Paramount has been building the anticipation for its upcoming film Super 8, directed by favorite son J.J. Abrams, who also helmed Mission Impossile III and the Star Trek reboot for the studio. With the release date of Super 8 drawing near, all eyes are turning towards Paramount's future and largely quiet tentpole for Summer 2012: a Star Trek sequel.
Having long been slated for June 29, 2012, it's unusual to hear nothing to this point. Abrams is still not onboard and a script apparently hasn't been finished. Deadline says that all there is to show for the planned sequel to date is a 70-page outline penned by "Trek" scribes Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Damon Lindelof. Paramount will not confirm whether or not the outline or a script exists, but Deadline's source says the studio has enough to get started on pre-production.
Paramount has also been looking to reboot the Jack Ryan series, starring "Trek" leading man Chris Pine, but script delays have put a sequel to 2009's sci-fi hit at the front of the line, which is where it should be, given how they will no longer have any Marvel projects to their name after Captain America: The First Avenger. One thing the studio will confirm is that everything is contingent on Abrams' return for the sequel, so news that is not likely to break until after the release of Super 8.
Given Abrams' relationship with Paramount and the quality of the writers behind the current script, should we expect him to return to the franchise he helped breath life back into? Or should we put together a wish list of new directors?
