Patrick Stewart On The ‘Fifth’ Star Trek TNG Movie + Video & Images From ‘A Life In The Theatre’

The crew of Star Trek: The Next Generation were seen on the big screen in four feature films, but in a new interview Sir Patrick Stewart talks about the fifth and final (and never produced) TNG movie – see excerpts below. We also have links to Patrick’s appearce on The View from today, plus video and images from his new Broadway play A Life In Theatre, opening next week.

 

 

Patrick Stewart on the fifth ‘farewell’ TNG movie

The official Star Trek site has an interview with Patrick Stewart, and one of the more interesting questions was about any future after Star Trek: Nemesis:

As it stands now, Nemesis is Picard’s swan song. How accepting are you of that? Or is there a part of you that wants one last crack at Picard to perhaps send him off a little more appropriately?

Stewart: While we were filming Nemesis an idea was being developed by John Logan, the screenwriter of Nemesis, and Brent Spiner for a fifth and final movie. It was a very exciting idea for a screenplay. It would have been a real farewell to Next Generation, but it would have involved other historic aspects of Star Trek as well. I can’t go into details because the project wasn’t mine. When that didn’t happen, the studio announced in its own inimitable way that we were suffering from franchise fatigue and that there was to be no more, and I am absolutely content with that. I remain very proud of the work that we did, very proud of the series and the movies, but I do not wish to return to it.

For more from Sir Patrick on Star Trek, Macbeth and more, see the interview: Part 1 & Part 2.

Patrick Stewart on The View

Sir Patrick Stewart joined the ladies (including his old TNG co-star Whoopi Goldberg) on The View this morning. He talked a bit about working with Goldberg on TNG, becoming a knight, his new play A Life in the Theatre and more. Watch it at abc.com.

A Life In Theater opens next week on Broadway – videos & photos

Patrick Stewart and TR Knight star in the David Mamet play A Life in the Theater at Shoenfeld Theater in New York. The show opens on Thursday October 7th and runs until January 2nd with shows every day except Monday. More information and ticketing can be done at the official site, lifeinthetheatre.com.

Here is a promotional video and a behind the scenes interview with Stewart and others:

The play includes a large number of costume changes and the official Facebook page has a gallery of images, here are a couple of fun ones:

 

Remember – PS in Macbeth tonight on PBS

Macbeth starring Sir Patrick Stewart airs on PBS tonight, October 6, 2010 at 9 p.m.

Here is a video preview

 

 

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Would love to see the TNG cast get a realsend off. Even an animated series would do to soften the blow of Nemesis

Hey, we had co-existing series off and on, for a few years, why not co-existing movies? Might prove to people that the Prime Timeline is still valid…

Sir Patrick was great this year at the Official Star Trek Convention held in Las Vegas. He talked in his own time on stage, and made appearances when other were on stage. This made their time on stage so much better. You were able to see him as a regular guy having fun. Not the Snob that so many newspaper articles have portrayed him to be.

“I am absolutely content with that. I remain very proud of the work that we did, very proud of the series and the movies, but I do not wish to return to it.”

MEMO TO SHAT — THIS IS HOW YOU EXIST A FRANCHISE WITH CLASS

“EXIT” :-)

I always thought Nemesis was never designed to be the final TNG movie. The very catchline ‘A generation’s final adventure/journey (whatever it was) BEGINS’ sold me on that point. To know a project was in place to follow up Nemesis makes me excited and sad at the same time. I’d love to know what would’ve, could’ve and should’ve happened and on the same note, we’ll know it probably never will happen :(

Ah well… at least Trek endures!

Make the 5th movie already!!!!

well when you put a movie with Buggy chases, jumping into shuttles into it… it kinda goes stupid…

Me: So what it lik to have your last TNG-Movie to be critically slammed as bad as Shat’s STV:TFF?

Sir Baldy: ….

I’m almost certain what Sir Sterwart says publically about ST:Nem & what he & the fellow cast members say in private are far different things…. but he is FAR more reasonable than you or me. With the work that he has done since then and now, TNG is behind him… dare you type cast HIM now?

