J.J. Abrams wouldn't direct the most recent Mission: Impossible film, although it was produced under his Bad Robot shingle. But it seems that only Abrams can take on Capt. Kirk and the Enterprise.

Abrams has confirmed he will indeed direct "Star Trek 2," the sequel to his 2009 film, when production begins later this year.

Returning to write the script are Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, joined by "Lost" producer Damon Lindelof. Kurtzman and Orci have been busy on a number of projects, mostly in television, including shows like "Fringe" on Fox and "Hawaii Five-0" for CBS.

Kurtzman was also busy being a director himself, taking his first stab at "Welcome to People" from DreamWorks. Now that it's done, he can focus more on "Star Trek 2."

One big difference for Abrams this time around is that if there needs to be any script modifications during filming, he'll actually be able to do it. He was restricted when filming the first "Star Trek" film, because of the writer's strike at the time.

Now with a director on board, and what appears to be a finished script, fans are getting excited to see the next film. However, because the sequel is getting underway much later than expected, the earliest anyone could even expect to see the film is Christmas 2012. But Paramount is expecting a repeat of the first film, and wants this to be a summer tentpole, so expect the next Star Trek film in Summer 2013.

The film will star Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, John Cho and Zoe Saldana.

The release date for the 'Trek' follow-up will now be next December at the earliest or early Summer 2013.