As both the co-creator of the new Battlestar Galactica and a former Star Trek writer/producer, Ron Moore is an expert on Trek and reviving sci-fi franchises. In a new interview with Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune, Moore revealed that he “wrangled a set visit” for the new Star Trek movie. He also drew a parallel between the JJ Abrams team and 80s Trek vets Harve Bennett and Nick Meyer.
Moore on his visit:
I saw the sets and thought the production design was just great. I just really liked the visual of it. And the vibe on the set was incredibly positive and very up. People were feeling good and confident and happy. It was really great for me. It was great to be back at Paramount and to walk into a stage where there was a Federation starship.
Moore on if Paramount did the right thing by “going outside the “Trek” family” (and hiring Abrams):
Absolutely. I think that was a very smart decision. God love all of us that did all the series and the movies during those years, but that’s a long time. There were a lot of tired people. A lot of tired blood. And it’s time to bring in fresh eyes to it all.
“I think it’s akin to when they brought in Harve Bennett to [write the second ‘Star Trek’ movie,] ‘The Wrath of Khan.’ [Creator] Gene [Roddenberry] had lived and breathed ‘Trek’ for a long time. He did [‘Star Trek:] The Motion Picture,’ and ‘The Motion Picture’ is what it is – I certainly went to see it and loved it at the moment, but it was bloated and [had] overruns and there a sense of it not really finding its feet yet.
“Then they brought in [writer] Harve Bennett, who had no connection to the show, and [director Nicholas] Meyer, who had never seen the show, and they reinvented it. They started over. They went at the costumes differently, the storytelling, the vibe of it, the style of story that they were going to do. They rescued the whole franchise. ‘Wrath of Khan’ makes all the subsequent ‘Star Trek’ projects possible.
“And I think that’s where they are with the franchise now. They’ve brought in someone new, someone with no connection to the what’s come before, who cares about it and says, ‘Wipe the slate, let’s make this version.’”
For more Moore, including news on BSG season 4, Caprica, and the fate the Joss Whedon BSG episode checkout Chicago Tribune Blog. Maureen has more on BSG: Season 4 Pics & Season 4 Spoilers.
First! Hopefully Ron is correct.
Ron Moore’s vote of confidance? Wow. This project is looking better and better.
Good to hear that Moore has given his stamp, his opinion is informed and developed as such, yet again my hopes for this movie are skyrocketing
There are a just few people who’s opinion matters for me. And both Moore and Nimoy are on that short list. And if they tell me it will be great – it has to be great.
“Absolutely. I think that was a very smart decision. God love all of us that did all the series and the movies during those years, but that’s a long time. There were a lot of tired people. A lot of tired blood. And it’s time to bring in fresh eyes to it all. ”
What a classy statement by Moore. I am completely in agreement with him.
And I will once again say Battlestar Gallactica is the best show on TV. Thanks for that one, Ron Moore. Here’s to Caprica getting the green light from a decent network that shares the same vision as you.
The big difference is TWOK had the original cast & preserved the canon while pushing the Trek timeline forward. This is a whole lot riskier & will sink the franchise for good if it fails.
But the real question is–how many of the cast had huge wavy 80s hair blowing in the wind?
Is it just me or does Ron look like former wrestler Kevin Nash — http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2004/01/09/nash_wcw.jpg
I wonder if Moore would ever be interested in heading a Star Trek series? It says he has some projects ready, but without Battlestar Galactica he would have some open room.
Moogie, the franchise is already sunk. This movie is it’s hope for revival.
Is the glass half empty, or all the way empty for you? Key members of the original cast are dead. Paramount (who owns the rights) have decided this is the way to go. The alternative was to bury it. This is what it is. It doesn’t mean you will like it, but you do have the choice of giving it a chance or dismissing it out of hand without seeing it.
#8 Whoa… he DOES look like him!
Got to give Ron Moore props for this endorsement, this is another big vote of confidence for the Abrams project. It is somewhat difficult to tell if Gene Roddenberry would have signed off on the Abrams Project, because I seem to recall that he took some issue with the Storyline for Wrath of Khan. I think that Roddenberry would have taken a hard look at it but at the very least kept an open mind about the Abrams project.
