'Star Trek' sequel already in the works

LOS ANGELES, March 31 (UPI) -- The new version of "Star Trek" doesn't open in U.S. theaters until May 8, but Paramount Pictures is already working on its sequel, one of the producers says.

Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof will produce and write the script for the follow-up, Variety.com reported Tuesday. J.J. Abrams, who directed and produced the soon-to-be-released "Star Trek," will produce the next one with his Bad Robot cohort, Bryan Burk, the entertainment industry trade newspaper said.

The decision regarding whether Abrams will direct the next installment had not been made, Variety.com said.

"There's obviously a lot of hubris involved in signing on to write a sequel of a movie that hasn't even come out yet," said Lindelof, who was a producer on the forthcoming "Star Trek." "But we're so excited about the first one that we wanted to proceed."

Abrams, who created TV's "Lost" and "Alias," directed "Star Trek," a movie about the early days of the crew of the USS Enterprise. The reimagined story is based on the classic sci-fi series, was penned by Orci and Kurtzman, and stars "Bottle Shock" actor Chris Pine as Capt. James T. Kirk, "Heroes" player Zachary Quinto as Mr. Spock and "Hot Fuzz" hero Simon Pegg as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott.