Star Trek 3: Director Roberto Orci Confirms Completion of First Draft

Star Trek writer and director Roberto Orci has confirmed that the first draft of the rebooted sci-fi's next instalment has been completed.

Orci confirmed this in the comments section of an article on TrekMovie.com, saying: "P & M & I wrote, 'fade out' yesterday on first draft. Things are moving."

P and M refers to his writing partners JD Payne and Patrick McKay.

Quizzed further about this he responded: "If I'm lucky enough that Paramount loves the script and that we go forward, it'll be because I have loved Star Trek for so long and the idea of having seen one of the best guys in the business direct two of them already, and to have seen it from the vantage point of a producer too, I know where a lot of the challenges are and where a lot of the fun is."

Star Trek Into Darkness, 2009's reboot and sequel , released last year, were both directed by JJ Abrams, who now finds himself directing Star Wars: Episode VII for Disney and LucasFilm.

This meant a change at the top, leading studio Paramount to turn to Roberto Orci, who will make his directorial debut with Star Trek 3. Orci helped write both previous films, working alongside long-time writing partner Alex Kurtzman.

Star Trek 3 is slated for release in 2016 to celebrate the sci-fi franchise's 50<sup>th anniversary.