant precursor to Star Wars’ Death Star, and Kirk and Spock must find a way to destroy it before it wreaks even more devastation. They come up with a dangerous plan (does Kirk ever have anything in mind besides a dangerous plan? I mean, aside from green alien women?), and the story ends with a nice little sci-fi coda that ties into modern concerns.

What Star Trek 3 could use: The Doomsday Machine. It’s the perfect sort of huge, galaxy-altering force that you could build a summer blockbuster around. Frankly, I’m shocked no one’s used it already. It doesn’t have to be utilized in the same way as it is in the show – it could be something completely different used in different circumstances – but an alien intelligence that destroys all life in its path has the high concept, high stakes angle modern Trek should be striving for.

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s news that Star Trek 3 could begin shooting in six months time (courtesy of Mr. Spock himself, Zachary Quinto) comes even more confirmation of the start date, release window, and plot details for the third voyage of the rebooted sci-fi franchise. It’s Trek-a-palooza around here this week.

The Web site TrekMovie.com has the inside scoop on all the latest rumblings surrounding the new adventure of the Enterprise crew. Basically, all the things we’ve been hearing about the project are being confirmed, which is pretty surprising given how much secrecy generally surrounds big-budget studio releases.

What we know for sure is that Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness screenwriter Roberto Orci has turned in the first draft of the feature’s script. Paramount executives are reportedly pleased with the story, which Orci has said will feature characters that hew more closely to their television counterparts than they have in the previous films. Paramount has yet to make an official announcement, but the buzz around town is that they’re aiming to begin filming next February once all the final details are hammered out.

One of those final details is hiring a director. Orci has been the man linked to the chair for some time, and it appears as though it’s all but official at this point. This will mark the writer’s first time being the boss behind the camera, but his involvement with both of the previous J.J. Abrams entries should have prepared him for the gig.

What’s most interesting is that there appears to be confirmation regarding the direction the new tale will head. Those earlier stories stating that Trek 3 would take place well into the five year voyage of The Enterprise look to be true. Orci and company’s new screenplay takes place a number of years after Star Trek Into Darkness and will shift from the Earth-based plot devices of the earlier films in aims of moving toward more deep space exploration and encountering alien cultures.

Will those alien cultures be the Klingons and Romulans made famous by the classic series, or an entirely new race? No one’s spilling the beans on that one…

With pre-production already underway, a script in good shape, and a director all but hired, the only thing remaining to do (aside from casting new characters – something already being discussed) is to aim for a release date. Paramount has said they want to release the third Star Trek in 2016 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the original series, and they’re currently looking at summer dates where the film could open. It’s a crowded schedule, but Star Trek is a big enough property that it should do well regardless of where it debuts.

There’s one last issue here that still needs resolution – the film’s actual title. Star Trek 3 doesn’t have much of a ring to it, but since we know this latest installment will take place during the five year voyage into deep space, I can see Star Trek: To Boldly Go on a theater marquee – but I’m open to other suggestions. At least it would be better than Into Darkness.

Does any of this news have you more excited about the newest addition to the Star Trek universe?

Get ready to beam up to The Enterprise, because Star Trek 3 could be coming sooner than you think if Zachary Quinto’s assumptions pan out.

The actor, who’s played Mr. Spock in the two J.J. Abrams’ helmed reboots, gave a speculative status update about the third film in the newly rebooted series while doing a guest appearance on the Today show. THR has the full details, but you can listen to him below.

Quinto was on the show to promote his upcoming documentary series, The Chair, but talk eventually worked its way to the Star Trek universe. When asked if there was any news on the project, here’s what the actor had to say:

Here's the full clip:

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With director J.J. Abrams having traded in his phaser for a Lightsaber, few expected a new entry in the series to be in front of cameras quite so soon. If shooting is indeed six months off, this would lead even more credence to the rumor that screenwriter Roberto Orci will be the man tasked with overseeing the crew’s latest adventure. Orci served as a co-screenwriter on all three Star Trek entries to date (including this in-development chapter), and has previous credits on blockbuster titles like The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Transformers.

Orci reported that the first draft of the new script is completed. While he wasn’t ready to divulge all the plot details Trekkies are dying to know, he did mention that the new script will bring the film’s characters ever closer to their original TV inspirations.

With news of a first draft being done, and a potential shooting date right around the corner, expect fan speculation on what the crew’s third adventure to kick into high gear any day now. It’s too soon to make any sort of meaningful guess as where we’ll boldly go in a third Star Trek film, but I’m still secretly holding out hope that we’ll see some sort of riff on the Season two episode The Doomsday Machine. That episode, wherein The Enterprise encounters a gigantic, planet devouring machine from another galaxy and must divert it away from a densely populated area of space, is a classic. Plus, it gives Orci and company the opportunity to give a subtle poke to Star Wars, since The Doomsday Machine of the title is reminiscent of The Death Star, but predates it by a decade.

On top of that, it’s the kind of story that could really be blown up for the big screen treatment – and could open up expanded possibilities down the road. Of course, there’s not even a hint that Star Trek 3 will use this episode as a basis for the new film, but if I were mining the archives for story ideas, this one would be at the top of my list.

What original series stories would you want to see in a new Star Trek? Are you as nervous as we are about the potential hiring of Orci as director? Let us know what you think below.

Back in May it seemed like Roberto Orci was a guaranteed lock to direct the upcoming, untitled Star Trek 3, but it turns out that the trades may have been a bit over eager in reporting that bit of news. While the filmmaker is still in the running for the gig, apparently the deal has not been closed just yet.

While Orci has been one of the lead candidates for the Star Trek 3 directing gig going back to April (said to be a frontrunner in early summer), he has revealed to Collider that the job is not yet his to claim as his own. Said the writer/producer,

Basically, it sounds like Paramount Pictures is waiting to see a script before allowing one of their biggest franchises to be placed in the hands of a filmmaker without any directing experience - which is pretty obviously a smart move on the studio's part. Payne and McKay were first hired to work on the screenplay back in December, so if they're still in the middle of writing it then it may actually be a while before we hear any big news about exactly who is directing.

While he may not be necessarily directing the film, Orci is still clearly a big creative contributor to the upcoming Star Trek 3 and the has opened up before about the direction that the franchise is heading in. Late last month the filmmaker conducted an interview in which he talked about how Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness were meant to introduce audiences to new versions of Kirk and the rest of the Enterprise crew, and have the characters grow into the ones introduced back in the 1960s. Now that they have reached that point, according to Orci, the next big step is to send them out on a five year mission.

Paramount has said that their plans are to have Star Trek 3 in theaters for 2016, which means that the next few months will be absolutely crucial in the blockbuster's development. If the film is being planned for a summer release, production will probably have to start up in the early months of next year, so the rest of 2014 will be spent making sure that the script is in order, lining up new castmembers, and getting all of the little ducks in a row. Considering the studio has a planned presentation at San Diego Comic-Con next week, maybe they'll use that as a forum to make some big announcements kicking everything off.

"So what do we do now?" That seems to be the question Sony is asking in the wake of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 . Expectations were high for the film, which ended up being the lowest-grossing in the franchise domestically and worldwide (including the Sam Raimi movies). Now Sony is looking at a release date for a third and fourth film, tentatively set for 2016 and 2018... and apparently reconsidering everything. And even the Spider-Man "braintrust" is wondering what the next step will be.

IGN sat down for an interview with Roberto Orci, one of the members of that group of writers, who revealed that he's very much out of the loop in regards to plans for the next film.

That... does not sound promising. Of course, the reason Roberto Orci hasn't been close with Sony lately is because he's prepping Star Trek 3 . Plus, in April it was announced that Orci and Alex Kurtzman will no longer being working on movies together. Ultimately, his input on a Spidey movie coming in 2016 or 2017 was always going to be limited, even though he and writing partner Alex Kurtzman were hired to write that third film. This raises big questions about The Amazing Spider-Man 3, which Orci claims he is, "not officially involved in," and makes us wonder if it might not make its scheduled June 10, 2016 release date.

