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News:
Star Trek News
June 28th 2010
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
There has been much news on projects involving William Shatner (original Kirk) this month. On June 15, Canada’s Movie Central Channel announced that they are partnering with Shatner’s production company, Melis Productions and Ballinran Productions Limited, to produce a feature length documentary about him, with the working title of "The Captains." This documentary will explore Shatner’s Montreal roots, his early career in Stratford, Ontario, as well as the circumstances that led to him earning the role of Captain Kirk. Shatner will also direct it and team up as executive producer with David Zappone and Craig Thompson. The following week, he told the Vancouver Sun newspaper that the documentary will not only be about him but also about all the captains in Star Trek. Shatner has already met with Scott Bakula (Captain Archer of Enterprise) about the project. The Ventura County Star reported that Shatner was filming scenes for it inside Chuy’s Mesquite Grill restaurant in Moorpark, California. Shatner also is having the other captains interview him as well as they share experiences. He plans to meet with Patrick Stewart in England in about a week and with Kate Milgrew in New York after that. In other Shatner related news, CBS released several fall trailers earlier this month, including the one for Shatner’s new sitcom, $#*! My Dad Says.
Shatner and Nimoy both headed up to Vancouver for the Creation Star Trek convention being held there from June 25-27 in Vancouver Wall Centre. Shatner was asked about Nimoy’s retirement and says that "Nimoy keeps retiring... Every six months he tells me and everybody else ‘I’m retiring.’ And nobody takes him seriously anymore..." Nimoy was also a guest at the Hero Complex Weekend Film Festival on June 11 where they showed Star Trek IV. He answered many questions and said he was "very grateful" that he never had to look for work again, thanks to Star Trek. He also discussed the movies he had directed. He also praised the Star Trek 2009 team of Abrams, Orci, and Kurtzman, saying they treated him very well.
Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman gave updates on the status of the Star Trek sequel this month. During an interview with IGN, Orci reported that the script should be done at the end of the year. Orci was asked about whether there’d be a darker theme and says that, since it’s not an origin story, they can play with the theme and make it more complicated. He also reports that Abrams will not commit to directing until he reads the script, just like last time. Orci and Kurtzman gave further updates on the script status at the 36th Annual Saturn Awards ceremony on June 25. Orci reported they had a story but were in the process of reviewing it. He did not elaborate as to who the villain would be but had a "front runner." The previous movie, being more of an origin story, focused less on the villain. The emphasis would likely be different for the next movie. In any case, they plan to "dive" more into the story next week, now that Damon Lindelof was returning from vacation.
On June 25-26, Walter Koenig (Chekov) and Barbara Luna (Marlena Moreau) appeared at the annual Trek Fest in Riverside, Iowa. This was Koenig’s third annual appearance there. There was a plan there to break the record for most costumed fans to break a Guiness World Book of Records record.
Back in March, it was reported that George Takei (Sulu) would appear in the movie, Larry Crown. The movie would be directed by and would star Tom Hanks as the title character who goes back to college to reinvent himself. The film is now in production and Takei is playing the role of Professor Ed Matsutani, PhD. A few pictures of the film are available. In other George Takei news, he said that he was "baffled" that Paramount never made the Captain Sulu series. These comments were said during an interview he gave to the International Federation of Trekkers for their official publications, "Voyages."
Julien's Auctions planned to hold an auction of Star Trek related memorabilia on June 27 at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas on June 27, 2010. The auction included items from the Roddenberry estate, plus additional items from Shatner, along with costumes and props from the Star Trek movie 2009. By June 15, all lots were available for preview. Bidding could be done at the auction itself or on-line via proxy. A catalog for the auction was available on-line but a printed copy could be obtained for $50.
News:
Star Trek News
May 31st 2010
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
On May 19, CBS announced that William Shatner (original Kirk) would star in the sitcom, $#*! My Dad Says, playing the role of the father, Ed Goodson. Justin Halpern had penned the pilot for Warner Brothers and based it on statements that his own 74 year old father had said. This is the first time in Shatner’s long acting career where he has been a regular on a sitcom. The show will make history in two ways: the first show based on a Twitter feed; i.e. from Halpern, and also the first show whose full name cannot be spoken on the air. The show would play on Thursday nights at 8:30 starting in the fall. Ryan Devlin will play the young lead, Henry Goodson, son of Ed. Already, a parents’ group, the Parents’ Family Council, is denouncing it because of its name, especially when the show is being touted as a family show and is on at 8:30. They plan to go after CBS affiliates who plan to show the show and its advertisers. In other TV series news about Shatner, the Bio Channel ordered a new series, Shatner’s Aftermath, where Shatner looks at Americans who became famous overnight including Jessica Lynch and the Unabomber. This is the second Shatner series on the Bio Channel, the first being Raw Nerve, which is returning this year for 6 episodes.
While Leonard Nimoy’s last appearance as an actor was in the season finale of Fringe on Fox TV, it will not be the final performance of him to be released. He has added his voice to the Disney series Kingdom Hearts for the Play Station Portable (PSP) system. Nimoy will appear in the game, "KINGDOM HEARTS Birth by Sleep" which will also feature the voice talents of Mark Hamill, Willa Holland, Jesse McCartney, and James Woods. Players will explore the iconic Disney worlds through the three main characters in a unique gaming experience.
Also this month, Starfleet, the world’s oldest and largest continuously active fan club, announced that Dorothy "D.C" Fontana would be one of the guest judges for its Second Annual Short Story contest. Authors would need to be members of Starfleet to submit their fan fiction. The story should not exceed 7,500 words in length and must take place in the Star Trek universe. According to the press release from Starfleet, their "annual short story contest affords aspiring writers an opportunity to have their work critiqued by an industry icon who is also a longstanding advocate of fan-written fiction. Fontana says that many excellent writers have gained professional recognition emerging from the ranks of fandom. "Study humanity and dream..." is her advice to up-and-coming authors. Fontana offers her experience as a close associate of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, as well as her self-admitted critical analysis for character development and tight story structure. The deadline for this contest is June 1st.
Back in March, Sharp Electronics had started a new advertising campaign promoting their Quattron TV’s with George Takei (original Sulu). The second of the commercials in that series was released in May, with Takei’s character making fun of people with only three color tech. In addition, Takei appeared in the Disney TV sitcom, The Suite Life on Deck.
While the release date for the next Star Trek movie is still set for June 29th 2012, the shooting schedule has still not been set. When appearing at the National Movie Awards in London, Simon Pegg (new Scotty) told the Press Association that he had no idea when the movie would begin shooting. He was guessing either the end of this year or the next. But he would definitely come back as Scotty.
News:
Star Trek News
May 8th 2010
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
During the month of April, it was announced that Julien's Auctions would hold an auction of Star Trek related memorabilia on June 27, 2010. The auction would take place at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. This includes items from the estate of Gene and Majel Barrett Roddenberry, from William Shatner, and from J.J. Abrams and Paramount. Roddenberry estate items include personal effects, furnishings, books and Star Trek related memorabilia, nearly 200-300 total items in all. This includes hand-annotated scripts, costumes from the show and Roddenberry's own studio pass. Proceeds will benefit the Roddenberry Foundation which makes grants to support children, education and the environment. William Shatner, the original Captain Kirk, plans to sell his custom Harley-Davidson motorcycle, his Golden Globe nomination certificate and the plaque he was presented when he got a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame in 1983. Shatner plans to donate a portion of the proceeds to the Hollywood Charity Horse Show, which helps handicapped children. Bidding can be done at the auction itself or on-line via proxy. Printed and on-line catalogs for the auction will be available in May.
Earlier this year, Leonard Nimoy, the original Spock, had announced his retirement from acting, saying that his role of Dr. William Bell on the Fox TV show Fringe would be his last role. He had also announced that he would stop doing Star Trek conventions after this year but is making several appearances his year as a farewell tour. On April 23, he went to Vulcan, a small city in Alberta, Canada where they held a parade, gave him the key to the city, and a bust of the actor as Spock. After that, he went to Calgary, a larger city in the same Canadian province, where he was the Guest of Honor at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo on April 24-25. But while Nimoy may be retiring, he is not going away. He is one of the latest celebrities who joined Twitter, with the account TheRealNimoy.
Meanwhile, William Shatner shows no sign on slowing down, even though he is approaching 80 years of age. Warner Brothers has produced a pilot for a new sitcom, Bleep My Dad Says, which stars Shatner as the father. Justin Halpern had penned the pilot and based it on statements that his own 74 year old father had said. CBS is expected to make a decision on whether to pick up the show on May 19. However, another Shatner show is definitely going on the air, Weird or What, a new documentary series that is produced by Cineflix and hosted and co-produced by Shatner. This show will investigate and analyze various unsolved mysteries, including paranormal phenomena, medical oddities, mysterious disappearances, bizarre natural disasters, and mystical monster attacks. The show has been sold to Discovery Channel in the US and History Channel in Canada. Shatner unveiled this show at the MIP TV convention that took place at Cannes on April 12, 2010. Finally, on May 5, A&E Networks announced that they are picking up Shatner’s Bio Channel talk show for another season and have now ordered a new series, "Shatner’s Aftermath" where Shatner looks at Americans who became famous overnight including Jessica Lynch and the Unabomber. In more news about Shatner, there are now calls from the people of Canada calling for him to return to his native land and become the Governor General there. The term of the current Governor General, Michaelle Jean, is about to end and Shatner’s name has come up as a possible replacement.
It was previously announced that the new Star Trek movie is scheduled to be released on June 29, 2012. Still, no shooting dates have been set yet. Simon Pegg (the new Scotty) had made news across the web for reporting that shooting would begin at the end of this year. However, reports from other actors indicated that Pegg’s estimate was optimistic. Karl Urban (the new McCoy) and Zoe Saldana (Uhura) reported filming would start in early 2011. John Cho (Sulu) indicated no decisions have been made on the sequel. Meanwhile, Damon Lindelof will be working with Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman on the Star Trek script, but he can’t really do that until his work on Lost is complete. He had indicated that he was headed to Hawaii for the filming of Lost one last time.
In a Trek/Tech story, it now turns out that Seagate, the largest maker of hard drives has teamed up with Paramount to offer portable hard drives with the Star Trek movie preloaded. Anybody purchasing a new Seagate FreeAgent Go 500GB drive gets the movie for free. A purchaser merely has to register the drive in order to unlock the movie. Three additional Paramount films come preloaded but they will cost $9.99 apiece to unlock.
The Star Trek 2009 movie was also nominated for a Hugo Award, specifically for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form. A complete list of nominees for all the Hugos is available at thehugoawards.org. The winners will be announced at the World Science Fiction Convention in Melbourne, Australia in September 2010.
In an interesting note, the current (April 2010, pp. 76-77) issue of Naval History magazine has a good article on the original ship to bear the iconic name of the ship in Star Trek. It was a warship in the U.S. Navy, a two-masted schooner which fought both the French and the British navies with distinction in the early 1800s. Note: Enterprise was spelled as Enterprize during that time period. The magazine is available on finer newsstands or one obtain reprints by calling (800) 233-8764.
News:
Star Trek News
March 31st 2010
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
John Jeffries, a set designer for the original Star Trek, passed away from complications of cancer on March 25. John had worked with his brother, Matt, who was the art director on Star Trek and the person for whom the "Jeffries tube" was named.
Paramount had announced earlier that the new Star Trek movie is scheduled to be released on June 29, 2012. But the question remains as to when the film will start shooting. According to Simon Pegg (nu Scotty), shooting for the new movie may start in late 2010 but other sources say it will probably not start shooting until late spring or early summer of 2011, about 13 months prior to the release date, which is in line with the shooting schedule for most big movies. The scripting of the movie is still underway. While J.J. Abrams plans to produce the film, he still has not announced whether he’ll direct.
Meanwhile, Leonard Nimoy (Spock), who had come out of retirement to play old Spock in the 2009 Star Trek movie, has announced that his role in that movie and a role in three episodes of the Abrams produced TV show Fringe will likely be his last roles. He also announced that 2010 will be his last year for doing Star Trek conventions. This includes the big Star Trek convention in Las Vegas in August, the Calgary Entertainment Expo on April 24-25, and dropping by the city of Vulcan in Alberta on April 23.
George Takei has also kept busy. He is appearing in a television commercial for Sharp Quattron TV and speaks his signature line "Oh my" in it. He also has a role in the forthcoming Tom Hanks comedy Larry Crowe. Hanks revealed the cast in the movie via headshots of the cast members in a mysterious Twitter picture. Meanwhile, William Shatner has a new Priceline ad, featuring the Negotiator’s "evil twin" ad.
News:
Star Trek News
February 28th 2010
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
Andrew Koenig, son of Walter Koenig (Chekov), was found dead Feb 25, 2010 at noon in Stanley Park in Vancouver, Canada. Andrew had been missing ever since February 14 after visiting friends in the Vancouver area. When he hadn’t boarded a scheduled flight back to the United States on February 16, concern heightened and an exhaustive search took place. This included the efforts of his friends on social networking siters, the Vancouver Police Department, and an emotional appeal from his parents on the NBC Today Show on February 24. Walter and his wife, Judy, flew up to Vancouver to help with the search effort. The police, Walter, Judy, and various friends searched through Stanley Park and eventually found the body. In an emotional press conference that evening, Walter said that "my son took his own life." He hopes that the event will be a lesson to those who contemplate suicide, to learn that people still love them. Andrew had apparently been suffering from depression for a long time.
Andrew Koenig was an actor, director, producer, editor, and activist. He was best known for his role of "Boner" on the situation comedy, "Growing Pains". He also was the video producer for the podcast "Never Not Funny". He had roles in several movies and TV shows, including "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine." Additional information can be found at Walter Koenig’s Official Web site:
http://www.walterkoenigsite.com/
Throughout the search, Koenig’s site was frequently updated, with guest books set up for fans to express their well wishes and sentiments.
Andrew Koenig was a man who cared deeply about others, and who acted on his conscience...working on a grass roots level to help those in need. To honor him and his life, we are suggesting people donate in Andrew's memory to:
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/GetInvolved/Donate.aspx
or
US Campaign for Burma https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1189/t/5102/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=4622
News:
Star Trek News
February 1st 2010
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
On January 11, 2010, Paramount officially confirmed that the next Star Trek movie would be released on June 29, 2012. The news had been broken earlier via Twitter by several sources, including Alex Billington of FirstShowing.com and actor Zachary Quinto. That means the movie is being set up for a big July 4th weekend opener. This time Damon Lindelof will be working on the script with Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman on the story before Orci and Kurtzman break off to write their screen play. JJ Abrams was at the Fox All-Star Party for the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour that night and discussed the movie. He said they were still working on the script but did not have a firm date for completion of the script. He had also not yet decided on whether he would direct the next film.
According to Zoe Saldana (Uhura), pre-production would begin in late 2010. Zachary Quinto (Spock) does not believe that the movie will be in production until early 2011 since the writing team has just started writing the script. But even with starting production in early 2011, there is less work to do since the casting of the main characters and the design work is already complete. The main cast members of the U.S.S. Enterprise are expected to return (Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, and Anton Yelchin). Other Star Trek characters, including Bruce Greenwood (Pike), Ben Cross (Sarek), Jennifer Morrison (Winona Kirk), have expressed interest in returning as well, but their involvement, of course, would depend on the script.
Rumors persist as to what the next movie will be about, including whether Khan will appear or whether time travel will be involved. Abrams reports that he is not averse to including time travel or cameos of past Trek actors in the movie. But Lindelof, who is working on the script with Orci and Kurtzman, says he is done with time travel.
In addition to plans for the movie sequel, news on the movie includes nominations for awards from the various guilds in the motion picture industry. Below is a list:
Casting Society of America (CSA) – casting directors, April Webster and Alyssa Weisberg, were nominated and honored with the 2009 Artios Award for Best casting in a studio feature film.
Screen Actors Guild (SAG) – nominated and won the award for Best Stunt Ensemble.
Producers Guild Award (PGA) – nominated for Best Picture but lost to Hurt Locker
Directors' Guild of America (DGA) – no nominations
Art Director's Guild (ADG) – nominated Scott Chambliss for Best Production Design (Fantasy) for his work on the Star Trek movie.
Writers Guild Award (WGA) – nominated Orci and Kurtzman for Best Adapted Screenplay
American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) – no nominations
American Cinema Editors (ACE) -- Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey nominated for Best Edited Dramatic Feature Film.
Visual Effects Society (VES) – nominated for Best Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Feature Motion Picture and Matte Paintings in a Feature Motion Picture
Cinema Audio Society (CAS) – nominated for Best Motion Picture Sound Mixing
Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) – nominated for Best Sound Editing in 3 categories (Music, Dialog, and Sound Effects)
Costume Designers Guild (CDG) – no nominations
Other Star Trek news includes the fact that Rod Roddenberry, the son of Gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett, auctioned off Trek-related items belonging to his parents on January 29, 2010 to raise money for the earthquake victims of Haiti.
William Shatner (original Kirk) appeared on NBC’s Today Show where he promoted his show Raw Nerve, that appears on the Biography Channel. His guests on Raw Nerve this month included psychic John Edward, Regis Philbin, Fran Drescher, Jason Alexander, Weird Al Yankovic. On February 1, he is scheduled to host the professional wrestling show, WWE Raw.
News:
Star Trek News
December 31st 2009
news report by Diane Doyle, with Randy Landers
collected from throughout the Internet
The next Star Trek movie will probably be released during the summer of 2012. Before that can happen, a script would need to be written, then the movie to go into pre-production, then production, and finally post-production. In an interview given to MTV, Zoe Saldana reported talking to JJ Abrams and Bryan Burk who said they, along with Alex Kurtzman and Bob Orci, were still in the middle of building the script, and that pre-production would take place in about a year. The timeline Saldana reports is consistent with comments made by the filmmakers. Abrams reports the movie will be released during the summer of 2012, while Orci reports that the writers will begin writing the script in early 2010. While Abrams says it is still too early to know what the next movie will be about, he would like the story to retain a sense of adventure but to be deeper and possibly an allegory but not necessarily preachy.
On November 17, the new Star Trek movie was released for home video, in both Blu-ray and DVD formats. After a week, the movie video was top for both sales and rentals. About 5.7 million DVD discs, to include the rental market, were sold in North America. Approximately, 1.1 million Blu-ray discs were sold that week. The successful video release was on top of a successful box office run. The movie finished in 6th place for domestic box office sales of $257.7 million and 11th for global box office of $385.5 million for 2009. The reboot of Star Trek contributed to Paramount’s success as a studio for this past year. The movie also received several awards and nominations for awards from various organizations. It won several Scream awards, given for science fiction movies, including Best Science Fiction Movie, Best Director, and Best Actor. It won the Hollywood Award for Best Movie which is chosen by popular vote. It also was nominated for a Grammy Award for the Best Score Soundtrack Album.