Personally I think that they should have done something with the Countdown Comic book. I think that that would be a true send off to Next Generation, and a passing of the torch to the new Star Trek Series. C’mon lets get a poll goin, who wants to see that/something to that effect?

I’m not so sure it was “Franchise Fatigue” we were suffering so much as “Berman Fatigue”. There was plenty of room for another TNG movie, as long as someone else produced it and they kept the bright, optimistic tone of most of TNG. All four TNG movies were much darker in tone than the TNG series as a whole, and that was a mistake.

With the exception of First Contact, TNG movies were pretty bad. I miss the tv series, not the movies. Patrick Stewart doesn’t want to reprise the role anymore so, I think that it’s time to move on.
I’m looking forward to a new Star Trek series and I hope that it will be set in the future. 25th century or so.

Has there even been a synopsis of the proposed final movie leak out?

Or maybe just have it adapted into a good hearty novel.

I assume the 5th film would have included the transition of B-4 to Data reincarnate. However, the context of that, plus further Titan exploits and how that would all have unfolded would have been fascinating. Sure would like to know the secret.

It’s too bad…when the f@#$ed up Kirk and Co.’s send off they went back and did it again and we got Star Trek VI. Oh well…onward and upward.

MEMO TO MJ –

SHATNER DOESN’T NEED A MEMO ABOUT CLASS FROM YOU

I’m surprised that the poll is pretty much split right now but that makes me happy. I think TNG revitalized the franchise in 87 far more than the latest movie. Granted I think it should of been sent off with a good movie that tied everything up for it and then the reigns should of been handed over. But the sad truth is the chance of a 5th TNG movie ever happening, even going right to DVD, are slim to none.

#14 – CAPSLOCK!!!!

Shatner has *not* shown very good grace in the fact that his character died with his blessing and the inordinate amount of time it took for him to finally see the new film. He hasn’t let go of the fact that the franchise does not need him anymore and any cameo by him in the next one would seem at this point in time ridiculous.

16 — Simon, thanks for your post. I was kind of taken aback by the personal attack from 14 which I will not dignify with a response.

“It was a very exciting idea for a screenplay. It would have been a real farewell to Next Generation, but it would have involved other historic aspects of Star Trek as well. ”

im thinking timetravel?

im thinking TOS characters appearing as well as ones from Enterprise?

i vaguley recall something being mentioned about it all in 2003/04…maybe i should check memoryalpha or the like

“The crew of Star Trek: The Next Generation were seen on the big screen in four feature films, but in a new interview Sir Patrick Stewart talks about the fifth and final (and never produced) TNG movie – see excerpts below. We also have links to Patrick’s appearce on The View from today, plus video and images from his new Broadway play A Life In Theatre, opening next week.”

appearce?

Denny #18

The idea starts off as a TNG mission with the entire crew present for the opening scenes. Somehow or another Picard is brought together with the other Captains from the tv shows (Kirk, Sisko, Janeway, Archer) into some type of ultimate showdown vs the enemy.

If memory serves the way they were brought together was similar to the TOS episode “The Savage Curtain”

The details are out there somewhere, but I can’t remember them to save my life at the moment…. As a matter of fact I am a little fuzzy about the entire concept, but the film would have at least had bookend scenes with the TNG crew and been centered around the five captains.

im watching ‘Macbeth Comrade’ now & im impressed (even though im admitily ignorant of the meat & potatoes of Shakespear’s works…)

is this version of Macbeth supposed to be a specific time frame of Russia in 1900’s?

I think Marina Sirtis said it best at a convention: “if enough people go to see the film (Nemesis), there will be another one” and then the following year: “you didn’t listen! The TNG cast has been officially retired!” So I guess we reap what we sow, and after a brief drought, we now have the current incarnation.
I never did buy the “franchise fatigue” theory, but I would definitely buy the “Berman fatigue” theory, and I would also agree that we were denied a chance the chance to give TNG A proper send off!

I remember all the cast (including Wil Wheaton) GUSHING about how good Nemesis was going to be……

So if they paid Sir Patrick the same amount that George Clooney makes in a mainstream movie, do you think he’d change his mind? Or gave him net points?

He may be classy, but he’s not crazy! I say go for the money!