So what is Sony thinking? The original rumor had them bumping Amazing Spider-Man 3 to 2017. But there was also talk about Drew Goddard beginning work on The Sinister Six in January 2015, suggesting that film was farther ahead and could potentially take Amazing Spider-Man 3's slot. They're apparently still weighing their options, though it does sound, from Orci's tender words, that the wall-crawler could be taking a hiatus.

I imagine Sony is going to act gingerly moving forward. Despite the movie's disappointing numbers in all other categories, Amazing Spider-Man 2 did pull in a half-a-billion dollars exclusively outside of the states, and earnings like that suggest a heavy demand. The problem is that demand is for a character that, so far, only exists in movies that cost upwards of $200 million - with another $150 million plus needed for marketing and promotion. The problems are financial and creative. If Sony is smart, they'll look upon the character's fifty year history to reconsider how the character has been persevered over the years, and a new and improved Spider-Man will hit screens soon. Hopefully, that's not assuming too much.

Ask any screenwriter and director currently involved in a young franchise and they'll say the same thing. We haven't met the characters yet. We haven't established the universe. Baby steps, etc. It gets a little frustrating because for once you'd like to see one movie without being pressured into seeing another. The new Star Trek seems pretty well-developed, however, so it's a little unusual to see Star Trek 3 director Roberto Orci reveal that there's much to learn about this crew's final frontier.

During a podcast with Humans From Earth, Roberto Orci claims that for the next entry in the Star Trek saga, they'll be going where no man has gone before (spoiler: space).

It's hard to underestimate the disappointment in diehards familiar with the series when they saw the first trailers for Star Trek Into Darkness. What was this business about the Enterprise crashing into skyscrapers? What was this cityscape business? Where's the space we were promised after Star Trek? Benedict Cumberbatch doesn't look like any alien I know! It continued during the film, where locating Cumberbatch's "John Harrison" (whatever) meant starting some sort of intergalactic war, the sort of intergalactic war that just fades away and is never discussed again.

The original crew of the Enterprise was meant to embark upon a "five year mission" into space, but so far, we still have Captain Kirk, fratty, inexplicably-unkillable Earth-bound jerk. Orci's promise is to shoot the series into the stars and explore new worlds. That's the sort of thing fans of the original series actually want to see, but because of how the earlier movies turned out, I'm not sure those diehard fans will trust this director to do that properly. The bean counters over at Paramount, who have to be concerned that Star Trek Into Darkness was a big hit overseas but grossed less than its predecessor domestically, probably aren't pleased with the idea of nerding out either.

Can Roberto Orci boldly go where no man has gone before? Or are we getting the same stuff all over again? And is "deep space" too ambitious an angle for a first-time director, specifically one who has only worked on the writing side in a duo with Alex Kurtzman (off at Sony doing Spider-Man things)? We'll see soon, as Star Trek 3 shoots for a 2016 release date.

Why does it feel as if all the franchises are being handled by the same five dudes? Maybe that's because of the ubiquity of Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, blockbuster writers who set up the new Star Trek universe. And now that the duo has separated, Roberto Orci is about to go where no man has gone before. The writer is going to become a director, and it looks like he's going to make his debut with Star Trek 3.

Deadline reports that, after many rumors suggesting this was a possibility, Orci is the frontrunner for the coveted job of taking over for J.J. Abrams in piloting the USS Enterprise for Star Trek 3. Orci and Kurtzman helped shape this franchise, which has so far grossed $852 million in worldwide receipts, penning the first two typically-complex but still dopey screenplays. But now that they've parted ways, new writers have been brought on to tackle the elaborate Starfleet mythos.

Don't be surprised if Roberto Orci's hand is present in that screenplay, however. Orci and Kurtzman's roles have expanded in the industry, as the duo is now running point on the Spider-Man universe after writing The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Behind the camera of a mega-blockbuster suggests you'll want to control as many variables as possible, and a sci-fi spectacular like Star Trek 3 is going to need outlandish theatrics and action sequences to please the audience. It just makes sense that Orci would establish some identity over the material to keep it in line with the mythology while also making an exciting film for the fans. Many masters must be served when you're working with $150 million budgets.

Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman are now heavily expanding into the directing world, with Kurtzman helming the upcoming Venom. That alone seems responsible for their professional split, and it will be interesting how their personalities diverge. Kurtzman previously directed People Like Us, a modest and not-very-good drama starring Star Trek's Chris Pine, but that project was co-written with Orci and was very much a collaboration.

Kurtzman has come across as the more mild of the two. Orci's deleted Twitter account was often a hotbed of kooky 9/11 conspiracy theories, to the point where it threatened to become a distraction to his reputation. It's not clear as to whether this is the sign of a more bombastic sensibility in the screenwriter, or whether that will manifest in the new Star Trek 3. Even if Orci were the most boring personality in Hollywood, however, bringing him on as the Star Trek 2 director could be a tremendous gamble, as Deadline's report notes big budget films helmed by first-timers like Transcendence and 47 Ronin recently went poorly.

Apparently Trek producers at Skydance have championed Orci for awhile, and Paramount needed to be won over. Now that Orci's in talks, the film could now be headed into warp drive.

When it comes to blockbuster filmmaking, writer/producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci have seemingly always come together as a package deal. First working together in the late 1990s as writers on the TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, they took their act to the big screen in 2005 with Michael Bay's The Island and have been Hollywood mainstays for big-budget summer action ever since. But now it appears that their partnership in features is coming to an end. Variety is reporting news that Kurtzman and Orci are "parting amicably" and will be moving forward in different directions with their future feature efforts.

The cause for the split is that both filmmakers want to start pursuing different directing opportunities. Kurtzman has already made his directorial debut, having helmed the family drama People Like Us, and he is currently attached to make the Amazing Spider-Man spin-off movie Venom. Orci, meanwhile, is apparently "laser focused" on directing the upcoming Star Trek 3, which recently hired Patrick McKay and John D. Payne to pen the script. His years of service in blockbuster movies - not to mention his work writing the last two films in the franchise - has apparently earned him the favor of both the folks at Bad Robot and Skydance, but Paramount right now seems to be hesitant about the idea.

Most recently, Kurtzman and Orci paired up to write The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which has already started opening around the world and will be arriving in theaters next week.

But Star Trek and The Amazing Spider-Man is far from the full extent of their reach in modern blockbusters. They also collaborated on the script for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen:

Wrote J.J. Abrams' Mission: Impossible III:

And even did the sequel The Legend of Zorro back in 2005:

For those of you concerned about Kurtzman and Orci's work on the small screen, don't fret - they will stick together on television. In addition to being executive producers on Hawaii Five-O, they are also working on new shows with CBS, CW and Robert Rodrigeuz's El Rey network.

Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas just inched a bit closer to returning to The CW. His adaptation of DC Comics' iZombie is one of a few projects that received a pilot order from the CW. Jane the Virgin and Identity also received pilot orders at the CW.

We'll start with the zombie pilot, which already sounds like a good fit for the CW, not only for its supernatural nature but its ties to DC Comics. Factoring in Smallville, Arrow and the potential Flash and Hourman series, we know CW's no stranger to DC. iZombie is a comic that centers on a zombie womb who works at the coroner's office, which offers her plenty of brains to eat. Eating brains allows her to access the memories of the deceased, which allows her to help out her medical examiner boss and a police detective solve crimes. We learned last fall that Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas was developing the comic, and the latest update indicated that the drama was close to a pilot order. This week, EW confirmed the news, adding that Veronica Mars' Diane Ruggiero is also on board as co-showrunner, should this pilot go to series.

In other CW pilot news, EW says CW is moving forward with Jane the Virgin and Identity, giving both pilot orders. The former involves a religious and presumably virginal young woman who's "accidentally artificially inseminated," which is probably as immaculate a conception as we might see in the modern day world. The story is adapted from a Venezuelan telenovela called Juana la Virgen. EW says the original series' lead character was a 17-year-old who is impregnated due to a hospital error. The baby's biological father learns the news and falls in love with her… despite being married. Drama! Of course, we don't know how closely the CW drama would follow its source material, but it sounds like the basic set-up of accidental insemination is there. Jennie Snyder Urman is penning this one.

