The following is our second guest blog from Leonard Nimoy as he returns to the role of Spock for the new Star Trek movie.
I have now spent several shooting days on the various sets of the new film. Security has been held tight.
Because of strong interest there has been an effort on the part of some to get unauthorized photos of actors going to and from their trailers, etc.
The size of the production impresses me. It’s a big picture. An imaginative and ambitious project. The director JJ Abrams is able to work on a very large scale while also paying close attention to the intimate work of the actors. The cast members are uniformly talented and enthusiastic. It’s a pleasure to be around them and to work with them.
My hopes for this film continue to be very positive.
Related: Read Nimoy Log 1
When ever some one calls something “ambitious” that leaves the door wide open for it to be good, or to be crap. I hope we go in the right direction with it!
Well I hope it’s good, and I hope it’s a break from the same old Trek movie formula. I’ll start worrying when I hear them say “We’ve got a villain that’ll be just as good as Khan.” Seems like Berman said that about every TNG movie except FC.
Always a pleasure to hear from Mr. Nimoy
#1:”When ever some one calls something “ambitious” that leaves the door wide open for it to be good, or to be crap.”
Exactly. The only way to guarantee that one *consistently* gets the results one is aiming for is to get very good at producing mediocrity and then produce it.
Anything that’s ambitious, anything that requires – to use the cliche – reaching beyond what one can easily grasp in one’s fist – runs the risk of major failure.
Give me ten failures and one brilliant success rather than nine *guaranteed* “crowd-pleasers.”
I don’t doubt Nimoy, but wasn’t Nemesis described as “ambitious” by the powers-that-be at the time? LOL!!
Nimoy I trust though…the fact he’s onboard this project speaks volumes to me.
“Better and better, Mr. Spock”. From the “Enterprise Incident’
“Better and better, Mr. Spock”. ….”The Enterprise Incident’
One good Spock eyebrow from Nimoy is better than buckets of “ambition”. For me, anyway.
Well, I wouldn’t pay eight bucks to see him raise his eyebrow. :lol:
Yay Leonard Nimoy! With all of the actors and production staff talking about the scale of this picture, I think it’ll be awesome, no matter what. Abrams pays attention to the details, a la LOST.
Wee.
Thank you for the update, Mr. Nimoy! :)
I hope they ambitiously endeavor to get Shatner.
One thing that his blog makes clear is that he is actually INTERACTING with the other cast members, which means he is doing more than having a flashback ot telling stories… he’s THERE! Cool!
#2: Actually, it was John Logan who made the Khan remark with regards to Shinzon. I don’t recall it being said of Ru’afo.
If it was, I intend to surprise Berman by calling in the Spanish Inquisition. He’ll never expect that!
Glad to hear Nimoy’s still excited about this project. He’s always had good taste. Well, I still don’t get that photography thing he does, but, with Star Trek, at least, he’s always had good taste.
mr nimoy
legends never die -best luck for this film and i hope its the beginning of a new time for starTrek movies
a 26age older fan from germany since 1989
Nimoy “It’s a big picture”
I would love to ask him to elaborate on that statement.
Big name actors? (not really)
Big budget? ($160 M) Rumour has it, it is.
http://www.firstshowing.net/2007/10/12/more-star-trek-john-cho-is-sulu-160-million-budget/
368 dtST
God bless Star Trek and the ambition that it creates in us. Rock out with your Spock out Leonard! We can’t wait!!!
Nimoy read what was, in his words, a great script. No doubt the characters of his “Star Trek” and the images of his “Star Trek” were filling in the voices and visuals. Now he is witnessing JJ’s vision replace those visions while he looks on from the sidelines. That could be amazing while at the same time quite jarring.
It will be real interesting to continue to read Nimoy’s take on the production. So far, it sounds like he likes what he is seeing and that makes me very optimistic.
Its gonna be a trip to see Nimoy in a big budget film again.
(Still not certain how the two actors will play one role)
Reminiscences of Spock?
Time travel?
Viewing of recorded events in the later period?
Nimoy doing narration?
Not a clue.
Interesting. It’s too bad Nimoy has that dang NDA, so he obviously he won’t be able to reveal too much about the flick. Still, he could probably give some perspective without spoiling anything about the movie, or violating his non-disclosure agreement. I.e., What was his first day of shooting like? What’s it like being back on a Trek movie after all these years? What kind of emotions does that bring back? What’s the average day working on this movie like? Any interesting anecdotes or stories going around?
RE 16
the budget is big but not 160…in fact that number came from moviehole…the same site that declared that they had the ‘final word’ from Orci that shatner would not appear in the film.
our report on the budget puts it closer to 135-140
https://trekmovie.com/2007/10/12/update-on-production-budget-and-casting/
14
“Actually, it was John Logan who made the Khan remark with regards to Shinzon. I don’t recall it being said of Ru’afo.”
