I'm still forming my opinion on the idea, but I'd like to point out that all the articles "confirming" it point to the same article on a site you've never heard of using no quotes and a single unnammed source who "works close to the production".

Even EW, who got the quote saying he'd rather just be in the audience and wasn't interested, immediately posted a link to this site and said "well, I guess he changed his mind" without putting up a disclaimer that no one has spoken to JJ since the "announcement". People are saying that the LA Times saying "sources confirm" is confirmation. Note they don't say "OUR sources confirm" or what those sources could be. They don't even have a link to the original article!

I'm wary, especially so soon after reading this:
http://x-surface.tumblr.com/post/41282771026/x-surface-dont-believe-everything-you-read

If it is true, its a leak that couldn't come at a worse possible time. The first comic lead in to Star Trek Into Darkness came out this week, the "Countdown" is literally beginning. Now that news is overshadowed by him abandoning the Trek ship for Wars.

I'm unconvinced, even with Jett Lucas and Bob Orci making it sound like its definitive.

I also can't imagine what sites like TFN will do with the complete secrecy JJ would bring to a Wars movie. They'd get so frustrated not knowing who the villian is!

Not what I expected, but I'll wait and see what he turns out.  All I know is that there were certainly a few moments I'd prefer to see *edited out* of J.J.'s initial 'Trek' reboot, which makes me a little wary of what he'll do with this.

But mainly, I'd like John Williams back to score this final 'trilogy of treatments' from GL, to round off the '9 picture saga' consistently. 

After that, Disney and various other directors/writers can then go nuts with any future 'Star Wars'-related 'spin-offs' or instalments if they wish, as far as I'm concerned. 

(I guess a lot of Trek sites are currently twitchy about this news too, lol.)

marcchrome said:

oooookay where does it say he is abandoning star trek???????? you guys crack me up i swear.

I just don't see Paramount being happy sharing his time with Disney.

And since all of this is RUMOR, we can discuss whatever possiblity we like.

If this is just a rumour I imagine David Icke will be receiving a new clutch of devotee eggs in the morning.

It's everywhere and nobody is officially denying it.

An interesting observationoid though is that Dave's former employers, the BBC aren't running the story even though The Guardian and the Independent are.

Some thoughts after hearing the news:

I'm not thrilled with the idea. I don't like how both the Star Trek and Star Wars franchises are both being directed by the same person. It would be better for fans if the two different franchises were allowed to show different styles, from two different directors' talents. Instead, there's no denying that the new Star Wars films will feel similar to Star Trek 2009.

I'm not a big fan of Star Trek 2009. I was impressed with the casting, as far as the actors nailing the performances, but I hated the script, I hated how they rewrote Star Trek history, and I hated all the juvenile action and the lack of a captivating villain. Nero was uninspiring and his reasons for wanting vengeance didn't make much sense, nor did his actions.

I can't stand Abrams' use of lens flares. I was surprised to read this earlier today:

http://io9.com/5230278/jj-abrams-admits-star-trek-lens-flares-are-ridiculous

In this article he admits that he went overboard with the lens flares. He also explained how he went to such great lengths to create the abundant lens flares - I thought he used CGI, but no - he did them all in camera - often pointing huge lights at the camera off-frame to create them. This is a very strange  thing to obsess over, and I recently tried to re-watch Star Trek 2009 on cable and just changed the channel because the lens flares were literally so distracting that I wasn't in the mood. I loved Super 8 but it also had the same issue with lens flares - it's overwhelming and actually distracts the viewer.

I really hope he dials way way back on that effect - the last thing this new Star Wars series needs is something like that to weigh it down. It already has a lot to go up against like the failures of the prequels.

We'll have to just wait and see I guess - I think he's a competent director overall. But Disney needs to tell him to back off the lens flares, seriously. The thing I worry about most is in the end, Star Trek and Star Wars will be done by the same director, and will look too similar. It seems like a safe choice since his films seem to do well, but it probably isn't the best choice. I do like Fringe a lot, I've followed it since the first episode, so there's hope. I think Super 8 showed his love for the old 70s/80s films - it felt very nostalgic, even though there were some inconsistencies regarding the dates of some of the featured props like the Walkman and the Rubik's cube. Perhaps he will treat the new Star Wars with the same type of dignity, though he didn't do that so well for Star Trek.

 

 

I had to share this one. :-p

That's why I suggested it as an avatar theme.

Flares are very 1970's though.

SilverWook said:

Mavimao said:

I don't get all of the love for JJ Abrams - I think he's a decent TV director and producer, but I feel like I'm living in some weird parallel world when people praise his Star Trek reboot. I didn't mind the concept, but the execution was atrotious and totally went against the whole mythos of star trek. The smug kirk eating the apple during the kobiashi maru, him driving a car over a cliff, Spock and Uhura... WTF? It was pretty and exciting but dumb - a play told by an idiot full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

It was about seeing Kirk and company on the start of the path that makes them who they are when we saw them in the series. Maturity comes with life experience. That "smugness" and the willingness to take risk have always been part of Kirk, tempered by the responsibility of command.

Uhura flirted with Spock (to no avail) in "The Man Trap". Those scenes were cut out of syndication prints for decades.

OK, I understand what you are saying about Kirk having some smugness about him and the willingness to take risks. I just feel like JJ Abrams just took it a little too far. The way they describe Kirk in Wrath of Kahn beating the Kobayashi Maru, it sounds like his "cheating" was creative and was acknowledged by his superiors as being clever. In ST09, he's just eating his apple, not even taking the situation seriously, and even making shooting gun gestures with his hand. Plus the modifications seemed so blown out of proportion and in your face, ie: this has obviously been tampered with. The lights go out, the klingons' shields magically go down, etc.

I feel like this scene doesn't so much show Kirk's rejection of the "no-win" scenario, but rather, feels like a 14 year old gamer, moding his copy of Unreal Tournament so he can make one shot kills and pissing off everyone instead of people thinking he's discovered something creative.

Does it show a young Kirk beating the Kobayashi Maru and feeling smug about it? Yes. Does it do it well? Not in my opinion.

Now onto Spock: as far as I've always understood, Vulcans were asexual except for Pon Farr every seven years. I know Spock is half-human, but he was still always depicted as a cold, logical person. This is a long cry from original trek where Bones was Kirk's heart and Spock was Kirk's brain and Kirk mediating between the both of them.

Besides we all know Spock and nurse Chapel were meant to be. =P

Yes it's more like a nerd spoof rather than events described in TWOK.

At times the comedy in that film is every bit as jarring as the shoehorned in gags in Star Trek V.

Ady posted a page back that George's son Jett tweeted "J J Abrams will do wonders!" so there is a source close to the source, at least.

Rather than assume visual style based simply on JJ directing, who do you expect to see him hiring as his production designer? I would love to see Stuart Craig here - his work on HP to create physical models whenever possible was pretty amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDHswtk88SY

Maybe JJ will let Jett name creatures in the new movie like he did in the prequels.

I recall the word "Gungan" came from young Jett.