And then there's Identity, which is being written by Corinne Brikerhoff and executive produced by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, among others. The story has a complicated plot involving a woman needing an organ transplant and a powerful family that might have ties to some kind of domestic terrorist plot. At some point, the woman who needs the organ is faced with possibly testifying against the family that saved her life. Like I said, it sounds complicated, and a little bit outside of CW's current wheelhouse, but it could work.

With pilot orders for all three projects a go, we should hopefully be hearing casting news in the coming weeks. It'll be particularly interesting to see who's brought on board to play the zombie in iZombie and the pregnant virgin in Jane the Virgin.

When it comes to making comic book movies nowadays, the mantra for just about every studio out there is "be like Marvel." The Marvel Cinematic Universe, which ties together multiple superhero franchises into one large world, has been a revolutionary creation in blockbuster filmmaking, and as a result we will soon see Batman and Superman teaming up for the first time in Zack Snyder's Man of Steel sequel, and eventually have both the X-Men and the Fantastic Four co-existing. This process is a bit trickier for Sony Pictures, as the studio currently only owns the rights to the characters directly related to Spider-Man, but today proves that they are doing what they can.

The studio has issued a press release announcing that they have brought together a five-man screenwriting team that will expand the Spider-Man Cinematic Universe and will result in films about both The Sinister Six and the fan-favorite villain/anti-hero Venom. In addition to Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, who first worked with the superhero writing the screenplay for The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the studio has also worked out deals with Jeff Pinkner, Ed Solomon and Drew Goddard. Pinkner is best known for his work on shows like Lost, Fringe and Alias; Solomon's most recent credit was the magician action flick Now You See Me; and Goddard is best known for his collaborations with Joss Whedon - which includes the film The Cabin in the Woods. Together they will create "a franchise brain trust to expand the universe for the brand and to develop a continuous tone and thread throughout the films."

Kurtzman, Orci and Pickner are all going to be working together to write the screenplay for The Amazing Spider-Man 3, and right now the studio hopes that Marc Webb will return to complete the trilogy as a director. Then Kurtzman, Orci and Solomon will be getting to work on a solo Venom movie that Kurtzman will direct as his sophomore effort (his first being the family drama People Like Us). Goddard will be the man directly responsible for The Sinister Six, and in addition to writing the script the studio is also considering him as the director.

What makes this news extra interesting is how it overlaps personnel from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Last month it was announced that Goddard will be serving as the showrunner for Marvel Studios' upcoming Daredevil television series that will be a part of the studio's deal with Netflix. That deal likely won't fall apart, as it's directly mentioned in Sony's press release. I suppose the studio recognized his wealth of comic book knowledge and wanted him to play for their team as well.

The Amazing Spider-Man 3, which already has a release date of June 10, 2016, is going to go into production next fall, but how the schedule will play out for Venom and The Sinister Six seems to be a bit up in the air. It's also hard to say what this means for The Amazing Spider-Man 4, which was announced back in June for a May 4, 2018 release date.

Until we learn more about Sony's exact plans for the Spider-Man universe... how are you feeling about this new development? Are you confident in the writers that have been hired? Are you excited by the idea of Venom and Sinister Six movies? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

The idea of creating shared universe for multiple characters and storylines isn't exactly a new concept - we've seen it an endless number of times on television (See: The Tommy Westphall Universe Hypothesis) and filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez and Kevin Smith have spent their careers creating small links between unrelated projects. By making the Marvel Cinematic Universe into one of the biggest film franchises in the world, however, Marvel Studios has made the "shared universe" idea more popular than ever. 20th Century Fox is working to bring together the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, Warner Bros. is finally getting around to pairing Batman and Superman in one movie, and now, outside of the superhero world, it's been revealed that Universal may have similar plans for the reboots of their classic monster movies.

At least that's the story being suggested by Roberto Orci, who, along with his screenwriting partner Alex Kurtzman, is currently attached to write the scripts for both the new versions of The Mummy and Van Helsing. Orci recently sat down with IGN for a video interview promoting the upcoming adaptation of Ender's Game, and during the discussion the writer revealed that there may be a chance that the remakes that Universal has in the works will all be part of a multi-franchise spanning collection. Said the writer,

Of course, The Mummy and Van Helsing (who originates from the story of Dracula) are only two potential movies that could come out of Universal's library of monsters. The studio's other classics include Frankenstein, The Phantom of the Opera, The Invisible Man, The Creature From The Black Lagoon, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Wolf Man. We've heard random tidbits about possible remakes and reboots of those movies as well - and let's not forget the trainwreck that 2010's The Wolfman became - but right now The Mummy and Van Helsing appear to be Universal's priority. Let's hope the latter can be better than this abomination:

Who could have guessed that J.J. Abrams’ eagerly anticipated Star Trek follow up, Star Trek Into Darkness would eventually cause such hostility? We’ll get to all of the simmering anxiety over Abrams’ Mystery Box-plagued production in a bit, but yet another person intimately involved with the sequel has lashed out as the movie reaches DVD and Blu-ray.

STID co-screenwriter Bob Orci is the latest to lash out at a critic who dared to question the integrity of Abrams’ sequel. In the comments section of an article posted to TrekMovie, Orci lashed out in defense of his effort. To his credit, the column is titled, Star Trek Is Broken: Here Are Ideas On How to Fix It. Pretentious. And Orci called the author on the carpet.

That could have been the end of it. It wasn’t.

Orci continued. After a commenter mentioned that STID was inferior to Indiana Jones (which kind of goes without saying), the screenwriter huffed:

Orci is referencing Pegg telling HuffPo that disgruntled Trek fans to basically shut the hell up. But the “voices” who have problems with STID are getting louder. I mean, even the Juggalos hate it.

And fans at a recent Star Trek convention voted it the worst feature film in the entire series. That’s harsh … and not accurate. But STID has become an easy punching bag.

Of course, according to NerdApproved, Orci later apologized to a few fans on Twitter … though his account is suspiciously down this morning. I don’t expect this war of words to end anytime soon with the movie on DVD now. Also, Orci and Alex Kurtzman have been tapped to write Star Trek 3, so there’s that. Join the debate. Was Orci right? Should he engage with fans? Is Into Darkness the worst Trek is history? Weigh in below.

J.J. Abrams likely won't be back to direct Star Trek 3 due to his Star Wars: Episode VII commitments, but it looks as though there will be at least two names from behind the scenes that will be returning for the next outing into the final frontier. Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, who penned both 2009's Star Trek as well as this year's Star Trek Into Darkness, are now in talks to come back and write the third installment of the rebooted series, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The trade says that Paramount started looking beyond the Bad Robot regulars after the release of Star Trek Into Darkness and contemplated getting X-Men: First Class scribes Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz or a younger pair of writers to pen the movie. Ultimately, they returned back to Kurtzman and Orci, who also worked Paramount on the first two films in the Transformers franchise as well as Mission: Impossible III. It's also worth noting that Damon Lindelof, who didn't work on the original reboot but did work on Into Darkness, is apparently not coming back.

The biggest obstacle that Orci, Kurtzman, and the studio face is scheduling. Even with the end of Fringe the writing team has a ton of television commitments, including Hawaii Five-0, Transformers Prime and the upcoming Sleepy Hollow. They are also working on the script for Universal's Mummy reboot (which just lost its director), and a new version of Van Helsing. Paramount has yet to announce even a vague release date for Star Trek 3, but THR notes that 2016 will be the franchise's 50th anniversary. If they were to aim for that, it would both give Orci and Kurtzman more time to work on a script and get the project away from the insane, competition filled summer that is 2015 (The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Star Wars: Episode VII, Batman vs. Superman, Jurassic Park IV, the Terminator reboot, etc.).

Star Trek Into Darkness got a much more mixed reaction than the original Star Trek, and it would appear that the film was also much less successful at the box office. According to the trade, the movies's $190 million reported budget ($40 million more than Abrams' first Trek) has actually stopped the movie from being considered profitable yet. The film made $226 million domestically and $224 million abroad for a global total of about $450 million, but the budget numbers don't include advertising and marketing costs. That said, the studio was reportedly "heartened" by the fact that Into Darkness actually made $100 million more around the world than the first Star Trek, so they found a silver lining.

