Roberto Orci, a writer and producer of hit films and television shows, died Tuesday at age 51.

Orci was a key figure behind some of the biggest blockbusters of the late 2000s, including the Transformers films and Star Trek reboots, and he also co-created the sci-fi thriller series Fringe with J.J. Abrams and Alex Kurtzman.

According to Variety, he died at his home in Los Angeles from kidney disease.

Orci was a collaborator going back decades with the writer and producer Kurtzman.

In the late 1990s, the two worked on the shows Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess, and they continued to collaborate until the end of Orci’s career.

The duo began as screenwriters on films including Michael Bay’s The Island (2005) and the following year’s Mission: Impossible III, which was directed an co-written by their frequent colalborator J.J. Abrams. 

Roberto Orci, a writer and producer of hit films and television shows, died at his home in Los Angeles on Tuesday at age 51. His cause of death was kidney disease, according to Variety

Orci and his regular writing and producing partner Alex Kurtzman worked on several major franchises in the late 2000s and 2010s, including the Transformers films; still from Bumblee

Orci was born in Mexico City to a Mexican father, Roberto Orci Sr., and Cuban mother, Macuqui Robau-Garcia, who later moved their family to the United States when he was 10.

His friendship with Kurtzman began when the two met while attending the Crossroads School in LA. 

The screenwriters, who were the same age, could boast that they were running their own shows at just 24.

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After working on Bruce Campbell’s short-lived series Jack Of All Trades, the two raised their profiles by writing and producing Alias — which was created by Abrams — beginning in 2001.

They collaborated with him again beginning in 2008 on Fringe, which they co-created, wrote and produced with Abrams.

Orci and Kurtzman then co-wrote the 2009 Star Trek reboot, while Abrams directed the blockbuster film.

 Orci and Kurtzman returned for its sequel Star Trek Into Darkness, as well as the Transformers sequel Revenge of the Fallen. 

Other films they wrote and produced included Cowboys & Aliens (2011), the drama People Like Us — which Kurtzman also directed — and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014).

But the two had a vaguely explained professional split in 2014, at which point they decided to stop working together on film projects but continued to work together in television.

Orci was born in Mexico City to a Mexican father and Cuban mother who later moved their family to the United States when he was 10

His friendship with Kurtzman began when the two met while attending the Crossroads School in LA after his family moved their from Mexico; Kurtzman (L) pictured with Patrick Stewart and Tom Ryan in 2023 in LA

One of their early film projects was Mission: Impossible III, which they co-wrote for director J.J. Abrams; Tom Cruise pictured in the 2006 film

In 2014, Orci and Kurtzman announced the would no longer work together on films but would continuing working together in TV, reportedly so they could pursue solo directing projects; still from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

Orci never made the jump to directing. He was announced to directed 2016 Star Trek Beyond in 2014, but he was replaced by Justin Lin and his script was rewritten; still from Star Trek (2009)

At the time, it was reported to be so that each could focus on directing separate film projects. 

The final film collaboration was after that split on The Mummy (2017), in which Orci performed some uncredited work on the script to the Tom Cruise–starring flop, which Kurtzman directed.

Orci never made his desired transition into directing films. 

He had originally been announced as the director of the third Star Trek remake film, Star Trek Beyond (2016) in 2014, but he was eventually replaced by Justin Lin, reportedly due to Paramount’s concerns about the shape of the film under his leadership. 

A draft he had written of the screenplay was also rewritten after his departure, and he went uncredited, though he was still credited as a producer on the film, which underperformed at the box office.

Last year, Orci and his estranged wife Adele Heather Taylor were involved in dueling legal actions after marrying in 2020 and separating in 2023.

In June of 2024, Orci sued his estranged wife. 

In the lawsuit, he admitted to being addicted to alcohol and claimed that Taylor had ᴀssaulted him repeatedly while he was intoxicated and manipulated him for her own financial benefit while his decision-making was affected by his addiction, according to Variety.

In June 2024, Orci sued his estranged wife Adele Heather Taylor, claiming she ᴀssaulted him and took advantage of him financially while he was battling an alcohol addiction; seen in 2017 in Beverly Hills

Taylor (pictured with Orci in 2021) filed a countersuit in August accusing her estranged husband of Sєxually ᴀssaulting her and beating her multiple times

In August, Taylor countersued him and accused him of beating and Sєxually ᴀssaulting her. 

She claimed that Orci suffered from bipolar disorder, which, in addition to his alcohol addiction, set off his alleged violent attacks against her. 

After Taylor filed her countersuit, Orci’s spokesperson said in a statement: ‘Ms. Taylor’s counterclaim is an attempt to retaliate against her husband with fabricated allegations after he got a restraining order against her, filed for divorce, and sued her in June for ᴀssault, battery, and financially abusing him when he was vulnerable and trying to get treatment for alcoholism.’

Taylor, who accused her estranged husband of beating her multiple times in her lawsuit, alleged that she made a recording of his threats to her after a final incident in which he allegedly ᴀssaulted her.

She claimed in her lawsuit that Orci filed for a restraining order after the incident before she had an opportunity to request one herself, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Orci is survived by his parents, Macuqui Robau-Garcia and Roberto Orci Sr., as well as his stepmother, Jeanine Orci, and three siblings: Courtney Ford, J.R. Orci and Taylor Orci.