According to a report at Deadline, Simon Pegg has been hired by Paramount Pictures to co-write "Star Trek 3." He'll be working on the script alongside Doug Jung, the co-creator of the TNT police drama "Dark Blue."
Pegg and Jung are replacing screenwriters Patrick McKay, John D. Payne, and Roberto Orci who had been working on the script when Orci was the director of "Star Trek 3"...but when he was removed from the director's chair their script went out the door as well. Orci was replaced with "The Fast and The Furious" director Justin Lin.
Pegg is an intriguing choice as he also one of the stars of the rebooted "Star Trek" film franchise. He plays the ship's engineer Montgomery Scott, known to most "Trek" fans as "Scotty." Pegg has done a good bit of writing in the past. He co-wrote "Spaced," "Shaun of the Dead," "Hot Fuzz," and "World's End" with his long-time friend and co-collaborator Edgar Wright.
Here's hoping that he doesn't abuse his new screenwriting role to expand a certain Scottish engineer's part. On the other hand, that isn't such a bad idea as Pegg was a pleasure to watch in the first two films.
Paramount Pictures has slated "Star Trek 3" for July 8, 2016 release.