Ahead of the Ender's Game panel at Comic-Con today, I had the chance to sit down with director Gavin Hood and producer Roberto Orci to chat about the adaptation of Orson Scott Card's popular sci-fi novel. In addition to discussing the task of bringing Ender Wiggin to life for the adaptation, Orci and Hood spoke about the dark tone of the story, the violence and how they adapted the "mind" game that's played in the book.

Ender's Game is set in the future when man is preparing for a second war against an alien force. Gifted children are recruited to go to a space-set orbiting battle school where they're training for the approaching war. The story follows Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), a particularly gifted child who may be the one to lead humanity to victory. If you've read the book, you may recall that Ender plays a game on his tablet, during which he has to get through various challenges and make different choices in an effort to progress through the game. Like many other aspects of Battle School, the people in charge, including Harrison Ford's Colonel Graff, use the game as a way to study the students' psyche, evaluating the decisions they make while playing, to analyze their mindset. Hood and Orci talked about setting up that part of the movie through a blend of animation and motion capture. It sounds like we'll see less of it than what's in the book, but it will be in there.

They also had some interesting things to say about the violence and the tone of the story. Ender is set up as an underdog from the start, and he's no stranger to being bullied. Things come to a boil between Ender and one particular antagonist, and it sounds like that scene will also make it into the movie, though it's unclear just how much of that scene we'll actually see, as Hood also discussed not wanting violence that's indulgent. Both he and Orci agree that they were aiming to find a balance between spectacle and thought-provoking.

Can you talk about your hopes for bringing the book to the screen and kind of capturing everything thats in the book, but also making a really great movie?

Roberto Orci - Well, the first rule of a book - you know, the fans have kept it alive for years, is - not to betray them. So, I think goal one is let’s be true to the book. I think a lot of the development of this movie languished for a lot of years, because the proposals for what the movie should be strayed wildly from the book, and yet, the book was a challenge to studios because it’s very nontraditional. It’s an interesting structure. It’s adult themes, young protagonists and so, once you get past the hurdle of making sure it’s true to the book and that the fans like it, then it became, how do you just make it a cool movie and just milk everything that’s in there and that’s where Gavin’s script started that process and then, in actually directing the movie and making it, it surpassed my expectations of what could be done and how it would look.

Gavin Hood - Thanks, buddy. I’m glad you feel that way. We nearly died making this movie, but, no, Bob’s right. It was a challenge and I think we kind of hit a moment in time where the technology has got to the place where we can actually pull off the zero G, I mean visual effects technology plus amazing stunt work by our stunt coordinator Garrett Warren, plus the Cirque du Soleil performers that he hired to help train the kids in really graceful amazing movements. The other thing that the producers gave us was the opportunity to put the kids through real training. They went to space camp. They were trained properly by the Cirque du Soleil performers. They spent time with army drill sergeants. All of that preparation, so when they get on the set, they are physically prepared and they understand what the environment of space is and so we could focus on the emotional performances between the characters and not being, “How does this harness work?”, you know, you’ve got to have that down when you’ve got kids hanging on a harness and you want them to interact as if they’re not. They better not be worried about how they’re spinning. They have to gave that work down, so there was a lot of committed work from a lot of departments to make it real.

Orci - And that goes back to your question. Our hope is, it’s hard to have a big, big movie that’s actually about something that you care about, that’s actually about something smart, that’s actually challenging. So, we can both, you can eat your popcorn, but you stop munching occasionally to actually hear what’s going on and think about it and then you get back your popcorn. That’s our goal.

Hood - Have a great deal of fun and then have something to talk about after. That’s our goal.

How dark does it get, especially by comparison to the book? Some of the things that happen and even just the overall theme of the story of kids being sent to space and training for war. Can you talk about the tone of the movie and what you’re aiming for?

Hood -Yeah, I mean, I think that all those elements of bullying, which is a great theme in the world right now, and how kids deal with being bullied, which we know is so powerful in the book, that’s in the movie. But what I try to do as a filmmaker in terms of handling questions of violence, is I don’t believe in showing violence for violence’s sake and repetitive violence. For me, what I have found is an act of violence can be so sudden, what’s more interesting is the aftermath. And so, our movie is not, I hope, in any way, reveling in violence. I don’t want it to be a violent film, but the effect of the moment of violence on the psyche of the protagonist and the people around him is profound as it is in the book. It has to be, and so those key scenes in the book still seem - Bonzo in the shower are absolutely in the movie, and they shock in their suddenness, but they are not in any way indulgent.

I’m not interested in showing blood flying around the room or any of that. What’s more important is to see how these young character handle it and that’s why I think it’s an important film. And families, as a parent, I want my kids to go to a movie and not be spoken down to, deal with difficult themes, but be able to talk about it, not celebrate that, just talk about it. And at the same time, as Bob says, get back to your popcorn and have some fun, because all this battle room stuff is so wonderful and then there are moments of shock and if we can achieve that and find that balance between spectacle and thought-provoking material, then I think we’ve got a great movie. That’s our goal.

Well, that brings me to my next thought about the movie, or my hope, I guess. One of the things I love so much about Ender’s Game, Ender is very intelligent and strategic, and also extremely compassionate and so much of that is in his head, and then there’s the little things that he does and the decisions that he makes. How is it in adapting this character to bring out those traits in him?

Well, you’re raising the question of how the film medium reveals characters traits as opposed to what you can do in a novel, right? Yeah, a novel is able to tell you what is going on inside a kid’s head, and it does so magnificently, but what the novel doesn’t have, that we have as an advantage, is real actors, really reacting. So, in adapting, you try to structure scenes that create a situation in which a character’s reaction speaks to what they’re thinking and feeling, without actually saying, “I am now thinking this,” in some voiceover way. “I am now feeling very sorry for myself.” You see the moment and if you create a scene where, in the book, unfortunately, you don’t see the actors. In the movie you see the actors. So, they’re two different mediums and the idea is to try and generate the same feeling in the audience watching the film as the feeling that was generated by the author in the readers of the book, but you’re using different tools to do that.

And you think Asa pulls that off?

Hood - I do. I do. I’ve no doubt whatsoever and I think him and Harrison together pull it off magnificently and Hailee Steinfeld too, all of these actors. I mean you’ve got Sir Ben Kingsley and Viola Davis. These are A-list actors delivering really nuanced performance and these kids rise to that occasion. The one thing I feel confident in is I think these actors deliver. I’m proud of their performances and the dedication that all of them had to this project. They loved this story. All of those young actors.

Orci - And Asa, you can’t fake being intelligent and compassionate. He’s truly both. So, in addition to actually being a good actor. I mean, that was like, how are we going to find Ender? Where are we going to look?

Hood - And we looked at a lot of people and that’s what Bob’s saying. You can’t fake intelligence. So, we were lucky. In the end, we found the right actors for these roles and it finally came together, but we looked long and hard.

How much of the the mind game, is going to be in the movie?

Orci It’s in the movie.

Is it? I don’t think we’ve seen anything from it.

Orci No, you haven’t.

Hood - We have to hold a few things back. Some guys come in here like, “Why’d you show us so much?” and others are, “Why didn’t you show us more?”

Orci - It’s beautiful what they did.

Did you do like, is it CG? Is it animated?

Hood - It’s animated.

Orci - Motion capture.

Hood - We did motion capture.

Orci - It’s a blend of stuff.

Hood - We did motion capture, put on suits, ran around the room. They filmed it in a virtual world. Once you’ve captured that motion you can film what you captured digitally and then we handed that off to an amazing animation company in Barcelona, who’ve done the most beautiful work. Obviously, we did a lot of drawings and how's it going to be? And drawings of the mouse and all those things, but it is a shorter version than in the book, because the whole story of the book is compressed into about a one year period as opposed to happening over 18 years.

