As soon as J.J. Abrams took on the gargantuan task of directing the next Star Wars film, the chances of him maintaining a grip on Paramount's Star Trek were pretty slim. Some close to the project held out hope he would return for the follow-up to Star Trek Into Darkness, but soon some pretty big names started to emerge as contenders to replace him. Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) Jon M. Chu (G.I. Joe: Retaliation) and Joe Cornish (Attack the Block) all had their names in the mix, and now a frontrunner has emerged.
Deadline reports that Paramount are "sweet on" Cornish to take over Star Trek 3, which is great news for the many fans of his offbeat alien invasion film Attack the Block, but there are a couple of caveats to be aware of. First of all, Cornish has been offered the job before and turned it down, just as he was reluctant to take on another potential blockbuster when his name popped up for A Good Day to Die Hard. What's changed? Well, nothing really. No offer is on the table and he could still reject it when or if it does reach that point. So this is basically still just wishlist stuff at this point.
But at the same time Cornish has been easing his way into more high-profile gigs. He helped write The Adventures of Tintin which featured Star Trek's Simon Pegg as part of the voice cast. He's also teamed up with his buddy Edgar Wright to pen the script for Marvel's Ant-Man, and there's also Paramount's planned adaptation of Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash which Cornish has been attached to helm at some point. Obviously, Star Trek 3 would take priority and with a summer 2014 start date planned we should expect to learn something definite soon.
