Star Trek 3 blasts off with new writers

It would appear that Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, the two writers who penned the screenplays for the first two Star Trek movies are taking a step back from the oncoming third film. Although they aren't completely removing themselves from the project, it would seem that writers Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz are coming in to take most of the writing responsibility. Miller and Stentz are best known for having written Thor as well as X-Men: First Class as well as having been on the writing staff for the first season of Fringe.

So what does this mean for the franchise? Time will tell. With J.J. Abrams no longer in the director's chair and the original writers no longer in full control, we will most likely be looking at a very different Star Trek film. Stentz and Miller's track record suggests that they are competent, if not entirely impressive writers, but I personally doubt that their addition suggests future peril for the series. Whoever fills the director's chair will be the key component to the film's success. Rian Johnson, director of Looper and numerous episodes of Breaking Bad was suggested by Abrams himself as a possible candidate, which is exactly the kind of forward thinking that could result in an interesting and cutting edge future for Star Trek.

The currently untitled third entry in the new Star Trek series is expected to be released sometime in 2015, with shooting beginning early next year.