Roberto Orci | |
|---|---|
 Orci in 2014 | |
| Born | Roberto Gaston Orcí (1973-07-20)July 20, 1973 Mexico City, Mexico |
| Died | February 25, 2025(2025-02-25) (aged 51) Los Angeles,California, U.S. |
| Other names | Bob Orci |
| Alma mater | University of Texas at AustinSpring Woods Senior High School |
| Occupation(s) | Screenwriter, producer |
| Years active | 1997–2025 |
| Spouses | |
| Relatives | J. R. Orci (brother) |
Roberto Gaston Orcí (July 20, 1973 – February 25, 2025) was a Mexican-American film and television screenwriter and producer.
Born inMexico City, Orci began his longtime collaboration withAlex Kurtzman while at school in California. Together they were employed on television series such asHercules: The Legendary Journeys andXena: Warrior Princess. In 2008, together withJ. J. Abrams, they createdFringe. In 2013, they createdSleepy Hollow alongside Phillip Iscove. Orci and Kurtzman's first film project wasMichael Bay'sThe Island, and due to that partnership they went on to write the scripts for the first two films of theTransformers film series. Orci first became a film producer with 2008'sEagle Eye and again with 2009'sThe Proposal.
Orci and Kurtzman subsequently returned to working with Abrams onMission: Impossible III and bothStar Trek andStar Trek Into Darkness. Between 2005 and 2011, Kurtzman and Orci's film projects took revenues of more than $3 billion. In April 2014, Orci and Kurtzman announced that they would only collaborate on television projects, and Orci worked on the thirdStar Trek film,Star Trek Beyond, until being replaced the following December. Orci created the television seriesMatador for theEl Rey Network, but after this was initially renewed, it was cancelled at the end of the first season. Orci continued and Kurtzman continues to work as producers on the television seriesLimitless andScorpion. Orci was awarded the Norman Lear Writer's Award and theRaul Julia Award for Excellence, in addition to shared awards and nominations includingThe George Pal Memorial Award.
Roberto Gaston Orcí was born inMexico City on July 20, 1973,[1][2] to a Mexican father and a Cuban mother.[1] Orci grew up in Mexico, and moved with his family to the United States at the age of 10.[3]
He met his longtime friend and collaboratorAlex Kurtzman when both were 17-year-old students atCrossroads, a private school inSanta Monica, California.[4] The first time they came across each other was in a film class,[5] where they discovered each other's love for films and in particular theSteven Soderbergh filmSex, Lies, and Videotape.[6] The duo found that they had a number of things in common, as Kurtzman had previously lived in Mexico City and the two could relate. Orci later called him an "honorary Hispanic".[7] Orci went on to attend theUniversity of Texas at Austin.[4] The duo got together once again, and began to write scripts. These included one calledMisfortune Cookies which Orci described as "loosely autobiographical",[8] andLast Kiss, which Kurtzman said was their version ofThe Breakfast Club but was set in alunatic asylum.[8]
Orci and Kurtzman began their writing collaboration on the television seriesHercules: The Legendary Journeys,[9] after being hired bySam Raimi.[8] After actorKevin Sorbo suffered a stroke, the duo were required to come up with inventive ideas to minimize his appearances on screen. Due to this work, they becameshow runners at the age of 24.[9] They were also involved in the sister-series toHercules,Xena: Warrior Princess.[8] They sought to move to writing for a network-based television series, but found this difficult. After receiving a series of negative responses, they met withJ. J. Abrams who was starting work onAlias at the time. The meeting went well, and resulted in them working on the series.[10] They would go on to work together again on theFox science fiction seriesFringe where all three were listed as co-creators.[11]
Orci and Kurtzman received their break in writing for films in 2004, with theMichael Bay filmThe Island,[9] for which they developed thespec script by Caspian Tredwell-Owen.[12] When Kurtzman and Orci first met Bay, he asked the pair "Why should I trust you?", to which Orci replied "You shouldn't yet. Let's see what happens."[13] While the film was not an overwhelming success, they were brought back for Bay's following film,Transformers, after producerSteven Spielberg asked them to come in for a meeting.[9][14] The movie took in $710 million at the box office.[9]
Following their work on that film, the duo were brought in to revise the script forZack Snyder'sWatchmen,[15] in an uncredited capacity.[16] They worked once more with Abrams, onMission: Impossible III.[17] When they collaborated once more with Bay forTransformers: Revenge of the Fallen, they were under significant time pressures due to the2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike. Kurtzman and Orci had two weeks to outline the film, and after the strike Bay had them moved into theHotel Casa del Mar. The hotel was six blocks away from his office, enabling Bay to conduct surprise inspections.[18]
In the period between 2005 and 2011, the films written by Kurtzman and Orci grossed more than $3 billion, leading toForbes describing them as "Hollywood's secret weapons".[9] The busyness of their screenwriting careers required them to collaborate with other writers due to the number of projects they were involved in. For example, onTransformers: Revenge of the Fallen, they teamed up withEhren Kruger,[8] who took over from them on the writing duties for theTransfomers franchise fromTransformers: Dark of the Moon onwards.[19]
