Faced with too much pressure from studios, Abrams might have to choose

Jul 24, 2013 18:36 GMT  ·  By
Official artwork for J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek Into Darkness,” featuring Benedict Cumberbatch’s villain
   Official artwork for J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek Into Darkness,” featuring Benedict Cumberbatch’s villain

Since before “Star Trek Into Darkness,” the second installment in the new “Star Trek” franchise, came out, it was assumed it was a given that J.J. Abrams would return for the threequel. Then, he was announced as the director of “Star Wars Episode VII” as well, and this made things more complicated.

If you do the math, Abrams’ schedule would not allow him to do both in a short span, as the studios probably want.

Devin Faraci of BD points out that, for months, there’s been a lot of speculation on whether Abrams might not be pressured into choosing between the two for this very reason.

Moreover, word in the blogosphere has it that he might opt for “Star Trek” and thus drop out of Disney’s new franchise.

“Why is it that I keep hearing tons of rumors that JJ Abrams is on the verge of dropping out of Star Wars? This has been something I've heard for a while now, and from multiple insiders. I know that he didn't want to shoot the movie in England and was overruled, but that happened a while ago,” Faraci writes.

“This weekend at Comic Con I continued to hear these whispers. No director for Trek 3 has been found yet – might Abrams end up coming back after all, leaving Star Wars to someone else?” he continues.

Nothing is set in stone for now, though, Faraci stresses.

However, “Star Wars” is supposed to start shooting in early 2014, as Abrams himself confirmed a while back. Meanwhile, Zachary Quinto, who plays Spock in “Star Trek,” is telling the media that the third installment will go into production late next year.

It’s virtually impossible for Abrams to do both at the same time so, he’s either sticking with just “Star Wars” or comes back to “Star Trek.”

Rest assured you’ll find out about it here when an official announcement is made.