1) They don't know if J.J. Abrams is directing the sequel because he is still undecided. 2) They want to finish writing the sequel before Christmas. 3) Paramount wants to begin filming the sequel as soon as possible. 4) The screenwriting duo have been paying attention to what fans are saying online.

"The exploration sci-fi plot where the unknown and nature itself is somehow an adversary or the villain model. That's an active discussion we're having right now. In terms of thinking about more than one movie, we want the movie to be self-contained in a way, but we're discussing the idea of having a couple of threads where if the second movie works, you could pick up into a cohesive whole. There was no thread more exciting or shocking for me when in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock were you realize that Spock grabbed Bones and downloaded his Katra into him. When I saw Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, I was like, "What's going on here?" Two years later, you're watching it and you're like "They're geniuses! They're geniuses!" So we're trying to think if there's a version of that. But again, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan does not rely on that thread, even though it turns out to be a thread. So we're thinking in those terms.