Even with the new Star Trek movie news, there is still news about personnel associated with the classic Star Trek. The second season of William Shatner’s (original Kirk) show, Raw Nerve, debuted on December 6, 2009. This show features interviews with celebrities. Guests this season include Rush Limbaugh, Regis Philbin, Whoopie Goldberg, and Mackenzie Phillips. On November 27, the script for the scene in the new Star Trek movie where Shatner was to appear was released to the public, prompting much discussion on the internet. There was also news on Leonard Nimoy. November 14 was declared as "Leonard Nimoy Day" in his original home town of Boston, Massachusetts. A proclamation was written, signed by the mayor of Boston, Thomas Menino, and presented to Nimoy. At that time, Nimoy was attending the New England Fan Experience. Nimoy considered "Leonard Nimoy Day" a "homecoming" and "an emotional experience". Nimoy also discussed the possibility of appearing in the next movie and states that he does not expect to be in it, since he has already "served the purpose" of helping make the bridge between the old and new Trek. He notes that if they (Abrams and company) want to talk to him about appearing, he’d be happy to talk.
On Monday, December 28, the Discovery channel fan-favorite series Mythbusters tested whether or not Captain Kirk's cannon could have killed the Gorn. Their findings were somewhat conclusive, at least in their minds. The likelihood that Captain Kirk could mix gunpowder accurately without a lab was deemed impossible. The likelihood that the cannon made of bamboo with a rope around the base would survive the detonation was deemed unlikely (it should be pointed out that it was an alien planetoid, and just because it looked like bamboo didn't mean that it was bamboo--the Metrons said that there would be material suitable for constructing a weapon on the planetoid's surface), and would likely kill or maim Captain Kirk. The likelihood that if the bamboo cannon did survive the detonation that it could indeed kill or maim the Gorn (the styrofoam cutout had a head wound and a chest wound that looked more than superficial). The Mythbusters team declared the method and scene "busted," but spoke lovingly of Star Trek and Captain Kirk.
News:
Star Trek News
October 31st 2009
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
Throughout September and October, 2009, there has been much talk about the next Star Trek movie, specifically about the story and the scheduled release date. Given the fact that Paramount has four "tentpole" type releases already scheduled for the summer of 2011 and also given the busy schedules of both the filmmakers and the actors involved, the next Star Trek movie will likely be released in 2012. This fact was confirmed by Bob Orci in a brief interview with ComingSoon.net where he noted that while they were still in research mode, he said, "We think it’s going to be a 2012 release, but I’m not sure." One source noted that the script should be finished in spring or early summer of 2010 and that it was still possible to go into production as early as late summer. A 2012 release increases the likelihood of Abrams directing the film.
In several interviews, Abrams has talked about what the second movie should be, as compared to the first, admitting the first one was the one to "bring the family together". He feels that the second movie should "go deeper and maintain the fun and adventure in the sense of optimism and scale that ['Trek' originator Gene] Roddenberry created..." It is not about having their first adventure but rather their most meaningful one. Abrams, speaking to reporters in Australia, revealed that he's still trying to figure out a way to work Shatner in this upcoming movie:
"It was a foregone conclusion we wanted him in the [first] movie," Abrams explained. "The problem was his character died on screen in one of his Star Trek films and because we decided, very early on, that we wanted to adhere to Trek canon as best we could ... the required machinations to get Shatner into the movie would have been very difficult to do given the story we wanted to tell and also to give him the kind of part that he would be happy with.
"I feel like the first movie did some of the heavy lifting that needed to be done in order to free us to continue going forward. Maybe there's less of a burden and there's going to be more opportunity to work with [Shatner]."
On the other hand, Leonard Nimoy believes his work with Star Trek is done. In an interview with National Public Radio, he said, "I know why they wanted me in this last film, which was to create a bridge between the original cast and the new, but that’s been done. So I would suspect that there’s no need for my presence again." He says he would have no problem reading any Star Trek script they might send him but does not expect it to happen. He is pleased with Zachary Quinto’s portrayal of Spock.
The movie was re-released in IMAX in September for a limited run. On October 1, the Star Trek movie was no longer being shown in theaters. Its final domestic box office total was $257,730,019 and its final total worldwide was $384,953,671. The movie will be released in Blu-ray and DVD formats (both single and double disks) on November 19 in the North America but is being released in some other countries sooner. A deleted scene of Nero as a prisoner in the infamous Klingon prison, Rure Penthe, is included in the DVD/Blu-ray version of the movie.
The movie has received some awards already. It was chosen for the Hollywood Movie Award by people who cast their votes at the Yahoo Movies website. Zachary Quinto (new Spock) accepted that award on behalf of the cast. It picked up the Top Scream Award as part of the Spike TV Scream awards, along with 5 other honors. William Shatner accepted the award on behalf of the movie.
Back in March, Harlan Ellison had filed suit against CBS and Paramount, alleging they owed him merchandizing royalties related to his classic Star Trek episode "City on the Edge of Forever". Apparently, a settlement was reached on October 23. No specific details were released but, on his website, Ellison reported being pleased with the outcome. He says a statement will come from him and his attorney and CBS/Paramount. Three years of litigation are now complete.
News:
Star Trek News
August 30th 2009
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
In several interviews, Zachary Quinto (new Spock) gave an update on his latest projects and also discussed Star Trek. He noted that nobody is in a hurry to produce the next Star Trek movie. Abrams and the writers (Orci, Kurtzman, and Lindelof) have discussed the movie, but have made it clear they are still in research and discussion mode. While Star Trek is a priority, they have other projects in the works. Quinto feels that everyone would be better served if Abrams and the writers take their time to decide which story to tell rather than rushing to get the movie out by the summer of 2011. This includes any rumors, including a plot involving Khan, an appearance by William Shatner, or even whether the next two movies will be shot back to back. Two of the guest stars, Eric Bana (Nero) and Rachel Nichols (Gaila the Orion) were asked about whether they’d be in the sequel. Bana said he doubted it, seeing what happened to Nero in the movie. Nichols said she hoped so even though her character, Gaila, was aboard one of the ships destroyed in orbit above Vulcan.
There are other unanswered questions regarding the next movie. This includes the decision on whether Abrams will direct and when the movie will be released. Abrams has other pending projects, including Mission Impossible IV. The choice may be to have Abrams direct the new movie, after waiting for his schedule to free up, with the movie being released after 2011, or having it released in 2011 but with a different director. There is another fundamental question about the movie: the budget. The first film cost about $145M before marketing, which is normal for a summer extravaganza but the largest budget ever for a Trek movie. But a tough economic climate could affect the budget for the next movie.
Leonard Nimoy (original Spock) gave an interview while promoting his upcoming appearance at the Toronto Fan Expo in Toronto, Canada. During the past year, he noticed "a big shift in the nature of the fans." More people were attending conventions, and more people were first-time attendees than in the past; i.e. new Star Trek fans. Nimoy is delighted by this development, with Star Trek getting attention from a new generation of fans.
In an interview given to the Los Angeles Times on August 11, Chris Pine (new Kirk) discussed how surprised he was to find out that people who had not been fans before had gotten interested in the franchise. "To make Star Trek accessible to a wider audience and to a new generation of fans is a wonderful thing, and I'm looking forward to getting back into the second one." He has not yet heard any firm dates on the movie shooting schedule.
Other Star Trek News
In late August, Nicholas Meyer’s book, The View from the Bridge: Memories of Star Trek and a Life in Hollywood, was released. As most Star Trek fans know, he was the director and co-writer of Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, and one of the co-writers for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. The book is available at bookstores around the country and can also be ordered on-line through Amazon.com. The Trekmovie.com has reviewed the book and given it a very positive review, saying there is much to enjoy for both newer Star Trek fans and those who enjoy a good film biography. He will spend the latter part of August and most of September on a promotional tour.
George Takei appeared at the Franklin Mint in Philadelphia on Thursday August 20. Fans were able to get questions answered, take pictures, and get autographs. He spoke about Star Trek, in general and was very positive about the new movie, considering it "absolutely fantastic, imaginative, and so true to the spirit of the original." He also considers it necessary to take risks and keep reinventing oneself as an actor. While there, his knowledge of Star Trek sound effects were put to the test.
In a recent interview, Anton Yelchin (new Chekov) discussed his roles on Star Trek and Terminator, saying they were both challenging and interesting movies. He is appearing in the forthcoming movie New York, I Love You, as well as the romance Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac where he co-stars with Emma Roberts.
In another round of downsizing due to the troubled economy, Simon & Schuster laid off Pocket Books editor, Margaret Clark, who has edited many Star Trek books. This is only months after senior editor, Marco Palmieri, who had also edited many Star Trek books ,was also let go. In spite of those layoffs, no delays are anticipated in releasing the Star Trek books scheduled for publication in spring of 2010.
News:
Star Trek News
August 1st 2009
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
As of the last weekend in July, the new Star Trek movie had earned just over $254 M domestically and $380 M globally. The movie is expected to probably earn about $4 M more before it finishes its run. Phillippe Dauman, the Chief Executive of Viacom, parent company to Paramount, considered Star Trek and Transformers 2, unqualified blockbusters and that both movies will ‘drive a lot of profits’ later in the year on DVD and Blu-Ray.
With the success of the new movie, there has been talk of one or more sequels. Orci, Abrams, Lindelof, Burk, and Kurtzman held one meeting to discuss ideas for the next two movies. Orci made a comment at Comic-Con about the possibility of linking the two movies together, but a few days later downplayed that possibility. Orci also said that the second Star Trek would probably not have the theme of heroes rejecting their roles as heroes, unlike the second Transformers movie and the second Spider Man movie. Instead, Star Trek is different in that the crew is committed to what they are doing.
In interviews with Comic Con, Zoe Saldana (Uhura) talked about the next movie. She was non-committal about the previous rumored possibility of Khan being in the film, but she was asked about her availability for next year, specifically for March, June, and September and will be ready, in any case. She also reports that the script will probably be complete by December. Pre-production will probably take less time since there will be much less casting and most of the set construction is complete. Paramount hopes to have the next movie complete by May 2011.
News:
Star Trek News
June 29th 2009
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
Star Trek XI News
The Star Trek movie continued to earn money during the month of June. As of the weekend of June 28, it had made $3.6 million for a total of $246.2 million. By June 21, it had passed up Star Trek: the Motion Picture for being the highest attended Star Trek film, domestically. It currently has earned the second highest total revenue in 2009, after Pixar’s Up. Star Trek has earned $369.2 million world-wide, but is expected to be beaten by Transformers 2: Rise of the Fallen domestically and internationally within a few weeks.
Besides making money, the new movie was also receiving awards and nominations for additional awards. On June 4, Paramount studio had won the four Golden Trailer awards for their work on the Star Trek movie. The theatrical Star Trek trailer had won the ‘Summer 2009 Blockbuster Award’ and ‘Best In Show Award,’ their TV commercial won ‘Best Summer 2009 TV Spot,’ and their final, one-sheet poster earned the ‘Best Summer 2009 Blockbuster Poster.’ The Airlock Alpha site (formerly SyFyPortal) announced their annual ‘Portal Awards’ on June 15, which included several nominations for the new Star Trek movie, including "Best Movie," as well as acting awards for Zoe Saldana, (Uhura), Jacob Kogan (little Spock), Chris Pine (Kirk), and Zachary Quinto (Spock). Voting could be done online starting on June 25 and continuing through July 25. More details can be found on the site AirlockAlpha.com.
While the new Star Trek movie has obviously picked up awards and award nominations, the original series is still not done in that department. The show was nominated for the ‘Heritage Award’ by The Critics Awards (TCA) on June 6. The ‘Heritage Award’ "recognizes a long-standing program that made a lasting cultural or social impact." More details can be found as tvcritics.org. Meanwhile, on June 24, Leonard Nimoy received a lifetime achievement award at the 25th annual Saturn Awards, which honors the world of science fiction.
With the new Star Trek movie being a hit, producer J.J. Abrams and writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman have been discussing the sequel. Several story possibilities have been discussed, including bringing back Khan Noonian Singh, the villain from the episode Space Seed and the movie The Wrath of Khan.
Star Trek News
Nichelle Nichols (original Uhura) , who is attending the annual TrekFest event in Riverside, Iowa, had a interview with the Iowa Gazette, promoting the event. She revealed that she had seen the new Star Trek twice and plans to see it more times. She was particularly impressed with Zoe Saldana, the new Uhura.
The memoir of Nicholas Meyer, who was involved as writer and director of several Star Trek movies, is being released on August 20. He was director of The Wrath of Khan, as well as uncredited co-writer. He also co-wrote The Voyage Home and both co-wrote and directed The Undiscovered Country. The book is titled The View From the Bridge: Memories of Star Trek and a Life in Hollywood and will be a hard back.
News:
Star Trek News
May 31st 2009
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
Star Trek XI News
After much anticipation and hype, May 8, 2009 was the official release of the new Star Trek movie that was directed by JJ Abrams. The movie was released on over 4000 screens, as well as in IMAX format. Due to upfront demand, "early bird" showings of the movie were shown, beginning at 7:00 p.m. the previous evening. The movie grossed over $79.2 million over its first weekend, including the "early bird" showings. That figure, overwhelmingly, broke the opening weekend record for the Star Trek franchise, previously held by Star Trek 8: First Contact. Globally, it earned $112 million during the opening weekend. While the movie did not set any general box office records, it did set a new record for IMAX theaters at $8.5 million. The movie was well reviewed, with a 95% rating from Rotten Tomatoes.com.
The movie continued to draw well in successive weekends. For its second weekend, Star Trek drew $43 million, which was barely behind the weekend’s winner, the newly released Angels & Demons, which had drawn $46.2 million. That was only a 43% drop from its opening weekend, the best hold since Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock. The cumulative domestic total was now $147.6 million, which was better than the previous franchise high that was achieved by Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home. Once again, an IMAX attendance record was set, this time for the second weekend gross. During the third weekend, i.e. Memorial Day weekend, the weekend box office total was $29.4 million for a cumulative total of $191 million after 18 days of release. The final total for the movie is expected to be around $250 million.
Orci and Kurtzman have already had preliminary discussions about a sequel but have not revealed any details. With a new reboot, events in the next movie will not be predictable. However, the fans will still expect to see familiar elements from the original series.
On May 15, the three astronauts on the International Space Station watched the new Star Trek movie, on a laptop computer. Michael Barratt, the American astronaut on the mission and life long Star Trek fan, had requested the movie when he had boarded the space bound shuttle back in March and did not wish to miss the movie while off planet. Hence, he and the other astronauts on the mission, Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, all watched the movie together after dinner. They secured their feet with floor straps to keep from floating during the screening. Throughout the mission, the astronauts were also woken up to the Star Trek theme song from the television series.
News:
Star Trek News
May 2nd 2009
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
Star Trek XI News
With the May 8th opening date for the new Star Trek movie fast approaching, there has been an increase in promotional activity. This includes press tours, interviews, and a slew of TV commercials. On April 3rd, it was announced that the movie was given a PG-13 rating, which was the target of the filmmakers. As is customary for anticipated blockbusters, there will be midnight showings of the movie. However, for this particular movie, there will be even earlier showings, in this case showings will begin at 7:00pm on May 7th. Early reports indicate that advance ticket sales are strong. Variety has given the new movie a strong review. Most other reviews are also positive.
The premiere in the United States took place on April 30th at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, the same place where The Wrath of Khan premiere took place.
In SciFiNow magazine, Abrams discussed how he wanted the new movie to work for long term fans but also wanted to have it work for those that were unfamiliar with Trek, as those who are familiar with Trek but have trouble relating to it. He reports how the individuals who did not know each other at first, first met and came together, and then had put their lives in each others’ hands. By the end of the movie, the characters had become the group that is ready to begin the ‘five year mission.’
News:
Star Trek News
April 4th 2009
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
Star Trek News
On March 13, Harlan Ellison, the author of the teleplay for the Star Trek first season episode "City on the Edge of Forever," filed a lawsuit over what he claims are unpaid residuals from that episode. This includes any merchandizing, publications, or any other use of that episode to date. The suit also names the Writers Guide of America for failing to act on Ellison’s behalf. Ellison has been vocal for years about not being compensated for the use of elements of that episode; however, the situation came to a head when Pocket Books released the "Crucible" trilogy written by David George that used the events in "City of the Edge of Forever" as a basis, and told from the points of view of McCoy, Spock and Kirk. Ellison is also upset about the increased marketing of Star Trek involving that episode, including Christmas ornaments and DVD sets. According to Ellison’s representative, John H. Carmichael, "Mister Ellison wants every penny of his long ago agreed-upon share of the revenue from Paramount’s relentless Trek exploitations…" So far, Paramount and the book publishing company, Simon and Schuster, have had no comment. Also, in spite of rumors to the contrary that had been floating throughout the media, including Wired magazine, Ellison is not including the new movie in his suit, given that the Guardian of Forever does not appear in it.
Star Trek XI News
Although it had been rumored since June, Paramount is now planning a sequel to the new Star Trek movie being released on May 8. This news was broken by Variety on March 31. JJ Abrams and Bryan Burk are onboard as producers and Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof will write the screenplay and also get producing credit. The play is for the script to be delivered by Christmas for a targeted release of summer 2011.
In an interview with SciFi Now magazine, Leonard Nimoy discussed his return to playing Spock. He talked about the state of the franchise, seeing a parallel to 30 years ago, when Paramount was disappointed with the first movie, and brought in Harve Bennett to set things right again. He also discussed how his approach to the character has changed. He talks about how the movie "contains a very broad spectrum of the Spock character" from the time before the original series, as portrayed by Zachary Quinto, and Nimoy portraying the older Spock, long after his last Star Trek experience. Nimoy reveals there is a scene where the two Spocks meet. "We’re both the same person, each coming from a different time frame."
John Cho, the new Sulu, says his respect for Takei and the character Sulu prevented him from making too many changes to the character, besides those resulting from the change in actors. Cho felt it was best not to imitate Takei in his portrayal. He admitted playing a younger and more innocent Sulu, who has caught off guard by the event happening to him when thrust into the position of helmsman. While Cho had originally met Takei through a theater company called East West Players, they did not really get to know each other until Cho wrote Takei a letter after being cast as Sulu and they met for lunch.
On March 2, Anton Yelchin (Chekov) gave an interview with Sci Fi Wire at Wondercon. While he mostly discussed his role in the Terminator movie, he did discuss his character of Chekov. He thinks Chekov is a wonderful character. He does not want to lose the potential of the character by merely making him a Russian kid. He acknowledges the character was a "Davy Jones meets the Cold War" stereotype. "It’s that thing, and you have to take as much from it as you can and that sort of energy he has and perhaps the comic relief that he has. It was something I think he would fully embrace. I mean, both these performances, I think it’s very lucky to have them in order to use them."
News:
Star Trek News
March 1st 2009
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
Star Trek XI News
During February, Pocket Books confirmed that veteran science fiction novelist, Alan Dean Foster, is writing the adaptation for the new Star Trek feature film. The news was initially revealed on Foster’s website in his monthly update for February. A spokesman from Pocket Books said the book should be released on the same day (May 8) or within a few days of the movie. It will be in the large sized ‘trade paperback’ format and will retail for about $16.00, although the price has not been finalized. Alex Kurtzman and Bob Orci are working closely with Foster on the adaptation. Orci hopes that Foster’s adaptation will go into extra detail and answer questions in a way that can’t be done in a movie. Orci also hopes that some of the scenes cut from the movie will make it into the book, as is common in film adaptations. Foster has previously developed a Star Wars novel, adaptations of all three Alien movies, the Transformers movie of 2007, and other works. Within the Star Trek community, he is known for having done a series of Star Trek Logs, which were extended adaptations of the scripts for the Star Trek animated series. His draft of the Phase II script, In Thy Image, became the story based for Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
Also in February, it was announced that Paramount planned to release a third trailer for the J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie. This new theatrical trailer is to premiere on March 6 with the movie Watchmen. That particular movie is expected to be the biggest movie of the spring and should bring both a general film and action movie audience. The new Star Trek trailer will be posted on-line on the Apple Star Trek page on March 9 and on the official Star Trek Movie site later in the week. Also, Paramount released another logo for the new movie which will likely make its debut with the new theatrical trailer on March 6.
