STAR TREK 13 To Hit Theaters July 2016
On the heels of the news that Fast & Furious director Justin Lin will be in charge of Star Trek 13, Paramount Pictures has also announced that the film will be released July 8th, 2016.
2016 will mark the 50th anniversary of the show’s time in front of an audience. The original series debuted on NBC September 8, 1966, after NBC requested a second pilot subsequent to their rejection of “The Cage” for being “too cerebral”. The show’s been in production since 1964 and has spawned numerous spin-off series and a number of films.
2009’s Star Trek rebooted the franchise under the guise of an altered timeline. Both Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness (the rehash of Wrath of Khan) were directed by J.J. Abrams, who left the third Trek to direct Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Abrams will still be on board as a producer, as will Roberto Orci, who was expected to direct after Abrams’ departure.
However, Orci left the director’s chair vacant last month, in what is rumored to be a dispute with Paramount over the story. News also surfaced that Paramount was looking for the new Trek sequel to be more like Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. The most recent draft of the script was crafted by Patrick McKay and John D. Payne, but there’s no indication they’ve gone the GOTG route.
From a release date standpoint, it’s interesting that Paramount has picked July 8, just a week after Steven Spielberg’s BFG and Warner Brothers’ new live-action Tarzan are set to hit. July is also filled with a possible Bourne entry, Angry Birds, and a new King Arthur film, whereas the weekend of the actual 50th anniversary has only one entry — an untitled horror film from New Line.
Should Trek 13 hit closer to the anniversary? Or should it remain in the “summer blockbuster” time frame?
