ST09 Tidbits (T-24): Movie Coming (bit) Early? + Russia Premiere + New Interviews + Pine to A-Team? + more

According to the Official TrekMovie countdown timer, we are currently at 24 days and 2 hours to the first Midnight shows of Star Trek (on the west coast), but our first Tidbit of the day says it might be a few hours earlier. In other bits we have photos from the Moscow stop for the JJ Tour, interviews with Quinto, Pine and Abrams, new casting news for Pine, and more.

 

Star Trek coming (5 hours) earlier in the US?
The official release date for Star Trek in the USA and Canada is Friday May 8th, which means that there will be many midnight shows on Thursday May 7th. Today ComingSoon reported that "shows will start at 7PM" or five hours earlier. As of now there are no theaters selling tickets for 7, but TrekMovie has learned that there may be something to this, although Paramount will not confirm anything. We will provide an update on this as soon as there is more to know. If this does pan out, one big question will be how to handle all those people who already bought advance tickets for those midnight shows.

Remember the release dates vary from country to country, with most being on either May 7th the 8th. The official site has the full (current) list.

Star Trek Invades Russia
Yesterday the Star Trek gala world tour stopped in Moscow, Russia for a premiere and a press conference. On hand were JJ Abrams, Bryan Burk, Eric Bana, Zoe Saldana and Anton Yelchin. This makes the first stop for the new Chekov, but it makes sense since he is both playing a Russian character, and the actor was born in Russia. Since all the articles are in Russian, we will just have to do with the pictures. Here are a few:


Bana, Yelchin, Saldana, & Abrams at Moscow press conference


Bana, Yelchin, Saldana, & Abrams at Moscow premiere


Saldana strikes a pose for a fan at Moscow Premiere

Star Trek opens to the public in Russia on May 7th. More photos from the Russian events at Film.ru. (they also have an interview with Abrams in Russian)

Abrams/Pine/Quinto Interviews
There are a couple of new inteviews coming out of the Australian press event last week. First up is JJ Abrams interview with TheVine, here is an excerpt.

Most of the time these remakes and reboots fall pretty flat, but it seems like you’ve got the balance right.
I think the key was not having insane reverence for the original material. I felt free to make choices that were right for a movie, not for ‘Trek’. But we had a writer [Robert Orci] who was an avowed Trekkie. Bob’s awareness of what we needed to adhere to was sort of the safety valve for the movie – but it wasn’t the master we were serving. And to me that’s the thing.

What was it like having Leonard Nimoy involved in the project?
He was the definition of gentlemanly. He was supportive and graceful. He wasn’t just helping pass the baton away from the Trek that people are familiar with to the new Trek – he was really passing on this role to this other actor [Zachary Quinto] – and encouraging him, befriending him.

And then there is a Cinefools interview with Quinto and Pine, here is an excerpt from that:

Last night the portrayal of both your character s was so powerful. And there seemed to be an instant chemistry between both of you in the movie. How instantaneous was that chemistry on set?

CP-it’s like with anybody if you meet them and you have an instant connection and you’ll know you’ll be friends for a long time. It was pretty much that. The worse thing that could ever happen is when you know you have to build chemistry. You Spock and Kirk have to have great chemistry. And the last thing you want to do is have to manufacture a thing and try really hard to have that electricity.

And never felt. I knew Zach socially a little bit before I even went in for the audition and he was helpful in prepping me about JJ and the Script. And we w2ent together on the Friday afternoon long ago and I knew I would work well with this guy.

ZQ- I knew that immediately as well. Even after the last 4 guys for the role all of them were great in there own way but it was far, far away that Chris was the only choice. Just in terms of how I related to him and how he related to the character and I think all that helps. You spend a lot of time training and in the theatre process to have a shorthand and vocabulary to understand how these relationships work .it wasn’t an effort. That was key and if yopu8 don’t have it that when you are in trouble. It has to be easy.

Pine Wants Howling Mad
Chris Pine is making more casting buzz on another high profile project, this time the big screen version of The A-Team, being directed by Joe Carnahan (who directed Pine Smokin’ Aces, a role which got the buzz train rolling for the young actor). The surprising thing for this project is that Pine isn’t angling to play the team leader Col. John Hannibal Smith, played by George Peppard on the classic 80s show, nor does he want to play Templeton ‘Faceman’ Peck (played by Dirk  Benedict). No, Star Trek’s leading man tells MTV he wants to play H.M. ‘Howling Mad’ Murdock, a role originally played by Dwight Shultz (aka Barclay from TNG and VOY). Apparently Pine is a big fan of the show and Murdoch was his favorite character…go figure.


Pike wants to step into Shultz’s shoes as the new ‘Howling Mad’ Murdoch

Bullets: ESPN + More Desktops + Nimoy News + Erin Poll


2D erin FTW

Thanks to Mike, Marko and other tipsters

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Woah. First. Chekov is good for Russia.

For Pine’s sake, I hope he doesn’t just get stuck doing Hollywood reboots for his whole career.
“You want to do a film of ‘Diff’rent Strokes’? Get Chris Pine in that thing!”