Designing the Star Trek uniforms for the movie was Michael Kaplan, an award winning costume designer who has worked in Hollywood for three decades. He had not previously worked with J.J. Abrams. In an interview, he went into detail on how he created the new version of the classic TOS uniform. He wished to something more sophisticated than the costume on the original TV series but wanted to keep the 60’s sensibility.
Other Star Trek movie news this month includes the news that Tania Gunadi plays the role of a Starfleet cadet. Gunadi (who stars in the Disney series, Aaron Stone) reports that she plays an alien and that it took four hours to get her make up on and off. Also, Abrams’ friend, Greg Grunberg, did participate in the new Star Trek movie, most likely doing voice work as it was done during post production.
News:
Star Trek News
February 1st 2009
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
Ricardo Montalban Passes Away
Ricardo Montalban, the actor who had portrayed Khan Noonien Singh, died at his home in Los Angeles, CA on January 14 at the age of 88 of natural causes. He began his career in Hollywood in the mid 1940’s after moving to the United States from his native Mexico. He had appeared in dozens of films and TV shows over the last seven decades. His best known role was that of Mr. Roarke on Fantasy Island during the 1970’s and 1980’s. To Star Trek fans, he is known as the genetically engineered superman who had appeared in the original series episode "Space Seed" and the feature film, The Wrath of Khan, which is considered by many fans and critics to be the best of the Star Trek feature films.
Star Trek XI News
On January 5, it was announced that J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek film was officially complete, including the post production work. Academy Award winning sound editor, Ben Burtt, and Mark Stoekinger worked on the final step of post production, which was the sound editing. According to sources, Majel Barrett-Roddenberry’s voice work for the movie was completed well before she passed away.
In an interview with the official Star Trek magazine, Leonard Nimoy (original Spock) talked about Abrams, the movie cast, Spock’s importance in the film, and many other topics. He touched on what it was like to return to the character after being away from it for 15 years. He also reported seeing Quinto do things with the Spock character that had never occurred to him, which he found quite delicious. Nimoy says that Quinto has found a way to expand the character but also being true to it at the same time.
Other Star Trek News
During January was the memorial service for Majel Barrett-Roddenberry who had died December 18, 2008. Her memorial service was held at Forest Lawn in the Hollywood Hills area and was attended by a crowd of nearly 300, which include a mix of friends, family, colleagues, and family. Actors from the original series who attended were Walter Koenig, George Takei, and Nichelle Nichols. In addition, several actors from the later series, as well as a number of writers and producers associated with the show, attended. The final speaker at the event was Rod Roddenberry, the son of Gene and Majel, who spoke frankly about their sometimes troubled relationship but reported that he grew closer to her during her final years.
News:
Star Trek News
December 30th 2008
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
Majel
Barrett-Roddenberry Passes Away
Majel-Barrett Roddenberry passed away on the morning of December 18, 2008 at the age of 76. She died of leukemia at her home in Bel Air, California with her son Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry, and other family and friends, at her side. She began her career in the 1950’s and appeared in many shows, including Leave it to Beaver, Bonanza, and The Lucy Show. She, of course, was best known for her multiple roles in the Star Trek franchise. She was Nurse Christine Chapel in the original series and promoted to Doctor Chapel in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. She played Lwaxana Troi, the mother of Deanna Troi, in Star Trek: The Next Generation. She also voiced the computer of the Enterprise in almost every incarnation of the series, reprising that role for J.J. Abrams’ new Star Trek film. In addition to her numerous roles in the Star Trek universe, she was the wife of the late Star Trek creator, Gene Roddenberry. Their love affair and partnership earned her the title "First Lady of Star Trek." She played an integral part in keeping the legacy of Star Trek alive, even after the death of Gene Roddenberry. She is survived by her son, Rod.
There will be a public memorial service for Majel at the Hall of Liberty at Forest Lawn in Hollywood Hills on January 4, 2009. The public is invited to attend the ceremony but are asked to add their name to an on-line list at Roddenberry.com in so that the organizers can know how many people for which to plan. No photography of videography will be allowed in the Hall. In lieu of flowers or gifts, the family would prefer donations sent to animal rescue organizations.
Star Trek XI News
On December 12, in another nod to Star Trek history, it was announced that the late Majel Barrett-Roddenberry would reprise her role of voicing the Enterprise computer in the new J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie being released in May 2009. She had voiced the computer all six Star Trek series (including the animated series) and four of the films, in addition to her roles of Christine Chapel and Lwaxana Troi. It showed once again that it’s not Star Trek without Majel doing the computer. This announcement came only a week before her death, which took place nearly a week later.
Another announcement taking place that same day was the news that the new movie would be released simultaneously on IMAX worldwide on May 8, 2009. This announcement confirmed the news that had been rumored previously. With that particular announcement came the release of the new movie trailer that would play in IMAX theaters.
Other movie news included interviews with Abrams, Orci, and various movie actors associated. The website, TrekMovie.com, had a two part exclusive interview with Roberto Orci. In the first part of the interview, Orci discussed the publicity the movie had received the previous month, in contrast to the earlier secrecy, which included fans’ reactions. He revealed that the character, Captain Robau, was named after his uncle who was born in Cuba. He also revealed that Robau’s ship, the U.S.S. Kelvin, was not only named after the temperature scale but also after J.J. Abrams’ grandfather. During the second interview, Orci was explaining how the new Star Trek movie could fit into Star Trek continuity (canon) despite the apparent contradictions that have appeared in the movie, thus far. He discussed the possibilities, including time travel, alternate time lines, and the quantum mechanics theory which deals with probabilities of events happening.
Meanwhile, J.J. Abrams gave an interview with MTV where he was asked about what was missing about the other Star Trek films that he wanted to bring. He answered that there are a number of things unique to this new movie. Abrams did not want to just recreate or reset everything. In the television show, the characters had already been working together and knew each other already. Hence, doing a story about the origin of these character relationships would help people connect to them and understand why people should care about that. Also, on a more practical level, Star Trek had never before had the opportunity to have ships, planets, battle scenes, and action sequences and the ability to do them in a thrilling way as they never could have afforded prior to now.
In addition, TV Guide Channel’s Hollywood 411 show did a brief segment on the new Star Trek movie, including comments from J.J. Abrams, Zoe Saldana (Uhura) and Zachary Quinto (Spock). There was no new news from any of them, except for noting how the film was being pitched in the mainstream media.
Other Star Trek News
Other Star Trek news, besides the death of Barrett-Roddenberry, concerned appearances of other actors from the original series. This included several appearances of William Shatner. December 8, 2008 saw the last episode of the show Boston Legal, and, with it, the last appearance of Shatner’s character, Denny Crane. This marks the longest running show involving Shatner, beating out TJ Hooker and does not even include the five episodes where Denny Crane appeared on The Practice. He made several appearances on a variety of shows to discuss the end of Boston Legal and the beginning of his new chat series. This included Howard Stern’s satellite radio show where Stern needled Shatner on a variety of subjects, including the new movie and his feud with George Takei.
It was also announced that actor George Takei would voice a character in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars cartoon series. He would play a Neimodian scientist, Lok Durd, in two episodes which would air in January. Durd creates a nuclear weapon which can destroy biological forms and leave technology unscathed. Takei’s appearance is the first time that a Star Trek regular has ever appeared in a Star Wars production.
In an unhappy economical note, Simon & Schuster laid off Marco Palmieri, one of the two primary Star Trek editors at Pocket Books, this month. While Palmieri’s layoff was one of many within Simon & Schuster, it raised concerns about the future of Star Trek publishing. In spite of this, Pocket Books maintains that it remains committed to its current plan for Trek books for 2009, even though some of the dates may change. The layoff of Palmieri was unrelated to Star Trek and was more of a restructuring of the company affecting every division. Margaret Clark, the other primary Star Trek editor, will now handle all the Star Trek books from now on.
News:
Star Trek News
November 29th 2008
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
Star Trek XI News
On November 14, 2008, the trailer for the new Star Trek movie was released with the premier of the new James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace. Since the Star Trek trailer was enclosed with the movie, rather than attached, not all the theaters that showed James Bond showed the Star Trek trailer. It is customary to attach trailers for upcoming films to movies released from the same studio, such as Paramount. However, trailers from other studios may be enclosed with a film to be run at the movie operator’s discretion. That was the case with the Star Trek trailer when it was run with the James Bond movie, which is an MGM film. Soon after the premier of the trailer, the Star Trek Official Movie web site was revamped to include the trailer and other promotional material for the movie. Less than a week later, another trailer was first accessible via the Ain’t it Cool News website. This trailer was similar to the latest one released, with one important addition: a view of Leonard Nimoy as Spock saying "Live long and prosper."
About three days before the movie trailer was released, the first image of the Enterprise was released which can be seen at http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2008/11/star-trek-first.html
The new trailer seems to have attracted the attention of mainstream media, including the New York Times and Metro.co.uk. Besides the new trailer, other promotional material released this month included new theatrical posters. First, two black and white posters, one of Kirk and the other of Spock were released. A week later, black and white posters of Uhura and the Romulan antagonist Nero were released. These posters are now currently available at the Star Trek Official Movie web site. Further promotional material can be seen on the Intel site, boldlygo.intel.co , which contains an interactive tour of the U.S.S. Kelvin that reveals images and details about the ship and its crew. The new movie trailer is also available to be seen from there.
Other movie news includes the fact that the new Star Trek movie is likely headed for IMAX. According to the firstshowing.net site, the movie will be converted to 77mm for projection on IMAX screens.
This month, E! interviewed Chris Pine (Kirk) when he attended the GQ Man of the Year in Los Angeles. Pine discussed the amped-up sexiness in the new movie. He believes the scene of Zoe Saldana (Uhura) taking off her top will become famous. Pine also discussed his filming of his scenes with Rachel Nichols, the green Orion in bed with Kirk at one point in the trailer. He says the scene was a lot of fun to film but at the end of a long day of filming, the novelty wore off. To SciFi.com, he said the story in the movie is the birth of the characters, the individual journeys, and how they met. In an earlier interview this month with STL Today, he said that by being in Star Trek, he felt the pressure of being in a big movie and wanted to make sure he did the best job that he could since a lot was on the line.
In addition to a European publicity tour, J.J. Abrams talked to Empireonline.com about the movie. Initially, Abrams had a sub-plot involving the Klingons in the movie, however it was removed because it seemed to confuse the story. The Romulans were used as villains since they had not been used in many years. “It jumps in breaking the rules which is kind of fun.” Abrams felt there had been so many iterations of Klingons that doing the Romulans was a way to do something familiar that had not been over done. Fans of Klingons should not despair since Klingon warbirds will be seen in the new movie.
There were other news and interviews this month, including a report on Simon Pegg’s blog that took place at the time Abrams was showing the film clips to audiences in the United Kingdom. Pegg described the fact that he saw four scenes from the movie and discusses his reactions. Zachary Quinto reported that he learned more about Spock by hanging out with Leonard Nimoy than he did by watching the original series. He also recalled presenting the surviving actors of Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan with a 25th anniversary award at the Scream Awards last year. He attended the Scream Awards with his castmates from Heroes and noticed a definite parallel between his colleagues and those from the original series.
Other Star Trek News
It appears that Star Trek movies will be released in the high definition Blu-Ray format in 2009. There will probably be a boxed set of all the original series-based feature films, including the theatrical cut of Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
A 12 foot U.S.S. Enterprise float was unveiled during the 72nd Annual Sun Bowl Parade in El Paso, Texas, on Thanksgiving Day. Being as the theme for the parade was “El Paso Pride,” it was appropriate to commemorate Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, as he was a native of El Paso.
News:
Star Trek News
October 30th 2008
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
Star Trek XI News
Several important news bulletins on the new Star Trek movie were reported during October, 2008. This included news about the latest movie trailer. Early this month, the announcement was that it would be a full trailer. Soon after that, the news came that the trailer would be attached to MGM’s James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, which is premiering on November 14. This was to keep with its goal to reach the widest possible audience. Paramount also announced plans to gear up their marketing efforts for the movie, both domestically and overseas. This includes a media tour in several European cities, including London, Madrid, and Paris although the exact schedule has not yet been determined. Star Trek director, J.J. Abrams, and executive producer, Bryan Burk, will show portions of the film to European journalists in an effort to build "buzz" for the film. Paramount is hoping Star Trek will appeal as much globally as the other recent summer tent pole movies like Transformers and Iron Man. There will likely be an American press tour as well although no details have been released yet.
On October 17, the Entertainment Weekly magazine published a Trek movie exclusive, featuring Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine and Spock and Kirk, respectively. This can be accessed at this following link. A hard-copy version of the magazine was released on October 19. The Entertainment Weekly exclusive included an interview with J.J. Abrams on his involvement with Star Trek. As he has in previous interviews, he states that he wanted to make a movie for fans of movies in general and not just fans of Star Trek. Abrams figured that a movie showing people of various races working together and surviving years from now is not a bad idea at the present time. The EW article also described the movie’s plot, which is a time travel plot set in motion when a Federation starship, the U.S.S. Kelvin, is attacked by the Romulan, Nero (Eric Bana). The movie then brings Kirk and Spock together, shows the origin of their friendship and how they became officers on the Enterprise. It also shows how the original series crew came together. The writers found a way to have Nimoy appear in scenes with either Chris Pine (new Kirk) or Zachary Quinto (new Spock). Other details of the movie include the fact that there are scenes on Vulcan as well as scenes on an icy planet. Abrams revealed that the movie would be 2 hours and would be the second longest film in the franchise.
Abrams felt the design of the ship needed to be updated, so that the drama could be taken more seriously. The ship and its bridge were enhanced to look "more believable". During turbulence, the crew on the bridge could now grab handrails to keep from falling. (It should be pointed out that the original bridge also had such hand-railings, a fact that seems to have escaped Abrams' notice.) The article included quotes from Zachary Quinto, who had been campaigning for the part when doing press tours for his TV show Heroes, and from Chris Pine, who was afraid he had sabotaged his audition. For most of the movie, Kirk wears the Starfleet Academy cadet’s black shirt. Abrams also offered an explanation for the earlier, seemingly contradictory news of a scene being written for Shatner in the movie but Shatner himself saying he was never asked to be in the movie. Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman had written a scene for Shatner which was considered good but seemed to be a contrivance to get Shatner into the movie and did not seem to work. Hence, Shatner never got an offer, which is contradictory to what was said earlier about Shatner's salary demands being "unreasonable."
Along with the article, EW released several pictures, including a shot of the U.S.S. Kelvin being damaged, a shot of most of the bridge crew, other crew pictures, Nero the villain, and Kirk leaving a shuttle craft and climbing on an icy surface. Many of these pictures were also published on web sites, such as TrekMovie.com immediately prior to publication of the EW article.
On October 28, the UK magazine Empire covered the new movie in their latest issue, which includes a cover and several exclusive photos. These pictures can be accessed on-line. The cover recreated a classic publicity photo from TV Guide. There is more coverage of the movie, including interviews with Abrams in the hard copy version of the magazine available on Thursday, October 30. Abrams recalls visiting the Paramount lot with his father and remembers Star Trek more than anything; i.e. the movies. With time and all the spin-offs, he feels the franchise has lost something along the way. To him, the original series is what Star Trek is all about. Abrams felt that to make Star Trek, one must embrace it, which was to embrace its optimism. He rejected the current trend of going "dark" as the reboot of the Batman franchise did. Instead, he was going with the original concept from Roddenberry that Humans would survive and people of all races and species would work together in space. If he had any criticisms of the original series, it was that the show depicted a lot of discussion of events and not a lot of action. He plans to include more action in the new film, similar to Star Wars.
Besides the news of the movie trailer release and the movie special from both Entertainment Weekly and Empire, this month featured interviews with Star Trek actors. One interview was with Bruce Greenwood, who plays Captain Christopher Pike. In any interview with UGO, Greenwood had been careful not to breach his non-disclosure agreement but did let a few facts slip, including the fact that he worked with both Chris Pine and Quinto. He also confirmed a possible break with canon. Many Trek fans recall the exchange of dialogue in The Menagerie where Kirk was asked about when he met Pike where Kirk reports having met him when he was promoted to Fleet Captain. In the movie, Pike has scenes with Kirk, including a scene of Kirk in the command chair. This could be a possible contradiction of canon. Abrams admits they are honoring canon and are aware of any possible deviations. Still, Greenwood praises the acting of Pine and Quinto and considers Abrams "a force of nature".
There were several interviews with Chris Pine (Kirk) in October. He told Star Trek Magazine, he had corresponded with Shatner and admitted understanding "the big shoes he was stepping into." He recalled that his grandmother was a big Shatner fan and that when she was his babysitter, he would watch T. J. Hooker. He knew that Shatner had originated the role and he was "merely taking it over for a little bit." Pine also interviewed with Variety where he admitted he was not a science fiction buff, but realized he was taking on an iconic role. He spent much time studying Trek material before following Abrams’ advice to make Kirk his own. He figured that "meant embracing Kirk’s descriptors — charming, funny, leader of men — rather than a predigested image". Later in the month, there was another interview with Pine, by collider.com, conducted when he attended the Hollywood Awards. He was asked about fan reactions and answered that he was not sure of fan reaction as on-line post from fans are very mixed, with some being very excited and others being very upset. Pine himself thought he and the other actors did a great job. Pine was also asked about what he thought about the design of the Enterprise sets. He replied that with the amount of money being spent, there was the opportunity to have the best production designers, directors, actors, et cetera, working with you. It was almost like being a kid and having everything at one’s fingertips.
There were interviews with Zachary Quinto and Karl Urban (McCoy) as well. Quinto was asked about how he looked in Vulcan ears and any advice he received from Nimoy. Quinto feels his Vulcan look pulled together very well, between the ears, the hair, and the makeup. He felt that getting to know Nimoy was one of the greatest honors of his filming experience. They became friends as a result. There was also an interview with Karl Urban with Hollywood.com. He recalls watching the original Star Trek with his father as a boy and felt it was awesome to be in the movie. He feels the new movie is faithful to the series and that fans will be very happy and excited. There was an interview with Simon Pegg (Scotty). While promoting his new movie, Pegg discussed the script secrecy and the Enterprise. He admits to not having a copy of the script. He says that while making the movie, he had the script, but it was printed on paper so that he could not actually touch it. Abrams was adamant that the movie be a surprise and meant to be enjoyed the way a movie should be enjoyed. Pegg also commented on the change of release date, which was at the request of the studio but admits the original December date would have been a rush. Pegg also marveled at how the production designers managed to stay faithful to the U.S.S. Enterprise without making it look like it was built in the sixties.
Even before the Entertainment Weekly article was published, both Orci and Kurtzmann had discussed the fact that the new movie was the story of how the original crew came together. In reviewing source material, they noticed that the story of the crew’s origin had never been covered before.
