With J.J. Abrams set to direct Star Wars: Episode VII for a summer 2015 release, it's very likely that he won't be back to helm a third installment of his Star Trek series. Paramount is reportedly targeting a 2016 release for the threequel, which would make perfect sense as that year marks the 50th anniversary of the franchise. Also, I doubt anyone involved would want to wait another four years in between installments. Last night, we heard that Attack The Block director and Ant-Man co-writer Joe Cornish was reported to be one of the many names in consideration to helm the next Star Trek movie. With that in mind, I decided to post a poll of possible candidates, and you can vote for your pick below.
-As stated above,
Joe Cornish is reportedly one of the names in consideration for the job. He has sci-fi experience after
Attack The Block, and is attached to direct Paramount's adaptation of
Snow Crash (which doesn't have a start date yet).
-
Brad Bird directed one of 2011's biggest films in
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, so it would make perfect sense for Paramount to want to reteam with him. Despite having a clear schedule after 2014's
Tomorrowland, he may (understandably) be hesitant to replace J.J. Abrams on another big franchise.
-After delivering the sci-fi film
Looper next year,
Rian Johnson became a fan favorite for many tentpole films. He's currently working on his next film (which is also sci-fi, but "more Cyberpunk"), which has yet to have a start date.
-
Edgar Wright may be unavailable due to
Ant-Man coming out in late 2015, but this would depend on how long the post-production process lasts. Plus, he directed a shot of
Star Trek Into Darkness and is close friends with Simon "Scotty" Pegg.
-
Joss Whedon will most likely be unavailable, since he will be releasing
The Avengers 2 next summer. Again, it may depend on how long the post-production process would be, but this idea is rather unlikely and completely fanboy wishing-based.
-
Bryan Singer is a fan of the
Star Trek franchise, and arguably works well with ensemble casts. Aside from a
Battlestar Galactica movie, he currently doesn't have anything scheduled after next summer's
X-Men: Days Of Future Past.
-Despite being attached to
Masters Of The Universe and possibly
G.I. Joe 3,
Jon M. Chu doesn't have another major production dated yet. Plus, after
G.I. Joe: Retaliation, it wouldn't be surprising to see Paramount want to reteam with the young director on another major franchise.
-
Gore Verbinski is very familiar with big budget, CGI-heavy blockbusters. Despite the first two
Pirates Of The Caribbean sequels' disappointment, the director may return to form this summer with July's
The Lone Ranger.
-He missed out on
Star Wars: Episode VII, but could we see
Iron Man's
Jon Favreau tackle the rival franchise? The director currently has no major productions scheduled.
-
Joseph Kosinski is very experienced in delivering visually stunning sci-fi films. However, he's attached to direct both
Tron 3 and
The Black Hole for Disney, which would likely take up his time for the next few years.
-
Duncan Jones is another recent fan-favorite director for several projects after
Moon and
Source Code. He's filming a
Warcraft movie for Legendary Pictures this fall for a 2015 release. Could he tackle
Star Trek immediately afterwards?
-Another contender for
Star Wars: Episode VII,
Matthew Vaughn isn't attached to another film after 2014's
The Secret Service.
-If
World War Z is a success (which would surprise me), I can see Paramount wanting to hire
Marc Foster to tackle another of their major production. Definitely an out of the box choice for
Star Trek.
-
Matt Reeves is a favorite of J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot after 2008's
Cloverfield. He's currently shooting
Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes for next summer, but it would be surprising to not hear his name being mentioned for
Star Trek 3.
-
Alfonso Cuaron recently worked with J.J. Abrams on NBC's TV pilot
Believe. Plus, he's experienced with sci-fi, and he doesn't have anything lined up after October's
Gravity.