One of the stories breaking this morning is about Dwayne Johnson joining the “G.I. Joe” sequel for Paramount, and while our own Dave Lewis wrote the story up for the site, I popped in to talk about how Johnson seems to be building a game plan that involves making sequels to films he didn’t originally appear in.
Speaking of sequels, though, the Deadline story that everyone’s linking to for the Johnson news also contained the following throw-away line: “The picture has become an important one for Paramount, which will have to scratch the ‘Star Trek’ sequel from its summer 2012 schedule and will likely put this film in its place.”
Oh, really?
During all of the press JJ Abrams has been doing for “Super 8,” he has been setting the fanbase up to wait for a while longer while he and Damon Lindelof and Kurtman and Orci all work to make sure that the sequel to the film, offering up variations on ideas like “we’re not making a release date, we’re making a movie,” and “we’re going to work on it until it’s right.” I know people have been assuming that the summer of 2012 was the release date, but I hadn’t actually seen that confirmed anywhere. So how is it that “Star Trek” is suddenly moving “off” a date it wasn’t really on in the first place?
I decided to ask Abrams about it directly this morning, and he sent back the following comment:
“We are still working on story. Some super cool stuff — but I won’t be able to make a decision on directing until we have our script and I know what I’m being asked to direct. As for release date, that is not a concern of mine. Perhaps we could still make the date the studio wants. But we are focusing on making a great movie: the guys I’m collaborating with are the best and we all want the same thing.”
In other words… it’ll be ready when it’s ready.
Honestly, that’s what I want from anyone making a sequel. Take your time. Figure out the right reason to tell us a second story. Make sure the script is ready, and then, once you’re happy, you can focus on casting and schedules and everything else. I would rather hear news like this than hear “‘Star Trek 2’ has been bumped up to March 2011 and will go script to screen in eight months!”, which seems to be the norm these days.
Based on that first film, I’m willing to give Abrams and his crew all the room they need to get their second film right. They’ve laid themselves out some great opportunities in this one, and it’ll be interesting to see what they actually pull off with a second film. I’m sure there’s some pressure they’re feeling, but the good kind, and this is a team that seems to me to be up for whatever challenge this represents.
So for now, don’t pencil in any particular date for “Star Trek 2.” Just know that they’re working on it.