You know, we’re kind of in this franchise era. Have you guys talked at all about that might be beyond Ender’s Game?

Hood - Just want to finish this one.

Orci - We always are superstitious about counting sequels before they hatch and we’d like not to save anything, as a discipline, just make a good movie, put everything we can into that movie. We’re not even done with this one. So, we feel like it’s jinxing ourselves to discuss anything, but obviously you point out, there’s a series of books, and if we do our jobs right and people like this movie and there’s an appetite for it, then of course, there will be an appropriate time to see if we’re the right guys for the next job.

Whether or not Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez's popular comic book series Locke & Key ever makes it to the screen remains to be seen, but if it doesn't, it won't be for lack of trying or interest. Rights to the series were originally acquired at Dimension Films, but then lost to Dreamworks where Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci eventually tried to adapt it for television. It made it to the pilot stage at Fox, but the network eventually passed on it, and the closest it got to the screen was probably the pilot screening at Comic Con in 2011. Last year, Roberto Orci instilled hope in fans of the comic series by confirming that the rumor that it might be headed back toward the big screen for a trilogy was true:

Months later, THR is now reporting that Universal has optioned the series for the big screen. And the hope is that "the feature film model will give the story the ample canvas it needs." It seems likely fans would agree.

Locke & Key begins with three siblings - the Locke kids - moving into their family's home, the Keyhouse, in Massachusetts after their father is murdered. They come to discover that there are magical keys, which offer a variety of powers to the bearers. But there's a "devious creature" also after the keys, which forces the family to take a stand against evil.

THR says Kurtzman and Orci will produce the film, along with Bobby Cohen, through K/O Paper Products. IDW Publishing CEO Ted Adams is also set to produce.

Assuming Universal will get this movie made, it won't be the first Joe Hill adaptation headed to the big screen. The author, who's also known as one of the sons of Stephen King, penned Horns, which was adapted for a feature film, directed by Alexandre Aja and starring Daniel Radcliffe. That's expected to arrive in theaters this fall. Among Hill's other published works are Heart-Shaped Box and his latest book, NOS4A2, a chilling novel, which manages to tap into the creepy side of Christmas. Yes, there's a creepy side to Christmas, and it has sharp, hooked teeth. Gingerbread's never going to smell quite right after reading that one. Thanks, Joe Hill.

Back to Locke & Key, while we wait for more updates on what Universal has planned for the film, here's an idea of what the TV series would have looked like, and Fox picked it up:

This poll is no longer available.

While Hollywood continues to mine the more popular young adult series for feature adaptations, TV seems keen on digging into the archives to toy with the classics. NBC has Dracula paired with Grimm on Friday nights this fall, and over at Fox, Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci, along with Phillip Iscove and Len Wiseman, have resurrected Ichabod Crane and the infamous Headless Horseman from Washington Irving's classic tale. As you may have surmised from the above trailer, this is a modern-day take on the story, with the lead character brought 250 years into the future where the Horseman is riding again… and there's a Starbucks on every corner.

The series stars Tom Mison, Nicole Beharie, Orlando Jones and Katia Winter.

This modern-day retelling of a classic may be one of the more ambitious drama endeavors headed for network television next season, but with Orci and Kurtzman behind it, the show is in good hands. Beyond the intriguing plot and the promise of mysteries set to unfold and a very promising cast, there's also a glimpse of humor here, which may work well to offset the otherwise dark nature of the plot and origin story.

Along with Almost Human, Fox has Sleepy Hollow ready to ride on Monday nights this fall.

Universal Studios has a couple of science-fiction projects on the horizon, from Tom Cruise’s soon-to-be-released Oblivion to the next chapter in the Riddick saga, with Vin Diesel back in intergalactic, butt-kicking mode. But the studio’s about to put its chips behind yet another original sci-fi pitch, this time from a creative duo with a number of profitable projects on their resume.

The studio, according to Deadline, has picked up a pitch from Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci for a movie titled Sagittarius A, which the duo will co-produce. There are no plot details in the trade story, though Deadline notes that screenwriter Steven Karczynski (who penned the Black List script The Umbra) will handle screenwriting duties on the effort.

So what do we know about Kurtzman and Orci? A lot, actually. They’ve been writing together since high school, and over an 18 year period, have contributed scripts for such major studio blockbusters as Michael Bay’s Transformers movies, J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot – as well as the director’s Mission: Impossible sequel -- and Marc Webb’s upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man 2. They frequently dabble in science-fiction in their storylines, and could have a very interesting idea at play in Sagittarius A, though it’s far too early to speculate on what the movie might be about or where the story could take the audience. But this pitch follows along with a first-look deal Kurtzman and Orci recently signed with Universal – a deal that’s sure to be extended if Sagittarius goes on to be a huge hit. We’ll keep you posted on developments as they surface.

Fans of the IDW comic book series Locke & Key were likely disappointed when the TV adaptation for the story didn't go to series. But there appear to be good things on the horizon for the series, as it's been reported that Universal is looking to make the adaptation happen on the big screen, with Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman on board to write and produce.

Written by Joe Hill (author of Horns and son of Stephen King) and illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez, Locke & Key is set in Keyhouse, a mansion in New England, "with fantastic doors that transform all who dare to walk through them...and home to a hate-filled and relentless creature that will not rest until it forces open the most terrible door of them all…" It was adapted for a TV pilot by 20th Century Fox, but not picked up for a series. The pilot was eventually screened at Comic Con in San Diego last summer.

According to Latino Review, Universal is looking to turn the story into a feature trilogy, with Kurtzman and Orci set to write and produce. While Hill wouldn't (or "can't") comment with confirmation of this news, Orci apparently could, offering a one-word response to a Tweeter desperate for confirmation:

So it seems we have confirmation, though there aren't many details beyond that just yet. Still, with talent like Orci and Kurtzman behind the project, there's definite cause to be optimistic. Meanwhile, Joe Hill fans also have Horns to look forward to. The feature adaptation for the writer's novel went into production this fall, with Daniel Radcliffe set to play the lead.

Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman are well-established in the science fiction genre, but now it would seem that they are turning their attention to fantasy. The writing duo - who have worked on projects ranging from the Star Trek reboot to this summer's family drama People Like Us - is now attached to produce Dragonology, a film based on the series of books that began in 2003 with Dugald Steer's Dragonology: The Complete Book of Dragons. The project is currently set up over at Universal.

THR says that the studio picked up the rights to the series in 2008 and had Leonard Hartman attached to both write the script, but now Hartman will simply serve as an executive producer while Kurtzman and Orci hunt for a new screenwriter (they will also be overseeing the draft of the new script). The story will follow a group of "dragonologists" who group together to try and prevent a villain from using the world's remaining dragons to "wipe out humanity." In addition to the book series - which now stands at 12 titles - the franchise has also spun-off into other marketing areas, such as board games, toys and models.

Kurtzman and Orci signed a two-year, first look deal with Universal this past may and this project will fall under that deal. The pair is also currently working with the studio on rebooting their famed classic monster series by working on films about both Van Helsing and The Mummy. They are also currently writing the sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man and, along with Damon Lindelof, wrote the screenplay for J.J. Abrams' upcoming Star Trek sequel, which is due out next summer.

We still don't have an official title or plot description to J.J. Abrams' upcoming Star Trek sequel, but that all takes a backseat to the big question that fans want an answer to. Ever since Benedict Cumberbatch was cast as the villain in the movie people have been trying to figure out the identity of his character. There have been multiple rumors saying that he will be playing the role of Khan Noonien Singh, the character originated by Ricardo Montalban in both the original Star Trekseries and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, but those stories are typically put to rest by filmmaker denials. We still don't know who the villain of the sequel is going to be, but today we at least know who it won't be.

Roberto Orci, who serves as both a co-writer and producer of the upcoming Star Trek film, recently appeared on the Ask Mr. Kern radio show (via AICN) and he confirmed to them a list of villains who definitely won't be appearing in the next movie. If you choose to believe him, Orci says that Gary Mitchell, Charlie X, Ruk, and The Borg have all been eliminated as potential foes for the Enterprise crew (he also said that Janice Rand won't be in the film either). The most notable exception from the list, of course, is Khan, however, he could have omitted the name just to fuel more speculation and keep people talking about the project. Orci also said that there is a 75% chance that the title of the film will have "Star Trek" in it somewhere, which is surprisingly low when you consider that every previous movie in the franchise has included it.

