Image Credit: Anita Bugge/WireImage
It looked like 2016’s Star Trek prequel-threequel was in trouble last month, following the hasty departure of co-writer/director Roberto Orci. But not long after Paramount hired Fast & Furious savior Justin Lin to helm the film, now comes news guaranteed to cheer up a few Trek fans. According to Deadline, the film has two new writers: Doug Jung and Simon Pegg.
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Pegg, of course, played Scotty in the first two films of the rebooted Trek franchise. But Pegg’s writing bona fides are impressive: Alongside longtime collaborator Edgar Wright, he co-wrote modern cult classics Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World’s End. Strange as it sounds, Star Trek has a long history of actors taking on behind-the-scenes roles: Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, and Jonathan Frakes all took turns directing past feature films. (Directing-wise, Spock > Riker > Kirk, although Riker made First Contact so it’s a close one.)
Jung has fewer credits, having worked mainly in television—he created undercover cop series Dark Blue. It’s unclear if Pegg and Jung are writing an entirely new script or working from material by previously reported writers Orci, JD Payne, and Patrick McKay. Star Trek 3 is still slated to come out in July 2016, less than eighteen months from now.
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Thoughts on the Trek 3 news? Email me at darren_franich@ew.com, and I’ll respond in a future edition of the Entertainment Geekly Mailbag.
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