Last week a nasty rumor started circulating in connection with the new Star Trek movie that’s supposed to be somewhere in the middle of pre-production. The guys over at The Latino Review posted a story which said J.J. Abrams was leaving the Star Trek XI project at Paramount. The rumor was debunked almost as quickly as it was posted (by Abrams himself), so we never bothered reporting it.

But now, even after J.J. Abrams has come out and said the rumor is flat out false, the guys over at the usually reliable Latino Review are sticking by their original story. Basically, they’re accusing Abrams of flat out lying. So what’s really going on?

Well it’s possible that LR may have simply had the rumor only half right.

Tonight the guys over at IGN ran an interview with Abrams’ buddy and ‘Heroes’ star Greg Grunberg in which he backs up J.J.’s claim that he’s sticking with the film. He says when he talked to J.J. last week, Abrams was still working away on the script. Grunberg expects to get a copy of it soon, so clearly Abrams is still working on the film. He’s involved as a producer and a writer, but he’s never committed to directing it, and perhaps that’s where the Abrams departure rumor comes from.

In that same interview with IGN Grunberg says Abrams told him he’s still not sure whether or not he’s directing it. In a recent article in The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Abrams is still undecided and should make his decision this week.

It could be that the rumor LR is sticking by pertains simply to whether or not Abrams is directing the movie, not whether he’ll continue to be involved in it. Whatever happens, it looks like this week is a nexus for Star Trek XI. Keep clicking back here for the latest on big decisions regarding the film’s future.