Orci's first credit solely as a producer came with the filmEagle Eye, where he worked once again alongside Kurtzman. He said in an interview with the magazineExtra that he had previously been involved in productions where the producers had writing backgrounds and had looked to them for help, and he was happy to provide that same support to the writers onEagle Eye.[7] The director of the film,D. J. Caruso, praised the duo saying that "What's unusually cool about them is that they have maintained the producer-writer power that they earned in television and carried that over into the feature film area, and that is extremely rare."[20] Following their work onEagle Eye, they were executive producers on theSandra Bullock film,The Proposal.[20]
Despite their film careers, Orci andKurtzman continued to create television series. These includedSleepy Hollow, which they developed alongside Phillip Iscove. They pitched the series to a number of networks,[21] and it was picked up byFox.[22] Orci took five years to bring the seriesMatador to television, with it originating from a conversation with his cousin Andrew. It was created forRobert Rodriguez'sEl Rey Network, and Rodriguez's one demand of the show was that he could direct the pilot episode. Orci later explained in an interview that it was an easy decision, and he needed to pretend to consider it.[23]
Orci and Kurtzman also worked together as executive producers on the animated television series,Transformers: Prime, due to their involvement with the live action movies. Following the end of the series they were hopeful to be involved in a future animated series based on the premise, which Orci saw less like a reboot of the show and more of a continuation in a different guise. He felt that whilePrime was sophisticated, there were concerns that it was leaving younger viewers behind because of its complexity and intensity.[24]. In 2010 with Kurzman became producer of the reboot of Hawaii-50.
Orci and Kurtzman were asked to write the script for a newStar Trek film, but initially turned it down despite Orci being a fan of the series.[8] Orci suggested rebooting the timeline as seen previously in the films and television series,[25] and adding the return ofLeonard Nimoy asSpock fromStar Trek: The Original Series.[8] He considered the first two films in the reboot series to be the origin story for the crew, and that the third film would start where the crew was at the beginning ofStar Trek: The Original Series.[26] Orci felt that the relationship between theJames T. Kirk and the younger Spock was reflective of the partnership of himself and Kurtzman, he said that "We didn't even realize we were writing about ourselves until we were halfway through the script-that was a little embarrassing.”[20]Star Trek was profitable at the domestic box-office, resulting in a sequel beinggreenlit by the studio and Kurtzman and Orci being asked to write it.[27] The studio set aside a larger budget for the sequel, which was revealed by Orci in an interview with TrekMovie.com.[28] Orci ruled out the "hero quitting" staple of a second movie, which had featured in theTransformers sequel, saying that the crew of theEnterprise were committed and that type of story does not have to apply to all sequels.[29] During the buildup to the film, calledStar Trek Into Darkness, Orci was one of the production team who did not give much away about the villain in the film and denied thatBenedict Cumberbatch was to playKhan Noonian Singh.[30][31]
In April 2014, Orci and Kurtzman confirmed toVariety that they were no longer going to work together on film projects but will still collaborate on television.[11][32] Kurtzman wanted to work on theSpider-Man film franchise, while Orci was linked to the directorial role forStar Trek 3.[11] Orci confirmed later that year in July that he was not involved in the production ofThe Amazing Spider-Man 3 alongside Kurtzman.[33] Orci and Kurtzman's K/O Paper Products continues to operate as a production company withinCBS Television Studios, and has created the seriesScorpion inspired by the life ofWalter O'Brien for the 2014–15 season andLimitless was created for the 2015–16 season from the 2011film.[34][35]
Prior to the split of Kurtzman and Orci, the duo were lined up to write thethird film in the newStar Trek series.[36] In May 2014, Skydance andParamount Pictures announced that Orci was to direct the third installment of theStar Trek reboot franchise,[37] after Abrams moved on to directStar Wars: The Force Awakens. This would have marked Orci's directorial debut, and he was to write the script alongside co-writers JD Payne andPatrick McKay.[38] Due to his commitment toStar Trek 3, he dropped out of a newPower Rangers film, for which he would have been executive producer.[39] But on December 5, it was announced he would no longer be directing theStar Trek film.[40] He remains credited as a producer on the film,[41] and was replaced byDoug Jung and cast member Simon Pegg as the script writers after Orci's initial script was dropped.[42][43] Orci was replaced as director byJustin Lin, who had previously directed films inThe Fast and the Furious franchise.[42]
