Anthon Yelchin Still Waiting For Star Trek Sequel Call + Talks Comparisons With Koenig’s Chekov August 18, 2011
by TrekMovie.com Staff , Filed under: Celebrity, Star Trek sequel (2013) , trackback
Anthon Yelchin has been keeping busy since appearing as Chekov in JJ Abrams’ Star Trek. He voices "Clumsy" in the new Smurfs movie and stars in the vampire film Fright Night opening on Friday. In a new interview promoting the film, Yelchin says that he doesn’t know when he will be needed to return to the bridge of the USS Enterprise, but he is ready to go when called. He also talked about comparisons to Walter Koenig.
Yelchin waiting for news on Star Trek
So Anton Yelchin appears to be waiting like the rest of us for news on the Star Trek sequel. In a new interview with the official Star Trek Yelchin said that although he doesn’t know when he will be needed, he is ready to suit up:
I’m ready. I’m ready. It’s been a while, but whenever they let me know, I’ll be there.
While he waits he may try to fit in another project, saying:
I don’t exactly know when Star Trek is going, but if there’s space I’d like to do, probably, a smaller film.
In discussing his portrayal of Chekov, the actor also noted that it was "huge" to get the blessing of the original Chekov, Walter Koenig. And even though his Chekov is somewhat different, it is important for Yelchin to have a strong connection with the original, saying:
I don’t know if it builds to Walter’s Chekov, that if we make more films then suddenly it’ll totally become that guy. I just think that I tried to capture as close as possible all of the great qualities that Walter brought to his Chekov. So I hope there’s a continuity. I don’t know if it’s necessarily an evolution, but I hope there’s a continuity where you can say, “Oh, yeah, I buy that person being that age.”
For more from Yelchin on Fright Night, Star Trek and his other projects, read the full interview: Part 1, Part 2.
Yelchin as Chekov in "Star Trek"
Fright Night Opens Friday
Anton Yelchin has to deal with his vampire neighbor in Fright Night, opening Friday August 19th. Here is a clip with Yelchin and David Tennant.
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Comments»
Pretty good casting, here. He’s believable.
Ya know, the new Trek movie has a great cast. They couldn’t have cast a better bunch of actors and its great that they’ve all found good work in the interim. Anytime I see these guys in other movies I always enjoy watching them, even if its not a great movie.
Pretty much everybody cast in Star Trek 2009 was great. Physically, I could’ve totally bought into each and everyone being the same folks I’d always known. That’s not to devalue the original actors in any way. But if the writers had wanted to go with a traditional prequel, and this gang gradually bit-by-bit arriving on the Enterprise… the last picture being the first adventure in the 5-year mission, I would’ve bought into that.
Oh, I’m guessing there will be time for a few projects. Would not suggest any of the performers be waiting by the phone for the call anytime soon. Given the substantial backpedeling that has occured regarding the status of the script, I doubt any of the rumored “soft prep” has occured, either. Can’t envision a studio making that committment when they can’t even set a date for the movies release.
Isn’t Anton appearing with Zoe on Jimmy Kimmel this week?
Correction. Tonight.
#4. Phil …
Well, “soft prep” was not exactly a rumor… Bob Orci after all, mention that … if I remember right!
But you’re right… if Anton is thinking about making another movie before the sequel… “soon” it was! LOL
:-) :-)
Anton did a great job in Trek. All in all all of the Actors did a great job.
I thought Yelchin was just fine, if not maybe a little too heavy on the accent. Almost every alien speaks better English than Chekov! Even Spock has no accent!
All funning aside, I liked him. It’s a little hard to accept the coincidence that put him and all the other crew of canon onto the bridge at the same time. Heck, Chekov wasn’t even on the Enterprise in the previous timeline until Kirck and crew were a few years older…
But that was another timeline, I suppose. As my name implies, I’m not that concerned with canon, so I have to try and shrug this stuff off. It wasn’t worth the writers’ time to explain how it could be that everybody was on board. I get that.
Great cast, and to a degree I think Yelchin’s comments even suggest a certain level of frustration over the lack of movement on the Trek follow-up movie.
The decreasing chatter from even the rumor mill makes me less and less faithful that we’ll even GET a “next” Trek movie, or at a minimum, my enthusiasm for it is waning. Put another way, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Can’t wait to see Fright Night! Looks like a nice return to the vicious vampire of yore. Plus David Tennant!
Back in the day we used to get an episode per week. Now it’s every couple of years? Ugh. I hate waiting.
BTW, at VegasCon11, John Cho basically said the same thing. He hadn’t read a script but was ready.
