Paramount Pictures boss confirms that Abrams will still at least serve as the producer for the next 'Star Trek' and 'Mission: Impossible' movies.
- Jan 26, 2013
AceShowbiz - Now that J.J. Abrams is officially hired to direct "Star Wars Episode 7", many fans begin to speculate whether he would abandon his "Star Trek" film franchise or not. Bringing good news to Trekkies, Variety's Marc Graser shares that the "Super 8" helmer is still committed to the space saga about Captain Kirk and co.
Graser tweets, "J.J. Abrams to produce a third STAR TREK movie and MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, according to Paramount. STAR WARS doesn't kill his involvement.." It is, however, still unconfirmed whether the bespectacled filmmaker will only serve as the producer and not return to the director's seat.
The news of Abrams' involvement in "Star Trek 3" is also confirmed by Paramount Pictures Vice Chairman Rob Moore. "J.J. will continue to develop projects for us including a new 'Mission: Impossible', and he is committed to produce another 'Star Trek'," says Moore.
Earlier this month, Abrams told Crave Online that he hadn't prepared himself for the follow-up to "Star Trek Into Darkness". He only hinted that the third "Star Trek" flick had been discussed, but the script hadn't even been pitched.
"No, sir, not yet," he said of the update on the project. "I'm sure that the studio would love that to be a possibility but it's up to the audience to decide if there needs to be one..." He added, "There are things we've talked about but there's no script or anything, it's just ideas."
Abrams has just been picked as the director of the Walt Disney Pictures/LucasFilm massive project. Reacting to his recruitment, many experts gushed that they couldn't be happier with the studio's choice.
"J.J. Abrams is a huge 'Star Wars' fan and will bring respect and familiarity to the job," Eric Geller of TheForce.Net shared to MTV News. "There will be jokes about lens flares and such, but when it really comes down to it, I think Abrams will bring a fresh angle to the project."
Bryan Young of Big Shiny Robot added, "I'm incredibly happy. I think J.J. Abrams is an exciting and interesting director who will do right for the franchise. His work in the genre is unparalleled for a filmmaker of his generation, and his love of 'Star Wars' runs deep."
"I think all you need to do is look to his work both on 'Super 8' and 'Star Trek' to see why he'd be a good fit," he stated.
"Star Wars Episode 7" will arrive Stateside sometime in 2015.
