This morning we will have the sad news of Roberto Orci’s death. The filmmaker, born in Mexico City in 1973, mixed up Hollywood from the early 2000s and finally became one of the most influential names in the blockbuster business. As a screenwriter and producer, he worked on franchises such as mission: Impossible, Star Trek, Transformers and The Amazing Spider-Man.
Orci has now died of the consequences of kidney disease in Los Angeles at the age of 51, as Deadline unanimously reports on other sides of the industry. In his statement his brother Jr Orci writes:
He was a visionary storyteller with a limitless heart and a beautiful soul. Beyond his creative talents, he was a compassionate friend who put his life on ice to help a stranger and to find space in his house for the most overlooked puppy in the shelter.
At this point you will find an external content of Twitterthat adds the article. You can have it displayed with one click and hide it again.
From Hercules and Xena to Transformers and Star Trek: Roberto Orcis remarkable Hollywood career
From the earliest moments of his career, Roberto Orci demonstrated a knack for franchises and epic stories. He earned the first spores in the late 1990s at the Fantasy series Hercules and Xena-the warrior princess. This was followed by the jump to the large screen and the blockbuster cinema.
Orci has largely accompanied two directors on his Hollywood trip. He worked with Michael Bay in the course of the island and was then significantly involved in the launch of the Transformers series. After the successful start, he returned as a screenwriter for Transformers – the revenge.
The second big sci-fi franchise, which he brought into new life in the cinema, was Star Trek directed by JJ Abrams, with whom he had previously missed mission: Impossible 3. A continuation followed here too: Star Trek Into Darkness. In the third part, Orci only acted as an executive producer.
Not only Michael Bay and JJ Abrams: Where Roberto Orci was, Alex Kurtzman could not be far
Bay and Abrams are the big director names that line the path of Orci’s career. However, his most important ally in Hollywood was someone else: Alex Kurtzman, also a screenwriter and producer. Hardly any other author duo has determined the blockbuster cinema of the past two decades so much.
Already at the Department Thriller series alias produced by Abrams-the agent appears Orci and Kurtzman in the credits. Mission: Impossible, Star Trek and Transformers-the two were inseparable from each other for a long time and should finally also create Sony’s Spider-Man universe with Andrew Garfield.
Her preparatory work is clearly recognizable in the Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro, which prepares numerous spin-offs and sequels. After the second part, however, it was over again. Sony pulled the plug to the ambitious company and decided on another reboot – this time embedded in the MCU.
Roberto Orci shaped the blockbuster cinema and never forgot its roots on television
Apart from his work in the cinema, where he also told Kurtzman the legend of Zorro and the sci-fi western Cowboys & Aliens, Orci remained loyal to his TV roots over the entire course of his career. As a co-creator, he brought long-lasting series such as Fringe-borderline cases of the FBI, Hawaii Five-0 and Sleepy Hollow.
After Orci had gained a foot as a screenwriter and producer in Hollywood, he considered – just like Kurtzman – to take the step towards directing. While Kurtzman brought the mummy to the screen with Tom Cruise, Orci was under discussion for Star Trek Beyond. In the end, these ambitions remained unfulfilled.