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Star Trek sequel co-writer Alex Kurtzman about the role Cumberbatch will be playing, and he confirmed to me that Cumberbatch has a "formidable presence" that will scare the audience. So if it's not going to be any of the names listed above and it's not Khan, who do you think the villain of the movie will be?

While we still have more than a year to wait for Ender's Game to arrive in theaters, production on the film adaptation of Orson Scott Card's popular sci-fi novel appears to be wrapping up. Producer Roberto Orci dedicated the latest installment of the production blog for the film to discussing the work of Ben Procter and Sean Haworth, the Production Designer team for the movie. And he also shared two photos from the set of the film.

Directed by Gavin Hood, Ender's Game is set in the future when mankind is preparing for a war against an alien race called Formics (also referred to as "buggers"). The story follows a child named Ender (Asa Butterfield), a kid who's recruited to attend battle school where children study and play games in preparation for the approaching war. Beyond the futuristic, space-set backdrop is a story about a kid who proves to be compassionate and sensitive in addition to something of a tactical genius. Harrison Ford is on board to play the role of Colonel Graff in feature adaptation, which arrives in theaters November 2013.

Below are the photos Roberto Orci shared in the latest entry to the Ender's Game production blog. The first one shows us a warning that gravity ends beyond that line. The entrance to the zero gravity battle room, perhaps?

(IMAGES NO LONGER AVAILABLE)

While both photos are presumably from the Battle School, Orci's entry addresses the Formic set when he discusses the work done by Ben Procter and Sean Haworth. Here's an excerpt from his post.

I like the mention of "two contrasting cultures." That, added to Ben's comments about creating something both exotic and beautiful for the Formics suggests something really different from the more practical looking set photos we've seen of the battle school.

Orci goes on to discuss Sean and Ben's appreciation for the book, which is most definitely reassuring. As a fan of the novel, I like knowing that the people involved in bringing it to life for the movie are not only passionate about their work but also fans of the source material and will hopefully do their best to do the story justice in whatever way they can. In the case of Ben Procter and Sean Haworth, that's the challenging task of designing a look that will work for the movie and hopefully satisfy those of us who already have our own ideas about what these places look like based on Card's novel.

Orci caps the entry off by mentioning that the stages for the film are set inside a rocket assembly facility…

Read the the full entry here. Update: According to a tweet Roberto Orci posted tonight, this is the last entry to the blog. That's disappointing, but it's been great following the updates on the production and getting some insight into the process of adapting the story for the big screen. Can't wait to see the finished product!

Ender's Game arrives in theaters November 1, 2013. More information can be found in our Blend FIlm Database

Last week, via the Ender's Game production blog, Roberto Orci invited fans of Orson Scott Card's novel to ask questions about the movie. A handful of questions were selected and answered this week, giving us some insight into the production of the film, including Orci's favorite scene from the book and the relationship between Ender and Colonel Graff.

Some spoilers if you haven't read Ender's Game. (And if you haven't, I highly recommend picking it up.)

For those of you who haven't heard, more than two decades after Card's novel was published, Ender's Game is (finally) being adapted into a movie, and one that will hopefully live up to the source material. The story is set in the future and follows a child who's selected to attend Battle School, a space-set training facility for kids preparing to fight an alien race referred to as Buggers. Hugo's Asa Butterfield is set to play the title character, while Harrison Ford is on board to play Colonel Graff. Speaking of Ender and Graff, the picture included in this week's Ender's Game production blog entry gives us a look at their uniform name tags.

It's interesting to note that their names are included in braille there, though I don't expect there are many visually impaired people in battle school. Then again, who knows?

In Ender's Game, as you may recall, part of Ender's experience in Battle School is playing a game on his desk (a tablet sort of device) which has him facing various obstacles and puzzles. While it seems like a video game, it's actually a way for the higher-ups to further analyze Ender's frame of mind and leadership abilities. And as the reader, it allows us to understand him better in a sort of metaphoric kind of way. Orci brings up the Mind Game in response to a question about his favorite scenes in the book and movie…

It's great to hear him talk about the Mind Game, as it's one of the things I'm most anticipating seeing in the film. Given that the book was published in the mid-80's, and despite the fact that it was ahead of its time with regards to some of the technology referenced, I have sort of a dated impression of how the Mind Game looks in the story. So I'm very interested to see how it will look in the movie.

Another one of my favorite aspects of the story, which was addressed in the questions Orci answered had to do with Graff and Ender's relationship. In the novel, Graff has faith that Ender is the one meant to save humanity from the from the Buggers and he supports Ender in that respect, making decisions for Ender that he believes will be in the best interest of the fleet and humanity as a whole. From what Orci says, it sounds like he's well aware of how vital this relationship is to the story…

Heartbreaking and fun. That's certainly an interesting way to describe it! For a story that involves kids being separated from their parents and set up to prepare to save the world from aliens, it's easy to see the line between the adults and the kids in the novel. The adults are in charge and the kids are essentially being manipulated and forced into situations no child should have to face. Graff has to make some tough calls with regards to Ender's training, but as the story progresses we begin to see the connection between Graff and Ender. The mission matters, but so does the child. Finding a balance between those two things is what makes Graff such an interesting character. He's not merely a hardened soldier with a job to do, but also sort of a guardian. It's this kind of character development that makes Ender's Game so great and it's good to hear that this isn't something that's being overlooked or downplayed.

On the subject of kids being put into war-related scenarios, one fan asked Orci whether Ender's Game will be a movie for adults, about kids, or a kids movie. I don't think any of us want to see the story watered down or sugar-coated in an effort to make it more kid-friendly than the source material intended. It sounds like there will be a balance of serious material and possibly some lighter moments…

It's good to hear they won't be soft-peddling it. And as for the "fun of being in space," I hope that's a vague reference to the battle room scenes, which I doubt I'm alone in being very excited to see brought to life.

There are a couple of other questions answered, one of which has Orci mentioning Gavin Hood's appreciation for Kubrick, and another in which he mentions an amusing-sounding incident involving Asa Butterfield and Hailee Steinfield getting the giggles while floating above the set during shooting. You can read about that here.

Ender's Game is scheduled to arrive in theaters November 1, 2013. More information about the film can be found in our Blend Film Database.

Van Helsing, the 2004 action film starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale, is a truly terrible movie. In addition to being remarkably stupid, the performances in the movie are terrible and the effects were godawful. It was clear that the studio wanted to make a franchise out of the monster-killing hero, but obviously that never took off. Now they're hoping to have better luck with a brand new star and a pair of hot producers.

THR has gotten word from Universal that Tom Cruise is now attached to both star in and produce a new version of Van Helsing with Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman on-board as well. Kurtzman and Orci's biggest claim to fame was writing the script for the J.J. Abrams-directed Star Trek reboot, but their other credits include the first two Transformers movies, Mission: Impossible III (so they've worked with Cruise before) and the television series Fringe. In addition to Van Helsing, the writing/producing duo is also planning on bringing back The Mummy. Just a few weeks ago it was reported that Prometheus writer Jon Spaihts is on-board to write the reboot for the The Mummy, which won't bring back star Brendan Fraser.

In a joint statement from Universal Pictures Chairman Adam Fogelson and Co-Chairman, Donna Langley they said, "Alex and Roberto are extraordinarily talented writers and producers who know the value of a great story in building successful tentpole films. They have been a major part of some of Hollywood’s biggest movies and television shows in recent history, and we’re eager to have them build on that success at Universal."

Do you think that Cruise will make a better Van Helsing than Hugh Jackman? Who do you think Kurtzman and Orci should get to star in The Mummy? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

There are very few screenwriters working today who are as powerful as Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, especially the ones working in big blockbuster films. The writers of the first two Transformers movies, Cowboys & Aliens and Star Trek are as close as you can get to a household name as a screenwriter, and now they'll be bringing some of their considerable power to yet another major franchise, this one with a superhero at the center. According to a press release from Sony, Kurtzman and Orci have been hired to write The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the sequel to this summer's The Amazing Spider-Man that is naturally in development many months before the movie actually opens.