Moogie, I think JJ will Respect Cannon and also add his own spin to trek…I don’t think that he will violate cannon out right…and you have to give the benfit of the doubt unitl you have seen the movie, None of us have done that yet, so keep an open mind.
Big praise here for the guy that wrote the script that killed Kirk off.
Good thing he redeemed himself with BSG.
The adventure continues…
”They started over. They went at the costumes differently, the storytelling, the vibe of it, the style of story that they were going to do. They rescued the whole franchise. ‘Wrath of Khan’ makes all the subsequent ‘Star Trek’ projects possible.”
lets hope abrams and the team can do this , come on lads you know you can !
Let’s just hope JJ doesn’t take TOS and throw everthing out, except the name of the ship and the name of the characters and start completely over with a total new concept, but still call it Trek. Kinda like Ron Moore did to BSG.
After all those years on Trek and three seasons of Galactica, it’s surprising to me that his first time directing is right now.
He’s absolutely right about Wrath of Khan. Bennett and Meyer made huge changes to the look and feel of Star Trek to make it successful again. Moore made even more drastic changes to Galactica and created a big winner. JJ and friends will do the same. And I think it will be great. Change is good…
That redeeming part is a subject of discussion. I tell you, as a Star Trek fan, that BSG show scares the hell out of me.
But that’s just my opinion.
Well, a simple visit to the sets doesn’t exactly qualify anyone to give the project a “stamp of approval.” Having said that, I’m glad he liked what he saw and a good possitive “vibe” on the set certainly can’t hurt the end result.
Oh my, just wait for the ‘everything must stay exactly the same’ campaign to get hold of his ‘wipe the slate’ quote.
Standby for heated discussion…
there is one thing I think most of can agree on, its that the Star Trek movie Franchise is at a crossroads, it either has to reinvent itself or it ceases to relevant. Now in addtion to the the Abrams Project i would like to see a new series, for example why not base it off some of the books, what about a mckenzie Calhoun series or one dealing with the Klingon ship Gorkon , now that last one would be different, What about a Trek series from that takes place in the Romulan empire, Hey why not a trek series set in the Mirror verse, there are all kinds of other ways that Trek could be revived. i was wondering what any of you think on these ideas?
Ron Moore did a lot of good work for Trek over the years. Although I love both franchises I view BSG as the anti-Trek.
One things for certain, after four seasons of BSG I’ll be ready for a (hopefully) uplifting Trek movie. That poor ragtag fleet can’t catch a break!
I send this message from heaven.
I wish Ron Moore had spent as much energy as he puts into Galactica, into any one of the series that sprang forth from my creative loins.
Love,
G.R.G.
I just wish SOMEONE who visits these sets would give a bit more information. I just want my mind put to rest; someone PLEASE tell me the bridge STILL looks like a Star Trek bridge (center seat, characters in a circle around it). I don’t need a bridge that looks exactly like TOS bridge, but every incarnation of a Star Trek bridge has the same “feel” to it. I just need an assurance that the Enterprise bridge is going to resemble a Star Fleet bridge, not a Star Destroyer bridge. Not much to ask, right?
“Hey why not a trek series set in the Mirror verse, there are all kinds of other ways that Trek could be revived. i was wondering what any of you think on these ideas?”
Garovorkin — I love the Mirror Universe and think that would be a lot of fun. It’s certainly rich enough thanks to all the visits from all the various trek incarnations to stand alone.
And I swear…it’s not jsut cause Mirror Spock set a certain 14-year-old’s heart aflutter way back when.
Ron Moore and his team have made BSG the best show on TV, period. So his opinion counts with me….
Now…. I wonder when we’ll ever get to see the new E? What about cast photos, etc.?
Ron Moore MUST be the 12th Cylon. He has a plan.
I hope JJ is part Cylon. We’ll know in 416 days.