Hey John Logan, want some cash? Take your concept and write a novel based on it…if you don’t have the time, enlist one of the many Trek authors as a co-author. I would like to at least read your story.

Oh my good God, I had to skip through that whole damn episode of the view just to get to the part with Sir Stewart. I feel like I need a shower.

Near as damn it 200 hours of TNG should be enough for anybody. Patrick is right to say enough.

#26 its Sir Patrick. First name goes with a knighthood.

I don’t think it was the studio that shut down TNG, it was Insurrection.

#15 i’m sorry but TNG came out on the back of a rather big movie called The Voyage Home. The franchise was in pretty good shape.
TNG sucked so much fun out of Trek for me. I was and remain bitterly disappointed at the lost opportunity it became.

The Trek captains are great, but I think the interplay among all the chacaters is what makes Trek so good. Centering on just the captains would be a mistake. I would have liked to have seen the new Enterprise explored a bit more and it would have been cool to have seen Data as captain.

I wish TNG had never gone to the big screen. it worked so much better as a TV series, which allowed for real character development and relationships between them. While FC was great, it would’ve been a great two- or three- part episode, too. GEN had glaring plot holes, although I liked the part in the 23rd century. INS would’ve made another fine episode. NEM isn’t as bad a movie as I remember but the characters are the most “out of character” that they’ve ever been;, however, Data’s death was handles extremely well. The existance of B4 was not, though.

I would love to see TNG’s era return to TV on SyFy as a miniseries. If Stewart is uninterested, so be it. I’d be completely satisfied with a story that concerns the Rikers on the Titan, Beverly and Julian at Starfleet Medical, Janeway at SF Command, and Worf as Captain of his own Federation ship. The story could concern something that affects nearly the entire Federation and we get to see how it involves these characters, although they don’t all interact with each other.

Or…I’d like an animated series that takes place on the Titan.

Trek #2 The Wrath of Khan, #6 The Undiscovered Country,
#8 First Contact, and #11 The Future Begins were the only
ones worthy of being motion pictures. The others appeared
to be TV shows on a big screen. And only ONE of those had
TNG crew.

How badly I wanted Picard, Riker, Data, Troi, etc… to make
at least one more great motion picture. They deserved it.

Very sad.

I’d love to see a “Stargazer” series. A young Captain Picard along with Jack Crusher, exploring the quadrant and getting into skirmishes with the Cardassians. We’d get to see how Picard becomes the man he was on TNG. Was he more action-oriented when he was younger? Did he have any more encounters with the Nausicaans? What about his time with Professor Galen? Who would be the right actor to play a younger Captain Picard?

FINALLY! A Star Trek cast member that DOESN’T salivate at the mention of possibly being in the next movie.

(I hear the dog that played Porthos is hoping his character will finally re-materialize just in time for a cameo in the next sequel.)

I’m sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for Sir Patrick in army gear with his pants down, looking like he’s about to break out into showtunes at any moment….

Actually, I think I’d rather hear the UNreasonable explanations. They’re probably more fun… :D

@34: Are you saying that the next Trek movie couldn’t be improved by adding beagles?

Cute puppies were pretty much the only reason I could sit through “A Night in Sickbay”….

#36: You can sit through “A Night In Sickbay”? You’re a better man than I.

Breezy (http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Breezy) is sitting by the phone, waiting for the call from Team Abrams. And I fully support putting her in the next movie. :)

Since the soon-to-be-released ‘Star Trek XII’ picks up where ‘Star Trek XI’ left off, then with all respect to J.J. Abrams and Co., ‘Star Trek XIII’ should pick up where ‘Nemesis’ left off, it should be a ‘Next Gen Farewell’ movie in a tradition of the ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’ comeback telefilm ‘Trial by Fire’. Someone should start a petition for ‘Star Trek XIII’ to be a follow-up to ‘Nemesis’ and with J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci as executive producers, ‘Walker’ co-creator Leslie Grief as producer, Manny Coto as prodcuer and director, Dennis McCarthy and/or Brian Tyler composing a score with the incorporation of Alexander Courage’s original series fanfare and Jerry Goldsmith’s original themes from ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’ and the TNG casts combining with newer casts, even ones who joined the Enterprise-E.

