Rumor Control: Tim Russ Has NOT Announced A New Star Trek Voyager Movie

A new rumor is going around that there is a new ‘Star Trek Voyager film’ in the works. This rumor seems to have been started from a post on a Facebook page attributed to Voyager actor Tim Russ. TrekMovie decided to check with Russ directly to find out what is going on, and it appears to be a hoax.

 

Tim Russ announced a Voyager movie? – actually NO

The Voyager movie hubbub started this week at the ‘Tim Russ’ Facebook page, which has 517 Friends. On Wednesday a post was made on the pages Wall stating: "Tim Russ: Might be in a new Star Trek Voyager movie!", which was soon followed up with "Tim Russ: We do not know if we are gonna make the film yet."

Of course, as Paramount is currently developing another big budget JJ Abrams Star Trek movie, even some of the Facebook followers were skeptical. However, some thought there could be a Voyager DVD project or fan film in the works. The latter notion is not unreasonable, as Russ directed and appeared in the independent fan project Star Trek: Of Gods and Men. Over the last couple of days internet buzz has grown with fans speculating, and TrekMovie received a number of emails regarding this Facebook posting, so on Friday we decided to check with the source.


Russ on the set of Of Gods and Men

Today, in an email to TrekMovie, Russ says that he has not posted anything about a Voyager movie on Facebook. In fact, Russ says the Facebook page in question is not authentic, pointing out how the page listed him as married even though he has never married. So this is another case of a hoax and social network celebrity faking.

As for the real Tim Russ, the former Tuvok tells TrekMovie that since his time wrapped up on the sitcom Samantha Who? a year ago he has remained busy with guest spots on TV series (like his recurring role oniCarly ) and voice work, including the upcoming Cartoon Network show Sym-Bionic Titans. Russ also recently directed the Dark Sky Pictures film Night at the Silent Movie Theater, featuring former TNG,DS9 & VOY guest star Tony Todd. Release details are still being worked out, but here is the trailer:

 

POLL: Direct to DVD Trek?
Although this was just a rumor, it does bring up the often-discussed topic of Direct-to-DVD Star Trek. Other franchises like Babylon 5 and Stargate have done direct-to-DVD films. It doesn’t seem likely that Paramount would make (or want CBS to make) a Star Trek film for DVD while they are actively producing new Trek features for the theaters. But if such a project did happen, what version of Trek would you like to see in it?

[poll=572]

 

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shame really…

I’d love to see a new movie with the voyager cast.

Ah well, i don’t think many people really believed it anyway. It’s always a shame that there isnt any more Trek to look forward too, but as far as rumours go this was a far fetched one.

“Social networking celebrity faking”… fascinating.

Given the lack of love that some fans have for Voyager, a new movie based on that seems most illogical.

It would be nice to see Direct ot DVD stories. Come on CBS/Paramount, you know you want to cash in with some new Trek merchandise. Hell, it would be cheaper than a feature film or TV show. I know people would volunteer to help get it going.

iwould LOVE a voyager movie

maybe a direct-to-dvd/tv feature film with a substantial budget following the crews of TNG, DS9 and Voyager post Nemesis leading into the Star Trek: Countdown comic book.

I just want to know why Paramount has never considered producing a mini-series of Star Trek. It would open up the whole universe basically for an event that is essentially bigger in scope than a movie, while not being tied down to formulaic episodic television. ie it does not have to sustain 7 seasons and can really break some ground.

I’d love to see something like this.

Doug L.

The plot of star trek voyager was a ship stuck in the delta quadrant so its unlikely a movie would ever happen. But i would love to see the voyager cast back on the screen. Maby a star trek film with a few familiar faces as the cast Star Trek: Pick N Mix

Sadly I think Paramount’s viewpoint is to go back to what they consider a poisonous wellspring..aka all Trek from TNG-ENT, would dilute the reinvention of Trek for the mainstream that last year’s film was… that being said, IF a new Prime Universe-film WERE made, it would more-than-likely be a DS9 film as of all the post TOS iterations, that had the most mainstream appeal and was closer in tone to the Battlestar Galactica remake that everyone loved…

9. Im afraid it wasnt… the higher up execs hated Deep Space Nine because they considered it strayed too far from the “successful” Trek formula. Even though Deep Space Nine was arguably the most critically acclaimed of the bunch, a whole load of people write it off as being “a show where no one goes anywhere or does anything” purely because its set on a station as opposed to a ship. Those people are wrong as hell, but I know a few who would embrace a Voyager film and wouldnt watch Deep Space Nine even if you forced them to with electro-shock therapy.

2 words.

ROMULAN
WAR

Make it so, CBS/Paramount.

I would actually like to see a where are they now type movie on voyager. Did star fleet drop the charges on the maquee? Are they still on voyager or another star fleet ship? etc….

Picking which series deserves a D2D is really hard. DS9 deserves it the most, but it’s been so long since the series ended that I don’t think it’s possible anymore. Voyager deserves it, too, especially after leaving the finale so open ended.

