As J.J. Abrams winds down his Super 8 duties with the filmâs Blu-ray release this week, the sequel to his 2009 smash hit Star Trek is moving full-steam ahead. While itâs taken a couple years to get going and Abrams only just recently officially signed on as director, Captain Kirk and crew are absolutely 100% coming back with a firm release date of May 17th, 2013 set. However, the release date is just the tip of the iceberg as we now have confirmation that weâll be following the crew in 3D this time around. Hit the jump for more.We recently learned that production on the follow-up is set to begin on January 15th, and now Deadline reports that Paramount has slated the film for a May 17th, 2013 release date. Sony just moved Roland Emmerichâs sci-fi pic Singularity off that date, so Paramount jumped at the chance to claim the pre-Memorial Day weekend as their own. The sequel will go up against Sonyâs Pixels (based on the short film), and will open one week after Guillermo del Toroâs Pacific Rim and two weeks after Iron Man 3. Universalâs Fast and Furious 6 has the displeasure of opening the week after Star Trek 2, in whatâs looking like an epically action-filled start to the summer 2013 movie season.Thereâs no explicit clarification as to whether Abrams will be filming in 3D or post-converting, but Deadlineâs report says Abrams will be âmaking the movie in 3Dâ. Itâs a bit of a no-brainer that theyâre going the 3D route, but I do hope they plan on filming in native 3D as the short post-production time doesnât bode well for a pristine 3D-conversion.As if the release date and 3D news wasnât enough, Coming Soon has confirmed with composer Michael Giacchino that heâll once again be returning to score the pic. His music was one of the best aspects of the first film (which is no surprise, given the guyâs immense talent), so Iâm extremely happy that heâll be back to wow our ears once again. All the cast members from Abramsâ original Trek are expected to return, and the director recently confirmed to MTV News that Benicio Del Toro is in negotiations to star as the villain (though what villain theyâve settled upon is still under wraps). Screenwriters Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof have been done with the script for a while, but are on their third draft of revisions as of last week.Here's a sampling of Giacchino's work on the first film:
STAR TREK 2 Set for Release in 3D on May 17th, 2013; Michael Giacchino Confirmed to Return as Composer
STAR TREK 2 Set for Release in 3D on May 17th, 2013; Michael Giacchino Confirmed to Return as Composer. Star Trek 2 will be directed by J.J. Abrams