Other Star Trek News
Oliver Crawford, who wrote/co-wrote the Star Trek episodes The Galileo Seven, Let That Be Your Last Battlefield, and The Cloud Minders, died in Los Angeles on September 24, 2008, at the age of 91. He was born in Chicago and studied at the Chicago Art Institute and the Goodman Theater. He was one of the many writers to be affected by the Hollywood blacklist in the 1950’s and one of the few whose careers recovered. He was blacklisted after refusing to reveal names of suspected Communists. His television writing credits, besides Star Trek, include Rawhide, Bonanza, Ben Casey, The Wild Wild West, The Fugitive and even Gilligan’s Island. He was nominated for the Emmy award for his work on the shows Climax and The Lineup. He also was nominated by the Writers’ Guild of America for the 1964 episode, "The Special One," of The Outer Limits. He also received two Morgan Cox Awards, one in 1983 and the other in 1997. In 1978, he wrote a novel The Execution which he adapted into a made-for-television movie in 1985. He served on the Writers Guild for 26 years and lobbied to remove the anticommunist loyalty oath from the guild’s membership application. He is survived by his three children. His wife preceded him in death.
On September 20, 2008, veteran Star Trek fan Nancy Kippax died from complications from an extended illness. She was an early member of Star Trek fandom who was a founding member of Clippercon committee, which was a forerunner of the Farpoint Convention, which is held annually in Baltimore, Maryland. She and her sister, Beverly Volker, published the Star Trek fanzine Contact from 1975 through 1987.
There was another recent death in fandom. Joyce Mason, who formerly ran the official William Shatner fan club and was host of the 1990’s radio talk show Talk Trek and Beyond passed away on September 6, of natural causes. She was also featured in Nikki Stafford’s 2002 book Trekkers: True Stories by Fans for Fans. In that book, Joyce discussed how she started watching Star Trek as a one hour escape from taking care of her sister who had been ill for years.
News:
Star Trek News
September 28th 2008
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
Star Trek XI News
During September 2008, there were several interviews with Producer J.J. Abrams and screenwriters, Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman. Orci believes the movie trailer will be released before Christmas while Kurtzman says they are still debating the actual date. While promoting his new show Fringe, Abrams would describe Star Trek as both a film for both Trekkies and new fans and admitted that the devotion of its fans was one of the reasons he got involved with Trek. He felt it was critical to honor current fans and the existing series while making the movie but, at the same time, he was also making it for fans of movies without prior knowledge of the series. He says that when fans see it, "It’s not going to be quite what you expect, and definitely not just a rehash of things you’ve seen before…It’s a very interesting balance." In an interview with BBC Radio 1, Abrams also describes the challenge of keeping the movie from turning into parody. The approach was to make the movie feel as real as possible. During that interview, he revealed several factoids: they are about two weeks away from "locking" the film; there will be no seatbelts on the ship; there is a toilet in one of the shuttles but it is not seen; there is one death of a "red shirt"; Kirk will wear a "yellow" (gold) shirt at some point in the movie; Abrams will be going to London in November for Star Trek related reasons.
Screenwriters Orci and Kurtzman, in several interviews, confirmed the movie was nearly complete, as the special effects are coming in. The movie would definitely be ready before the May release date. Orci reveals that a lot of the work he has done with Kurtzman, including Star Trek, has the theme about the balance between technology and humanity. Orci considers the movie to be a re-introduction to Star Trek for current fans and an introduction to those who aren’t. He and Kurtzman discussed the dilemma for the actors in creating their performances, in that they had to walk the tricky line of not mimicking the original actors in a cartoonish manner and giving their own interpretation of the role. Both screenwriters read the professional novels, considering them canon to a large degree and wanting to stay consistent with them. As one example, Kirk’s mother usually had the first name of "Winona" in the novels; hence, the use of that name in the movie. They say the scale of this movie is bigger than normal for a Star Trek movie, in terms of investment. While it will be about the humanity and the character interactions, it will also have a unique epic quality. Orci and Kurtzman reported being influenced by The Wrath of Khan when writing this film, which they both watched as kids.
A Paramount press screening took place in London to preview upcoming movies which included the new Star Trek movie. This included the showing of the teaser trailer and an early version of the full trailer. The new trailer included footage of the "big three" along with some of John Cho and Simon Pegg. The trailer included spaceship battles, hand-to-hand combat, and Spock interacting with a parent. An observer from the Ain’t It Cool News website reported that the movie looked like great fun and the look of the bridge and the crew were "spot on". The costumes looked like the original but with a more modern and practical twist.
In an interview, producer Damon Lindelof discussed the "state of the union" of Star Trek and also discussed the idea of casting Shatner in the movie. Lindelof described having a "real reverence" for the material and how long it’s persevered. While this movie is not a reboot of continuity the way Batman Begins was; however Batman Begins is often considered a great example of how to reinvigorate a franchise after several unsuccessful outings. As for Shatner, he could sympathize with Shatner being upset about not being in the movie but knew it would be a challenge to tell the story he wanted considering that Kirk had already died and Shatner was now several years older than Kirk at the time of his death.
In an interview with AMC TV.com, Abrams discussed the fact of Shatner not having a role in the new movie. Abrams claims that they had written a flashback type of scene for him but that Shatner had turned it down as did not wish to do a role that was merely a cameo. Also, there was concern about adhering to canon and the desire to make the storytelling consistent. Abrams remarked that "maybe a smarter group of filmmakers could have figured out how to resolve that". Shatner contradicted that information when speaking on his "Shatner Project" video blog. He claims no one even came to him to say they had a cameo role for him in the movie as he knows it could have been clipped out. He also realized that J.J. Abrams was having trouble fitting him into the movie anyhow. Still, Shatner feels they could bring Captain Kirk back to life being as he did it himself in his novels.
Kevin Smith gave another review of the new Star Trek movie which he saw as a rough cut. He even compared it to Dark Knight, saying both films were amazing, but he would give the edge to Dark Knight. This is even given the fact that Star Trek is a rough cut. He says Abrams did a fantastic job with the movie, making it viable and not getting rid of anything that previously happened in Star Trek. He also praised Chris Pine’s performance as "fantastic" and reports that Pine is not doing an impression of Shatner but is still believable as Kirk, showing the bravado and self assurance one would expect. He also says Zoe Saldana was great as Uhura.
While promoting this season of Heroes, Zachary Quinto compared the similarities and differences of playing Spock and Sylar. He says elements of the characters echo each other from opposite ends of the spectrum. Both characters employ a "stillness and a rich internal point of view that informs the way that they behave and the way that they relate to people around them. It’s great to have characters that are rich and full of challenges and full of rewards and both of those characters are clearly that." He goes on to say that both characters are "very contained and very controlled". In a later interview with UK’s SFX, Quinto discussed that the movie was to "reframe" a franchise from 40 years ago that seemed ahead of its time and had much social relevance. He and the fellow cast went to work, trying to make the best movie possible. He hopes that the audience will respond in such a way as to give the stories and characters some more life. Producer Brian Burk, who also interviewed with SFX, hopes that enough people see the movie so that there will be a sequel. Having seen the movie, he says it feels like a big summer movie.
There was some more casting news about this movie, in additional to the discussions about whether or not Shatner was offered at role. Brad William Henke discussed his role as Jim Kirk’s alcoholic uncle. This gives evidence that Abrams is going for a more realistic Trek, given that no one on the original show had ever had a drinking problem and we never had seen humanity having any domestic abuse. Rachel Nichols, who had a regular role on Abrams’ show Alias, will be playing a Star Fleet Academy cadet. While she did not reveal much about her role in the movie, aside from hinting that it would be a memorable role, she did reveal that she was asked to die her hair red for the movie. There is strong speculation that she will be playing an Orion.
Meanwhile, still another role was cast, this one of Diora Baird who will play the part of an Orion. In an interview, she admits that she was one of the infamous "green girls that Captain Kirk would hit on". Baird has acted in several TV shows and movies, including the movie My Best Friend’s Girl that was released this month. Photos of her have also appeared in Maxim magazine.
In showing that every actor does not wish to be in Star Trek, British comedian, Ricky Gervais admits turning down a role in the movie. He says that he is not trying to become a star and does not care if he ever does a film again. He figures he can create his own material. He was never a big fan of Star Trek by his own admission and would have felt guilty taking the part just to be in a blockbuster.
Other Star Trek News
In spite of not being in the movie, William Shatner is still keeping busy. In addition to his role of Denny Crane in Boston Legal and a guest appearance on Saturday Night Live, Shatner is getting into the comic book business. He is partnering with Bluewater Productions, Incorporated in developing adaptations of some of his novels about deep space struggles, including Man O’War and Quest for Tomorrow. There are even plans for a series based on his TekWar series, which should be more faithful to the original than the 1990’s TV show was, being as Shatner has final approval.
Shatner also launched a new web vlog called "The Shatner Project" which debuted on YouTube this month. The new online video home for Shatner is www.shatnerproject.com. Although it directs people to Shatner’s new YouTube channel at the moment, eventually there will be a stand alone site, as well. The plan is to do 2 or 3 videos a week and go "more in depth" into the life of Shatner.
On September 14, George Takei (original Sulu) married his long time partner, Brad Altman, at the Democracy Forum of the Japanese American National Museum, a museum founded by Takei himself to honor those forced to move to a World War II Internment camp. The ceremony was hosted by a Buddhist priest and featured koto music and the san-san-kudo sake ritual. They exchanged matching turquoise wedding bands. Serving as Best Man was Walter Koenig (Chekov) and serving as Best Lady was Nichelle Nichols (Uhura). Nearly 200 guests were in attendance. The famous Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles performed at the reception. Takei and Altman planned to honeymoon in Argentina.
Rod Roddenberry, Gene’s son, has been working on Trek Nation, a documentary about his father and Star Trek fandom for the last few years. This summer he hired Emmy winner, Allan Holzman, as an editor. There is now a new trailer on-line which is much better than the original trailer. Much work still remains to be done but it should be released some time in late 2009. They are hoping for a theatrical release before it comes out on DVD. See the website www.roddenberry.com for more details.
Joan Winston passed away a few weeks ago (see article below), and a number of fans inquired as to what of her material is presently available on-line. This is but a sampling of the work she did for Orion Press, but click on the links and you can enjoy her light-hearted fan fiction.
From Number One 3 - 1996
That Smile
What Went Wrong...?
Memories
From Number One 4 - 1997
Surprise!
Captain Daddy
From Number One 5 - 1997
Kinfolk
From Number One 6 - 1999
Threads
The Galactic Edge
Will And Worf At Play
News:
Joan Winston Passes Away
September 12th 2008
news report by Randy Landers
One of fandom's first ladies is no longer with us. Joan Winston died September 11, 2008. She was 77 years old.
Joan should be most remembered for "The Making of the Star Trek Conventions" and for her contributions to "Star Trek Lives!" both of which should be required reading for all Star Trek fans. Joan was also a friend of many of the Star Trek actors, including William Shatner and Jonathan Frakes, who portrayed her favorite characters, Kirk and Riker, respectively.
Joan edited four issues of NUMBER ONE, and had penned over three dozen stories for Orion Press. Her last issue and published stories appeared in 2001.
We had reported her deteriorating condition some months ago, and had urged fans to show their love for her, which many did. We are grateful for that outflow of adoration.
Joanie was a great gal, and I loved her dearly as a friend. I miss our long telephone chats, our discussions about Shatner and Frakes and Star Trek conventions. Fandom is definitely a lesser entity without her.
Randy Landers
ORION PRESS
UPDATE: There's a very nice obituary on the TrekMovie site.
News:
Star Trek News
September 1st 2008
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
Star Trek XI News
In early August, nearly four months after finishing up the principal photography for Star Trek XI, J.J. Abrams and his editors, Mary Jo Markey and Maryann Brandon finished the first cut for the movie. They showed this cut to Paramount studio boss, Brad Grey, and other studio executives. According to sources, the showing went very well. One executive said the cut was a "hit" and another considered it "impressive." There is still much post-production work to be done for the film, with the visual effects from ILM being a major element of that. Abrams is determined to stick to his original schedule although the schedule may slip a little to save money on overtime. Another task to be done is the music by Michael Giacchino, although sources say he is already at work and scoring sessions should get underway in the fall. The next major step for the movie is the release of the trailer. While the trailer itself is edited, the effects are still not finalized. This teaser trailer will include live action shots from the film. There is no word on when this trailer will be released but is expected to be in 2008.
Similar to last year, Paramount distributed a new movie poster at Creation’s official Star Trek convention which took place in August in Las Vegas. Actually, they gave the fans eight posters, the same four given out at Comic Con in July and four new ones in the same style but with the rest of the main crew from the film, specifically John Cho (Sulu), Simon Pegg (Scotty), Anton Yelchin (Chekov), and Karl Urban (Dr. McCoy). The second set of posters shows the uniforms and confirms that they are similar to the original series uniforms but consist of two pieces, an undershirt and an overshirt, and have a small "delta shield" emblem woven into it. Given that the fans at Comic Con were officially allowed only one poster and fans at Vegas had a two poster limit, it is likely that the posters given out at both conventions will become collectors’ items. The new posters are also now available to be downloaded from the official Star Trek movie site: http://www.startrekmovie.com/.
While promoting his upcoming TV show, Fringe, which premiers on September 9, Abrams was asked about the Star Trek movie during an interview with TV Guide. He says that "this movie is going to be worth the wait. It’s blessed with a wonderful optimism and an incredibly, alive cast." While watching the movie, he considered how cool it was to work with Leonard Nimoy. It had not hit him before during the shoot because there was so much work to do during the shoot. He feels the movie is "working" even though on 50 of the 1000 effects shots have been done.
Abrams showed a cut of the movie to Kevin Smith, best known for directing the movie Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. On an interview on KROQ’s show, Kevin and Bean, Smith gave the show a positive review but in a roundabout way. Smith did not name Star Trek explicitly but described is as a movie he cannot talk about but said the director did a "phenomenal job" and praised the acting.
Near the end of August, writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman were guests on the show Life After Film School, where Hollywood personnel talk to real film school students. Fox released a clip of the show where they talked about what it was like to take on Star Trek. Orci says their version of Star Trek is not exactly a prequel, although it is in some ways. They recall that while reviewing all the material, they were amazed that no one had ever done the story of how the crew came together. They admitted it was daunting to them since there was 40 years worth of material and, thus, 40 years of rules that cannot be rewritten, along with a die-hard fan base.
Throughout August, there were several interviews with actors in the new movie. This included several interviews with Simon Pegg, the new Scotty. Pegg admits that James Doohan owns the role of Scotty and always will. He figured the best thing he could do as a tribute to Doohan would be to look at the script and figure out what the character was like, as he assumed Doohan probably did. Pegg looked at the character and noticed that he was Scottish, an engineer, works in space, a bit of a brawler, and likes to drink. It was easy to figure out these characteristics as they were in the script. He felt fortunate to have Chris Doohan be his assistant in a scene that took place in a room on the Enterprise. He loved talking to Doohan who told him stories about hanging out with his father on the original series set, including the scene where the tribbles fell out of the hatch. Pegg also has seen some of the new movie and believes it is "so good." He recalls how when Gene Roddenberry had created the series, it was ahead of its time, as it included the first interracial kiss. He admits the movie will have JJ’s stamp on it. The movie will be contemporary and gritty but it will be very much Star Trek. Pegg considers the movie another movie in the series as opposed to a remake and considers it a perfect example of taking the spirit of the original material and maintaining it. While people who have worked with Pegg report that he will provide much of the comic relief in the new movie, Pegg makes it clear that the fans should not expect "sly winks, spoofy nudges or exaggerated references" to be the source for the laughs. He says that the film will not be a parody and does not mock the past.
In the latest issue of SFX magazine, there was an interview with Karl Urban, who plays Dr. McCoy. While Urban was thankful to be able to have a lot of old series work to review, he admits to be envious of Zachary Quinto who was able to spend time with the original Spock. Urban’s main research consisted of watching the original series episodes although he had grown up with those characters and was very familiar with their relationships. With the long time since the original characters last appeared, Urban feels it’s the perfect time to show them in their early years and show some of their back story. He would love to continue shooting movies with this cast as they had a wonderful time.
Zoe Saldana admits that when she was offered the role of Uhura last year, she was not sure if she would take the role. At the time, she was busy shooting another science fiction blockbuster, Avatar, and did not feel she was not very knowledgeable about Star Trek. She reveals the director of that film, James Cameron, helped talk her into accepting the Uhura role. Even though the Star Trek shooting schedule would likely affect her shooting schedule on Avatar, Cameron realized it was a great opportunity for her and even requested J.J Abrams’ number. Since getting the job of Uhura, Sandana has gotten to know Trek much more, has actually watched more of the episodes and gained more respect for the show and its original creators. She believes Abrams has much respect for the original show. As a female actress, she has always wanted to find roles that are empowering to women. She hopes that if the new Star Trek works out, she’ll want to expand her role to be more physical.
During interviews throughout August, Clifton Collins, Jr. who plays General Ayle, the right hand man to Eric Bana’s Nero, confirmed that the villains in the new Star Trek movie will be Romulans. During an interview with E!, he reported that a linguist came on the set to invent the Romulan language. While Romulan phrases have been used in past movies, the language needed to be further defined in this movie. Collins reports that he and Bana are playing some "real bad dudes" and that the Romulan look for this movie could have been inspired by Pirates of the Caribbean, describing himself and Bana as "space pirates". He also discussed the makeup routine, saying that it took two and a half hours on a good day. Apparently, the Romulans in the movie all had tattoos, with the tattoos varying for each character. It had earlier been confirmed that the Romulans would be bald.
A possible spoiler about Kirk’s origin was revealed this month. Dominic Keating, an actor in Enterprise, had auditioned for a role as Kirk’s stepfather. This implies that something had happened to Kirk’s father, George Kirk. Earlier, it was revealed that Kirk’s father did not appear in the Kirk childhood scene taking place in Iowa.
Both Nimoy and Quinto, the two Spocks, appeared at the official Star Trek convention in Las Vegas. Nimoy reveals that he is excited about the new movie and was disappointed that it was being moved to a May 2009 release. He regards the date change as a "vote of confidence" from Paramount that this film can compete during the summer months. Nimoy says that he and Quinto have seen some of the new film and says it looks "quite wonderful". He continued praising the script, the acting and the directing of the new movie. Quinto, meanwhile, says Nimoy is an incredible man and they spent a great deal of time getting to know each other. The whole process helped Quinto understand the character better. Quinto says there are many moments in the movie the fans will love. He admits his Vulcan salute will be different than Nimoy’s as he is a lefty. The Vegas convention is the first time that Quinto and Nimoy admitted being in a scene together. Quinto also reports that Nimoy worked with Simon Pegg (new Scotty) more than he did which implies that the audience will see many scenes with Scotty and the elderly Spock. This all confirms the previous reports regarding time travel and that the elderly Spock will interact with his younger self and younger versions of his former crew mates. During an interview at the Creation Convention, his most revealing comment on the movies is, "This story happens irrespective of where the Spock we’ve come to know ends up."
