Zachary Quinto believes 'Star Trek 3' will begin shooting within the next six months.
The 37-year-old actor - who has also appeared in the popular sci-fi show 'Heroes' - has confirmed he expects to return to the iconic role of Spock shortly.
When asked how close the cast are to filming 'Star Trek 3', Quinto told NBC: "I think it's on the horizon.
"Things are rumbling, so I have a feeling that we will be in production sometime in the next six months."
Quinto is expected to appear in the much-anticipated movie alongside Chris Pine and Zoe Saldana.
Meanwhile, Roberto Orci - who helped write JJ Abrams's two 'Star Trek' films with Alex Kurtzman - is in line to direct the new flick.
Last month, Orci - who is writing the script alongside John D. Payne and Patrick McKay - said an initial draft of the script has been completed.
He has also expressed an interest in directing the film, telling Collider: "I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch. The studio has yet to even read the script. I'm in the middle of writing it, with the talented team of [John D.] Payne and [Patrick] McKay.
"They are true Star Trek fans, as well. So, I can't even think anything about the future until I give them a script and they greenlight it. Until that happens, everything else is just a rumour."

Ryan Thomas and Amy Jackson are "very happy" together.
The 'Coronation Street' actor began dating the Bollywood star in April this year, revealing the news via a number of Instagram snaps in which they were seen kissing, and he's now spoken out to say they are still "very happy" in their relationship.
Writing on Twitter he said: "@i_am_amyjackson and I haven't split up - We are very happy together! #fact (sic)."
The 30-year-old soap hunk first met Amy, 23 - who is "currently in India promoting her latest Bollywood blockbuster" - when he was judging a Miss England competition in which she was taking part in, in 2010.
However, despite his comments, it was rumoured the pair had hit a rocky patch in their relationship this month due to their hectic work schedules.
A source told The Sun newspaper: "Things suddenly started to go wrong between them in the past few weeks. It was to do with their busy work schedules - they hardly saw each other.
"Amy is also quite a bit younger than Ryan and maybe wasn't ready for a serious relationship."

Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis visited the set of 'Downton Abbey'.
The showbiz couple - who are expecting their first child together - took a trip to the set of the ITV period drama during the making of the upcoming fifth series, which will kicks off this weekend.
Michelle Dockery - who plays Lady Mary Crawley in the hit programme - revealed that she was overjoyed when she found out that the Hollywood superstars would be coming down to the set, saying that they are huge fans of the show.
She told Radio Times magazine: "It's true Mila and Ashton came to visit us on set. They're big fans and were lovely!"
Ashton, 36, and Mila, 31, aren't the only celebrity fans of the show, however.
J.J. Abrams, who is famed for directing 'Star Trek' and the upcoming 'Star Wars: Episode VII', has previously declared his soft spot for the programme and last June, 'The Honourable Woman' actress Maggie Gyllenhaal expressed her desire to join the programme's cast.
Meanwhile, Michelle suggested it might be tough for new cast members joining 'Downton' because the original cast are all so close.
She explained: "We're all like a family on the show. Hugh Bonneville plays my father, which is weird because he's just my mate!"
The fifth series of 'Downton Abbey' begins on ITV at 9pm on September 21.

Rob Lowe got sober so he would stop cheating on his wife.
The 50-year-old actor has endured a turbulent personal life that has seen him capture negative headlines - including for an infamous sex tape in the late 1980s - but he says his love life has calmed down ever since he became sober.
Lowe - who married his wife Sheryl Berkoff in 1991 - explained to Haute Living magazine: "I had met my now wife, Sheryl, and was attempting my first try at monogamy, which was not really in my nature at the time, and I wasn't able to do it.
The 'West Wing actor added: "It made me examine how I was living."
Lowe suffered from alcohol and sex addictions, both of which led to him entering rehab in the late 1990s.
And having been sober for a sustained period of time, he says it's had a positive impact on his life.
Meanwhile, Lowe - who has been talked of as a potential politician in the US - recently confessed that he no longer harbours any aspirations in that sphere.
He told the New York Times newspaper: "The tenor in this country is so - I can't think of any other word than 'gross' . . . [running] would be hard to do.
"For the first time in my life . . . I don't idealise or romanticise running for office and that's really sad."