You know how we know Superman is a great franchise? Because the Man of Steel isn’t battling Hitler anymore. Superman came into its own during WWII. But, it couldn’t just stay there. Trek came into its own in the 1960’s. In the Disco 70’s, it looked odd. In the gung-ho Reaganite 80’s, it found a new life, without abandoning its heart. Now it’s the something-or-other oughts. What will Trek be? It will be Trek with a contemporary vibe. I trust that.
I also believe we’ll be having this conversation again in 30 years — and couldn’t be happier about that.
#26 while i agree that Battlestar is a very good show, best on tv? that is open to debate, but his opinion does carry weight with regard to Trek, His body of work is quite impressive and speaks for itself. What would I like to see Ronald More do after Galactica? I would love to have him and JMS Strazininski work together on a scifi project, that to me would be the ultimate.
Moogy:
What would you have them do? More NeuTrek? It’s obvious that the powers that be has realized that the future of Trek is its past. And the original actors are too old or have passed on so they are not going to be able to do a film series.
So if you do Kirk and Spock, and you can’t totally rely on Shatner and Nimoy. What else can you do?
Truthfully, after what Moore has done to Galactica, an endorsement from him doesn’t carry as much weight as it would have when he was freshly coming off of DS9…or even when he had the guts to walk away from the Pern series when TPTB tried to turn it into something no longer true to the original material.
I respect Moore for much of what he’s done in his career, but I’m a lot more reassured by comments like the one from Simon Pegg that this is a faithful and loving installment in an ongoing mythos.
In fairness to Moore, though, it should be noted that Bennett and Meyer did an excellent job of reinventing without trashing what had come before. Perhaps Moore means that Abrams and the team are doing likewise?
canon schmanon.
I’m sure that’s been said here before.
seriously, it’s not like they’re going back in time and rewriting the 12 million other Star Trek things written before.
“young minds, fresh ideas. be tolerant” God I’m a geek.
#30–“Truthfully, after what Moore has done to Galactica, an endorsement from him doesn’t carry as much weight as it would have when he was freshly coming off of DS9…”
OK, I admit to being a huge BSG fan, both old and new. All Moore did was make BSG even better than the original, which was cheesy and campy-good, but had degenerated by Galactica 1980 into a truly horrible mess. BSG now easily stands shoulder to shoulder with shows like LOST, Six Feet Under, and the Sopranos. Richard Hatch was opposed to BSG at first, but even he was so won over by it that he accepted a role on the show.
Hopefully you can clarify your statement.
I trust Moore, and hope he will one day be involved in Trek again.
#6: “This is a whole lot riskier & will sink the franchise for good if it fails.”
Well then let it.
Better to try something different and fail than to grind on with the same-old/same-old that everyone but a dwindling few has long since had their fill of.
I loved DS9. It wasn’t perfect, but it really captured me a lot of the time. In fact, I believe it has aged better than TNG.
I was at first really positive about BSG, then it quickly lost me. I still watch it most of the time, but I don’t really care about it. Still, I respect his opinion and am glad to hear his praise. I hope he’s right.
I’m quite happy to have new actors recreate these characters, and for a new director to redesign the look. Trek has been so pallid since DS9 went off the air, and the movies were only hit and miss at best. Half of them are still watchable.
I think having Nimoy in the movie is a great hand-off. I look forward to seeing how he plays Spock this time around. With respect to Shatner, Leonard is an excellent actor and has earned the right not to be second banana to Kirk for once.
It would be nice if Nick meyer and Harve Bennet were invited to the set. I’m love 2 c pix of them and JJ. make it so!!!
Hey i want a new trek movie and so does everyone else, but i really would love to see some additional clips from abrams and co, the suspense is killing me! I need to see what things are going to look like. It like Christmans is now 14 months away and that one gift i m dying to unwrap. A peek under the wrappings would be nice.
37. Hey i want a new trek movie and so does everyone else.
I want a new Trek movie too. Not this crap Abrams is making.
38. MattJC – March 17, 2008
“I want a new Trek movie too. Not this crap Abrams is making.”
And what crap is that? You’ve not seen one frame of film, read one page of the script or seen anything more than the rest of this and you call it crap.