I really like Anthon and am even thinking about seeing Fright Night! I do love me some blood suckers!! :) Anyway,like all the actors have been saying,I have not seen the script,but I am ready to go!! :)
5 he is appearing tonight, both him and Zoe just signed for all 90+ of us fans standing outside in the back alley behind kimmel just a little bit ago
Anton was allready a rising star before Trek XI, and since then he has gone on to even bigger roles.
this is the problem with the long break between films, (correct me please if i am wrong) but dont most of these new actors only have 2 or 3 film commitments? actors like Zoe and Anton and Chris are pretty big stars now, especially Zoe with Avatar and all. I have the feeling the longer it takes between movies the more likely we are to not go beyond 3rd movie with these actors.
which i am fine with if they decide to repair the time line at the end of three and move on to a new crew in the prime universe that we havent seen before. but i definately dont want to see the characters being recast a 3rd time each because chances are they wont be lucky to have that lighting strike 3 times for these iconic roles.
I’ve said it before(Google me/it),……..this guy was my favorite part of the movie.
My only suggestion for Anton in the Star Trek sequel, is to try and tone down the “Wictor, Wictor” part ever so slightly. He did a fine job in Star Trek 2009, but the Wictor, Wictor bit was just an added “comic relief” moment.
Also, the original Chekov never strook me as much of a “wunder kind” as Anton’s Chekov seemed to be. I would hate for his Chekov to become a “Wesley 2.0″ type character.
I loved most of the cast of the new film, I didn’t mind the AU and I enjoyed the story. The only thing about star trek 2009 I didn’t like was the bridge of the Enterprise. I hope they make some changes in the design for the next film.
Yelchin was great. The only weak acting link in the first movie was Quinto.
Nevetheless, not having actors like Yeltson committed at this stage is another bad sign. By committed, I mean lock-down scheduled, regardless of how many pics for which they are optioned contractually. I’m more convinced than ever that this project is cracking up, and at the very least we’ll see 2 or 3 new actors due to the inability to get the ball rolling. If I’m an actor hitting my stride, I’m not going to be keeping my calendar open for 2 years waiting around for these dilittentes to get their collective asses in gear.
All this “we’re working on it” sounds a lot like the noises from the Brian Singer camp about a “Superman Returns” sequel. The studio eventually ended up cleaning house on the whole project.
@7. Yeah, he also said they were banging away at the script, which turned out to be a working outline.
Between a really fuzzy idea of what “soft prep” means, JJ hemming and hawing about if or when he will direct, no one actually comitting to when a script will be ready, and Paramount not releasing a new opening date, all that tells me is that when Paramount called these guys in and asked for an update, all they got was “it’s gonna be great, we are working on it really hard now”. The studio suits said, “great – come back when you got something to show us”.
@20 “Between a really fuzzy idea of what “soft prep” means, JJ hemming and hawing about if or when he will direct, no one actually comitting to when a script will be ready, and Paramount not releasing a new opening date, all that tells me is that when Paramount called these guys in and asked for an update, all they got was “it’s gonna be great, we are working on it really hard now”. The studio suits said, “great – come back when you got something to show us”.”
But they are working on it for real now. Seriously. Right? Hopefully? Maybe? Conditionally? Possibly? Working on it while not Star Wars Planking? Working on it while not creating video games? OK, nothing is happening….
It is kind of funny Phil that several months back you and I were considered pariahs on these boards for bringing up our legitimate and documented concerns and questions as to the continued lack of progress of the sequel by the Supreme Court. Well dude, you and I are now the MAINSTREAM with this viewpoint. Funny how vindication works. But you know what, I wish we had been wrong and the sequel was still on track for next year. :-(
Hopefully they won’t be rehiring this weak link.
This actor gives me the creeps every time I see him. No offense to his acting skills but he’s just one of those persons who feel… weird. Hope he gets to tone down the accent in the next installment, cause it wasn’t funny at all. I kept on expecting a laugh track to come on when ever he attempted to say a word with a “v”.
Fear Not, they are “working” on it
AUGUST 9th ” JJ Abrams: Star Trek Sequel Going To Stand On Its Own + Announcement Within Month”
Casting was fantastic in JJ’s Star Trek. Each character had the great balance of keeping the wonderful things about the original characters but didn’t mimic them so much that it would have become comical or just plain ridiculous. That was a hard hurdle to jump, but each character did a superb job in my book.
Well, I’ve been saying for several months now that the sequel will be delayed till summer 2013.
I figure summer 2013 or bust. I don’t think Paramount will allow for any more delays. If the writers don’t have a script done by next spring, the studio will shut the project down and we’ll have no new Trek for the rest of the decade.
But I’ll stay positive and say we’ll get it in summer 2013.
As for Anton Yelchin’s accent, I found it annoying and not really Russian. I’d prefer him to go for a realistic accent instead of mimicking Walter Koenig. His accent was so goofy. It might have worked in the past, but not anymore.
