The question is, How soon is too soon? More than a month before J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek hits theaters — and either delights audiences or splats on the windshield of fan discontent — Paramount has already locked in writers Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Lost’s Damon Lindelof to work on the sequel. I guess that’s a good sign: Would they be moving ahead with Star Trek 12: The Dirtiest Dozen (not the official title) if Paramount wasn’t positively giddy at the way Abrams’ reboot turned out? Probably not. And it’s not like they’re rolling cameras tomorrow — hiring writers is, in Hollywood, the equivalent of meeting for coffee, not picking out china patterns.
But it does smack a bit of overconfidence. This is an announcement that could easily have been made once the opening weekend box-office numbers came in. Right now, though…it feels like hubris. And that rarely ends well.
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So waiting for the first. Geeked about the 2nd.
If you like Star Trek, then getting Lindelof signed as a writer (instead of just a ghost-writer like he is on this first movie) is a great sign. I just hope he doesn’t get too caught up in this remake/adaptation stuff. He created such a breathtakingly imaginative show in Lost, I would rather see him work on his own material.
I’ll even add that we remember Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci wrote the 1st and 2nd Transformers. Dreamworks and Paramount mentioned a 3rd while even staking out the July 4th weekend of 2011! Overconfidence? I doubt it. With JJ Abrams at the helm, the first Trek will be a treat. Damon Lindelof writing with Kurtzman and Orci (all avid Trekkies) will be something to behold. I eagerly anticipate the first film’s success. Add to that my glee for the 2nd.
As for the “hubris,” stuff – that’s what everyone’s talking about all over the internet from this one tiny information byte, and it’s silly. (You’re relatively level-headed about it Marc, but still). This is what studios do, and I’m pretty sure there are plenty of cases where it’s done earlier. (And consider multi-film contracts, which aren’t really different from what’s going on here). Also, what are the writers supposed to do, not be interested in their own work? Refuse the offer, (whether because of humility or not) and create a more ominous info byte for all of us to obsess over? I would even argue that good writers should have a bit of hubris – I’ll take excited, over-eager writers over cold fish any day.
Geez EW likes to sh!t all over everything don’t they.
I agree that it’s a little overconfident. There’s no doubt the film will make money, but will it please the die-hards? That has yet to be seen. I have mixed feelings myself. From viewing the trailer, I think it could be good, but then again, it could absolutely suck. I really think they should wait before making official plans.
One word: Watchmen. This could be a geeks only thing, and anyone outside of geekdom may stay away in droves… Just saying.
Since the history of ST Films is that odd numbered films were flops and even one’s were winners, they are just guaranteeing that they get a winner!
I think I would have gone with “espockulation” … but whatever floats your starship!
The timing of the announcement was probably intentional, in order to draw more moviegoers to the one coming out in a few weeks. (Moviegoers: “They green lit a sequel already? It must be good!”)
Breaking the news is not a big. What about the lame movie Spiderman they already have 4 and 5 set up. Annoucing movies early is a hype thing EW is trying to make a story out of nothing must be a slow day.
You don’t make a movie for that amount of money without thinking of a sequel.I would be surprised if the actors contracts don’t already mention sequels. Gary Oldman was locked in to Batman from the beginning and tried to even get out of Dark Knight. So it makes perfect sense, even a little late actually to already be talking sequel.
It’s amazingly arrogant of Abrams to simply title his movie “Star Trek”, as if his is the definitive work and none of the previous 10 movies or 5 television series mean anything.
His movie should be properly titled “Star Trek XI: Subtitle Goes Here” and should take its proper place in Trekdom, subject to that which has come before.
@Bubba, I doubt Abrams chose the title. More likely it was the studio’s way of “rebooting the franchise”.
Yeah, they green-lit a script for Nancy Drew 2 before Nancy Drew hit theaters. You remember Nancy Drew 2? Yeah, neither do I.