Roberto Orci Eyes Director’s Chair For Star Trek 3, Splitting From Alex Kurtzman


Longtime Hollywood power duo Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman are apparently going their separate ways in the movie industry. While not necessarily household names to all movie fans, once you hear what projects they’ve done together, things click in your head and you probably remember their names.

Orci and Kurtzman have written mega franchise films and tv series including Transformers, Star Trek, The Amazing Spider-man, Fringe, and Hawaii Five-O.

According to Variety, their split is amicable, and is meant to allow them to pursue separate careers as directors. For his first venture into the director’s chair, Orci is reportedly lobbying heavily to direct the upcoming Star Trek 3, which he is already set to write with Patrick McKay and John D. Payne.

News of Orci’s directorial interests may not be welcome for many Star Trek fans, who tend to hate anyone tied to the J.J. Abrams directed Star Trek Into Darkness. Orci did not help things last year when he exploded at some online fans, telling one forum critic to “F–K OFF!”

Orci later apologized for the outburst, calling it a typical reaction for him every now and then. Orci deleted his Twitter account and has not yet returned to social media.

Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman will reportedly continue to work as a team in their television ventures. The two founded the production company K/O Paper Products in 2009 and some shifting will undoubtedly need to be done since the two are still tied together in more than a dozen projects. Kurtzman/Orci are executive producers for Hawaii Five-O and Fox’s recent hit Sleepy Hollow. They recently helped produce Summit Entertainment’s Ender’s Game as well.

Kurtzman is being pursued to direct Venom, which he and Orci wrote with Ed Solomon. Paramount is reportedly still being cautious about Orci helming Star Trek 3, since this would be Orci’s directorial debut.

Star Trek Into Darkness had a budget of $190 million and went on to gross $467 million worldwide. The film drew some criticism last summer when audiences gawked at the gratuitous lingerie scene featuring Carol Marcus, played by actress Alice Eve. Orci’s fellow writer Damon Lindelof eventually spoke out, saying he regretted the scene’s inclusion in the film.

“We should have done a better job of not being gratuitous in our representation of a barely clothed actress,” Lindelof admitted on Twitter.

What do you think about the possibility of Roberto Orci taking the director’s chair for the latest film in the rebooted Star Trek franchise?

[Image via Google]

Share this article: Roberto Orci Eyes Director’s Chair For Star Trek 3, Splitting From Alex Kurtzman
More from Inquisitr