Saw more tv ads today for Star Trek. I’ve seen one a day for the last few days on all different channels. It’s a beautiful thing! Now on ESPN, all the better!

I remember the DVD extras from King Kong and how the crew hauled around the world on the press tour…exhausted most of the time, pumped up during the events. It’s one of the things that must be cool and awful at the same time.

Still, it’s great to see Paramount trotting them out like this. Hard to believe that this is Star Trek getting the royal treatment. I think we’re in for a few good years of our favorite episodic adventure!

Does anyone know if these premieres are free or do the attendees have to pay for a ticket?

Where is Simon Pegg? in all these Premiers?

I’d love to sit in a Russian audience to see their reaction to Chekov.

Some good tidbits. And by the way, the ESPN baseball tonight sponsored by Trek also showed another commercial that has not been covered here. It began with mixing promotions for the new stadium with shots from the new movie that even had shots from the first teaser trailer w/ the welder followed by an all out full-blown preview of the movie similar to the 6th tv spot but longer and better.

Anthony,

This whole week on ESPN is “Future Week”. In conjunction with ST.

And is the early premiere for most theaters or a select few? I’m sure thats what you are looking into now. Thanks!

Chris Pine as Face would make 100% sense; he has exactly that _kind_ of cockiness in his smile.

On the other hand, anything that prevents Jim Carrey from getting the Mad Murdoch role is worthwhile.

Doesn’t really matter if it comes out at 7 on Thursday or midnight, I still won’t be able to see it until Friday evening. Doesn’t bother me that much. I’ve waited this long, I can wait a few hours more. Just wish I didn’t have a huge examination earlier on the 8th. Really pisses me off.

in that particular candid picture of Zoe with the fan…i feel that she has never looked better. A nice honest photo of her looking beautiful!

there was a Star Trek tv spot during WWE Raw

2d erin is hot.

2-D Erin, ‘Da’ ….

It sounds like these tv spots are coming up all over the place. I guess we’re getting pretty close. =)

Actually, from a selfish fan point of view it would be great if Pine just did reboots. If this movie proves to be any good, I’m dreading the day when Pine becomes a big, bankable star and we end up with a new Kirk-of-the-week (Spock-of-the-week, McCoy-of-the-week, etc.). I hope when those days, inevitably come, they just continue on with their current cast and rotate in a new character. The one thing I appreciate about Trek was there was some effort at continuity and some loyalty to what came before. I know some of that is out the window now, but I just don’t want to see this become like Sherlock Holmes or Bond where every decade there is a “this is not your father’s Trek” pitch going on.

The BFI Imax in the UK is starting on the 7th, figured it was an IMAX thing… that list lies.

That russian fan with zoe looks like Topher grace from the 70’s show.

CP would be great as Murdoch (given his performance in Smokin’ Aces). And I think it might even be a deliberate step away from being typecast as Kirk (although obviously he’ll do the sequels) – which means he might still possess the ability to act ten or twenty years from now… :)

Which means future Trek movies might be more successful than, say, Nemesis.

The link to Nimoy´s message on Trekweb actually leads to cominsoon.net. And thanks for all the information!

You know, until I found out yesterday that Pine was the redneck killer in Smokin’ Aces, I never, ever in a million years would have put two and two together that it was the same guy …

Pine could do Howlin’ Mad, I think. He looks a little bit like Dwight Schultz, and from what I’ve seen of him it wouldn’t be out of his range. Just on the inevitable side note … man, Barclay should’ve gotten more showtime on TNG. One of my all-time favorite characters. I’m sure we can guess that Dwight Schultz as a TV veteran leaving in impact on Barclay, who could’ve been a throwaway character, is responsible for how he did get some heavy use in the later seasons and even got some nice bits in VOY and First Contact … but he and O’Brien were my favorite TNG’ers, and my first wish for “more O’Brien” turned into him being the most stable fixture in all of Trek … I wish I could’ve said the same for Lt. Broccoli.

DOes Pike want to play Murdock or pine??? umm im confused…

Your link for the info about the Austin premiere is messed up. It’s the comingsoon.net link about the aerlier time. Here’s the correct one:

http://trekweb.com/articles/2009/04/13/Exclusive-Leonard-Nimoy-Talks-to-TrekWeb-About-New-Movie-Secret-Premiere.shtml

Why wasn’t Zoe at the Australian premier?

Got this reply form the Glasgow IMAX in Scotland yesterday.

Thank you for your enquiry.
Star Trek is due for release on the 8th May and we are planning to show it, sign up to our e-newsletter to be told when tickets go on sale.

WhooooHooo!

#27
Allister, i’m from Glasgow and this is great news! :)

I’ll be attending the London premiere next week anyway, i’ll be sure to get some nice shots and gossip from the cast and crew! :)

Stop kidding around folks and vote 2D Erin! Just hit the button marked 2D! Clone Wars can have their 3D characters, but we got imagination on our side with Star Trek!

Well, there is definitely a day of preview screenings here in Manchester, UK at the Odeon IMAX on the 7th May. I know cos I bought the tickets three days ago for the 6.30pm screening. The first screening is at 11.00am I think.

