Paramount Pictures is still in early development on Star Trek 2, and now it seems that director J.J. Abrams is finally ready to commit to the sequel. However, Paramount is ditching the planned July 29, 2012 release for Star Trek 2, handing that release date over to G.I. Joe 2: Cobra Strikes.

G.I. Joe 2: Cobra Strikes has recently landed cast members such as Ray Stevenson as Firefly, Adrianne Palicki as Lady Jaye, and Joseph Mazzello as Mouse. Jon M. Chu is directing G.I. Joe 2: Cobra Strikes from a screenplay by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick.

J.J. Abrams has just returned from a vacation and is working with screenwriters Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof, to lock down the Star Trek 2 script for a January production start. J.J. Abrams hasn't officially signed his deal to direct Star Trek 2, and has not approved the script yet. However, Paramount has exercised its options on the cast members, which means Chris Pine will return as Captain Kirk before he shoots the Untitled Jack Ryan Project.

No concrete release plans have been made for Star Trek 2 yet, although the studio is considering either a late 2012 or summer 2013 release for the sci-fi sequel.