Man, I swear it was said about the others, mainly because I remember rolling my eyes when it was said about Shinzon and thinking “enough with the next Kahn thing already!!!”
Considering the quantity of kinsfolk that will be shown, it’s certainly a big picture.
I think it is just great that Leonard is taking some of his time to come on our site and reveal some of his inner thoughts… Mr. Nimoy thank you so much for always being to gracious to the fans of your work. If all of Hollywood had your amount of class and insight it would be a much better place.
Second of all have some class people posting in here. Squabbling or nitpicking Leonard’s comments when he is so generously taking the time to give them to you is odd at best and borderline rude at worst.
Aaron R.
Thanks Leonard :)
Thank you, Mr. Nimoy, for giving us all that you can probably give on the production right now.
Although I always knew you are a great actor, I never realized just how great you are until I saw this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lBluKRBlNc (Mr. Nimoy makes his entrance at 3:09)
Definitely one of the more interesting finds on youtube. Hats off to you, sir!
Exactly what I need.
someone telling us regularly how nice time they are having.
:-)
It’s good to hear from Mr. Nimoy but I would rather hear new information. Glad to see he’s enjoying himself on set though.
I wish we could get a report on the uniforms. I’m so worried they are not Retro-TOS.
We should get a cast picture any day now, right? I mean, the movie opens a year from a few days.
#4 ” –Give me ten failures and one brilliant success rather than nine *guaranteed* “crowd-pleasers.”
Well, We had 9 mediocre movies and “Wrath of Khan”, didn’t we?
Maybe First Contact Counts too.
I think you’ve only got one or two ambitious films among all the Trek movies.
30# norm
totally agree. i need some reassurance in those TOS uniforms. positive thoughts from mr nimoy
greg
UK
Thank you, Mr. Nimoy!
The fact that he’s so supportive of this movie means more to me than anything anyone else involved could say.
31 – Roberto promised us that they’d be taking a cast photo by the end of the year, when everyone was on set.
Nimoy has been shooting on more than one set – strongly indicates his role is more than one of simple flashback sequences but one of active involvement in the storyline! Excellent!
My big question – does he mindmeld with Quinto’s Spock to prove himself?
Be a great way to keep the existing canon with the new cast in future enterprises.
32 –
Nine mediocre movies?!?
No,no,no.
ST:TMP : Cinematic, and great SCIENCE FICTION in the vein of 2001 – excellent.
ST:II : Adventurous spirit of the original series – what can I say that hasn’t been said before – brilliant.
ST:III : Perhaps more low key than its predecessor, but enjoyable and poignant nonetheless…
ST:IV : Great fun and a great adventure!
ST: V : Has its flaws, but I don’t care I’ll take it over any NextGen Movie any day.
ST: VI : Thoughful, powerful and exciting.
Generations/Insurrection/Nemesis : confused/pedestrian/rubbish.
So in essence ( save First Contact ), the best Star Trek has always been with the original characters and universe…and with the new movie and Mr. Nimoy’s involvement and endorsement it will prove to be the same…
Mr. Nimoy,
It’ll be a treat to see you again as Mr. Spock. I’ve been watching the special features of your directed trek movies lately, and your talent is evident in your work and of your description of the fimaking process. I’ve been a fan of JJ Abrams for a while now, and with your support of him, I know this picture will be something special!
Happy Hannukah
#10 – “Abrams pays attention to the details, a la LOST.”
Pays attention to details? Like having an 8-month pregnant woman flying? (One cannot fly in the last trimester)
Or having the batteries go dead on a radio after the plane crashes, but a signal is mysteriously picked up on the island interior that had been repeating for sixteen years, with no explainable power source other than miracle batteries that don’t die?
I learned this from watching one episode of Lost… the pilot. After that, I couldn’t be bothered to watch it again. There’s poetic license and there’s swiss-cheese plots, and Lost certainly slots into the latter category. And there were other such points which I obviously deemed too unimportant to remember. Suffice to say, I just couldn’t like the show because of the carelessness to detail it portrayed. A simple lack of research (or even common sense).
Indeed this would be one of the areas I’m a little sceptical about in terms of Abrams’ ability to make a quality picture. However, he can attract a certain amount of other things, along with his (relatively) stellar name when compared with previous Star Trek movie helmsmen, that can be a real injection of life into the franchise that we all know it needs to survive.
This is a real make-or-break movie, and I’ve no doubt the ambition and enthusiasm, but as a lot of people have pointed out, he can do a complete Louis Hamilton (F1 driver) and be enthusiastic and gung-ho to the point where he’s doing so exceptionally well that he over-shoots the mark and puts too many eggs in the one basket.
I lost you once, Spock. I don’t think I could stand to lose you again. Make us all proud, old friend.
Don’t forget that J.J. Abrams is also responsible for the great cliffhanger series “Alias” starring the beautiful Jennifer Garner. Too bad she won’t be in this movie!!!
