When Roberto Orci backed out of directing the highly-anticipated Star Trek 3 back in December, many fans were worried that the sequel may not be able to hit its intended 2016 release date, which coincides with the 50th Anniversary of the original Star Trek. The movie is back on the right track now, with Justin Lin set to direct and actor Simon Pegg co-writing the script with Doug Jung. While doing press for his dark comedy Kill Me Three Times, in theaters April 10, Simon Pegg revealed that he was approached to write the script by producers J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk, while they were all shooting Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation:

"It just came out of conversations I was having with J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk, and they decided to kind of like restart the process. Because I'd been on the set with Burk-y on Mission: Impossible, he said, 'Maybe you should come on and write it with Doug and Justin and him and Lindsey Weber. And I was a bit, 'No. I don't want to - it's too much pressure!'"

Now that he is working on the script, the actor/writer revealed that he wants this sequel to have the same spirit as the original Star Trek TV series.

"But I think we just want to take it forward with the spirit of the TV show. And it's a story about frontierism and adventure and optimism and fun, and that's where we want to take it, you know. Where no man has gone before - where no one has gone before, sensibly corrected for a slighter more enlightened generation. But yeah, that's the mood at the moment."

Star Trek 3 currently has a July 8, 2016 release date in place, but it isn't know when production may begin. We reported yesterday that Idris Elba is in early talks to play the main villain, but no details were given about his character. Simon Pegg will also be back as Scotty alongside Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness stars Chris Pine (Captain Kirk), Zachary Quinto (Spock), Karl Urban (Bones), Zoe Saldana (Uhura) and Anton Yelchin (Chekov), who are all expected to return. What do you think about Simon Pegg's approach to Star Trek 3? Let us know what you think below, and stay tuned for more updates.