J.J. Abrams Dishes on 'Star Trek 2,' 'Mission: Impossible 4'

It will be all sequels, all the time, for J.J. Abrams. Although his Fox hit show 'Fringe' has started its second season, and latest film, 'Star Trek,' arrives on DVD and Blu-Ray Nov. 17, the burgeoning mogul is all about hugely successful franchises for the foreseeable future. Next on his plate are 'Mission: Impossible 4' and 'Star Trek 2,' and it looks like the Tom Cruise-starrer will be first.

"We are hard at work on the 'Trek,' 'Mission Impossible' [series],"
Abrams, 43, told reporters Thursday in Santa Monica at a promotional event for 'Star Trek's' DVD release. "We have this movie that I'm writing that I would love to direct early next year ['M:I 4'], so we will see if it comes to fruition ... There is a lot we are working on."

"With 'Star Trek,' it's not like we're looking at the second movie with some kind of heavy political allegory," Abrams explained of the upcoming sequel. "I think it is the job of the next film to go a bit deeper. Not to make it less fun, not to take itself too seriously, but to grow with the [characters] and examine them a little more closely now that we've gotten through the pleasantries and introductions."

Abrams also hinted 'Star Trek 2' could be in 3D: "If I direct the sequel to our film, 3D could be really fun. I'm open to it. What I've seen of 'Avatar' makes me want to do it because it's crazy cool looking."

It has been reported that one consideration is to film two sequels to 'Star Trek' at once, similarly to the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' and 'Matrix' sequels. Abrams, to no one's surprise, was coy on details.

"The answer is it's obviously movie to movie," Abrams said. "The fact that we are now back discussing the second film is surreal and very nice ... Sometimes you just don't know you can presume it will be a series that will go beyond those. Do we have ideas for few movies? Of course. You can't help but go, 'Ooh you know what would be really cool, if we set this up like this.' You throw those things around, but you can't presume it will be anything more than a film that now we're lucky enough to produce."

He adds of 'Fringe' -- while teasing a pilot for NBC: "Jeff Pinkner and Joel Wyman are running 'Fringe' really well. We're still very involved in that, but they're running it. We have a new series that we just told NBC that we are going to be producing. It's a pilot."

Abrams is also producing next year's comedy 'Morning Glory,' starring Harrison Ford and Rachel McAdams as bickering co-anchors on a TV morning show।

http://insidemovies.moviefone.com/2009/10/09/star-trek-2-mission-impossible-4-news-jj-abrams/