The movie's more than just in-development, actually-- back in August of last year, before production had even wrapped, Sony set a May 2, 2014 release date for the new film, and if this summer's Spider-Man opens as well as its expected to, you can figure that sequel will go into production quickly in order to make that release date. It makes sense not just to move forward on the screenplay now, but to bring in the likes of Kurtzman & Orci, who clearly know their way around a big blockbuster narrative. Though the pair are constantly busy producing Fringe and Hawaii Five-O, they don't actually have any writing gigs lined up-- the last one was the Star Trek sequel, and with that one in production they should be free to get started with Spidey. You may remember that James Vanderbilt had been hired at one point to write the script, so Kurtzman & Orci are technically doing a rewrite job, but I imagine they'll have a pretty significant hand in reshaping it.

Yes, their track record is a bit checkered, though they've all but pushed all the blame for Transformers 2 on to Michael Bay thanks to the writer's strike. But Kurtzman and Orci know what they're doing, and their hiring isn't just a strong sign of faith in the sequel, but in this summer's Amazing Spider-Man, which Sony clearly believes is the making of a franchise. Now if K&O just get it together and bring in Paul Feig for some writing help, we'll really be in business.

The biggest surprise (and disappointment) this pilot season had to be Fox passing on their high-profile comic-book adaptation, Locke & Key. One would think that adaptations, especially of the comic-book variety, would be a sure thing, because they not only come with a built-in audience, but they also know that the particular journey they want to tell has already been successful. That logic didn't stop Fox from bailing on the Locke & Key pilot, BUT it might indicate why the 'dead' show's still been scheduled for Comic-Con.

Comic-Con International is obviously a great place for new series to try and start fan acquisition, but, as Deadline notes, "showcasing pilots that didn't go to series is extremely rare. It will happen this year with Fox's Locke & Key, a suspense thriller based on the graphic novel by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez." IDW Publishing, the people behind the comic, asked Fox permission to hold a "one-time-only screening of the entire pilot [to] show you just what a void there will be on your TVs this fall." Big words. Can the pilot deliver? I don't know, but I want to find out.

Attending the panel, to be held July 22nd at 10:30 a.m., are series executive producers (and frequent geek-property adapters) Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, as well as producer Josh Friedman (who also wrote the pilot). It's a shame that the rest of the talent involved, namely director Mark Romanek and stars Miranda Otto and Nick Stahl, won't be there as well.

Here's the Locke & Key synopsis from the IDW website:

It's been a long wait for the sequel to J.J. Abrams' Star Trek and considering how many projects the man currently has on his plate, we may have to wait even longer. In recent months the biggest detail that has come out about the project was Damon Lindelof comparing it The Dark Knight. Now, finally, we are getting some of the bigger picture.

Badass Digest claims to have a source close to the Star Trek 2 production who has leaked a few details regarding what we might see in the sequel. First off, the source has confirmed that Khan will not be the villain in the film. In actuality, the film won't focus on a traditional villain, rather a season one character from the original series. According to the article, the character could be "Harry Mudd or Trelane or Gary Mitchell or the Talosians or the Horta," though the source was unwilling to be more specific, and of course this is just an unsubstantiated rumor for now.

Each of those potential bad guys represents a very distinctly different tone which could be set for the sequel. Going with the Horta means going the route of a gritty, tension filled monster movie. Hortas are burrowing, rock-like creatures who, in their original series appearance, terrorized a mining colony. It happened in an episode titled “Devil in the Dark” which should tell you all you need to know about the horror-movie tone. It is, however, also the episode which birthed my favorite McCoyism: “I’m a doctor, not a bricklayer!”

Here’s Spock mind-melding with a Horta:

Harry Mudd (full name Harcourt Fenton Mudd) on the other hand means setting a more playful, whimsical tone. He’s kind of like Captain Jack Sparrow, a freewheeling pirate, con man, and trader who hops through the galaxy generally annoying everyone he comes in contact with. In the original series he was never a villain, at least not exactly and it’s hard to imagine him working as the central bad guy in any feature film, though he'd be a lot of fun.

Here’s Harry Mudd:

Trelane is a lot like “Q”, if any of you remember him from Star Trek: The Next Generation. The self-styled “Squire of Gothos” is a god-like being with the personality of a small, naughty boy. He’d strike a balance between the more whimsical tone of Harry Mudd and the deadly seriousness of a being with godlike powers.

Here’s a look at the original Trelane:

Any movie featuring the Talosians would be almost entirely cerebral, and if there’s one thing the new Trek is not, it’s cerebral. They were first introduced in the unaired pilot for the original Star Trek which starred Captain Pike, not Captain Kirk as commander of the Enterprise. In terms of the timeline, Pike’s encounter with the Talosians actually happened before the events in the new Star Trek. It’s the only thing from the original Trek series that wouldn’t have been changed by the time-warping events of the last film. The Talosians are an ancient, dying race with the power to control minds, looking for a way to save themselves.

Here’s what Talosians look like:

Lastly there’s Gary Mitchell who, to me, make the most sense. Mitchell is James T. Kirk’s best friend, or at least he was until he accidentally receives godlike powers and begins to regard everyone aboard the Enterprise as bugs to be swatted. The potential for pathos and intense character drama is limitless, with Kirk and Spock battling against a creature beyond their comprehension and Kirk forced to kill someone he cares about. Using Gary Mitchell would fit the dynamic of the first movie, which seemed to be more about the developing relationship between Kirk and Spock above all else. After the first film they’re now comfortable allies, but in the original series it was Mitchell’s madness which first moved Kirk and Spock towards real friendship.

Here’s a look at Gary Mitchell:

But who knows if any of this will pan out. It’s just a crazy rumor. In fact it doesn’t really seem to fit at all with this rumor from the generally reliable TrekMovie in which they say that writer Damon Lindelof has been hinting that Star Trek: The Next will involve a Vulcan female. None of the five villains being rumored would really fit with a storyline in which the Enterprise crew become entangled with Vulcans, and with so few of them in the universe it’s hard to imagine one just randomly showing up on the Enterprise unless the story was somehow crafted around it. The notion that there might be a Vulcan female involved suggests that instead of using one of these villains, the movie might be about Spock facing pon farr (the 7 year itch Vulcans get which drives them crazy until they have sex) and that the Vulcan female might be his spurned lover from the original series, T’Pring.

Here's a look at T'Pring as she appeared in the original series:

There's already one recurring Tom Clancy hero out there angling for a comeback, the indefatigable badass Jack Ryan, who will be the main character in Paramount's forthcoming Moscow, starring Chris Pine. But Clancy wrote a whole ton of novels, and he's got another character lingering in the archives who seems ready for his own big-screen debut. Vulture reports that The Shield creator Shawn Ryan is now working on an adaptation of Clancy's 1993 book Without Remorse, starring John Kelly, a former Navy SEAL duking it out with the drug ring responsible for his girlfriend's death.

Though the original book is set in the 70s, apparently they're leaning toward setting the film in the present-- after all, The Wire has only made the setting of inner city Baltimore more famous since the book came out. Ryan is already a big name on his own for TV fans, having created both The Shield and FX's current series Terriers, but he'll be teaming up with two other big names to make Without Remorse happen; superstar screenwriters and producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci are on board to produce. Of course, they're also producing a million other things, but with the Clancy connection this one seems likely to have an easier time getting out of the gate than most.

I'm so sure about Roberto Orci, but I'm pretty sure that Alex Kurtzman has cloned himself. The screenwriting and producing team are attached to at least one new project weekly, to the point that I encouraged them to take a vacation for god's sake, but Kurtzman-- even as he hammers out the Star Trek 2 script and a dozen other things-- is undaunted. In fact, he's moving on to the next stage of his career. Vulture reports that the benevolent Mr. Steven Spielberg has convinced DreamWorks to back Kurtzman's directorial debut, the small-scale drama Welcome to People.

