With J.J. Abrams hard at work on 'Star Wars: Episode VII' to meet a December 2015 release deadline, someone has to step up and direct 'Star Trek 3.' Plenty of names have been tossed about as potential replacements, and now we can add a new one to the running: 'Attack the Block' director Joe Cornish, which might be the best possible choice we've heard so far.

Deadline reports that Paramount is currently eyeing director Joe Cornish to helm 'Star Trek 3.' Cornish made his feature debut with 'Attack the Block,' a film about British street kids battling an alien invasion -- the movie had a small budget but Cornish produced some rather spectacular effects, making him just the kind of director a studio might want for an effects-heavy sci-fi flick. Cornish also co-wrote Edgar Wright's upcoming 'Ant-Man' film for Marvel.

J.J. Abrams will still produce 'Star Trek 3,' but with his hands tied on the new 'Star Wars' film for Disney (and especially following the recent announcement that the film will not be pushed back to 2016), Paramount needs to pick a new director for 'Trek' and fast -- that film is scheduled to begin shooting next summer, and that director's chair is looking pretty empty.

While Cornish is still just a rumor at this time, his name is probably the most interesting and exciting one we've heard in relation to 'Trek' -- while we'd love to see him continue to make original films, he might bring the sort of intimacy and humanity the 'Trek' films are kind of lacking.

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