@19. I’m struck by your comment that Quinto was the weak link. I thought he did a good job capturing the conflicted side of Spock; emotion and logic fighting one another. I enjoyed that exploration of Spock’s character. Tell us more about why you think he was a weak link.
@27 I agree with you in wishing that Anton Yelchin was not trying to mimic Walter Koenig. What I liked about Chris Pine’s performance was that he managed to capture Kirk’s personality without mimicking Shatner’s mannerisms. However, I do have to admit, I like how Karl Urban channeled DeForest Kelley.
@28 I’ll tell you why *I* thought Quinto was a weak link. Too much of the time, Quinto portrayed Spock as having a superior, passive aggressive attitude that too barely concealed his emotional pain. Nimoy portrayed Spock as much more cerebral and aloof. One of the things that made Spock so popular and cool in the original series is that he seemed so unflappable.. his emotions were buried much deeper than how Quinto portrayed them. Nimoy also had a bit more charm and humor when revealing Spock’s human side (especially in his dealings with McCoy), but Quinto came across more as a grump.
#29.
I agree that Karl Urban really nailed McCoy. It was like he has DeForrest Kelley’s “katra” in him!
That’s why we need to see more McCoy next time! He’s too important and Karl Urban is too good to be just a side character!
#18- I’m right there with you, except for me it wasn’t the “iBridge”, it was “Budgineering” that I didn’t like. That’s what I hope they change up with the next film.
@29: re spock… yes, but as of the second pilot, he had already become that… in the cage, he actually smiled a little and was a little more emotional, closer to the Quinto spock… its those kind of touches… i think we get the more aloof cerebral spock in the next one.
Movies are a business. The color of the blood that the heart of every business pumps is green, and it ain’t because it’s copper based. If something is happening or not happening, 99% of the time, the reason is money: someone is holding our for more, in someone’s opinion the script is crap and the movie won’t make anything, someone thinks there isn’t profit enough in picture, too much competition means movie x will not recover its costs of production, etc. etc. etc. When the “secret history” of why ST 2 is not moving forward is written, the reason will be traceable to some financial cause – nothing more or less.
Blah. Blah. Blah.
He shouldn’t worry about his character “building” to Koenig’s version in my opinion. His own life and early experiences on the Enterprise seemed different enough from the original character that he can be most justifiably the most different in the new universe.
33. “The color of the blood that the heart of every business pumps is green, and it ain’t because it’s copper based.”
good post. could money driven thinking be good for the product – ie they don’t want it to suck… as long as that “Hey, I know… Eddie Murphy!” memo from 1985 still isn’t floating around .
27: Well, Yelchin *is* Russian (which doesn’t guarantee anything, but…)… and he kept the v/w thing, I’ve heard here, because JJ wanted it there (and “nuclear wessels” is classic) as an homage to TOS/Koenig.
As for early TOS Spock — he was a bit different in each show depending on the director… I think he was nearly smirking, smugly, in Mudd’s Women, if I recall… and he was yelling a heck of a lot in the Corbomite Maneuver. And he was clearly enjoying himself, quietly, while playing the lyre in those scenes with Uhura. He wasn’t quite the cold Spock that he’d become.
But, I agree… Quinto just seemed incredibly pissed off for pretty much the whole thing (I think that’s kind of his schtick). But what worked beautifully was the scene when his mother was killed, he looked exactly like the haunted little boy in that earlier teasing scene. It was remarkable.
i liked where this chekov is going. dont get me wrong, i really like the original but even in the films he never seemed to be written as a 3dimensional character. people who complain about this chekov should note the original was used very often for comic relief up through trek 6 and even slighty in trek7. and again for those complaining about the accent, everytime the original spoke it was as if the writers wanted to play up the faulty accent. cant count the number of times “wessels” was said, so compared to the stand out “wictor wictor” line it just doesnt bug me. i wish they had gone with a straight forward true accent the way anton wanted to from the get-go (as they did perfectly with pegg’s scotty).
not trying to pick a fight with anybody, just voicing my oppinion.
As overdone as the Russian accent was, I found it as endearing an homage to Koenig’s performance as Urban’s portrayal of McCoy was to Kelley’s. To me, this interpretation of Chekov was quite entertaining!
I’m late coming back to this thread, but others have stated similar reasons to mine as to why Quinto was weak. Put aside the early TOS episodes where Spock’s character just wasn’t well-defined yet. You can pretend there are canon reasons why he yelled or smiled, but really, he just wasn’t figured out yet. That was 45 years ago, and certainly should not have factored into Quinto’s performance.
