Simon Pegg to write Star Trek 3!

Mr Scott to the bridge! The Enterprise's own chief engineer, otherwise known to us in the 20th century as actor/comedian/writer Simon Pegg, is set to co-write the next Star Trek film. Deadline have reported he will be joined by Doug Jung on the task. The pair step into the void left when Roberto Orci, who stepped back to producer role, having previously been expected to direct, and co-write with J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay.

The new creative team, headed by recently announced director Justin Lin, have got there work cut out to meet the also recently announced release date, in July next year!

Certainly though Simon Pegg being involved fills me with confidence; he is a fully qualified geek of the first order, fantastically funny, and has plenty of writing experience - Following early TV work, including Spaced, he is now best known for comedy movies, working on the Cornetto trilogy (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World's End) co-written with Edgar Wright, Paul, co-written with Nick Frost, and Run Fatboy Run, co-written with Michael Ian Black. Those films span multiple genres, including elements of science fiction and action.

Doug Jung is new to me, but he has multiple TV writing and producing credits to his name, including creating and writing the police series Dark Blue, and writing multiple episodes of Big Love, a drama about polygamy, and crime series, Banshee. He also previously wrote a movie called Confidence, and, what apparently got him the job, a script for a Bad Robot/Paramount film called Diamond.

Let's hope this new writing partnership runs smoothly, we've got an anniversary to celebrate!