
There has been a lot of speculation as to the next director of Star Trek 3 now that Roberto Orci has stepped away from the Center Seat.
Last week, a fan movement was started to #BringInRiker–a hope to draft TNG’s Jonathan Frakes to helm the next Star Trek movie. While nothing was official, Frakes was very much on board with the idea.
I’d like to thank @EditDroid77 for firing up #BringInRiker Let’s make it so…..
— Jonathan Frakes (@jonathansfrakes) December 12, 2014
Today, Deadline Hollywood reports that there’s a short list of five names to direct the movie and it doesn’t appear that Number One is anywhere on it.
![]() Rupert Wyatt
The name mentioned first in most reports appears to be that of Rise of the Planet of the Apes director, Rupert Wyatt. Wyatt has also worked on the AMC spy series about the Revolutionary War, Turn, as well as the forthcoming Mark Wahlberg movie, The Gambler. Wyatt could be favored based on the success of the latest Apes movie. |
![]() Morten Tyldum
Also reported on the list is Norwegian director, Morten Tyldum who directed the new Benedict Cumberbatch film, The Imitation Game. Although a capable director, Tyldum seems like a bit of a longshot to get a major studio tentpole, let alone Star Trek. |
![]() Daniel Espinosa
Swedish director Daniel Espinosa (Safe House) is allegedly also on the list. Like Tyldum, Espinosa doesn’t have a whole lot of large studio releases and it’s difficult to imagine him landing Star Trek. |
![]() Justin Lin
Justin Lin, however, has a lot more credits on his resume. To date, Lin has directed four films in The Fast & The Furious franchise as well as episodes Community, True Detective, and the pilot of the new CBS series Scorpion. He is also attached to a Bourne sequel with Jeremy Renner in 2016–but that could change quickly if Lin lands Trek. |
![]() Duncan Jones
The last name reported by Deadline is that of Duncan Jones, director of Moon, Source Code, and the upcoming Warcraft–a game based on the popular online game slated to be released in 2016. If Jones’ name sounds familiar, it may be because he’s the son of music legend David Bowie. The director formerly known as “Zowie Bowie” has some interesting work, but he seems like he’d be a stretch for Star Trek. |
Not mentioned at all is Edgar Wright, who has worked frequently with Simon Pegg (Scotty) and also directed one unnamed shot in Star Trek Into Darkness.
There’s certainly more to come on this issue. Paramount and Bad Robot will need to make a decision soon if the film is to make it’s 2016 projected release for Star Trek’s 50th Anniversary.
=/\=