However, I think I have to pick Enterprise as the show that deserves the D2D. It’s the most recent, and the one that had the most promise going into its 5th season. The D2D should be about the Romulan War, and it should be a miniseries, much like the Battlestar Galactica miniseries was. It would make money and test the waters to see if its possible to bring it back.

Still, it’s all a dream, because as much sense as I think that makes, studios are just too dumb to try. (I’m looking at you, Paramount)

Since Paramount has auctioned off all things TREK any D2D or mini series would have to be built from scratch. It’s unlikely that any project not worthy enough to hit the big screen or repeatedly on the small screen would merit that kind of investment.

But if money weren’t a concern and we are starting from scratch anyway I’d vote for TITAN only because we haven’t seen it yet.

Direct to DVD Enterprise. Imagine Romulan Wars told in Direct to DVD miniseries or movie Trilogy.

7,
I agree with the miniseries method with 10 episodes of 90 minutes. Though it would be nice to see any character from any series back, Voyager’s story has been told and so has DS9. ENT on the other hand, has suffered from premature cancellation with lots of stories untold. TNG of course exited with a somewhat sour taste with Nemesis, yet hopeful for further explorations…

How do you do a movie on Voyager? After Voyager made it back, it would end up being just another film about a starship and her crew – which we have with the JJ Abrams.

Deep Space Nine and Enterprise would both make good DVD releases.

Voyager the least so.

TNG should have another shot at the big screen sometime in the future, doing something big with the TNG characters long after Nemesis.

Paramount / CBS

should make a three part mini-series around the Romulan War. If that’s sucessfull, they also should do a three-parter with DSN ten years after the Dominion War. If that’s sucessfull too, they should go on with one single USS Titan-movie, a Enterprise-E-movie and at last a Voyager-movie. Everything on DVD and spread over five years. So Paramount could create a bigger presence for Star Trek between the feature films (note: No DVD-movies for the years in witch a feature film will be released), make every fan happy, make a lot of money and increase the value of the Star Trek brand.

But I doubt the suits will ever consider such a strategy for the next years. There are certain powers who want to let us forget the older stuff – so they can make another couple of remakes, reimaginations or what ever and re-use stuff, stories and characters other creative minds invented in the last 30 years, etc.

I would love to see Star Trek: Vanguard produced as a series of DVD movies. Vanguard is, in my opinion, the best Star Trek book series ever!

A direct-to-dvd movie can’t hurt once in awhile. The mainstream will still go to see the theatrical sequel as would the diehards. As long as it doesn’t infringe on what J.J Abrams is doing (i.e new timeline, TOS characters) I don’t see what the problem could be apart from the fact that sets, props and costumes were sold off. Animation is a viable option. Plus you could do things with animation that you can’t do with live action plus it is a lot cheaper.

The dvd movie I’d like to see is “Enterprise”. Romulan War, Mirror Universe, the further establishment of the Federation. “Enterprise” was just beginning to fulfill its potential when it was yanked off the air.

ANY Dvd-type prime series movie would make me happy, but yeah, Romulan War would be awesome.

ENT the Romulan War Mini Series

I would love to see Enterprise back on TV, but a direct-to-video movie would be great too!

Star Trek – Enterprise

Where Season 5 was headin’… The Romulan War… building on the likes of the Babel One trilogy. Shran aboard as an advisor to the crew. Heck, probably the first Andorian in Starfleet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_zNmraG7xs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PWMk94lmlE

A shame I want more Prime timeline stuff.

Even if there was to be a big-screen outing for Voyager, I don’t think I’d go see it. It was the one series of Star Trek where I wasn’t that bothered about whether or not I missed an episode. I couldn’t say the same for any other iteration, even DS9 which, for me, wasn’t Star Trek in the truest sense (since they weren’t “trekking” anywhere, per se), but it was still high-quality science fiction. If Star Trek were to do a straight-to-DVD release, I would welcome it, but probably not from Voyager. DS9 has loose ends to tie up. Enterprise have some stories left to tell. Titan would be good to see what happened with Riker, Troi, et al. I think there’s been enough going back through Star Trek’s history, though, and aside from the studio offerings, forwards is where we should be looking, not backwards, rehashing old material.

In saying all that, I would probably manage to twist my own arm and see anything in a cinema that had “Star Trek” pre-empting any kind of subtitle.

Tim Russ could, conceivably, appear as a cameo in a new Abrams-universe Star Trek movie. It wouldn’t be beyond the realms of doubt. He served aboard the Excelsior, after all, so why not make him up a bit younger and have him spreading out to find a new Vulcan homeworld? Have him join Starfleet, following the precedent laid down by Spock? given what happened in ‘Trek ’09, it makes sense that a lot of Vulcans will want to join Starfleet in an “emotional” response to solve the various problems facing the Vulcan people. Tuvok, as a character, could fit in there quite nicely. Who knows?

NO MORE VOYAGER – IT WAS RUBBISH !!!