There were several interviews with Chris Pine during August. In an interview with Crave Online where he was promoting his new film Bottle Shock, he was asked several questions about Star Trek. Pine said that the writers brought a great deal of humanity to the roles and the movie is character driven. Fans will definitely see why Kirk is Kirk, why Spock is Spock; etc. He believes they did a great job of casting the characters. In response to a question on whether he tried to emulate Shatner, Pine replied that he was paying respect to what was done before and was doing his own unique take. He does not think it would have been smart to merely mimic Shatner. In another interview, he says he is ready for the loss of privacy that will come with playing James Kirk. He definitely thought about that before accepting the job. He admits there’s a certain price to be paid for being able to act and a certain price to be paid for getting more opportunities.
It appears that the new Star Trek movie will have some direct competition on the same release date, even if it is counter-programming. Fox Searchlight plans to release their romantic comedy My Life in Ruin on May 8. The film stars Nia Vardalos, who also co-wrote it. Vardalos is primarily known for My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
Other Star Trek News
Director Jud Taylor died on August 6 in New York City after a long illness. He was 76. He had directed several Star Trek episodes including: "The Cloud Minders," "Paradise Syndrome," "Mark of Gideon," "Wink of an Eye" and "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield." He had also directed episodes of numerous other TV shows and helmed more than 40 mad-for-TV movies. In addition, he had once served as president of the Directors Guild of America.
During interviews this month, Adam Nimoy discusses his anti-memoir, My Incredibly Wonderful, Miserable Life. In there, he described what it was really like to grow up as the son of Leonard. He also wrote about his recovery from addiction to pot and alcohol and the dissolution of his marriage. Articles have been comparing his book to Leonard’s earlier book I am Not Spock.
There was another unsuccessful attempt to launch the ashes of James Doohan into space during August. The Falcon I rocket broke up several minutes after it launched from the Pacific. This time it was probably caused by a fuel leak. This was the third attempt. Like the attempted launch back in May, original astronaut Gordon Cooper’s ashes were to be launched also. In spite of the failures, the CEO of the company doing the launches, Elon Musk, does not intend to give up space exploration.
Originally, Shatner’s show, Raw Nerve, was to premier on A&E Network but instead it will premier in December. The show is being pitched as an "edgy and off beat celebrity interview series". Each episode will focus on a single celebrity and will be shot in a real living room. An image was released of his interview with Kelsey Grammer. Other guests include Leonard Nimoy, Jon Voight, Jimmy Kimmell, and Judge Judy. The show was rescheduled to accommodate Shatner’s schedule, which includes shooting of episodes for Boston Legal.
Shatner also admitted that he does not like to watch his own work and, during an interview with South Africa’s The Times, he went into more detail. He considered Kirk a "complete stranger." This particular interview was a different take than when Shatner once saw an episode of the original series in a rerun and thought it was pretty good. Shatner also recently held an on-line autograph session at LiveAutographs.com. Some personalized videos can be seen on-line.
After 11 years, the Las Vegas attraction, Star Trek: The Experience closed down on Monday, September 1. There was a special decommissioning ceremony in the Space Quest Casino area. The event included most of the employees, the Las Vegas business, civic and entertainment communities and was open to the public. The decommissioning followed traditional navy traditions.
News:
Star Trek News
July 27th 2008
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
During July, it was announced that the new Star Trek movie would get a truly global premiere, a first for a Star Trek movie. The movie would first open on Wednesday May 6, 2008 in Belgium, France, and Switzerland. It would open in several other countries the following day, including Russia. The premiere in the United States would be Friday May 8, the same day as in Canada, United Kingdom, and many other nations. A remaining handful of nations would have premieres later that summer. The release schedule is planned in that manner because many countries traditionally open movies on Wednesday or Thursday and Paramount wishes most of the countries to have the movie on the same weekend. While massive global openings are new for Trek, they have become more common for movies in general, especially for potential blockbusters. For example, Paramount gave both Iron Man and Indiana Jones similar global openings. For a full schedule of release dates by country, follow this link: http://www.startrekmovie.com/releasedates/
The official website for the movie, http://www.startrekmovie.com, was updated this month. In addition to a redesign of the home page, site visitors now have the ability to download four different posters related to the movie. The posters are of Kirk, Spock, Uhura, and the villain Nero and, depending on the chosen resolution size, can be saved on the computer either as background or wallpaper or as IM icons. While several sources had earlier confirmed the villains to be Romulans, it is notable that the poster of Nero shows his ear as not appearing to be pointed. In an interview, executive Producer and co-writer, Alex Kurtzman, smiled and said, "Nero is not necessarily a Romulan. It’s all part of the plot."
Director J.J. Abrams reports that he is "very close to locking Trek" which means that he is close to having his first cut of the film ready. However, executive producer Bryan Burk has pointed out that very few of the special effects shots are done. This includes the trailer they are currently working on which needs effect shots before it can be complete. With the change in release date from December 2008 to May 2009, they did not wish to rush the completion of the special effects.
There were several interviews with J.J. Abrams during July. In an interview with EOnline, Abrams felt that Zachary Quinto "brought gravity and a sense of humor which is a wonderful combination because the Spock character is deceivingly complicated." In another interview, Abrams discussed how Chris Pine’s portrayal of Kirk depicted him as emotional, funny, and cocky, yet vulnerable. In an interview with Sci Fi Wire, Abrams reveals that the film will explore the relationship among the characters. The idea of maintaining character relationships and the dynamics between the characters was important and that "our Star Trek is not parody." However, he also says the movie will dispense with the kitsch associated with the original series. In his opinion, the kitschy quality would need to go, in order to seem "real." Abrams makes it clear he’s going where no Star Trek has gone before, with his tale of the crew’s earlier days. He also promises that "we’re serving the people who are completely enamored with Star Trek." In answer to the question on whether the movie would show many flashback sequences, he reports that most of the "early years" for Kirk and Spock would follow the traditional origin story structure. J.J. Abrams also admits being drawn to Star Trek for its hopefulness. At the Television Critics Association press tour, he notes that while there is darkness in Trek XI, he also notes that both the sense of optimism and of family make the show so special. Walking onto the set for the first time was a thrill for Abrams, as well as for write-producers, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci.
Actor Clifford Collins, who plays a Romulan (General Ayel) in the movie, warns that this "ain’t your grandmother’s Trek. He’s totally reinvented the whole thing and taken the cheese out of it. I tried to watch some of the old Star Treks and, with all due respect, they were probably cool at the time, but I couldn’t watch them." He says the new Trek is the "real deal," with a lot of reality, and not corny at all. As for his character, while admitting he can’t say too much, he reports that he and Eric Bana "are some really bad dudes."
In interviews, Simon Pegg discussed playing Scotty. He believes Scotty is a beloved popular character, in spite of the generalizations. In some ways, he’s a racial stereotype but a fun one. Yet, Scotty is a popular character in Scotland. Pegg approached the character in a similar fashion as Doohan and reports that "Scott’s an accomplished engineer but a bit cheeky, likes a drink and a brawl." He also believes it’s appropriate that the chief engineer of the Enterprise is a Scotsman, considering that many important inventions came out of Scotland, including Alexander Graham Bell’s invention of the telephone.
In the past, Zachary Quinto and Leonard Nimoy had talked about how they bonded while making the movie. However, Quinto reports that his portrayal of Spock was based on the script as much as on Nimoy’s characterizations from the original series. He did not feel beholden to Nimoy other than to honor the origin of what he created.
In a recent interview, Leonard Nimoy reports having high hopes that the new movie will inspire a new generation of viewers and reinvigorate the old fans. The relevance of Star Trek has always been due to interesting characters and a positive view of mankind and hope for the future. The current movie is more of an adventure than a social commentary. One driving force is the concept of revenge, and the damage it can cause.
Karl Urban, the new McCoy, talked about what he like the most about Dr. McCoy in an interview. "…His sense of irascibility with real passion for life and doing the right thing. Spock’s logic and McCoy’s moral standing gave Kirk the benefit of having three brains instead of just one." He also believes that long time fans will be pleased with the film, in addition to the fact that it will introduce Star Trek to a new demographic.
Chris Pine, the new Captain Kirk, gave a taped interview that was shown as Comic Con. He said, "I really hope it is received well and will do well. All I can say is that we did our best and we had a lot of fun and will give people a good two hours in an air-conditioned dark room."
Other Star Trek News
In an interview earlier this month, J.J. Abrams expressed disappointment that he would not be able to show a preview of the new Star Trek movie at Comic Con in San Diego taking place July 24-27, especially since that is the last Comic Con before the movie’s release. Note: Paramount was also not taking previews of many of their other films scheduled for 2009 either, like G.I. Joe and Transformers 2. Star Trek XI is not ready to be shown; however, Abrams felt that snippets could have been prepared, similar to Iron Man last year. Admittedly, the visual effects are nowhere near done, being as there are over 1000 visual effects shots. He still would have like to show material about the people. "Original show was not about the effects. It was about the relationships, the dynamics with the characters. The reason I know this movie is working...is that you care about the story and the people."
Many were surprised that Star Trek did not have a movie panel at Comic Con, even though Abrams, Orci, Kurtzman and Burk were on stage. While Star Trek did not have a panel or a movie trailer at Comic Con, Paramount did give away new posters, with cast photos. This included four posters that form a single larger poster. Each fan would get only one section each so they would need three friends with different sections to get the full effect. These are the same posters that are available for download from the Star Trek official web site. The posters were not the only Star Trek presence. It turns out that Star Trek actually took up half of Paramount’s booth. The "under construction" theme was in full force, with girls handing out construction jobs and new promotional items tied into the new movie.
On August 6-10, Creation Entertainment plans to hold a Star Trek convention in Las Vegas, NE. Numerous guest stars from all incarnations of Trek are scheduled to be present, including Walter Koenig, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Leonard Nimoy, and Majel Barrett from the original series, and Zachary Quinto, who plays Spock in the new movie.
News:
Star Trek News
June 29th 2008
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
During the month of June, the main movie related news came from interviews with actors and other personnel associated with the movie. Early in June, the site, comingsoon.net, reported about an interview conducted with Zoe Saldana (new Uhura). Overall, she was enthusiastic about her experience filming the movie, including meeting the original Uhura, Nichelle Nichols. Saldana reports holding J.J. Abrams with the highest regard and considers him in the same category as Steven Spielberg and James Cameron. She did not reveal any major details about the plot but did admit that all the men on the set noticed when she was working, most likely due to the mini-skirt uniform she was wearing. There was also an interview with Faran Tahir, who plays a villain in the current hit movie Iron Man, but who plays a starship captain, Captain Robau, in the new Star Trek movie. Tahir believes that Abrams is the perfect choice to bring back Star Trek since he knows the genre. He also realizes there has not been a Trek movie for a long time and there’s a generation that did not grow up with Trek. Tahir believes the movie will reintroduce Star Trek so that new generation will get to know it. As he has in previous interviews, Tahir reports that his role is that of a starship captain and that it is a heroic one. His ship has not yet been seen in Star Trek. He reports working only in passing with Chris Pine (the new Captain Kirk).
There was also an interview with co-writers and executive producers, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. They discussed why they did a movie in the pre-Original Series era. For one thing, they liked the original series. They also noticed that there was a gap in what fans knew about the origins of these characters. Doing an origin story seemed to be a good way to introduce the characters to a new generation. The two writers realized that all the Star Trek series, except the original, had elaborate pilots that showed how the crews together. In many ways, this movie is the pilot the original series never had.
In other movie news, Roberto Orci revealed that Paramount is already trying to line up the new Star Trek movie team for the sequel. This includes director/producer Abrams, producer Damon Lindelof, executive producer Bryan Burk, along with co-writers Orci and Kurtzman. No other detailed discussions have taken place yet. Paramount had also previously reported that the actors were signed with options for two additional films. The likeliest time for a sequel will be 2011, but that would depend on the schedule of Abrams.
Other Star Trek News
Joan Winston (author of The Making of the Trek Conventions (which she helped organize and run) and co-author of Star Trek Lives! (which introduced fans to fan fiction) and editor of the Orion Press Riker fanzine, Number One) was recently placed in a assisted living/care facility in central New York state. Joan is doing well, but at the age of 77, sadly needs their care. She's always been a strong supporter of fandom, conventions and fanzines, and fans wishing to contact Joanie directly should contact Randy Landers for her mailing address. Cards and letters would be more than welcome! And thanks to Marilyn Mann of Shore-Leave and her friends for helping us track Joanie down!
On a sad note, Jeff Maynard (1941-2008), an early icon in Star Trek fandom, passed away in April. He was in charge of the design and coordination for Star Trek Maps published in 1969. He also created the Andromeda Light Show which was seen at most major Star Trek Conventions during the mid to late 1970’s. His New Eye Studio was one of the longest lived entities in the field of Star Trek collectables, which sold at conventions, mail order, and on the internet. He also was a major part of the early Star Trek conventions, both as a committee member, entertainer, and photographer.
With June 17, 2008, being the first day for California to issue marriage licenses for same sex couples, George (Sulu) Takei and his long time partner, Brad Altman, were literally the first in line for theirs. They plan to wed on September 14 in a formal affair at the Japanese-American Museum in Los Angeles. The best man will be Walter (Chekov) Koenig while the matron of honor will be Nichelle (Uhura) Nichols. The guest list will include Leonard (Spock) Nimoy and his wife, Susan.
Rob Roddenberry, the son of Gene Roddenberry, unveiled a memorial to his father at the Canadian VulCON this month. This convention, which was the fifteenth annual VulCON, was held in the small town of Vulcan, Alberta, Canada from June 13-15, 2008. The town created a permanent memorial to Gene Roddenberry and had his son on hand for its unveiling at the convention. The town is also lobbying to get the Star Trek premier in 2009. The inhabitants of that town have also erected an oversize replica of the U.S.S. Enterprise and have built a Star Trek-themed tourist station with memorabilia and a virtual reality game.
News:
Robert H. "Bob" Justman
Passes Away
June 1st 2008
news report by Randy Landers
from The
Los Angeles Times
Bob Justman, one of the most influential creative geniuses behind Star Trek and its subsequent incarnation, Star Trek: The Next Generation, has died at the age of 81. His death comes just days after those of Director Joseph Pevney's and composer Alexander Courage. As noted by Jonathan Justman, "There seems to be a big Star Trek convention and everyone is going. Everyone is getting beamed up." It was Justman who insisted upon the casting of Patrick Stewart as Captain Picard. The book he co-authored with Herb Solow, Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, is regarded as one of the best examinations of Star Trek's production. Bob Justman was to the production side of the original series as Gene L. Coon was to the writing side, and his contributions are beyond value. Truly, he will be missed.
News:
Star Trek News
May 31st 2008
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
Throughout May 2008, there has been more evidence that the main antagonists in the new Star Trek movie are Romulans, although Paramount has not officially acknowledged this fact. In the movie, the Romulans are led by Nero (Eric Bana) and his second in command, General Ayel (Clifton Collins). One more clue that the villains are Romulans came from an interview with Anton Yelchin (Chekov) during this month. Yelchin admitted that it was fun to sit on the bridge and scream at the Romulans.
Apparently, all the Romulans in this movie will be bald, to distinguish them from the Vulcans. This includes the background performers. It has also been confirmed that the Romulans in the movie will not have the forehead ridges that were seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Some fans are increasingly concerned that this movie is a redux of Della Van Hise’s Killing Time wherein the Romulans travel back in time to stop the development of the Federation and Starfleet.
Back in February, a local traffic news helicopter had flown over a large rusty object which was being filmed in a parking lot around Dodger Stadium. According to Trek Movie.Com, this object is a drilling rig used by the Romulans, and it is related to an attempt to destroy a planet. At the same time, JFX took photos of John Cho (Sulu) practicing for an action scene, along with a picture of a bald actor who was originally speculated to be a Klingon but was actually a Romulan who Sulu is to fight in the movie.
Late this month, the TrekMovie.com site pieced together information about the ships to appear in the movie. As expected, the main ship in the movie is the Enterprise, with the primary location being the bridge. Nearly three to four weeks out of the twenty weeks devoted to shooting involved the bridge. The Enterprise will be seen under the command of both Captain Pike and Captain Kirk. Another ship is the starship, U.S.S. Kelvin, which is from the generation before the Enterprise. It is under the command of Captain Robau (Faran Tahir), with George Kirk (Chris Hemsworth) as first officer. There is also the Romulan ship commanded by Nero which travels through time from the 24th century although it was not necessarily designed to travel through time. The design of the ship is different that that typical of Romulan ships during The Next Generation era. The elder Spock uses a Vulcan ship specially designed for time travel. Other ships may also appear in the film.
There were interviews with both Abrams and co-writer, Roberto Orci. Abrams reveals that the movie looks at the formation of the core characters but that it is more than a prequel. The film actually starts in the post-Star Trek: Nemesis era and goes back to before the original series era. Orci discussed how the origin story for the Star Trek crew is one that has not been seen before. Up until now, nobody had ever done the story on how Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the crew had gotten together. Since it had never been done before, that solved the problem of creating a story that was viable for Star Trek fans. It would also serve as an introduction for movie goers not already familiar with the characters. Meanwhile, Abrams himself spoke about why he chose to direct the film and how he thinks it will make Star Trek relevant again. He considered the script an excellent script and felt he had to direct it; otherwise, he would be agonizing envious of whoever would direct it. He felt the shooting went incredibly well and felt the cast was great.
Additional interviews this month included interviews with actors Zachary Quinto (Spock), Karl Urban (McCoy) and Zoe Saldana (Uhura). Saldana believes the fans will not be disappointed with the new movie. She discussed the transformation of the actors into their characters, with Zachary Quinto doing the most transformation. She was asked about the rumors about her mini-skirt being shorter than in the old TV show. In reply, she said she is still waiting for the phone call that would say that the skirts are not short enough. She believes the fans will be happy with the results and recalls that the skirts in the show were quite short and if they were any shorter, they’d be a tee shirt. Urban, meanwhile, discussed why it now was the right time for a Star Trek prequel. He admits that there were a few discrepancies in the production design from the old but believes that they’ve created the spirit and essence of what was done in the sixties. Quinto explains that the film honors the original Trek but that the priority for the filmmakers was to make a good movie. He also explained how he thought his role on Heroes won him the role of Spock.
Previously, it was announced that CGI powerhouse, ILM, will handle the special effects for the movie. However, Abrams has also brought in some old-school special effects veterans to help out also. In a recent article in the UK Guardian, one of these old-school artists talks about "keeping it real." Oscar nominated effects artist, Alec Gillis, believes the directors want a life-like experience, rather than a video game sensory assault. They want to see stuntmen daring to risk their lives, full-scale buildings blowing up and convincing miniatures flying through the sky. Computer-generated effects often give a physics defying pristine ness that defies reality. Abrams also hired Rob Burman, whose family has been in the effects business since 1931. Burman feels that as people have become more used to computer generated effects, its limitations are becoming more obvious. It is harder for the audience to suspense disbelief if what they are watching is impossible. Having something practical helps everyone involved, including the actors. It helps the framing of the shot and the editing to have a literal 3-D object in front of the camera.
