Abrams, Lindelof Plan Continued Involvement In Other Projects

Lost executive producer Damon Lindelof will be joining series creator J.J. Abrams as a producer of the upcoming eleventh Star Trek feature film, though he told TV Guide that "Lost continues to be my full-time job next year and any involvement I have in Star Trek will obviously be secondary to my day job."

Speaking to Michael Ausiello of the "Ask Ausiello" column, Lindelof - who confessed to reading the column - said that he had "no intention whatsoever of stepping back" his involvement in Lost and planned to keep working with fellow executive producer Carlton Cuse.

"Rumors about the extent to which Star Trek is going to influence Lost are wildly exaggerated," laughed Cuse. "Damon and I are fully committed to running Lost together next year."

With Abrams' other hit series Alias leaving broadcast, Lindelof added that the director had talked about becoming more involved in Lost again, "but obviously that will be a byproduct of his own availability." They expected Abrams to be more in demand after the release of his Mission: Impossible 3 which Lindelof expects to "make gazonks of money."

As for Lost itself, Lindelof explained that this season's cliffhanger is code-named "The Challah" - "some kind of Jewish bread", as explained by Ausiello - since last year's finale was called "The Bagel" and "we're sticking with Jewish bakery products. Next year will probably be 'The Matzoh.'" However, he denied that the dog Vincent would have his own flashback episode, joking along with Cuse that the actor is too unprofessional.

Abrams himself has kept relatively quiet about his plans for the Star Trek film, but another actor has chimed in to express enthusiasm for his involvement (story). Speaking to The IESB, Robert Picardo (The Doctor) called Abrams' production plans "very exciting" and said, "J.J. Abrams is not only a terrific talent...I think that Star Trek needs someone to inject new enthusiasm and blood."

Picardo felt that a prequel film might be "a dicey choice" because the audience will know that the main characters survive whatever jeopardy they face, but added that Abrams is "a very smart man" and will undoubtedly make a well-executed film.

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