Roberto Orci is dead at the age of 51. The prolific writer/producer is best known for his work on Star Trek and Transformers.
It’s been announced that Roberto Orci, the writer/producer behind Star Trek and Transformers, is dead at the age of 51 after a battle with kidney disease.
“He was a visionary storyteller with a boundless heart and a beautiful soul,” Orci’s brother, J.R. Orci said. “But beyond his creative talents, he was a compassionate friend who would put his life on hold to help a stranger and find room in his home for the most overlooked pup at the shelter.“
Together with his writing partner Alex Kurtzman, Orci was involved in some of the biggest sci-fi/adventure movies and TV shows of the first two decades of the 2000s. After getting his start as a writer on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess, Orci made his big-screen writing debut on Michael Bay’s The Island, which he co-wrote with Kurtzman. The pair went on to write The Legend of Zorro, Mission: Impossible III, Transformers, Star Trek, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Cowboys & Aliens, People Like Us, Star Trek Into Darkness, and The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
Orci was a big Star Trek fan and was instrumental in resurrecting the franchise with the 2009 movie. The story which Orci and Kurtzman pitched to Paramount relied entirely on Leonard Nimoy agreeing to return as Spock, and Orci told Trek Movie in 2019 that they didn’t have a back-up plan. “There was never a plan B for me. Maybe Paramount had a plan B, but for me and Alex, it has to be Nimoy or bust and that is why that meeting with him was so pivotal,” Orci said. “His role had to be essential, otherwise, he wouldn’t have done it. So, to have a plan B would have been disrespectful to him, and the franchise. I didn’t know how else to do an in-canon reboot/sequel original story. If you have a plan B, then your plan A wasn’t so great.“
He’s also known for producing Eagle Eye, The Proposal, Now You See Me, Ender’s Game, Now You See Me 2, Star Trek Beyond, and The Mummy.
On the small screen, Orci served as a writer/producer on J.J. Abrams’s Alias, executive produced Transformers: Prime and was the co-creator of Fringe (one of my favourites) and Sleepy Hollow. He also developed the highly successful Hawaii Five-0 reboot alongside Kurtzman and Peter M. Lenkov. The series aired for ten seasons and even had crossovers with other shows, including NCIS: Los Angeles, MacGyver, and Magnum P.I.
Our thoughts go out to Orci’s family and loved ones during this terrible time. 51 is far too young.
