The saga of the next Star Trek movie continues.
First, series rebooter J.J. Abrams dropped out to become involved in some other little-known sci-fi property. Then his replacement, screenwriter Roberto Orci was dismissed from – or perhaps just left – the project. The latest news, according to Deadline, is that the film’s co-star Simon Pegg, who plays engineer Montgomery Scott, will be co-writing Star Trek 3 with Doug Jung, the writer/producer behind the TV series Dark Blue, and writer of the little-seen feature film Confidence.
Related: ‘Star Trek 3′ to Get Faster, More Furious
No news yet as to the story or the tone of Star Trek 3, which now likely promises to have some more levity, thanks to Pegg, best known for his screenplays to cheeky genre send-ups/homages like The World’s End, Paul, and Shaun of the Dead.
Actors have been involved in the writing and directing of Star Trek films in the past. Leonard Nimoy famously directed Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, to which he also contributed the story. William Shatner was the honcho on Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Jonathan Frakes directed Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Insurrection, and Brent Spiner helped with the story of Star Trek: Nemesis. Pegg taking screenwriting duties is in keeping with an older Trek tradition.
Star Trek 3 (a working title) is slated for released in July of 2016.
Witney Seibold is a contributor to the CraveOnline Film Channel, and co-host of The B-Movies Podcast. You can follow him on “Twitter” at @WitneySeibold, where he is slowly losing his mind.