Other Star Trek News
This Memorial Day weekend, the Chevy pickup truck driven by Dr. Gillian Taylor in the movie, Star Trek: The Voyage Home, was being offered for sale. The truck, a baby blue 1976 Chevy pickup, is part of the "TV & Hollywood Collection" at the Volo Auto Museum in Volo, Illinois. This truck is being sold at Volo’s "Spring Expo and Car Corral" which features hundreds of classic cars, including some from other films, such as a Terminator sequel and Spiderman. According to a spokesman from Volo, the truck currently runs but emits smoke and has a cracked engine block that needs to be replaced. The asking price is $5,595. Offers can be made either on the phone or in person starting Saturday morning.
Only one day after the California Supreme Court ruled that same sex marriages were legal which overturned a previous ban as unconstitutional, George Takei (original Sulu) announced that he and his long time partner, Brad Altman, are engaged to be married. They plan to tie the knot as soon as possible and are currently considering dates and possible locations. One possible site is the recently restored St. Vibiana’s Cathedral located in downtown Los Angeles.
The new autobiography of William Shatner, Up Until Now, was released this month. Shatner spent much of May doing a media tour to promote his book. The media tour included interviews with Good Morning America and various other TV and radio shows, along with scheduled book signings at book stores.
On a sad note, Joseph Pevney, who directed numerous Star Trek original series episodes, died at his home in Palm Desert, California over Memorial weekend. He was 96 years old. He began his career as an actor but transitioned into becoming a director. He got a kick out of the fact that the top three fan favorite episodes on Star Trek were ones he directed including "The Trouble With Tribbles" and "The City on the Edge of Forever." Besides Star Trek, he directed hundreds of episodes from other television shows, including Wagon Train, and over 35 films.
Another notable death occurred this month, that of Alexander "Sandy" Courage, the composer of the theme song for the original Star Trek series. Courage died on May 15 in Pacific Palisades at the age of 88, after being in declining health since 2005. He had initially written his fanfare for the Enterprise for the first pilot back in 1965, and it had been reprised throughout the three original seasons of the show and all the Star Trek feature films. While Courage is best known for the Star Trek theme song, he had over 90 film and television credits. He won an Emmy award for the ABC special Julie Andrews: The Sound of Christmas and has also received Oscar nominations for his work.
News:
Star Trek News
April 25th 2008
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
The main news about the new Star Trek movie is that primary photography ended in March. However, during early April, some Second Unit filming continued. This filming was of scenes that were to take place in Iowa, the home of James Kirk, and none of the principal cast was involved. The rural settings of Kern County, California, near Bakersfield, were used for Iowa locations. Despite all efforts by Paramount to keep shooting locations secret, the cover was blown when a local official in charge of the location shooting got involved in a car accident and was found by a local TV crew who were covering the accident. The driver and passenger were both taken to the hospital with moderate injuries, but the crash did not disrupt filming. There was a report that during filming of these scenes that an antique red corvette with a kid inside (possibly being Spencer Daniels, the actor playing young George Samuel Kirk) was spotted.
J.J. Abrams has already begun the long post-production process. In an interview with the Los Angeles Daily News, he reports there is more action than is typical for a Star Trek movie but also says the film honors the past and Roddenberry’s vision. In later interviews, Abrams says his movie is targeting a new audience, as in people who love movies, not only people who love Star Trek movies; otherwise, he would be limiting the audience. During an interview while promoting the DVD release of Cloverfield, he revealed that ILM is doing the visual effects for the movie.
In earlier reports, it was announced that Pakistani actor, Faran Tahir, would play a Federation Captain. This month, it was revealed that Tahir’s character is Captain Robau. Tahir described his character as a good guy and that his ship has "muscle." He talked about the significance of his casting in that he is the first person of Middle Eastern descent to appear as a starship captain. Tahir’s film debut was in the live action version of Disney’s The Jungle Book, but has also appeared in many TV and movie roles, most recently in Charlie Wilson’s War and is also slated to appear as the terrorist captor Raza in the upcoming movie Iron Man.
Jeff Quinn, who played Spock in the Star Trek: New Voyages fan film series, will have a small role in the movie. While it is a non-speaking part, he is "front and center" in a couple of shots. While Quinn gave no details on his role, his partially shaved eyebrows are a clue, which likely will be that of a Vulcan or a Romulan. His path to the role started when he responded to the casting call for people with unique features and who were willing to shave their eyebrows.
Both Zachary Quinto and Leonard Nimoy appeared at the Grand Slam Sci-Fi Summit XVI convention that took place from April 11-13 in Burbank, California. During an interview with TV Guide, Quinto and Nimoy covered mostly familiar ground but gave some insight into the character of Spock in the film. While aspects of his half-Human half-Vulcan character were dealt with in the past, never until this script did it deal with the entire history of the character, the growth, the beginnings, and the arrival of the character on the Enterprise. At that same convention, writer Roberto Orci showed the movie trailer and some photos he took on the set. The photos did not reveal any spoilers, except for a chair labeled "Romulans Only" which confirms the fact that Romulans are in the film.
Lastly, it was confirmed that Dominic Keating (who played Lt. Reed in Enterprise) had auditioned for a role in the new movie but did not get the part. He would have played Jim Kirk’s uncle while Jim was growing up--before he went into space.
The latest autobiography of William Shatner, Up Until Now: The Autobiography, is scheduled to be released on May 13. The New York Daily News reported that within this biography, Shatner says that he never realized how much the other cast members disliked him. He described working for years after the show to repair his relationship with the other actors.
Even so, he managed to develop a close bond with Leonard Nimoy, whose alcoholism during the series, he discusses in the book. Nimoy himself admits that he loved to go to the theater in London because the theater there allowed patrons to drink before the show and during intermission. Shatner says Nimoy helped him deal with the alcoholism and drowning death of his third wife, Nerine Kidd.
Other subjects discussed in the autobiography include the fuss made over Shatner's kiss of Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) which was the first interracial kiss on TV.
D.C. Fontana has written a comic book sequel to the original series episode "The Enterprise Incident." It is called "Star Trek: The Enterprise Experiment" and tells the story of the experiment with the Romulan cloaking device stolen in the original TV episode. Carol Marcus and her son, David, appear. This comic is the first of a five volume story and is part of the Star Trek Year 4 series by IDW comics. The comic is drawn by Gordon Purcell, a veteran artist from the days when DC Comics held the Star Trek license.
On April 14, Farragut Films and NEO f/x announced a special 2 episode release of Starship Farragut: The Animated Episodes. These are the first animated Star Trek episodes to be produced since the original series back in 1974. A trailer for the animated episodes can be seen on the Starship Farragut site.
The episodes will take place during the fourth year of Captain Kirk's mission with the U.S.S. Enterprise. The first episode, penned by Deep Space 9 writers Michael Struck and Jack Trevino, will be titled "The Needs of the Many". The second episode, written by Thomas Scott, will be called "The Power Source." In addition to the regular cast of Farragut, the cast list will include some celebrities, including Chase Masterson, Chris Doohan and Vic Mignogna.
In other fan film news, the internet release of the special edition of To Serve All My Days: A Night in 1969 will occur on May 1. However, 500 lucky winners will get a special ‘VIP' premier from Roddenberry.com three days beforehand.
Viacom, parent company of Paramount, has announced a joint venture with MGM, UA, and Lionsgate, forming a new premium channel with exclusive rights for all four studios, as well as a video-on-demand service. This channel is scheduled to be launched in the fall of 2009. Films from all 4 studios, including the new Star Trek movie, will have their exclusive Pay-per-View with this channel and will premiere first on this channel before any other channels get access. This new venture will have access to all films, both old and new, from all four studios.
Special Report & Review:
"To Serve All My Days: A Night in 1969" Premiere
April 2nd 2008
report by Diane Doyle
exclusive to ORION PRESS
On Saturday March 29, 2008, I was party to a very special event: The Red Carpet premiere of the Star Trek New Voyages episode "To Serve All My Days: A Night in 1969" special edition. This premiere was held for two reasons: First, James Cawley (Captain Kirk in Star Trek: New Voyages/Phase II) was not entirely satisfied with the original release of that particular episode. He wished to update the special effects, add original series music, and have the episode appear as though it really were being aired in 1969. Also, the episode was to highlight the campaign for Walter Koenig to be awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. At the moment, Koenig is the only actor from the original Star Trek series to not have a star in his honor. This event took place at the Fine Arts Theater in Beverly Hills, California.
At the beginning of the evening, James Cawley thanked all the volunteers who had helped put the special edition together and had organized the festivities. After that, two short comedy films were shown. One was a mock trailer for Home Alone with Koenig telling McCauley Culkin the news that William Shatner would be directing Star Trek VII, which resulted in terrifying young Culkin. The second was a hilarious video put together by the Koenig children which showed clips from shows in which Walter Koenig had appeared. These clips were presented as an expose -- to prove that Koenig was actually a Soviet spy.
Next, the trailer for the new Star Trek movie was shown. Admittedly, it is the same trailer that has appeared on the internet and before the movie Cloverfield; however, it feels much different to see the trailer on the large screen in an audience full of fans interested in Star Trek. After that, a preview of the forthcoming episode of Star Trek: Phase II, "Blood and Fire," was shown. This preview depicts a very emotional scene between Captain Kirk, Peter Kirk, Spock, and Jenna Yar (an ancestor of Tasha Yar).
Finally, the remastered episode, "To Serve All My Days," was shown. To heighten the illusion of it being "1969," scenes of shows from that era, such as Batman, Rowan and Martin’s Laugh In, and Get Smart were shown. The characteristic NBC peacock logo voiced over by "brought to you in living color" from that era was shown immediately before the teaser. Each act was broken up by "original" commercials from that year to further give the feeling of 1969. As for the episode itself, it is more tightly edited and has included more original series music. The episode appeared to end the same way as before. However, after all credits were shown, came an alternate ending, explaining why Chekov is alive for future episodes.
Following the episode was a Question and Answer session, which included James Cawley, Walter Koenig, and D.C. Fontana. During the Q&A session, Fontana stated she did not agree with the alternate ending and states that all future appearances of Chekov are not of Pavel but rather of his cousin, Sergei. It is likely that that particular comment was made tongue-in-cheek.
In attendance at the premiere were numerous writers and actors from the original series, including David Gerrold, George Clayton Johnson, Barbara Luna and Malachi Throne. Other Star Trek celebrities in attendance included Ronald B. Moore and Alan Ruck. Most of the actors and crew from Star Trek: New Voyages/Phase II were present, besides James Cawley. Jeff Quinn, the original Spock from that series, was in attendance. It was announced that he would be in the new Star Trek movie. The new Spock, Jeff Tolpin, was also there, along with Andy Bray (the outgoing Chekov), Jonathan Zungre (the new Chekov), John Lim (the outgoing Sulu), J.P. Tepnapa (the new Sulu), Julienne Irons (Uhura), and John Kelley (McCoy). Numerous pictures of the cast and crew in attendance are posted on www.startreknewvoyages.com and www.trekmovie.com.
All 420 members of the audience received goodie bags which included a program booklet, a Phase II key chain, a Phase II refrigerator magnet, a picture, and a special effects packet. The program booklet was printed by none other than Fast Copy, the copying service owned by Orion Press editor-in-chief Randy Landers.
All in all, it was a night to remember!
News:
Star Trek Movie News
March 29th 2008
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
Admittedly, the news on the Star Trek movie front was not as extensive in March 2008 as it was during previous months. February brought the news that the movie would premiere in May 2009 instead of on Christmas of this year, along with numerous announcements on roles being cast. Yet, March 2008 was not without news.
In one piece of casting news, it was announced that character actor William Morgan Sheppard has a small role in the new movie. The English-born Sheppard has had multiple appearances in Star Trek, with his notable role being that of the Klingon commandant of Rura Penthe in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Sheppard revealed his role in the new movie is a small role, and he plays a race that he has not ever played before. Other Trek roles for Sheppard include the role of Ira Graves in the Next Generation episode "The Schizoid Man" and Qatai in the Voyager episode "Bliss." His non-Trek roles include playing Major General Isaac Trimple in the films Gettysburg and Gods and Generals, Blank Reg on the TV series Max Headroom, a recurring role on the TV series SeaQuest DSV, along with roles in Babylon 5, Transformers, The Elephant Man, Cry Freedom, Wild at Heart, Needful Things, and The Prestige.
In previous months, John Cho had revealed he had done some fight training to prepare for his role as Sulu and that "his" Sulu is a "badass." Sulu's action role may have taken a toll on Cho who injured his arm/wrist on the set and showed up at the San Francisco International Asian American film festival with a bandaged hand. The injury was not considered to be serious and would not affect the shooting schedule. Cho still had scenes to be filmed during March.
Simon Pegg continued to discuss his role as the new Scotty, reporting that his filming in the current movie is now complete. However, he has not revealed any details on the role save that Scotty is very much in the film. He recalled how he learned that the news of his role--from an E-mail from J.J. Abrams. After agonizing about whether accepting the role was the right thing to, he finally accepted the role, deciding it would be fun. The worst that could happen would be getting together with the same people every three years. He admits he was more of a fan of the original series than of the later series. His wife, who is from Glasgow, Scotland, had visited him on set, giving feedback on his Scottish accent.
There was some additional movie news during March. Actor Paul McGillion discussed his role in the movie and reported that he had signed confidentiality clauses but reported that he had a scene with Captain Kirk. Chris Pine, the new Captain Kirk, admitted getting ideas from Harrison Ford's portrayal of Indiana Jones for his portrayal of the iconic captain. Also, scenes at Starfleet Academy were filmed at Cal State Northridge while the institution was on spring break. The campus was not deserted but rather was filled with people dressed in sci-fi looking uniforms and banners bearing a familiar emblem. The Ain't It Cool News site had put up related pictures.
News:
Classic Star Trek Episodes On-Line
March 2nd 2008
news report by Randy Landers
http://www.veoh.com/tv-shows/CBS-Star-Trek
The original, uncut episodes of Classic Star Trek are now available on-line. The quality of the images themselves are top-notch, though the frame-rate leaves a bit to be desired. Still, you can find nearly every episode on-line. Frankly, I'm delighted. Many's been the time I wish I could watch an episode while at work on a slow, rainy day, and now I've had that wish granted. Lord, I hope it doesn't affect the quality of my work, though.
News:
Star Trek Movie News
March 1st 2008
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
During February, Paramount announced the new Star Trek movie would not be released on Christmas Day of 2008 but instead be delayed to May 8, 2009. According to the announcement, the delay is not due to any problems with the script or with the shooting schedule, but there are rumors to the contrary. The official position is that the movie would gross more at the box office during May. Director J.J. Abrams claimed that the date change was not his idea but rather that of the studio. With the Writers Strike over, Abrams and writers, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman will now be able to make any tweaks to the script and reshoot any needed scenes.
Numerous additional cast members were announced since late January. Actress Marlene Forte will play the part of the so far unnamed transporter chief. Lucia Rijker, a Dutch actress who has also been a professional boxer and kickboxer, will be playing a Romulan communications officer which is reportedly a decent-sized speaking role. Kelvin Yu has been cast as a medical technician and has already completed his work. English actor Greg Ellis, best known for playing the villain in the third season of 24, will portray Chief Engineer Olsen, who is most likely the person who held that position before Scotty.
Paul McGillion, a Scottish actor primarily know for his role in Stargate Atlantis, had originally auditioned for the role of Scotty but ended up earning another role instead.
Paul Townsend, who previously appeared as a stuntman and featured performer in Star Trek: Enterprise will appear in several scenes as a security officer. Actress Darlena Tejeiro will also appear in the movie, although not much has been revealed about her role, except that it will not be an Orion. Also cast in the roles of the childhood versions of James T. Kirk and his older brother, George Samuel, are 12-year-old Jimmy Bennett and 15-year-old Spencer Daniels, respectively. Leonard Nimoy had earlier hinted that a teenage Spock would be seen. Now that announcement has been made; 12-year-old actor, Jacob Kogan, who played the title role in the 2007 horror film Joshua will play the adolescent Spock. Back in August, it was announced that one of the important roles being cast was of an unnamed Federation captain. That role has also been announced; Faran Tahir, an actor who was born in Los Angeles to Pakistanti parents, will play that role. He has many television and movie credits, including a featured part in the upcoming Iron Man.
Other personnel news, besides new cast members, includes the announcement that Dr. Carolyn Porco has joined the movie as a Science Advisor. Porco is the leader of the Imaging Science team on NASA’s Cassini mission at Saturn. Porco also directs the Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations in Boulder, Colorado. She has made it her personal mission to produce and release for the public, images that are as scientifically accurate, artfully presented, and as true to life as possible.
Most of the remaining news this month includes details about the film revealed by the J.J. Abrams himself and the actors. Abrams has revealed the movie will not suffer from the problem that typical prequels suffer from: knowing all the characters will live. Eric Bana, who is slated to play the villain Nero, has described his role as a cameo, in the sense that the movie does not center on him; his role is a supporting role. Still, he is most likely the main villain. He has revealed that he has not yet filmed his part; his scenes will be filmed at the end. He appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno with a shaved head where he reported that is was for "a secret role." In several interviews, Anton Yelchin, the new Chekov, has revealed a few details about the movie. The story would be an origin story, about how the characters became part of the Enterprise. The new ship is not straight out of the 60’s although certain elements from the original ship were retained. Yelchin reveals that there are aliens assigned to serve on the Enterprise. He also mentions that there will be space battles and that both Romulans and Klingons will appear in the movie. Yelchin also reports that Chekov will not get injured or captured in this movie. Chekov will not be part of the "away team." Yelchin says Spock is the only character being played by multiple actors, despite the casting news listed above.
Other news includes the following: While Ellis is billed as the Chief Engineer, Scotty will appear in that position in the film. Reports are that Scotty appears as a civilian for part of the film. Simon Pegg, who is normally blond, will have darker hair as Scotty and has shaved his beard. His new look was seen on the Encore post-show.
News:
Trailer for Star Trek Now On-line; More Actors Cast
January 27th 2008
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
The first trailer for the new Star Trek movie, scheduled to be released in late December 2008 was displayed on January 18, 2008, as one of the previews shown with the movie Cloverfield, produced by J.J. Abrams. This trailer does not seem to give away the plot of the movie. It begins with scenes and quotes from the earliest days of the American space program, including John F. Kennedy’s initiation of the American space program, John Glenn’s flight in the early 60’s and the Apollo moon landing. It also shows scenes of the construction of the starship Enterprise. In the background, we hear the customary theme song and voice over from the original series.
The trailer was available from the Star Trek Movie site http://www.paramount.com/startrek/ since January 21 although a fan did post a bootleg copy on You Tube the very day Cloverfield was released. Most of the Star Trek movie actors attended the premiere of Cloverfield, which took place two days before the actual release where pictures were taken.
During an interview at the Sundance Film Festival, Chris "Captain Kirk" Pine revealed a plot point: he will be in a scene with Leonard Nimoy. This likely confirms a long-standing rumor that older Spock would travel back in time as part of the movie. He also reveals that he plays Kirk as Captain or as he puts in, "the cap."
Other movie news includes some additional casting information. Young actor, Jeffery Hauser, was cast in a small speaking role. This is the 23-year-old actor’s first big break in a feature film, and it has turned him into a bit of a Trekkie. He would not go into detail about his role, but he enjoyed working with J.J. Abrams. He had a background role in the film The Terminal and also had roles on the soap operas General Hospital and Days of Our Lives and will soon appear in the Nickelodeon TV show Zoey 101.