The plot description sounds far more like a Sundance indie than the usual Kurtzman/Orci efforts like Eagle Eye and Transformers, and Vulture says Kurtzman specifically wanted the job to prove he's more than just an action guy. Kurtzman co-wrote the script with Orci and Jody Lambert, about a twentysomething who learns upon his father's death that he has an alcoholic sister and a troubled 12-year-old nephew he never knew about. Charged with bringing the two a $150,000 inheritance, the guy decides to keep the money but slip into the lives of his sister and nephew, without revealing who he actually is.

Vulture expects the project to come together quickly because the three lead roles are practically screaming "Oscar clip reel," but I seriously cannot figure out when he's going to have the time to do this. Do I really need to link back to Jordan Hoffman's hilarious rant to remind you that Kurtzman, Orci and Damon Lindelof need to focus on Star Trek 2 and chill out on everything else for a minute? I totally support Kurtzman pursuing a new angle of his career and bringing us a small-scale film, but I have to assume that one of his 50 projects already in the hopper is going to suffer as a result.

When we reported back in February that super-producers Alex Kurztman and Roberto Orci were trying to snag the rights to Joe Hill's graphic novel Locke & Key, we assumed that they were aiming to turn it into a movie, because that's what everyone does with graphic novels these days. But given how badly adaptations of non-tentpole graphic novels have fared at the box office (think Jonah Hex and Scott PIlgrim instead of Batman and Spider-Man), it might be time to start coming up with new ways to bring those graphic novels to life. So how about television instead?

Vulture is reporting that Kurtzman and Orci will be teaming up with none other than Steven Spielberg to turn Locke & Key into a major TV franchise, following the story of three kids living in a New England mansion with doors that transport them to new worlds and given them superpowers. Josh Friedman, an executive producer on The Sarah Connor Chronicles and the writer of Spielberg's War of the Worlds is on board to write and produce the show, with Kurtzman, Orci and SPielberg presumably on board as executive producers-- because, as you may have heard, they've also got a bunch of other stuff on their plate.

Watch the trailer for the comic book below to get a brief taste of what you're in for. Kurtzman and Orci have been basically the only people to successfully cash in on the serialized sci-fi trend that Lost kicked off with Fringe, so this may very well be their chance to do it again.

The writing and producing team of Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci really exploded last year. They gave us one of the year's top earners in Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, and a legitimately great movie with the rebooted Star Trek franchise. The pair are working on scripts for Jon Favreau's upcoming outing Cowboys and Aliens and a sequel to last years big space adventure, both of which they'll also produce. You'd think with all of that on their plate, on top of many other projects in development, that they'd stop adding more work to their already expansive timeline. Well, you're wrong.

According to THR, the dynamic duo have taken young writer Jeremy Slater under their wing. Slater, with a little development from Kurtzman and Orci, put together a pitch for a thriller set to take place in the most tension-filled location in the country: the airport. The pitch was immediately sold to DreamWorks, where Kurtzman and Orci have a first-look deal. When Slater completes the script, the two are set to produce using their experience on 2008's thriller Eagle Eye as a jumping off point.

With so much work slated, expect to be hearing a lot more about what Kurtzman and Orci get up to in the coming years-- and since the Transformers movies have been really their only blunders, it's fair to expect something great out of this Eagle Eye meets The Terminal project.

While Lost may be coming to an end, it seems Daniel Dae Kim, who plays Jin in the ABC series, has found another TV role. It was recently announced that Kim’s been signed to play the starring role in the Hawaii Five-0 remake.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Kim has been cast to play Detective Chin Ho Kelly, which was played by Kam Fong in the original series. The role of Detective Steve McGarrett has yet to be cast, though rumor has it, Alex O’Loughlin (Moonlight) is in talks for the part.

Kim’s involvement in this new role seems fitting for a number of reasons. For one thing, Lost is filmed in Hawaii and I’m guessing that’s where Hawaii Five-0’s going to be filmed. This part will also keep him tied to the Abrams-verse as the feature writers on the Five-0 remake are Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, both of whom have worked on a number of projects with Lost creator J.J. Abrams, including Fringe, Alias and the recent Star Trek film.

Forgive me for being one of those Lost fanatics that The Onion makes fun of, but when I see the phrase Locke and Key, I immediately start thinking of theories. Is a key to the temple going to explain John Locke being inhabited by the smoke monster? Is Key the name of the mysterious Man in Black?

Time to calm down, everyone who thinks like me. Locke and Key, as it turns out, is a graphic novel about a mysterious house in Massachusetts-- and now it's about to be a movie. Latino Review's tipster reports on the goings-on with the rights to the film, which had been held by Dimension Films until recently. Both Frank Darabont and Stephen King's son Joe Hill had passed by the project, but now it's in the hands of those guys who will produce pretty much every movie you see from now on-- Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci.

They're setting up the project at DreamWorks, and are apparently just producers on the project at this point. Of course, Kurtzman and Orci worked closely with J.J. Abrams on Star Trek, and Abrams created Lost, so the connection is still there! Still think I'm crazy? Actually, don't answer that question.

Writer Anthony Peckman will trade Nelson Mandela for a salvage crew. The Invictus writer has been recruited to pen the screenplay for Deep Sea Cowboys, an Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci-produced action film based on an article written by Joshua Davis for Wired. The article provides a real-time experience of a team of men trying to recover a ship’s precious cargo after it topples to one side.

Back in February, it was announced that David Ayer (Training Day) was the scribe selected, but the deal must have fallen through. The THR article notes that Ayer ‘previously worked on the script’ but makes no mention of a reason for his replacement. While it makes perfect sense for the U-571¬ writer to tackle another at-sea travesty, Peckman has immense potential. He wrote the 2001 crime drama Don’t Say a Word, the highly anticipated Sherlock Holmes and is likely busy reveling in the Oscar buzz surrounding Invictus.

The fact that the source material is fantastic certainly helps his chance for success with this one. Davis is a sharp writer and the story should translate well on screen. Click here to check it out; it’s well worth the read.

Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci are right up their with their pal J.J. Abrams when it comes to taking on a gajillion projects, only about half of which ever seem likely to get made. Though since the duo is becoming more prolific as a producing team, I have high hopes for Xombie, a story about a zombie policeman from a screenwriter policeman, Will Beall.

Xombie apparently has a complex origin story that THR only vaguely explains, starting with an online animated series by James Farr that eventually turned into a Devil's Due comic book. But the movie will only be based on Beall's pitch, given that DreamWorks has picked up the pitch but not the source material (yet). Also, they're keeping the plot under wraps, even though the whole thing has already existed as a comic book. See, I told you it was confusing.

THR also tries to claim that zombies are becoming hip like vampires, even though it was the beginning of this decade that saw the Dawn of the Dead remake and Shaun of the Dead and 28 Days Later and zombies galore. It's more like zombies are a boomerang, swinging away in time to give vampires precedence, but coming back now that everyone is just using vampires as metaphors for sex. Those of us who want our supernatural creatures to be killers know that it was all about zombies all along.

Star Trek sequel talk has started and even though the movie hasn’t opened yet, for once it’s warranted. This is a film that absolutely demands more. Coming Soon caught up with Trek writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, as well as producer Damon Lindelof and put them to the sequel question. They confirmed that of course, they’re already thinking about it.

In fact they’re more than thinking about it. Lindelof says, “We've started preliminary talks with J.J.” This seems like something all three are passionate to work on again. Of course it all depends on how the movie does but seriously, does anyone think Star Trek is going to be anything other than huge?

As for what the sequel may be about, there’s talk of examining classic Trek episodes to put a new spin on them. I hope that’s not the direction they go. This is supposed to be a fresh start, no point in rehashing old material, it sort of defeats the purpose of the reboot, doesn’t it? “City on the Edge of Forever” has already been done, and done right. Come up with something new guys, come up with your own ideas, not re-spins on someone elses. You have it in you. We do not need to see Javier Bardem as Khan. Leave him alone.