Sony’s decision to reboot the Spider-Man franchise may have come too soon and has painted them into a tiny corner with their planned universe, since the rebooted franchise has struggled to please critics, and has not fared well at the box office, with each film earning less than its successor. The news that the studio would reschedule The Amazing Spider-Man 3‘s 2016 release to a rumored 2017 release did not bode well for the franchise, and now things are about to get much worse.

Roberto Orci, who was hired to write the script for the second sequel, plus the script for the Venom spinoff, will no longer be involved with developing The Amazing Spider-Man cinematic universe. Losing a writer at this critical juncture is one thing, but Orci says that he has no idea what the studio’s plans are for the franchise.

Hit the jump for more.

When Star Trek Into Darkness ended, the crew of the Starship Enterprise was about to set off for a five-year mission. With the film officially set for a 2016 release, we will see what the mission entails. For the first time, Roberto Orci has spoken about Star Trek 3 since he was hired to direct the film.

Hit the jump for Orci’s full quote.

If you are still bitter about The Amazing Spider-Man 2, no one would really blame you, especially on account that the film got mixed to negative reviews, and is one of the lowest earnings Spider-Man films of the five that have been released. Though the $60 million weekend opening – it took almost a month and a half to reach over $200 domestically – and a $600 million worldwide gross isn’t a complete loss, the fact that the grossing numbers have been dwindling since the reboot isn’t exactly what Sony was hoping to see.

With Sinister Six and Venom spinoff films coming in the near future, all of which are interconnected to The Amazing Spider-Man canon, Sony is left to rethink their strategy for the franchise, which may actually include pushing The Amazing Spider-Man 3‘s release from 2016 to 2017. Hit the jump for more.

Now that J.J. Abrams is hard at work making Star Wars: Episode VII, Paramount Pictures and Skydance were in need of a new director for the third movie in their rebooted Star Trek franchise. Abrams directed the first two movies, 2009’s Star Trek and 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness.

In what could be considered a risky move, the studios have decided not to find an established big Hollywood blockbuster director to bring in. In fact, they’re not even bringing in an up-and-coming director who might be ready to break out. Instead, it has been decided to hire writer Roberto Orci to direct Star Trek 3.

Star Trek #30
Parallel lives, Part 2 of 2
Written by Mike Johnson
Story Consultant: Roberto Orci
Art by Yasmin Liang
Colors by Zac Atkinson
Letters by Gilberto Lazcano
Cover by Cat Staggs
IDW Publishing
Release Date: February 26, 2014
Cover Price: $3.99

The previous issue of IDW’s Star Trek comic book series began the Parallel Lives storyline by introducing us to Jane Kirk, Captain of the USS Enterprise, and her crew. This issue, Star Trek, written by Mike Johnson, brings to a close one of the finest ‘episodes’ to come out of the divergent J.J. Abrams timeline.

When confronted with Jane Kirk and her predominately female crew, the first thing I noticed was the realization that I am a total misogynist. I didn’t realize it (my wife knew), but I suppose I was living denial. Having all the genders reversed showed how male-dominated crew positions on the Enterprise tend to be. Something I would not have noticed before.