'Star Trek 3' in the hands of a first-time director : The reaction

News of Roberto Orci directing 'Star Trek 3' has not gone down well, with a backlash from fans of the sci-fi franchise who think he's not up to the task.

Orci, a well known writer is set to replace J.J Abrams on 'Star Trek 3' and although he has written many blockbuster scripts he has 0 directing experience, and therein lies the problem.

We saw how Universal lost over $150 million on '47 Ronin' after hiring a first time director to be the visionary for an enormous blockbuster, but here, we're talking about an established franchise. Is it really a good idea for the studios to be taking such enormous risks with their top-line talent? Fans on the forums have been critical, but Orci did get Abram's approval to direct claims The Wrap.

Trekkies on the Nerd Reactor were not sympathetic:

"His last few screens for major blockbusters have not gained a lot of fan love. Many fans were upset with his scripts for the previous Transformers films and the latest The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Within the new Star Trek series, the women were really not written all that well."

The LA Times highlighted the great risk:

"While Orci has worked on numerous blockbusters as a writer and producer, he represents a bit of a dice-roll for Paramount as a first-time director taking on such a massive film."

In another twist the Mary Sue blog pointed out :

"By hiring [Roberto] Orci Paramount made a statement: a man with no hands-on directing experience is preferable to a female director with any experience."

Film School Rejects was less critical about the choice but still points out the risk factor:

"To be blunt, there’s not much room for directorial authorship in these movies, and there may be none at all with a Part III.

But, okay, prevailing wisdom says it’s not smart to give a $200m budget film to a first timer. It also says that rookie directors will rely on their DPs and department heads heavily. With those competing ideas in mind, I’d be willing to bet that Orci will be learning on the job."

Rope of Silicon were particularly upset with this feedback :

"This news does nothing for me as Paramount has decided to hand the keys to Star Trek 3 to a man that has never directed a single television episode or feature film... Roberto Orci. I have no idea what they are thinking, particularly considering Star Trek Into Darkness was a massive letdown.."

Will Star Trek 3 triumph despite this pessimism or is the franchise really 'doomed'?