Such an informed opinion.
I wonder what TPTB came up with for Old Spock’s characterization.
What’s he like in the 24th century after so many years on Romulus? Is he less emotional or more so? Did he find a nice Romulan girl to settle down with or, at the very least, a reliable Ponn Farr buddy? Still got that laser-beam stare?
Most importantly (and Denise might well agree): Will we see Old Spock finally smile w/o being under the influence of whatever?
These are not rhetorical questions, folks. All thoughts are welcome.
Peace. Live long and prosper.
The Vulcanista }:-|
The point about Wrath Of Khan is as eloquent an argument for the new movie as I’ve heard. Yes, re-casting the iconic roles is the most daring break yet, but safety doesn’t get you a good show. It gets you Voyager.
Moore gets credit for DS9’s engaging storyline and moral ambiguity. It was also the ONLY Trek series where the ensemble’s characters were all fully realized. You could put any two on screen and the scene would seem to write itself.
If anyone in the current Sci-Fi world. Having that vote of confidence from Ron Moore will hopefully bring around some of the lingering pessimists in the crowd.
37.
Most fans seen the same stuff I have and think this movie is going to be great.. I have different opinions then what most fans think.
Kirk = Shatner
Spock = Nimoy
Pine, Quinto and the rest are a bunch of posers.
When I first heard about this movie, I had hoped for a radical departure from previous TREK.
Why is it so important to respect canon?
I keep hearing this and it is one of the many things that makes this movie uninteresting to me–and why the TREK fan base has grown so old: TPTB needed to ignore them. New blood means moving away from what has gone before and breaking away from the old. If new blood is brought in, but the product still looks and feels like old TREK, what’s the point in stating new blood has been brought in and it will make a difference? Abrams and company are not new blood in my opinion because they are too geekish and fan based to produce a really unique take on TREK–unlike Bennet and Meyer who did TWOK, and knew very little if nothing about TREK, so Moore’s comments and comparison make very little sense.
It’s obvious that Paramount needed to look elsewhere to produce another TREK movie, but a possible mistake to look for fan boys to do it.
After seeing the teaser–and seeing the same old looking ship; after getting a slight glimpse of the uniforms (too similar to the 60s TV series from what I’m hearing) and reading about James Cawleys endorsement thereof; I’m not seeing anything new at all: just the same ole TREK with a 150 million dollar budget.
I still think it would have been better to do a small budgeted film with a young, hot, stylistic director, who has proven himself as a director, rather than a big budget film with a one time director who ended a franchise.
42.
Not me.
Moore had his hand in the death of Kirk, and most fans want to put the blame squarely on Berman and Braga.
If you want to criticize those who killed Kirk, then the golden boy Moore should have his share of criticism since he co-written the script.
I like Moore’s comments on this. I am glad he took the time and looked around. I trust his judgment on Trek and add this as another good and Positive reason to look forward to this new movie and not loathe it like some.
He had no vested interest in this that I am aware of other than as a fan of the series.
DS9 is a favorite because they dared step away from the Trek Norm and show the universe with shades of gray, not purely black and white.
43. MattJC – March 17, 2008
“Most fans seen the same stuff I have and think this movie is going to be great.. I have different opinions then what most fans think.
Kirk = Shatner
Spock = Nimoy
Pine, Quinto and the rest are a bunch of posers.”
Then life is simple for you… don’t go to the movie, don’t spend the bucks and see nothing new. Life’s a lot less risky when you don’t accept change.
Glad to hear he liked the look of the sets and the business decision.
Remember, the last film looked for fresh blood in Baird & Logan & the result was NEM. Bennet & Meyer was lightening in a bottle & that’s tough to recapture.
Lets see some photos & take the speculating from there. These mini-quote crumbs offer us zero insight, we here are the core of ST fandom & should at least be offered a Nimoy as Spock image for our devotion.
As someone once said, “no one ever set out to make a bad movie”
Even though it’s an upbeat set, let’s just hope they got it right……..I am cautiously optimistic!