I think the Romulan War is a bad idea. And here’s why: we know (from “Balance of Terror”) that no-one in the Prime Universe had ever laid eyes on a Romulan before. That’s a big elephant in the room everyone would have to dance around. Making a series, mini-series or TV movie based on same would be too similar to Season 3 of Enterprise, not be very “Star Trek” (no new life forms, no civilisations, no strange new worlds), and probably be too big a story to tell in too little an amount of time. Consider it if it were Band of Brothers. They used ten episodes to tell the stories of a select group of soldiers in one company, all fighting along the same front, all in a very short space of time (albeit with a lot of gaps in between). If we were to take a mini-series route, that would be more the kind of approach I would like to see. I think there’s been too much conflict in Star Trek since season 3 of DS9 for the Romulan War to even be considered. The story of the inception of the Federation, for me, would be a far more interesting one as a Star Trek fan, but would likely not do well commercially.

The trick is finding the balance: to appease fans and non-fans alike, and the studio big-wigs, so the books are balanced. The only way to do that, at the moment, is to go with the feature film route. Give it a few years and, hopefully, we’ll see a revival, like The Next Generation was for the franchise as a whole when Paramount decided to go with a brand new Star Trek series in 1987.

I think the “no one knows what a Romulan looks like” is completely stupid and bs, i think most people are willing to ignore it.

Im a big supporter of the studeo putting something/anything out to keep up the interest that Star Trek 09 generated. But I dont think a direct to DVD movie would work or a live action series either, they would be direct competition to the new movies which is why I think an animated series is the way to go between films. As far as either an ENT or 24th century Trek universe movie goes IMO that would probably be made by Fanfic, I dont see the studeo going back in that direction, but who knows, Sony is re-booting Spidey :} But even that would be cool too, I would watch a fan made Voyager (or other Trek based) movie.

COME ON PLS STOP MADE UP STORY FANS OF FACEBOOK!

Your pool did not include remaining cast members of Original Series, which would be my choice for a new direct to DVD film.

#33

As much as I love the TOS actors, without James Doohan and Deforest Kelly it just wouldn’t work. Without those two beloved actors, you’d get a watered down and cynical(cash grab) TOS reunion. And besides, its time to let the new cast shine.

Now that Paramount has successfully resurrected Trek, why would they ever want to go back to one of series that helped kill it in the first place?

When I vote Voyager, I really mean DS9 too.

They’re the same timeline and the movie should incorporate both.

I’m going to bring that facebook page down! I thought it was Tim’s real page because other notable personalities (that i now are real, like James Cawley etc..) were friends.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000268047523#!/profile.php?id=100000268047523&v=wall&story_fbid=115280065169292

Not to happy that this faker have tricked a bunch of people. Going to warn al of them and pointt them to this article. Thanks Anthony for getting to the truth!

How come the poll doesn’t offer anything set in the new universe? I’d like to see a Pike straight-to-Blu-ray movie!

#38 Now that would be cool, and wouldnt interfere with the Motion Pictures either.

Romulan War.

Any Prime universe Trek would be good to see

Any new Trek show would be welcomed – as long as it is in the Original Universe – NOT JJ Abrams-verse . . . .

I wish the new franchise luck of course, but am not particularly interested in where it goes as long as it goes soemwhere. Glad that Trek is alive nonetheless.

@nd The Romulan War! The book was cool!

I would love to see more prime-timeline stories, but I would hope any direct to DVD Trek would be better than the Babylon 5 foray into the medium. It was half down, half up for me.

Would like to see a back story of George Kirk, before timeline change. I always loved Diane Carey’s take on him.

@14 Enterprisingguy “Since Paramount has auctioned off all things TREK any D2D or mini series would have to be built from scratch.”

Not necessarily. You’re forgetting that there are standing TOS-era NCC-1701 sets even now. They just don’t happen to BELONG to Paramount.

Id have to say that Voyager would be my last choice for another movie. Nothing against the series, but its final episode wrapped the whole thing up. True, we don’t know how all of the characters spend the rest of their lives, but I don’t think that’s something worthy of a movie. Enterprise or DS9 I’d say would be the best candidates. Enterprise would be a perfect platform for the Romulan War and DS9 left a lot of questions in its ending. It would be nice to have TNG better wrapped up to, but for me that was a cast and crew that deserves better than direct to DVD.

I’d welcome most any new direct to DVD Star Trek.

But whatever happened to peaceful exploration stories, and stories about exploring what it is to be human?

I have to agree with Will H. As much as I liked VOY, I can’t see taking it further. I see the most potential with DS9 because I think they left it wide open with Sisco and the prophets and the opportunity for him to return “who knows when.” I also like the idea of exploring Enterprise more because I’ve felt cheated ever since they ended it after only a 4 year run. A Romulan war plot would be workable and something I think would work on a DVD release but not a big-screen release. THe TNG crowd is getting a bit too old (happens to the best of us!) and while they might be good for showing up in a TREK movie, I don’t think they can carry an entire movie on their own anymore. I believe TPTB could do something with SEction 31 and have characters from any or all of the TV shows as semi-regulars. This could turn into a whole sequence of DVDs if they approach it from a different angle of Trek focusing on something and someone other than the usual cast. Getting late guys – I feel like I’m rambling so I’m off to bed!

TNG Animated, with crossovers to DS9 & Voyager.