Orci createdMatador with the idea that the main character would be a "soccer player by day who is a spy by night", and called him a "LatinJames Bond". The series was broadcast on theEl Rey Network created byRobert Rodriguez. It was renewed for a second season shortly before the pilot was broadcast,[3] which had been directed by Rodriguez. But following the production of the first season, the series was cancelled despite the earlier renewal. This decision was blamed on poor international sales.[44]
In March 2020, it was reported that Roberto Orci was hired by Sony to write a script for an untitledMarvel film that would be set inSony's Spider-Man Universe.[45]
Orci's first wife was actress Melissa Blake. Blake filed for divorce in July 2016, and the divorce was settled in March 2020.[46] Orci married actress and screenwriter Adele Heather Taylor on June 6, 2020, in a private ceremony. They worked together as screenwriters and producers. Orci filed for divorce in January 2023.[47]
In August 2024, Taylor filed a lawsuit accusing Orci of physical and sexual abuse. Orci, however, stated that Taylor was physically and financially abusive to him, havingtased him, attacked him with a baseball bat, and attempted to strangle him, all in incidents reported to the police.[48][49]
Orci died from kidney disease at his Los Angeles home, on February 25, 2025, at the age of 51.[50]
The Hollywood Reporter listed Orci as one of the 50 most powerful Latinos in Hollywood of 2007.[51] His first solo accolade was the Norman Lear Writer's Award at theImagen Awards in 2009. He described the experience of receiving an award without Kurtzman as "bizarre".[5] Orci was also awarded the Raul Julia Award for Excellence by the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts.[52] Together with Kurtzman, Orci wonThe George Pal Memorial Award at the 2010Saturn Awards.[53]
Orci and Kurtzman were both honored by the nonprofit organization Chrysalis at the Butterfly Ball on June 8, 2013. The organization raises money forhomeless people and low-income families, Orci said that "When you hear the life stories from people right here in our own community, who are clients at Chrysalis, and when you come to learn of their lowest moments and how Chrysalis has led to their proudest triumphs, it's easy to see why this local organization is so impactful."[54]
In 2017, Orci was the recipient of the Visionary Impact Award by theNational Hispanic Media Coalition.[55] This award is given out by the organization for "Latinos making outstanding contributions to the positive portrayals of Latinos in film and TV".[56]
| Year | Title | Credited as | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Screenwriter | Producer | |||
| 2005 | The Island | Yes | No | Co-wrote withAlex Kurtzman and Caspian Tredwell-Owen[57] |
| The Legend of Zorro | Yes[58] | No | Co-wrote with Alex Kurtzman,Ted Elliott andTerry Rossio | |
| 2006 | Mission: Impossible III | Yes | No | Co-wrote withJ. J. Abrams and Alex Kurtzman[59] |
| 2007 | Transformers | Yes | No | Co-wrote with Alex Kurtzman andJohn Rogers[60] |
| 2008 | Eagle Eye | No | Yes[7] | |
| 2009 | Watchmen | Yes | No | Uncredited script polish[61] |
| Star Trek | Yes[5] | Executive | Co-wrote with Alex Kurtzman | |
| Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | Yes[5][62] | No | Co-wrote withEhren Kruger and Alex Kurtzman | |
| The Proposal | No | Executive[20] | ||
| 2011 | Cowboys & Aliens | Yes[63] | Yes | Co-wrote with Alex Kurtzman,Damon Lindelof,Steve Oedekerk,Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby |
| 2012 | People Like Us | Yes[64] | Yes | Co-wrote with Alex Kurtzman and Jody Lambert |
| 2013 | Star Trek Into Darkness | Yes[65] | Yes | Co-wrote with Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof |
| Now You See Me | No | Yes[50] | ||
| Ender's Game | No | Yes[66] | ||
| 2014 | The Amazing Spider-Man 2 | Yes | Executive[67] | Co-wrote with Alex Kurtzman,Jeff Pinkner andJames Vanderbilt |
| 2016 | Now You See Me 2 | No | Yes[68] | |
| Star Trek Beyond | Uncredited[69] | Yes | ||
| 2017 | The Mummy | Uncredited | Executive[70] | |
| Year | TV Program | Credit | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–1998 | Hercules: The Legendary Journeys | Writer, co-executive producer | [9] | |
| 1999–2000 | Xena: Warrior Princess | Writer, co-executive producer, creative consultant | [8] | |
| 2000 | Jack of All Trades | Writer, executive producer | [23] | |
| 2001–2006 | Alias | Writer, supervising producer, co-executive producer, executive producer | [11] | |
| 2004 | The Secret Service | Co-creator, co-writer, executive producer | Pilot | [71] |
| 2008–2013 | Fringe | Co-creator, writer, executive producer, consulting producer |
| [11][72][73] |
| 2010–2013 | Transformers: Prime | Executive producer |
| [24][74] |
| 2010–2020 | Hawaii Five-0 | Developer, writer, executive producer | [75] | |
| 2011 | Locke & Key | Co-creator, co-writer, executive producer, editor | Pilot | [76] |
| Exit Strategy | Co-creator, co-writer, executive producer, editor | Pilot | [77] | |
| 2013–2017 | Sleepy Hollow | Co-creator, co-writer, executive producer, editor | [21] | |
| 2014 | Matador | Co-creator, co-writer, executive producer | [23] | |
| Scorpion | Executive producer | [78] | ||
| 2015–2016 | Limitless | Executive producer | [79] |
Kurtzman and Orci [...] did some uncredited re-writing on "Watchmen."
