Roberto Orci, ‘Star Trek,’ ‘Transformers’ and ‘Hawaii Five-0’ writer-producer, dies at 51

Roberto Orci, the producer and writer behind “Star Trek,” “Transformers” and several other action-adventure movies and the TV reboot “Hawaii Five-0,” died on Tuesday at his Los Angeles home of kidney disease. He was 51.

His manager, Mike De Trana at Anvil Entertainment, confirmed Orci’s death to The Times.

“He was a visionary storyteller with a boundless heart and a beautiful soul,” Orci’s brother, J.R. Orci, said in a statement. “But beyond his creative talents, he was a compassionate friend who would put his life on hold to help a stranger and find room in his home for the most overlooked pup at the shelter.”

The screenwriter and producer was born in Mexico City and lived there with his family before they moved to the U.S. when he was 9. He attended the Santa Monica-area Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences, where he met his longtime creative partner, Alex Kurtzman, in a film studies class.

The pair bonded over their mutual love for Steven Soderbergh’s 1989 indie film “sex, lies, and videotape,” and vowed to hitch their creative careers together.

The high school dreamers went on to become one of the most lucrative writing teams in Hollywood, collaborating on back-to-back blockbusters in the “Star Trek,” “Transformers” and “Spider-Man” franchises.

Orci got his start producing and writing alongside Kurtzman in the late 1990s and early aughts, hitting the ground running with television series including “Alias,” “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” and “Xena: Warrior Princess.”

They co-wrote the screenplay for the 2007 movie “Transformers,” which grossed more than $700 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.

Then, in 2009, the pair served as the executive producers and screenwriters for the highly anticipated film reboot of “Star Trek,” which put their careers into overdrive.

Orci told The Times in 2009 that halfway through reviving the adventures of Spock and Kirk, they realized they were also writing about themselves.

“We’re from different worlds, Alex was born here, and I was born in Mexico City and lived there until I was 9. Kirk and Spock are opposites from two worlds. That’s us in a nutshell,” he said. “We’re drawn to each by what each of us lacks. The story of this film is about two guys who are such opposites that they might end up strangling each other, but instead they bond and thrive together. That’s us. We can go warp speed together.”

After their “Star Trek” success, Orci and Kurtzman worked on many more hit films, including “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” “Locke & Key,” “Cowboys & Aliens” and “The Amazing Spider-Man 2.”

The pair amicably went their separate ways in April 2014, citing a desire to focus on different franchises, according to reporting from the Hollywood Reporter.

Orci then turned his attention back to the “Star Trek” franchise and was preparing to make his directorial debut on the third installment of the reboot. However, he stepped back from his role as a writer and director in December 2014 and ultimately only received a producing credit on the 2016 film “Start Trek Beyond.”

He continued to have a prolific career as a writer and a producer, working on film projects including “The Mummy” and “Now You See Me 2” and television series including “Limitless.”

He married actor and screenwriter Adele Heather Taylor in 2020.

The couple became estranged, and at the time of his death, they were engaged in dueling lawsuits, each accusing the other of physical abuse, according to reporting by Variety. In his 2024 lawsuit, Orci detailed his struggles with alcoholism, noting that he was hospitalized several times for related conditions and had undergone multiple stints in rehab.

Orci is survived by his father, Roberto Orci Sr.; his mother, Macuqui Robau-Garcia; and siblings J.R. Orci, Taylor Orci and Courtney Ford.