Sounds Cool!
#42 – Number One hasn’t been cast yet; I am still hoping Jennifer Garner will play her!
Great to hear from Leonard Nimoy. Has he ever directly chat on here like Roberto Orci? That would be amazing. Good to hear the good things he is saying about the production.
Thankyou Mr. Nimoy.
Im a big fan!
You’re probably laughing at our discussions over here..I would too.
Hehehehe!
anyway thanks for your time.
Re 22 (Anthony)
Hi Anthony, I just spent some time googling Star Trek budgets. For the sake of 20 million dollars, Star Trek 2008 is going to be twice as $$$ as the next most.
http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/records/allbudgets.php
12/11/1998 Star Trek IX: Insurrection $70,000,000
12/13/2002 Star Trek X: Nemesis $60,000,000
11/22/1996 Star Trek VIII: First Contact $46,000,000
11/18/1994 Star Trek VII: Generations $38,000,000
12/7/1979 Star Trek: The Motion Picture $35,000,000
6/9/1989 Star Trek V: The Final Frontier $30,000,000
12/6/1991 Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country $27,000,000
11/26/1986 Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home $24,000,000
6/1/1984 Star Trek III: The Search for Spock $18,000,000
6/4/1982 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan $12,000,000
12/25/2008 Star Trek: 120,000,000-150,000,000 ???
Regardless of where in the above range, it is still some serious money.
368 dtST
I think it is important to realise that the new Star Trek movie is a whole new kind of Trek movie. It will be bigger and have a wider audience appeal than any Trek film before. Probably the closest comparison would be the first film, which has an inflation adjusted budget over 100 mil. Paramount are shooting for box office comparable to the recent Batman and Superman films, which were also franchise restarts (from a biz point of view).
What Mr. Nimoy states above is evidence of this epic view.
Star Trek The Motion Picture was really the only ‘epic’ film. The rest of the TOS films felt like medium sized movies and the TNG films really felt like extended TV episodes.
RE: comments ‘didnt we hear this with Nemesis’
I am always amused by comments like this. Perhaps it is the battered child syndrome. Yes sometimes people involved with Nemesis would say they want the film to have wide appeal or some would talk about how they were fans…but actions speak louder than words. Paramount and the Abrams team have literally put their money where their mouths are. Just look at the cast and the creative team and you realize that we are in a whole new league right now.
The proof will be in the final product, but so far it appears that all the lessons from Nemesis have been learned.
I’m surprised at how low down that list STVI was (which is my favourite movie) and FC (which would be my second favourite). VI had the best “look” for a Star Trek film, I think. It was within the universe yet expanded upon it a great deal. There was *real* attention to detail in that movie. And First Contact was easily the most impressive (as is generally agreed upon by readers of this site, it seems) TNG film, and was quite cheap, relatively speaking (I don’t know where all that money went on Insurrection – into an incinerator by the looks of it).
And then there’s the old favourite. STII. Made on a shoe-string (relative to TMP, the most expensive film ever made, at the time), and a lot of people rate it as their favourite ST movie.
It just goes to show that big budget doesn’t always mean big results. TMP was a flop, in terms of cost vs. earnings, and we’re lucky that STII got made, and was a success, because of the relative failure of TMP. I have a feeling the new Star Trek film won’t be the catalyst of renewed popularity for the Star Trek franchise that we all think it will, let alone comparing it to Batman Begins. I think Nemesis did a lot to tarnish the reputation, in terms of not putting new fans’ bums on seats. And the funny thing is, it was existing Star Trek fans that criticised Nemesis (myself included – so much potential gone to waste), when, were it a film belonging to A.N. Other franchise in a stand-alone context, it probably wouldn’t be half bad, or entirely unsuccessful.
But that’s all past, and I hope my cynicism turns out to be baseless, because I love Star Trek too much to see it fizzle out like that.
Anthony: I recall being in the line up for the Motion Picture, and literally freezing my short hairs in anticipation. I have suffered through the highs and lows of the good movies and not so good movies. The last two in my opinion were dogs. I have been to all Trek movies on opening night. (At least I think I have). But the last 2 comments beg the questions. Can you step outside your Trekkie suit and say this movie will be as big as the Batman reboot? Batman in my opinion has/had a larger general fan appeal to begin with. Star Trek does not. Therefore a larger hurdle to cross to promote this franchise. It will be interesting to see how the marketing machine handles this. I will be seeing Cloverfield more for the Star Trek trailer, the movie itself is an after thought.
Most passionate Trek fans have taken this movie to heart and then some. For example, look at the camps regarding Shatner. It is encouraging to see the Paramount / Abrams put so many eggs in this basket. As I have heard a few times and agree, this movie could literally make or break this franchise. Everything indicates a positive outcome. ;-)
#48 – I second the hope that your cynicism turns out to be baseless.