ST09 Tidbits (T-41 days): Kids Trailer + Premiere Tickets + New Abrams Deal + Faux Fan Flap

If you are headed to see Monsters vs. Aliens this weekend, keep your eye out for new kid-friendly Star Trek trailer (and some Trek refs). In other Tidbits we have Abrams  comments on Trek (and a new deal), world premiere tickets going on sale, a fake controversy, and more. Check it all out below.

Monsters vs. Aliens gets kid-friendly Trek trailer + has Trek refs
Today the animated comedy Monsters vs. Aliens opens and attached to it is a newly edited Star Trek theatrical trailer. According to Paramount this new edit is geared specifically for a younger crowd and primarily takes elements from previous trailers and makes them kid-friendly (so no Zoe taking off her top). The only new bit is a shot of a scene of Kirk running through a room with big blue-filled tubes. As this trailer is highly targeted, it appears it will not be made available online on the official site.

Speaking of Monsters vs. Aliens, there are a couple of Star Trek references in the movie. [SPOILERS] When it is discovered there are aliens headed towards Earth the alert that is issued is ‘Code Nimoy.’ And when the aliens are first greeted by the President (played by Steven Colbert), he greets them with a Vulcan salute.

And one last MvA thing: two of the film’s voice stars (Reese Witherspoon and Seth Rogen) were recently interviewed for that film byt MoviesOnline.ca and both talked about how much they are looking forward to JJ Abrams Star Trek:

Q: WHICH OF THE BIG SUMMER MOVIES ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING?

ROGEN: That’s a good question. What have we got? We’ve got Wolverine Origins. That’s coming. I’m in. Transformers, I’m in. Star Trek, I’m in.

WITHERSPOON: Oh, I want to see Star Trek.

ROGEN: Every one. I’ll see every one. (to Reese) Which ones do you want? All those? Are you going to see them all?

WITHERSPOON: I like J.J. Abrams. I think Star Trek will be very cool. I think that will be interesting.

ROGEN: That will be good. I’m excited. Good pick. Good pick.

Apparently Witherspoon is serious, here she is showing off her Vulcan sign at the gala premiere for Monsters vs. Aliens.

Reese shows her Trek cred

Abrams Talks Trek As Thrill Ride + gets Paramount deal extended
Variety is reporting that JJ and his Bad Robot production company have extended their overall deal through to 2013. This shows that Paramount have a lot of confidence in the team that is about to unleash Star Trek on the world. Bad Robot’s deal in 2006 was one of Paramount President Brad Grey’s first deals at Paramount and he tells Variety he feels Abrams has become "part of the fabric" of the company, and for his part Abrams said that the collaboration has been "fun" and he feels they are "just getting started."

In other Abrams news, in a new interview with Film Journal the Star Trek director covers a lot of familiar territory, but also addressed how even though they are amping up the action in this Trek, he still tried to keep the characters at the heart of the film:

The goal for me was to make the movie equivalent of that ride at the amusement park you’ve just gotta go on. I didn’t want people to feel like this was anything other than an exciting, fast-paced ride. At the same time, I didn’t want it to be shallow and empty. We’ve all seen movies that are filled with action and spectacle and are ultimately devoid of any heart or meaning. The beautiful thing about this script is that it has wonderful emotional through-lines. At its core, it’s about this group of people that barely know each other and go through this massive adventure together and, at the end of it, emerge as a kind of family.

Abrams: Star Trek is more than just a fast-paced ride

Tickets available for Sydney premiere + fans outraged?
Paramount Pictures Australia has announced that a limited allocation of special tickets will be available to purchase for the gala world premiere of Star Trek on April 7th at the at they Sydney Opera House. The limited allocation of tickets will go on sale from 9.00 a.m. Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT) on Monday, March 30 and will only be available online via sydneyoperahouse.com or by phoning Sydney Opera House box office on +61 2 9250 7777. Tickets will be $100 each plus booking fee and each ticket purchase comes with a poster.

For $100 (Australian) you can join JJ Abrams and his cast at the world premiere

Did you know that Trek fans are fuming over the Sydney premiere? Neither did I. Leave to the UK press to create a controversy where there isn’t one. The UK’s Daily Mail is running the headline "Trekkies fume over film’s Sydney premiere," which was repeated by Australia’s Daily Telegraph and prompted the another Australian press headline: "Star Trek fans go berserk over choice to premiere film in Sydney." These articles contend that Trek fans are upset that Sydney was chosen over the small town of Vulcan, Alberta, Canada for the world premiere (even though Vulcan is still getting an advance preview). Far be it from me to say I speak for all Trek fans, but WTF? From what I can see, Trek fans are excited that Star Trek is getting a global premiere and tour and they understand that a tiny town in the Canadian prairie (without a movie theater) being first was far-fetched. But this goes to show that the media love a good controversy and are just looking for salacious Trekkies v Paramount stories, even if they have to fabricate one.

Trekkies are NOT marching on Paramount over Sydney premiere

ST09 Bullets
So much Star Trek 2009 news is coming, we have to condense some of it into bit sized bullet form:

• Simon Pegg has been cast as a weasel in Ice Age 3 + says after watching Star Trek he walked out ‘a wreck’ [EW]
• Tickets for the first general public showing in Munich Germany are available online.

Thanks to Jason, and Ulrich