J.J. Abrams Says That He is Open to Old and New Adventures for Star Trek XII

The success of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek has fed speculation about a sequel: Will it include a return to classic Trek missions, albeit from the perspective of the new timeline? Speaking with SCI FI Wire on Wednesday night at the Saturn Awards, Abrams said that he is excited about that possibility but won't rule out new ideas either.

"The great thing is we're all open to anything," Abrams said. "I think the fun of where we are with Trek is that it can and should just be fully explored. So I think to limit ourselves to only new adventures would be a mistake."

Meanwhile, Abrams spoke a bit about the proposed fourth Mission: Impossible movie. Each Mission: Impossible film was a vehicle for a director to lend his own vision to the franchise: Brian De Palma, John Woo and Abrams directed very different films. The recent announcement that Abrams was returning to the series makes him the only director to do two of the films. His Mission Impossible III was the best-reviewed (though the lowest-grossing), but Abrams indicated he is not planning to direct the fourth.

"Well, there's no director attached to the movie yet," Abrams said. "We're just developing an idea, which I think is very cool, so we're just starting it out, but it's exciting. It's a fun idea, and it's always an honor to work with Tom [Cruise, who is also producing]. We would definitely produce the movie together, and details from there we're still figuring out."

Abrams also spoke about his Fox sci-fi TV series Fringe, which returns for a second season in the fall. Expect the show to address the shocking reveal in the season finale. (Spoilers ahead!) If there is an alternate world where New York's Twin Towers still stand in 2009, does that mean there was no Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack in that world? Or did 9/11 just strike a different landmark?

"You have to watch to see how that plays out," Abrams said. "That was a big decision for the show, because it was obviously a potential sensitive kind of choice. But I feel like, given what our story is, given the world of Fringe, I think it will be very satisfying."
http://scifiwire.com/2009/06/jj-abrams-finally-speaks.php