Miley Cyrus has posed naked for a magazine shoot.
The 21-year-old singer - who has attracted widespread controversy for her outrageous antics in recent times - is pictured in the 91st edition of V Magazine, entitled 'The Rebel Issue', wearing a furry blue cut-out bathing suit surrounded by stuffed animals.
She told the magazine: "I know that I'm not a pop pop dumb dumb.
"I'm a lot more than someone who just goes and shakes her ass onstage. I think it's kind of funny to mess with people and rile them up, because I'm actually the most chill person and it's just funny to watch the world get out of their minds over things that are so irrelevant and don't matter."
The naked photo - which is shot for fashion brand Karl Lagerfeld - is accompanied by a quote from the designer that reads: "Your body is youth incarnate. I think, in fact, you are a very decent girl and well educated, you just like to provoke. What is more fun than to shock the bourgeois anyway?"
This comes shortly after the 'Wrecking Ball' singer posted a picture of herself in the shower with only a love heart to cover her bum.

Jessica Brown Findlay's ex-boyfriend feels "really sorry" for her after intimate footage and photos of the actress were published online.
The former 'Downton Abbey' actress was one of a number of celebrities who had their Apple iCloud accounts hacked earlier this month, and her former partner Thomas Campbell - who is not the unnamed man featured in the clips - thinks it is very "embarrassing" to have such intimate "love messages" made public.
He told The Daily Telegraph newspaper: "It was a huge invasion of privacy, I feel really sorry for her. The video was nothing to do with me, I haven't even seen it. But I do hope that anybody who sees it understands that grown adults do stuff for them that they don't expect the world to see.
"Anyone's private love messages, whether they are visual or just text, is always embarrassing if a third party sees or reads it. You don't even want your best mate to see your girlfriend in that way."
As well as Jessica, victims of the hack - dubbed 'The Fappening' - included Kate Upton, Jennifer Lawrence, Kirsten Dunst and Kaley Cuoco.
In the wake of the leak, a spokesperson for Jennifer, 24, confirmed the authenticity in a statement which threatened: "This is a flagrant violation of privacy. The authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence."

Terry Gilliam says he got to make his film 'The Zero Theorem' because his friends in the movie business worked for low pay.
The sci-fi movie - released last year - had a relatively small budget compared to many movies in the genre and he wouldn't have been able to make it with the cast he had if it wasn't for stars such as Matt Damon, Tilda Swinton and Christoph Waltz working for basic pay.
During an appearance on 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon', he revealed: "'The Zero Theorem' began as a big project, but it became a much cheaper big project. I don't want to reveal the figure because people will then think it's not very good or elaborate or expensive ... we did it for a fraction of what the original price was and we were basically relying on friends like Matt Damon, Tilda Swinton, Ben Whishaw, people like that to come in for scale, basic scale and that's what they did. Christoph Waltz is amazing."
Gilliam, 73, is not deterred from taking on difficult projects and recently revealed he is returning to his much-troubled 'The Man Who Killed Don Quixote'.
The Monty Python member will start shooting the movie - which is inspired by Miguel De Cervantes' 17th Century Spanish classic novel 'Don Quixote' - shortly after Christmas, but it is unclear id Johnny Depp will return to the project after filming initial scenes years ago.
Gilliam said: "I keep incorporating my own life into it and shifting it. The basic underlying premise of the version Johnny was involved in was that he actually was going to be transported back to the 17th century.
"And now it all takes place now, it's contemporary. It's more about how movies can damage people.
"I've done it so many times - or not done it so many times - I'll believe it when I see it. However, I'm behaving as if it's all going to happen as planned."

Dylan Penn wants to be a director one day.
The 23-year-old stunner - the daughter of Sean Penn and Robin Wright - is set to make her acting debut in the horror movie 'Condemned' next year and she's also got her heart set on writing a script and taking control of a film's artistic and dramatic aspects in the future.
Speaking in Vanity Fair magazine, she said: "I never thought about it [acting]. I like to write and I would love to be a screenwriter one day and a director. I've been writing my whole life and I try to write a little bit every day, but I don't think I'm ready to have people read what I write. I still need to work a lot on it."
The blonde beauty, who had always ruled out breaking into the acting business, admits she was drawn to the movie after meeting with director Eli Morgan Gesner.
She said previously: "It just seemed like it would be so much fun to make and I really wanted my first experience to be just that. Plus, three weeks in New York...in the spring...and getting paid for it?! F**k yes!"