Either that or a CBS telefilm as a follow-up to ‘Nemesis’, but produced by Bad Robot Productions, Kurtzman-Orci Productions and Manny Coto Productions in association with CBS Television Studios.

Charming.

TNG had a finale.

It was called All Good Things.

We don’t need another.

Whatever happens, IT’S ALL GOOD. (And all good things….)

In this universe, we do not have Q to credit … or blame.

Star Trek is truly an amazing franchise, if you think about it. TOS and TNG are probably the “senior series” of the franchise, and yet an argument can be made that DS9 is every bit as good as TNG, if not better.

Lightning struck not just twice, but thrice.

VOY and ENT each have their unique charms, as well.

As if that were not enough, we have TAS to explore.

And of course, the cinematic works of Star Trek, from the magnificence and grandeur of TMP through the action and promise of ST2009 … all of this places Star Trek on a plane of existence unheard of in Hollywood, or for that matter, popular literature.

If America should be known by three things — Democracy, Freedom, and Star Trek — it should count itself lucky.

Thank the Lord we never got another TNG movie- TNG sucks balls!!!

I wanted the TNG to have a proper send off in the movies, so I wish Star Trek XI was one for them before they decided to reboot the whole thing.

You know I don’t hate the new movie, what I really hate is that everyone talks about as though its the only good Star Trek ever made. I HATE THIS MENTALITY.

I think animation would be a great way to continue the adventures of the Prime Universe. It would be inexpensive enough that the production could afford voice actors from all of the series for crossovers. It could continue post-Nemesis and maybe begin with an adaptation of Countdown. I think it would definitely find an audience.

IIRC, the TNG film was to have been ‘Justice League of Star Trek,’ with Picard travelling through time, collecting Data just before he got blown up, rescuing Kirk from the Nexus (after all, in a place where time doesn’t exist, Kirk and Guinan will always be there!) and recruiting Spock from Romulus to fight a rogue’s gallery of villains. It would’ve been painful!

The TNG films were a massive letdown because, in part, none of the writers could figure out a way to handle an ensemble for a two-hour film. I still believe they should simply have kept the TNG TV show running, but written out the actors who wanted to move on (most probably Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner) and brought in new ones. There would have been no need for Voyager or Enterprise that way. Riker would have been an obvious character to promote to Captain, or a brave decision would have been to bring back Jellico!

They could always have made a Picard/Data-orientated movie that way, with regular TV series characters appearing in a more minor capacity. Of course, a new creative team behind the scenes would have helped, as Berman and co were all washed up by the end of TNG season 7!

I don’t blame Patrick Stewart for wanting to move on- he’s a talented guy and deserves better recognition for his stage work than for what is, to be fair, a pretty lowbrow scifi franchise like the Star Trek one!

I would have loved to have seen another Tng Movie. But they did miss the boat on the last 2 movies. With the Dominion war going on they should have done a little something with Ds9 and had the Big E go on a very inportant Mission against the Dominion and the Founders. But instead we got something that would have been a nice Epp of Tng instead of a great Movie. Maybe there could be a fan made movie like was done with Star Trek of Gods and Men except in the 24th Century.

Finally, one of the actors who said they would not want to be in the next movie. It seems they all get asked and all say yes. I think Stewart is the first to say he’s moved on. I always felt he was satisfied with his role in the Star Trek universe, but is one of the few to express the idea that Star Trek has moved on. He is happy with his place in Star Trek lore and does not need to rain on the new crew’s parade.

I liked the 4 Next Generation movies. They were fun to watch, and that is generally how I judge Star Trek.

Also, I always like to throw a plug in for the novels. If you can’t get enough of the Next Generation (or the other series), the relaunches have done a great job with carrying on the stories in the prime universe. Check them out. I am looking forward to the new Typhon Pact novels.

I saw ‘Macbeth’ last night. It was very surreal, especially the part where Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost walk across the party table. The lighting was really weird in that scene. I liked it.
Patrick Stewart makes a chilling and powerful Macbeth.

Did anyone comment on the image from “The View”? While 1987 was the year the show premiered, that promotional pic is from sometime in the 90s.