Another person getting a role in the movie is Dr. Randy Pausch, a computer science professor and co-founder of the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie-Mellon University. He got a movie role as the result of a very special lecture he had given two months earlier "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams." Pausch was diagnosed with incurable pancreatic cancer. While only 400 students had seen the lecture, it spread across the internet and inspired many people, including J.J Abrams, who decided to cast him in the movie. J.J. Abrams has also explained why William Shatner is not in the movie: it’s because his character has already died.
One intriguing piece of casting news includes the fact that James Cawley, the creator of New Voyages series who plays Captain Kirk in those fan film episodes, will also be in the new Star Trek movie. Cawley, who was on the Paramount lot to meet with someone else, was walking past the entrance to Sound Stages 8 and 9 while J.J. Abrams was walking out the entrance. They started talking and eventually, Abrams invited him to visit the set where scenes on the bridge were being shot. Cawley was favorably impressed by Abrams, considering him a normal, down to Earth person. He also praised the movies sets, costumes, and the actors. Eventually, Cawley was offered a role in the movie; he will be playing a crewmember of the Enterprise and was scheduled to begin work on Wednesday, January 23. While impressed with Abrams, Cawley admits he would not have done everything the same, being as no two people have exactly the same vision.
An additional casting note is the fact that Chris Doohan, son of the late James "Scotty" Doohan, will be in the film. That had been long-rumored but only now confirmed. In interviews, he did not identify his role; however, he did hint that his father would be happy with his role on the ship. Hmm, could that possibly be as an engineer?
J.J. Abrams also revealed that his "good luck charm," Greg Grunberg, who had appeared in many of his previous films, would not be appearing in this one, due to scheduling conflicts with another film. However, Grunberg has reported that other celebrity fans will make cameo appearances.
One last bit of casting news includes the fact that the new movie is looking for "little" people; i.e. people shorter than 4' 4". This is not an open casting call but done using Hollywood casting notices.
Other news includes the "first new look" at the Enterprise, as pictures of the ship were released. On January 25, J.J. Abrams, and other crew members, dropped by Trek Movie and hosted a chat session for fans.
News:
Starfleet Academy and Kobayashi Maru to Appear in Star Trek
December 30th 2007
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
It's been reported that Tyler Perry, whose most notable previous roles were in "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" and "Madea's Family Reunion," will portray the head of Starfleet Academy. He will oversee an assembly at the Academy that is to determine on whether Kirk is to get thrown out of the Academy for cheating on the "Kobayashi Maru" scenario. Apparently, this scene was filmed at the Long Beach City Council chamber which was one of the locations used for shooting.
News:
"To Serve All My Days: A Night in 1969" Premier Announced!!
December 28th 2007
news report by Patty Wright
The Cawley Entertainment Company announces the gala red carpet premier of Star Trek: New Voyages' "To Serve All My Days: A Night in 1969" at the Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills, CA on March 29, 2008. This all new, special edition features updated fx, music, and vintage commercials...as well as the promised surprise at the end.
Walter Koenig is the only remaining TOS cast member still without a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and it's time the final star was awarded to the original cast before the new film debuts in December. The WOF committee votes in June on whether to award Walter his star and the Cawley Entertainment Company is going to use this event to spotlight his long, varied television career and head the push to get Walter the votes needed for his star.
This virtual Walter Koenig extravaganza will feature "TSAMD: 1969", rare television footage, and lots of surprises. Invited guests will include Star Trek alumni from across the entire franchise, press, Walk of Fame committee members....and YOU!!!
The internet premier of "TSAMD: 1969" is being delayed to make this event a truly special one. We know that you will understand and join with us in our efforts to get Walter his much-deserved star....and at the theatre in March for this gala event. Watch for a Press Release with more details, and the trailer for "TSAMD:1969" in the next few weeks.
News:
More Star Trek Movie Casting
December 28th 2007
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
The main Star Trek movie news for the month of December concerned more casting news. Back in November, there were announcements that actresses, Jennifer Morrison and Rachel Nichols, were cast in the movie; however, their roles had not yet been positively identified. There had been much speculation as to the exact role that Morrison would play. In mid-December, their roles were identified and confirmed. Morrison is playing Kirk’s mother, who is apparently pregnant with him. Meanwhile, Nichols is playing the role of an Orion female member. There is no news on whether or not Nichols’ character is an Orion slave girl, only that it is a new character. This movie marks the first official appearance of Kirk’s parents, as portrayed by Chris Hemsworth and Jennifer Morris. Apparently, they have both finished filming their scenes in the movie.
Other roles cast this month include a Federation captain and an additional henchman for the villain, Nero. However, the actors attached with them have not yet been identified but are reported to relatively unknown. There have been additional actors cast in the movie whose roles have, likewise, not been identified. This includes Paul McGillion, a Scottish actor, best known for his role in Stargate Atlantis. He had originally auditioned for the role of Scotty but got another role, instead. Nonetheless, he is happy to appear in the movie.
In addition, English-born actress, Sonita Henry, appears in the movie, with a small speaking role. Science fiction fans may recognize her from The Fifth Element where she played the role of the President’s aide. She has already finished her work in the movie, mostly working with Jennifer Morris, the pregnant mother of James Kirk. Reports are that her role is extremely important in the history of Star Trek.
Another actor cast in the movie may well be Greg Grunberg as he traditionally has had cameo roles in projects of J.J. Abrams. Grunberg has appeared in Heroes. There is still speculation on whether Shatner will appear in the new movie or not. Other casting news includes the possible appearance in the new movie of a tribble.
News:
Star Trek Movie Casting Continues
December 1st 2007
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
With filming for the new Star Trek movie having begun on November 7, more casting news was announced. The actors playing both of Spock’s parents have been announced, along with the actor to play Captain Kirk’s father. In addition, the roles for Captain Pike and one of the villain’s henchmen were announced. There are also cases of actors who are in the movie but whose roles have not been identified.
Spock's father Sarek is being played by Ben Cross, who was born in London, England. Cross’ most notable role was starring in Chariots of Fire, as Harold Abrahams, the Jewish runner. He also played Rudolph Hess in the 2006 BBC mini-series, Nuremburg: Nazis on Trial. Other outstanding roles included Solomon in the movie Solomon, Barnabas in the 1991 remake of the mini-series, Dark Shadows, along with a role in The Exorcist: the Beginning. In addition to acting, Cross is a director, writer, and musician as well. His original works include the musical Rage about Ruth Ellis which was performed in various towns in the London region.
The mother of Spock, Amanda Grayson, is being played by the American actress, Winona Ryder. She has played in a variety of roles during her film career, including starring roles in the black teenage comedy Heathers, the 1994 adaptation of Little Women, a pair of Tim Burton movies Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorshands, Martin’s Scorsese’s The Age of Innocence, and many other roles. Science fiction roles besides Star Trek include Alien Resurrection and an adaptation of a Philip K. Dick novel A Scanner Darkly.
Captain Kirk’s father, George Samuel Kirk, is being played by the Australian actor, Chris Hemsworth who is best known for playing the role, Kim Hyde, in the Australian soap opera Home and Away. He also appeared in Dancing with the Stars in 2006.
The actress playing the role of Captain Kirk’s mother has not yet been announced. The actress, Jennifer Morrison, has been cast in the movie for an unidentified role, with one of the possibilities being Kirk’s mother. Other rumored possible roles for her include "Number One" and Carol Marcus. According to J.J. Abrams, she will NOT be Yeoman Rand. Morrison has starred in House. Another female actor to be in the movie, also in an undefined role, is Rachel Nichols.
Another important role in the movie, outside of the regular characters in the original series and the parents of Kirk and Spock is that of Captain Christopher Pike, Kirk’s predecessor as commanding officer of the U.S.S. Enterprise. He will be played by Bruce Greenwood, a Canadian actor born in Quebec. He also played John F. Kennedy in Thirteen Days, believing that playing Pike is riskier than playing Kennedy, being as Star Trek fans tend to have expectations. Other notable movie roles include playing Professor David McLaren in Eight Below, Truman Capote’s lover in Capote, along with roles in Firehouse Dog and the Bob Dylan bio pic I’m Not There. He acted in the television roles St. Elsewhere and Knots Landing.
In last month’s movie update, it was revealed that Eric Bana would play the role of Nero, the principal villain. This month, it was announced that Clifton Collins would play the role of Ayel, a henchman of Nero. Collins has also acted in Capote and The Rules of Attraction.
Luckily, the script had been written before the beginning of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike. However, Producer J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof support the strike and are not available to do any rewrites to the script. However, on Monday November 26, both sides actually sat down to talk, so there was hope of progress.
Other news includes the fact that there was an open casting call for extras that took place on November 10. They were looking for thin, regal individuals willing to have part of the eyebrow shaved so that could play the part of Vulcans. They also were in search of individuals with interesting and unique features, including long necks, extremely small heads, wide set eyes, bug eyes, etc. to portray aliens.
News:
Star Trek Movie Casting News
November 1st 2007
news report by Diane Doyle
collected from throughout the Internet
As of November 1, 2007, the roles for the Star Trek "regular" characters have been cast for the new movie. For nearly a year, the only news about the movie was that J.J. Abrams, the producer of the hit series Lost was hired to produce and, possibly direct, the new Star Trek movie, due out in December 2008. Throughout the summer and early fall, there were numerous news bulletins about each new series regular to be cast.
On July 26 came the news that Zachary Quinto (known for playing Sylar, the villain on Heroes) would be cast as the young Spock. However, he will not be the only actor to play the famous Vulcan. Leonard Nimoy will again don the ears to play the older Spock. This leads to the probability of the new movie being a flashback to previous events in the life of the crew. There have been numerous remarks made on the resemblance of Quinto to Nimoy. Quinto was born in Pittsburgh, and has had roles in several other television shows including Joan of Arcadia and Crossing Jordan. Already, Quinto and Nimoy have made joint appearances, including at the Griffin Park Observatory and a comic book convention.
On August 8 came the announcement that Anton Yelchin would play Chekov. Yelchin was born in Russia in 1989 but lived most of his life in California. His parents were figure skaters who had left Russia due to religious oppression for being Jewish. He parallels the original Chekov, Walter Koenig, in that respect as Walter’s parents were Russian Jews who were born in Lithuania but had come to America before he was born. Yelchin has appeared in several movies, including Hearts in Atlantis, Alpha Dog, Fierce People, and Charlie Bartlett. He reports planning to immerse himself in watching old Star Trek episodes just before shooting begins.
Soon after that came the casting of Communications Officer Uhura. As long rumored, the actress to play her would be Zoe Saldana. Zoe was born in New Jersey but is of Dominican descent. She has played roles in several movies including Haven, Guess Who, Six Degrees and Pirates of the Caribbean.
In rapid succession, the remaining roles were cast. John Cho, a Korean actor, was cast as Sulu. He is currently 35 and will likely be older than the character he’ll be playing. Cho was born in Korea but to Los Angeles at age 6 and graduated from University of California at Berkeley. He is the lead singer in the band Left of Zed. He has appeared in several movie roles including the American Pie movies and Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle.
After numerous casting rumors, which proved to be false, Simon Pegg, a British actor, was chosen to portray Scotty. He is mostly known for starring in the British comedies Shawn of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. He has previously worked with Abrams in Mission Impossible III, playing the part of the IMF technician, Benji Dunn.
Doctor McCoy will be played by an actor from the Deep South, as in south of the equator. He is being played by Karl Urban who’s from New Zealand. He has played several important roles in various films, including The Lord of the Rings where he played the heroic Eomer, The Bourne Supremacy where he played Kirill, The Chronicles of Riddick where he played Vaako, and Doom where he played John "Reaper" Grimm.
Last but certainly not least, hazel-eyed Captain Kirk will be played by blue-eyed Chris Pine. Originally, other actors had been rumored to play Kirk. When Pine was offered the role of Kirk, he was also in negotiations to co-star in the movie White Jazz; however, he chose Star Trek instead. Pine’s father, Robert, had played parts in two episodes of Deep Space Nine. He has acted in a wide variety of films, from the Lindsay Lohan vehicle Just my Luck to a neo-Nazi assassin in Smoking Aces.
Not only all the regulars have been case, but also the main villain. Eric Bana will play Nero. Bana was born in Australia but is of Croatian-German descent. Bana is renowned for playing "Hoot" Gibson in Black Hawk Down, and also as Bruce Banner in the Ang Lee-directed film The Hulk. No official details have been provided about Nero but an unnamed source has him pegged to be a Romulan who is attempting to alter the timeline, a plot similar to that of the notorious Star Trek novel Killing Time by Della van Hise.
Other roles reported to be in the movie that have not yet been cast include: Spock’s parents, Kirk’s parents, Captain Christopher Pike, another Federation Captain, and two henchmen of Nero. Reports are that William Shatner, the original Captain Kirk, will not be in the new movie. Production begins on November 7.
News:
Casting Announcements Continue,
Vulcan Wants to Host
Premiere
September 25th 2007
news report by Randall Landers
collected from throughout the Internet
In August and September, some casting details have been released. Confirmed is that William Shatner (76) will not be appearing in the film (although he's already made a few comments about how hurt he is by this) and that Leonard Nimoy (76) will be reprising the role of Spock in a sequence that some are suggesting is Spock's lecture at Starfleet Academy about a historic event. (Others are suggesting that it's Spock's death that starts and/or ends the movie.) Confirmed as playing Spock is Zachary Quinto (30) from NBC's hit series Heroes. The movie will also star Anton Yelchin (18) as the young Ensign Chekov and Zoë Saldaña (29) as the young Lieutenant Uhura. It has been suggested that given the ages of the actors so far cast that the studio is planning on a pre-Star Trek movie and/or perhaps a coming together of our heroes to face a dire menace to the Federation. Shatner and Nimoy were both 35 during the first season of Star Trek. It's also been thought that the studio is planning ahead for a series of films, and by choosing younger actors, they can do a series of 4-5 films before age becomes an issue. Substantiating both of these rumors are very credible reports that Matt Damon (37) was simply too old for the role of James T. Kirk. The rumor mill has been running rampant with news that Scottish actor James McAvoy (28) has been cast as Scotty. This was reported in the Sunday Mirror, but has yet to be officially announced.
The casting sheet for the movie allegedly contains these characters and descriptions:
JAMES KIRK: 23-29 Handsome, cocky self assured and earnest. Great physical condition. 6 ft or less.
LEONARD (BONES) McCOY: 28-32 Medic on the Enterprise. Smart, clever and a bit danger-loving. Dark hair, blue eyes.
UHURA: 25ish African American. Brilliant, beautiful, heroic and FUN! Uhura is almost tom-boyish--as if she grew up in a house full of brothers.
SULU: 25-32 Asian American male (preferably Japanese). Helmsman on the Enterprise. Extremely fit, capable and dedicated. A bit of a wildcat.
MONTGOMERY (SCOTTY) SCOTT: 28-32 a brilliant ship's engineer. Must be able to do a flawless Scottish accent!
You can see from the ages listed that we'll be seeing our heroes portrayed by younger actors than we've seen them before (well, that's not quite true--we've seen the entire crew reduced to children in the animated series--and we've seen a number of young Spocks in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock).
Lastly, Vulcan has officially requested to be the site of the grand premiere of Star Trek XI. The small Canadian town (population <2000) has a monument honoring Star Trek, and their tourism bureau would love for the gala to be held in their town. Cute idea, although probably impractical.
News:
Nimoy In, Shatner Out
July 30th 2007
news report by Randall Landers
from Star Trek.com and Comic-Con
Earlier this month, William Shatner reported that he is not in Star Trek XI, but that his friend Leonard Nimoy will be making an appearance in the film. This has been confirmed by J.J. Abrams at Comic-con where he not only confirmed Nimoy has been signed to appear as Spock, and that Zachary Quinto of Heroes has been signed to play the younger Spock, but also that Shatner will not appear in the movie as it's now written. Abrams said, "And, y'know, William Shatner, with whom — I've met him a number of times, and he's, you know, the greatest — and we're desperately trying to figure out a way to put him in this movie. The truth is, it needs to be worthy of him, it needs to be worthy of you, it needs to be worthy of the movie. We can't just shove him in, it would be a disaster. You would hate it, he wouldn't like it, it would be bad. So we're on that. And we're looking for a Kirk. Because that's tough too, so um — Kirks?" While this does hold out some hope that Shatner will be cast, many cynics in fandom wonder if it's just about the money...again.
News:
Confirmed: Star Trek XI Script Complete,
Casting Underway
June 22nd 2007
news report by Randall Landers
from IGN, Sci-Fi Wire
and IESB
Robert Orci, the screenwriter for Star Trek XI, has confimed what we reported on June 4th. "We're casting and hoping to have somebody by Comicon -- we'll find out." Orci also confirmed that the film will start shooting in November with a goal of having the film come out in December 2008. "We're in preproduction right now and just started."
In interviews at IGN, the Sci-Fi Wire and even IESB, Orci revealed has finished the script, but would not divulge anything about the film's plot. He admitted that writing for Star Trek presented quite a challenge. Say "you're a fan who's been tracking a lot of questions about people's histories and about the history of Starfleet, there's various gaps in the canon that if you were to get online and sample what people would want to see, you'd see some overlap in terms of what any fan who knows Trek would see. But the flipside of it is we want to make sure that this movie is absolutely for nonfans as well. In a way it's going to be two different movies -- if you're a fan, you're going to see a different movie. If you're a fan, you're seeing the black stripes of the zebra, and if you're not a fan you're going to see the white stripes. That was actually an amazing challenge, to see if that was even possible, and I think, hope, pray that we did it."
Regarding the rumors about Matt Damon and other big name stars, Orci replied with a grin he'd "read all those rumors, too." He even went so far as to suggest that J.J. Abrams might not want to cast such celebrities in the roles, saying that the "star of the movie is Star Trek, you know, so another way to think of it is we feel confident in what the material is." He insisted that they're "not trying to shove an Academy Award winner down your throat to sell it" but conceded that they may well end up with a big name star or two. It "doesn’t mean that we might not end up there, but it's not our first place to go there" with them.
When asked whether the film was being seen as a pilot for a possible new TV series, Orci admitted "I'm sure CBS is thinking about that," but insisted that it's not something the production crew is thinking about. "We're just thinking about the movie. Certainly, I don't know how they could not think about that."
Rumors being what they are suggest otherwise. Still, this film has been rumored to be a reboot and complete reimaging of Star Trek, possibly akin to the new Battlestar Galactica. However, in recent interviews, Orci and the other writers and production staff insist otherwise. That it will be completely true to the original series. Whether that's true or not and whether or not fans of the original series will accept it remains to be seen.
News:
Walter Koenig Not Among Hall of Fame Stars
June 21st 2007
news report by Randall Landers
from Hollywood Chamber
of Commerce
Star Trek's own Walter Koenig was not among the 2008 Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Walk of Fame recipients. The nomination will remain active for another year, but it was a disappointing blow to be sure. Koenig remains the only series regular not to be honored with his own Walk of Fame star. Fans can express their disappointment by writing to Johnny Grant, Chairman of the Walk of Fame Committee, and Ann Martinez-Holler, the Walk of Fame contact person, at Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, 7018 Hollywood Boulevard, 2nd Floor, Hollywood, CA 90028.
UPDATE: JULY 1st 2007: When asked, Ms. Martinez-Holler has said that Walter Koenig's nomination will be good for another year. If fans wish to honor Mr. Koenig, they've now got one year to do so.
