Star Trek 3’s script is finished, release on track for 50th anniversary in 2016

By Rick Marshall August 19, 2014

first draft star trek 3 script finished says roberto orci into darkness — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Now that Roberto Orci has bid farewell to Spider-Man’s big-screen universe, things seem to be rolling right along with his work on the third installment of the modern Star Trek franchise. Orci indicated this week that the first draft of the film’s script has been finished, making it increasingly likely that production will begin on the film in spring 2015 as expected.

Orci provided the update on the still-untitled Star Trek sequel to TrekMovie.com, indicating on the site’s message board (where he’s a frequent guest) that he and co-writers J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay had just put the final touches on the first full script for the film, which will also serve as his directorial debut.

In a forum thread discussing his work on Universal’s upcoming series of monster movies, Orci responded to a question about Star Trek with the following update: “p & m & I wrote, ‘fade out’ yesterday on first draft. things are moving.”

While there’s no official release date set for the third Star Trek film in the modern, rebooted franchise, Paramount has set aside several dates in 2016 for tentpole projects. One of those dates, June 3, was recently chosen for the sequel to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles after that film’s big opening weekend. If all goes well with the script, a spring 2015 start for production is reasonable, and a release date announcement should be made soon after the script is finalized and the budget is set.

It’s worth noting that 2016 is also the 50th anniversary of the series, so Star Trek fans should expect big things for the franchise that year.

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