Following word yesterday that four-time The Fast and the Furious franchise helmer Justin Lin is set to direct the upcoming Star Trek 3 (or 13 depending on your point of view), Paramount Pictures has officially announced a release date of July 8, 2016. 2016, as Trekkies are well aware, marks the 50th anniversary of Gene Roddenberry’s enduring sci-fi franchise.
Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Anton Yelchin, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Zoe Saldana and John Cho are all expected to reprise their roles as the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Plot details have not yet been revealed, although Orci stated earlier this year that his plan was to set the action in deep space, unlike the relatively Earth-centric J.J. Abrams films. There is no word currently on whether the film will move forward with the same screenplay scripted by Orci, Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne or seek a new draft.
Although Star Trek 3 is the first film to claim the July 8, 2016 release date, the film will follow both the Steven Spielberg-directed Roald Dahl adaptation The BFG (starring Mark Rylance and Ruby Barnhill) and David Yates’ take on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan (starring Samuel L. Jackson, Djimon Hounsou, Christoph Waltz, Alexander Skarsgård and Margot Robbie), which both hit the big screen on July 1, 2016.