News:
Star Trek XI Casting Underway
June 4th 2007
news report by Randall Landers
from articles in Entertainment Weekly, The Hollywood Reporter, Star Trek Magazine and
Variety
As confirmed by Paramount Pictures, Star Trek XI is under production, although actors for various roles have not been confirmed. While rumored that Matt Damon would be appearing as James T. Kirk, that has not been confirmed. In fact, the only thing that has been confirmed is that the movie will be released Christmas, December 25th 2008, and that James T. Kirk will appear in the film. The film will be directed by J.J. Abrams.
Sorry for the lack of news lately, but for the most part, what's being published cannot be confirmed at this time. Hopefully, once the casting is complete, we'll have a better idea of what this film is going to look like.
News:
Star Trek XI Script Completed
January 13th 2007
news report by Randall Landers
from articles in Entertainment
Weekly, Variety
and IGN
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Star Trek producer J.J. Abrams has confirmed that the script for the next Star Trek movie (which is a return to the original series characters) has been completed, and expects to start "trimming" the script soon. Rumors from Variety magazine report that the script features a younger James Kirk and Mister Spock than we've seen, possibly at the Academy or early in the Five Year Mission. According to the EW article, it's a story that even non-fans could enjoy: ''On the one hand, for people who love Star Trek, the fix that they will get will be really satisfying,'' Abrams says. ''For people who've never seen it or know it vaguely, I think they will enjoy it equally, because the movie does not require you to know anything about Star Trek. I would actually prefer [that] people don't know the series, because I feel like they will come to it with an open mind.''
William Shatner, in a recent interview with IGN, reported, "They're working very hard on a story. They seem to be going in the direction of putting in [Leonard] Nimoy and myself. But in order to do that, it's a difficult story to write. So they're in the midst of wrestling with all of that." When asked whether or not they would be, as rumored, in a framing sequence, Shatner was unsure. "I'm not sure what they're going to do. But in order to entice Leonard and myself into the movie, it has to be meaningful in some way, so I don't know what they're gonna do."
The movie is expected to be completed in 2008.
News:
Walter Koenig Fans Reaching for a Star
January 13th 2007
news report by Patricia Wright
Did you know Walter Koenig is the only one of the original
"Star Trek Seven" not to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?
It's time for the fans to unite and help correct this ridiculous oversight!
Walter's been nominated for a star and the Walk of Fame Committee will be voting in June
2007 on whether to award it to him. A letter-writing campaign to convince the committee to
vote for him has started, and you can help!
Walter's official website -- www.WalterKoenigSite.com
-- has all the information. Here is the link to the "Star" page: www.walterkoenigsite.com/waltersstar.html
Thank you for your help and support!
News:
Jane "Lady Amanda" Wyatt Passes Away
October 28th 2006
news report by Randall Landers
from a report on AP via MSNBC
Jane Wyatt, probably best known as Margaret Anderson on Father Knows Best, died of natural causes in her sleep, according to her son in an interview with Associated Press. Wyatt, who had suffered a stroke in 1995, remained in good mental condition. She was a beautiful woman whose roles included the Lady Amanda on Star Trek's "Journey to Babel" and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. She was also Ronald Colman's romantic interest in in the 1937 classic film, Lost Horizon. Wyatt's warmth was always genuine, and she was awarded with three Emmys in 1958, 1959 and 1960 for her performance. Among her costars were Elinor Donahue who played "Commissioner Nancy Hedford" in Star Trek's "Metamorphosis." Wyatt is survived by sons Christopher and Michael; three grandchildren Nicholas, Andrew and Laura; and five great grandchildren.
News:
Animated
Star Trek Series on DVD
October 28th 2006
news report by Randall Landers
from StarTrek.com
CBS DVD and Paramount Home Entertainment today will release a four-disc set of the animated Star Trek series on November 21, 2006. The collection will contain all 22 episodes which were originally shown on NBC on Saturday mornings in 1973 and 1974. Fans will recall that the three stars and nearly the entire supporting cast of the original series were involved in the production which went on to win both an Emmy award in 1975 in the category of Outstanding Children's Series and a Peabody award for the episode "How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth." Most of the episodes were written by veterans from the original series, including series story editor D.C. Fontana, David Gerrold, Margaret Armen, Walter Koenig,
According to the StarTrek.com website, confirmed special features for the Animated Series include:
· "Drawn to the Final Frontier - The Making of Star
Trek: The Animated Series"
· "What's the Star Trek Connection?"
· Storyboard Gallery
· Show History
· Wallpaper
· AIM Icons
· Audio Commentary by David Wise ("How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth")
· Audio Commentaries by David Gerrold ("More Tribbles, More Troubles" &
"Bem")
· Text Commentaries by Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda ("Yesteryear," "The
Eye of the Beholder," "The Counter-Clock Incident")
The suggested retail price is $62.95, but Amazon is pre-selling the DVDs at a really low price ($38.49!). Click here to pre-order!
News:
Star Trek to Receive CGI Makeover
Wednesday, September 6th 2006; updated Monday, September 18th
2006
news and commentary by Randall Landers
from a report on E!Online by
Natlie Finn (c) 2006
CBS Paramount, the new folks in charge of the Star Trek franchise, announced on Thursday, August 31st, that "all 79 episodes of the original Star Trek are being digitally remastered and will be heading into syndication next month for the first time in 16 years in honor of the sci-fi classic's 40th anniversary." The visual effects of the original series will be completely redone in HD CGI in an attempt to appeal to the Modern Trek fans who have been unable to get past what were, 40 years ago, state-of-the-art award-winning special effects. In a George Lucas-like move, the visual effects (spaceships, alien landscapes, space battles, etc.) will be redone in order to appeal to the fan-boys. And sadly, after viewing those special effects in their first effort, I was far from impressed. The fan films like Starship Exeter and Star Trek: New Voyages have better special effects.
This isn't the first time a Star Trek product has been madeover. Fans will recall how they were promised that the re-imaged Star Trek: The Motion Picture would simply be more truer to the concept Gene Roddenberry and Robert Wise had intended. Instead, they were treated to the nonsensical removal of certain sound effects, visual effects at less-than-impressive quality levels, and even wholesale changes in dialogue. Sadly, the ABC-TV edited version with the extra footage (sans special effects in some scenes—anyone remember seeing the set and the wires as Kirk leaves the Enterprise?) remains the superior version of the film. In addition to this, the model of the Enterprise at the Smithsonian was "restored" in a highly fan-boy manner, complete with wholesale changes to the original painting scheme. Fans cannot help but be concerned about what might be done with this makeover of their favorite episodes. I was concerned that Wah Ming Chang's beautiful Romulan bird-of-prey be fan-boyed into a post-TNG styled Romulan warbird, complete with glowing lights, doodads and other atrocities. Fortunately, that didn't happen, but I was really disappointed with the renderings. I think the original model just cannot be digitally replicated with its beautiful fiery bird of prey on its underside.
"We're taking great pains to respect the integrity and style of the original, "Michael Okuda, a scenic-art supervisor on the Star Trek films and spinoffs for the past 18 years," told TVGuide.com. "Our goal is to always ask ourselves: What would Roddenberry have done with today's technology?" The problem we fans have to ask ourselves is "Is this what should be done with the original series?" Are they going to CGI wholesale changes akin to the scene in Star Wars where Han Solo now shoots Greedo in self-defense (after artfully dodging a laser beam) instead of as in the original, without warning? Are they going to change the canon of the episodes with their efforts?
When the first ‘revamped' episode, "Balance of Terror," aired this weekend, I made the effort to stay up to 2:00am to watch the show on KWGN (Denver's station). I was disappointed. The special effects were not impressive. The images of the Enterprise looked almost cartoonish to me, and the episode was chopped to hell. Give me my original VHS recordings of the episode, with its completed scenes, any day of the week over this chopped up, ‘souped up' version.
Lastly, the episodes are not being "improved" in production order nor in the order in which they originally were aired. Instead, Okuda, his wife Denise, and producer David Rossi chose to unveil the revamped series starting with what they perceive as the fans' favorites. And the reason behind these changes? No doubt about it: it's to appeal to the fanboys, and to try to get Classic Trek fans to buy yet another copy of each DVD or HD-DVD. Don't buy into it, folks. Trust me, if "Balance of Terror" is the example, it ain't gonna be worth it. They're just trying to milk the cow again.
New:
TV-Land to Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Star Trek
Wednesday, September 6th 2006
as reported by Randall Landers
Starting at 8pm on Friday, September 8th, TVLand will be launching a mini-marathon of Star Trek. At 8:00pm, they've got a 40th Anniversary Special, followed by "The Man Trap," "The Trouble with Tribbles," "The City on the Edge of Forever" and "Plato's Stepchildren." Later, in November, Star Trek will become part of the regular TVLand schedule. There will even be guest appearances by the Star Trek actors (possibly the footage from the SciFi Channel presentations). TV Land will also be rerunning William Shatner's Living in TV Land, an excellent look at the man who will always be James T. Kirk in the minds of many (scroll down for more info), and the network will be airing Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan during the week of November 17th. Check your local listings for more information, or visit TVLand.com.
News:
Shatner to Reprise His Character in Star Trek Video Game
Monday, August 14, 2006
from a report posted on Fox News (c) 2006
According to the Fox News website, William Shatner will be providing the voice of Captain James T. Kirk in a new video game. The game from Bethesda Softworks, Star Trek: Legacy, due out in October, will let players captain more than 60 starships, including the Enterprises of Captain Kirk's command, in combat against the Klingons, Romulans and even the Borg. Other Star Trek actors (Patrick Stewart, Avery Brooks, Kate Mulgrew and Scott Bakula) will be providing the voices of the other Star Trek captains. In a recent phone interview with Reuters, Shatner said he doesn't play video games but has a grandson who is eager to teach him. "The interest in Star Trek has waned in the last couple years. It's been around a long time, it's a staple of American life, and I think we need something new and different in Star Trek. I couldn't imagine someone else playing Captain Kirk, even in a video game, so I kind of got a little territorial," he said. "If it's a good game, keeping true to the characters the best they can and having an interesting story that branches, I think a game can bring a freshness to a franchise like Star Trek," Shatner said.
News:
Star Trek Returns!
Monday, April 24th 2006
reported by Randall Landers
from an article in The Daily
Variety (c) 2006
As reported by "Mr. Garrison" in a rumor in January (scroll down), Paramount has decided to proceed with their plans for a Starfleet Academy series of films featuring younger versions of Kirk and Spock, including their first meeting at Starfleet Academy and their first mission together. The news comes with the announcement that J.J. Abrams will be the "next Gene Roddenberry." Abrams (who recently helmed Mission: Impossible III) will produce and direct the Trek movie, aiming for a 2008 release. Two of Abrams' fellow production teammates (Damon Lindelof & Bryan Burk) from Lost will be joining him on the as-yet untitled feature. The film is to be written by Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. According to the article, "Star Trek has been Hollywood's most durable performer other than James Bond, spawning 10 features that have grossed more than $1 billion and 726 TV episodes from six series. Decision to relaunch Star Trek comes less than a year after UPN pulled the plug on Enterprise amid dismal ratings following a four-season run and four years after Star Trek: Nemesis turned in the worst performance of the 10 films with $43 million domestic."
This whole process should probably be considered as good news to fans of the original series. No mention is made whatsoever of Rick Berman or Brannon Braga, who are now being castigated for their general incompetence in the direction of the Star Trek franchise.
News:
William Shatner in Living in TV Land
Friday, April 13th 2006
reported by Randall Landers
broadcast © 2006 by TV Land
William Shatner's been a busy fellow lately. Not only has he won an Emmy for BOSTON LEGAL, not only did he star in the rather insipid How William Shatner Changed the Universe, his production company put together an outstanding one-hour long special for this new television series on TV Land. Unlike the "Changed the Universe" nonsense, this was a genuinely interesting look at the star of the original series and what he's doing now. You see him react to his lively conversation with Leonard Nimoy, with his newest wife, with the studio audience, and perhaps most interesting, to the birth of his grandson. Viewers see more of the William Shatner that his fans know and love than the strawman those who love to bash the man ever portray him as being. Highly recommended!
News:
Scotty's Memorial Put on Hold
Sunday, March 4th 2006
reported by Randall Landers
condensed from an article © 2006 by This
Is North Scotland
History repeats itself. Following the lead of Riverside, Iowa, Aberdeen councillors were planning on creating a memorial honloring Star Trek Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott, based on a line from "Wolf in the Fold" where Scotty admits to being "an ol' Aberdeen pubcrawler." Unfortunately, the councillors have received a report that suggests that "copyright and design issues" would prevent the monument from being built, and "instead suggests asking bars and clubs in the city to create a range of "space-related drinks" in honor of the popular spaceman."
Lord Provost (the Scottish equivalent of a mayor) John Reynolds started the campaign last summer to have a permanent memorial to Scotty. He reportedly "even wrote to Nasa asking for a used rocket that could be the centre of a tourist attraction." Two other cities, Elgin and Linlithgow, have apparently joined Aberdeen in claiming Scotty was born in their towns as well, despite the complete lack of canonical evidence to support their contentions.
Unfortunately, Riverside has been unable to create the 40' bronze sculpture of Captain Kirk because Paramount wants them to purchase a license for the image, at a cost of thousands of dollars. Aberdeen would no doubt face the same sort of legal hurdles. One Aberdeen official has suggested it would be too expensive a project, but Lord Provost Reynolds still "believes that the connection can still be a great economic boost for the city" and has not given up on the idea of a statue. He added, "Maybe the way forward is with drinks promotions and this sort of thing. I would think there are a heck of a lot of trekkies in Britain - the ones who like dressing up, not the ones who just enjoy watching it like me - who must hold conferences all of the time."
News:
Paul Carr Dead
Sunday, February 19, 2006
© 2006 by Randall Landers
Long time actor Paul Carr, who played the likeable character Lieutenant Lee Kelso, died from cancer on February 17, 2006. Carr was an occasional guest at Star Trek conventions, and was always remembered fondly by fans. Carr also went on to star in a number of other science fiction productions, perhaps most notably as the navigator Lieutenant Devlin on the second season of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.
It's been a while since Leonard Nimoy played Mr. Spock in Star Trek. But fans of the show were thrilled to see Nimoy's commercial for Aleve, an over-the-counter pain reliever. Nimoy said he was eager to do the commercial because he uses Aleve, and apparently likes it. The story line has to do with Nimoy being unable to go on stage because "it hurts." The mystery was what hurt, and what performance was at stake. He takes his Aleve, and walks out onto the stage of a Star Trek convention. At first, he's unable to give the ta'al, the Vulcan hand sign. Suddenly, his Aleve kicks in and he displays the ta'al with a flourish to his cheering fans. "Fortunately, Aleve allows Leonard Nimoy to be his best self," said an executive at the drug company.
The ashes of Gordon Cooper, who was part of NASA's Project Mercury that sent the first Americans into space, will join those of Star Trek actor James Doohan on a Falcon One rocket launched from California in a yet to be determined date, said Susan Schonfeld of Space Services. "Gordon always would have taken another space flight had he the opportunity," his widow, Suzan Cooper, told AFP. "This was the next best thing. He certainly wouldn't have said 'No'."
"Gordon firmly believed that after you die you can still observe what was most important to you in life," said Cooper, who was married to him for 32 years. "I have a feeling he will be very much aware of what's going on."
Cooper died in his home in Ventura, California, in October 2004 at the age of 77.
LOS ANGELES — An online casino has a piece of Captain Kirk. Actor William Shatner has sold his kidney stone for $25,000 with the money going to a housing charity, it was announced Tuesday. Shatner reached agreement Monday to sell the stone to GoldenPalace.com. "This takes organ donors to a new height, to a new low, maybe. How much is a piece of me worth?" he said in a telephone interview.
GoldenPalace.com is noted for its collection of oddities, which includes a partially eaten cheese sandwich thought to contain the image of the Virgin Mary. "This is a bold new addition to our fleet," GoldenPalace.com Chief Executive Officer Richard Rowe said in a statement.
The money will go to Habitat for Humanity, which builds houses for the needy. "This would be the first Habitat for Humanity house built out of stone," joked Darren Julien, president of Los Angeles-based Julien's Auctions, which handled the sale.
Shatner, who played Kirk on the original Star Trek TV show and won an Emmy for his role on Boston Legal, passed the stone last fall. The stone was so big, Shatner said, "you'd want to wear it on your finger. If you subjected it to extreme heat, it might turn out to be a diamond," he added.
Shatner said the idea of selling the stone came up after Boston Legal raised $20,000 for Habitat for Humanity. With the money for the stone, Shatner said there is about enough funding to build half a house.
GoldenPalace.com originally offered $15,000 for the stone but Shatner turned it down, noting that his "Star Trek" tunics have commanded more than $100,000. His counteroffer was accepted.
LOS ANGELES — Coming in the wake of Patrick Stewart's December 2005 revelation that he had been approached by Paramount to again take the center seat in a Star Trek movie and Stewart's subsequent announcement that it would have to wait three years before such a project could even start, rumors are beginning to surface again about the possible return of Admiral James T. Kirk as an instructor at Starfleet Academy. The rumors seem to be reflecting the pitch Shatner made to Paramount in 2004 about a new Star Trek television series called The Academy which would feature adolescent versions of Kirk, Spock and McCoy. These rumors also coincide with the forthcoming two-book project about the same premise, developed by Shatner and his writing partners, Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens. It should also be noted that Harve Bennett made an almost identical pitch in 2003. Whether or not this will lead to a new Classic Trek-based series remains doubtful to most, but hopeful to some.
George Takei returns to the role of "Hikaru Sulu" for the third episode of Star Trek: New Voyages, "World Enough and Time". In an e-mail to STNV Executive Producer James Cawley, Mr. Takei writes:
Dear James,
Life is so full of unexpected new challenges. Your invitation for me to re-engage with the character of Hikaru Sulu after more than a decade is very exciting. To have Marc Zicree write and direct the project makes the invitation that much more thrilling. Walter Koenig has told me about his experiences with his New Voyages participation and how personally fulfilling it was for him. Thank you for creating this totally unanticipated opportunity for us as artists and for the fans whose love and devotion to Star Trek has made this journey truly a phenomenal continuation of a great adventure. Together, we will 'boldly go' where we have never taken Star Trek before."
George Takei
"I can not say how much of an honor and privilege it is to be able to work with George. It is the thrill of a lifetime!" enthused James Cawley.
Legendary Star Trek author David Gerrold announced today that he would be joining the production team of New Voyages. "New Voyages is produced by fans for fans, and they are great!" he exclaimed excitedly.
David has two stories on line. "The first is a re-worked Blood and Fire, which was originally pitched for TNG, but ultimately rejected for its controversial storyline, dealing with an AIDS-like virus and homosexuality."
"This is a real coup for all of us here at New Voyages. David's involvement will give us the opportunity to deal with socially relevant topics, just as the original series did," enthused Executive Producer James Cawley.
Mr. Gerrold also plans a sequel to what is arguably the most famous Star Trek episode, "The Trouble With Tribbles." "I've had this idea for a long time, but we were never able to do it on the original series. There is a twist," explained Gerrold with a mysterious smile. "What starts out funny won't be for long."
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