Liam Neeson is scared of heights.
The 62-year-old actor admits he suffers from acrophobia and can't even manage to stand on a chair to fix a bulb in a lamp because of the extreme fear, but he insists he's not embarrassed by it because everyone has their own weaknesses.
Speaking to PEOPLE.com, he said: "I'm a wimp about heights. I just am.
"We're all just human, aren't we? Somebody might freak out over a snake or a spider. I don't - I pick spiders up and put them outside and stuff. But put me on a chair to fix a lamp or something and then, boom."
Meanwhile, the hunky star - who has sons Micheál, 19, and Daniel, 18, with his late wife Natasha Richardson - has become a fixture in adrenaline-fuelled blockbusters like 'Taken', and admits he's not ready to retire just yet and is trying to make the most of the exciting roles.
He explained: "It's like being a kid in a toyshop. They're offering them ... I try and do the good ones.
"It's not going to last forever, so I'm hanging out while the sun's shining."

Justin Bieber has reportedly asked Selena Gomez to move in with him.
The 20-year-old singer recently rekindled his on/off relationship with the 'Come & Get It' hitmaker and is now keen to take their relationship to the next level by asking her to live in his Los Angeles pad with him.
A source told the HollywoodLife.com: "Selena and Justin are a hundred percent together right now, he's asked her to move in with him and she couldn't be happier. She's still being cautious, she's not going to give up her place, that way if anything goes wrong or if she decides she needs some space, she'll have her own spot to go to. But, officially she's going to be living with him. It's a huge step."
The couple first started dating in 2010 and called time on their romance in 2012, but sparked rumours early last year that they'd reunited, before Selena, 22, confirmed she was single in November 2013.
However, the pair appeared to have struck up their turbulent relationship once more in January this year, before splitting in April over Justin's alleged flirtatious antics with reality TV star Kylie Jenner, 17, at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California.
Since then, Justin has been pulling out all of the stops to try and win back the 'Spring Breakers' star and even took her horse-back riding in Canada last month.
It appears Justin's gestures worked on the brunette beauty as he confirmed during a deposition last week that they were giving their relationship another go.

Jada Pinkett Smith believes putting "trust" in her children is the best form of parenting.
The 42-year-old actress doesn't punish Jaden, 17, and Willow, 13, whom she has with husband Will Smith, when they misbehave because she wants them to learn from their own mistakes while they're still young.
Speaking in the October issue of Health magazine, Jada - who is also a step-mother to Will's 21-year-old son Trey - said: "People have always got on us about not punishing the kids, and let me just talk to you about that for a minute. We raised three kids before Willow and Jaden, and especially on my goddaughter, I put so many boundaries on her, 'No, you can't do that, you can't do this.' And everything I tried to control, every freaking thing I was trying to avoid, happened.
"I learned a lot from that experience and realised that while Willow and Jaden are still with me and have a safety net, I want to give them the opportunity to make mistakes and learn how to put boundaries on themselves. So by the time they're out of the house, they fly."
Meanwhile, the stunning star admits she's not worried by the process of ageing and thinks the most important thing is to have beauty from within.
She explained: "I've never looked at myself as, like, a beauty. I'm not sore on the eye, but I know there's always going to be somebody more beautiful--always.
"My grandmother used to say to me, 'It's not about what you look like on the outside. It's what you look like on the inside.'
"So she helped me learn at an early age to be well-rounded, to be spiritual, to be compassionate."

Kate Hudson has claimed she can see ghosts.
The 35-year-old actress believes she and her mother Goldie Hawn, 68, have the ability to feel the presence of people who have passed away.
Speaking on Britain's TV show 'Alan Carr: Chatty Man,' she said: "Me and my mum Goldie can see dead people. It is not really seeing, it is feeling a spirit.
"A fifth energy. I believe in energy. I believe our brains can manifest into visual things.
"When you see something, you are supposed to tell the energy what year it is and that they don't belong there."
However, the blonde beauty admits she was shocked when she once saw a "ghost of a woman with no face."
She added: "That was really creepy."
Meanwhile, the 'Almost Famous' star, who has three-year-old son Bingham with fiancé Matthew Bellamy and Ryder, 10, from her previous marriage, admits she swears quite a lot, but she's learning to curb it by throwing money into a pot every time she curses.
She explained: "I can be a potty mouth. If I throw out an F-bomb it is £5 in the pot. I have three brothers and they are good with language - and my son now is collecting so much."