By the way, Anthony, I love this site and have been lurking around for the last few years. I hope you’ll continue and cover the recently announced sequel.

Cheers!

heh,

just been informed that i won two tickets to the pre-premiere here in vienna today :D

karl urbans there … and john cho … no jj but cool enough.

I’m the happiest austrian trek nerd :)

An “A Team” remake? Ugh. Pine should run far and fast from that.

#27,#28
I lived in Glasgow for 3 years (in Dennistoun) in the east end.
I remember George Square, Sauchiehall street , the Gorbals…
Fantastic city!

Great article too! : )

It’s hard to imagine Pine playing Howling Mad Murdoch, but I’d love to see him try. He definitely seems more like a “Faceman” to me.

A Star Trek/A-team connection would be pretty cool though considering these were my two favorite shows growing up!

I don’t think A-Team is a good career move for Pine. While Kirk is a role that will help him as a leading man, Murdock isn’t. There is virtually no chance A-Team will be a good movie. What made that show so entertaining was the cast. Every role was pretty much tailor made for the actor that played it. Face was made for Dirk Benedict. BA was made for Mr. T. If ever there was a TV series that needed the original actors in their roles in a movie, it’s A Team. Obviously, Peppard is dead, but a role like Murdock wouldn’t work for Pine. If they want to assure the A Team will truly suck, they should get Wil Ferrell on board.

The problem is Murdock will be very hard to cast. Dwight Schultz was brilliant in that role. He was hilarious, yet not slapstick and trying too hard.

I can’t see A Team being any good, and Pine should stay away. If there’s a choice between Hal Jordan or Murdock, it’s Jordan. A superhero movie is much better for his type.

With the Somali pirate-thing going on, I pulled out my DVD of Blackhawk down: Bana is absolutely great!! I can’t wait to see the intesity he’ll bring to ST.

I hope Chekov was able to find the little old lady from Leningrad…
the great inventor of all things in the 23rd century!

to 36..so was Tom Hardy..lets hope thisTrek is slightly better!!

Insane reverence material? What does that mean? TOS is insane, this movie ist not ? :(

A Team casting?

Hannibal = Clooney (nearly starred in the A Team directors White Jazz with Pine b4 it fell apart so must be under serious consideration)..if for some reason that dosnt happen i’d say give Mel Gibson a shot (hes been on the naughty step too long now)..then again isnt Ridely Scott producing this~? Russel Crowe will be on the short list then…

Face = Pitt? hes the obvious choice i suppose although maybe hes too old and famous to take a supporting role now..plus if Clooney is H then thatd be a bit much due to Oceans films…could be any heartthrob in his 30s or 40s i suppose – Ryan Reynolds? Affleck? (they were in Smokin Aces)..Colin Farrel? (although hes already been in Miami Vice and SWAT)

BA – Ving Rhames or Michael Clarke Duncan

Murdock = Pine…? its possible since he was in Smokin Aces and was almost in White Jazz…but surely Jim Carrey will be wanting to do it?

cameos for Benedict, Lt Barcley and Mr T

OH MY GOD!!! Just received my tickets for the London premiere of Star Trek on monday 20th April. I promise you guys, I will give my honest view on the movie. Be it good or bad.

I couldn’t imagine making a movie a year ago and then having to watch it over and over at these premieres! This movie has to be good!

I can’t imagine sitting thru multiple premieres if it was a awful mess. This has to be a good sign, can’t wait for May to get here.

#41 Nice :)

#2 Whatcha talkin bout Bones?

41 – u lucky devil!! how u get those?

#18 – my sentiments exactly. Nothing would be a bigger turnoff than having different actors play our favorite characters every time a new film comes out. That would chase me away for good.

“For this movie, Kirk will be played by……” who cares, cause I’m outta here….

@40 – I could see Clooney as Hannibal Smith. He could pull off that George Peppard-type swagger. Face? That’s a different story. Definitely not Pitt. What about a younger actor?

Now that I think about it, what about younger actors for all the roles? Why not somebody like a Jensen Ackles (“Supernatural”, Dean Winchester) for Hannibal? I could almost see Pine as either Face or Murdock. I do like the idea of a Ving Rhames as BA, but what about Ice Cube? He’s proven he can do comedy and drama (perhaps not real well, but still…..), and the new A-Team movie should have elements of both.

Just keep Jim Carrey out of it. Please.

I haven’t seen a single TVSpot for Star Trek in the UK yet… anyone else?

Will the cast come to Brazil to promote the movie? I hope so

#47

Same here. No TV Spots yet. Lots of Wolverine trailers though. I have a feeling the British media is under-estimating the potential of this new star trek.

I remeber it happend in 2007 when Simpsons and Transformers released in the U.K on the same weekend. All the hype was for Simpsons and initially everybody I knew went and watched that movie. The moment they realised it was no more than a glorified T.V episode, the B.O collections started dropping sharply. On the other hand, Transformers was stable for quite a few weeks.

I see the same thing happening this year. Wolverine may get all the initial hype, but the moment audiences realise what the new Trek movie has to offer, it will blow wolverine away. Plus reactions to the leaked footage is not helping matters for FOX.

Man Zoe is hot- id so turn straight for her!