The petulant “badass” SNARLING of “Live Long and Propser” to the Council was a good example of him not getting it. Nimoy would have read it with a bemused irony, sort of like a jewish lady saying “he should live and be well” when she really means “he should drop dead”.
Quinto never seemed to capture Spocks undying curiosity. Try as he might to mask emotions, NImoy’s Spock would get a little excited about a puzle or challenge, kind of like a kid trying to behave but you can see him getting antsy. Quinto was just sort of sleepwalking through three moods – dull, peeved, and witless romantic.
The writing It didn’t help. Spock would NEVER allow himself to be kissed by Uhura. Spocks appeal is lonlieness.. How many times did he essentially turn his back on Chapel begging him for love? He doesn’t WANT to feel love. Spock is AFRAID of love.
39. Maybe something switched in him when Vulcan was wiped out? I know…
Or, maybe he’ll be afraid of love after this… Maybe he’ll have to choose logic and duty over love? Heck, maybe Uhura will die. Anything’s possible, thankfully.
Prime Spock was not afraid of love – he simply did not understand the logic of it. Anyway, fear is an emotion and a very powerful one at that and by the time we see him in TOS, he had better mastery over his emotional states than we see in the younger alt. universe. Spock was not lonely. It was Kirk who was lonely much of the time.
Did anyone ever consider that it is possible that Spock simply was not attracted to Nurse Chapel and knew he could never give her what she thought she wanted and needed, so did not try to? However, in the case of Lt Uhura, he did feel an attraction…and Uhura did not appear to have a crush on him, which makes giving a reasonable and honest response to such a person with a crush difficult at the best of times.
There is an expression that goes: Never say “Never”. Spock in this movie had decided to embrace his human side and when engaging with an intimate friend/lover, kissing (albeit rather chaste kissing in Spock/Uhura’s case) is part of that process. As a Vulcan, he may never have allowed himself to be kissed by Uhura, but he was attempting to be his human self. The problem that Spock has is no different from what he had in TOS. There he attempted to totally embrace his Vulcan side and had difficulties. In this alternate universe he’s attempting to totally embrace his Human side and has difficulties.
Why is so difficult for some people to understand?
I really wish Yelchin has chosen to do a more realistic Russian accent than the ’60s, cold war caricature that Koenig adopted for his Chekov. It seemed like a parody then and even more so today. I’ve seen Yelchin in other things, and I know he’s a very talented kid, but it appeared he worked under an unnecessary restraint in the Chekov role.
I understand he probably felt compelled (as did Abrams) to pay homage to what had been done before, but then again Chekov didn’t have curly hair or blue eyes, either. One more change (for the better, in this case) wouldn’t have hurt….
You know, I think this is the first time I’ve seen people tear into Quinto’s Spock. A shame, really, I think he did a decent job dealing with his “disadvantage” as a character. It appears he was still dealing with his dual heritage – having been sheltered, somewhat, in the halls of Starfleet Academy, I’d expect that turmoil to come to the surface when confronted with real world situations.
The tearing into Quinto is lame and uncalled for. It is generally agreed upon by even the detractors of nuTrek that Quinto did a great job in the role, even if they did not like the story. What better vote can you get then Nimoy’s resounding endorsement of Quinto.
@39 “The petulant “badass” SNARLING of “Live Long and Propser” to the Council was a good example of him not getting it. Nimoy would have read it with a bemused irony, sort of like a jewish lady saying “he should live and be well” when she really means “he should drop dead”.”
Great, now we are getting asinine remarks involving out-of-date Jewish stereotypes. I would bet that this person has “other” reasons for not liking Quinto beyond his performance.
This outdated kind of thinking does not belong on these boards.
I thought that Quinto/Spock’s response to the Vulcan Council was absolutely brilliant! Totally spot on. When I first saw that scene and his subtle, but brilliant verbal and facial expression, I gasped, thought “Whoa!” and then laughed. I think Quinto is fine as Spock.
Before the movie came out, all the talk was about how Zachary Quinto looked like a young Leonard Nimoy. People were really high on ZQ, after witnessing his performances as Sylar on “Heroes”. He was really good in “Star Trek”, but it was Karl Urban who really blew me away. He really channelled the late, great DeForrest Kelley perfectly. All of the other actors were great as well, though next time I’d prefer less comedy from Scotty, and a less annoying accent from Chekov.
Also, while I didn’t mind the Spock/Uhura romance from the first film, I’d prefer that they DON’T repeat it for the sequel. I would like to see Spock battle his human and Vulcan halves, especially after the destruction of Vulcan and the death of his mother. This would provide a great set up for his inner struggle, and results in him breaking up with Uhura, although they can still remain close friends.
I think it should be Kirk who gets the girl next time, if the writers choose to keep a romance. But I don’t think a romance is necessary.
As for people criticising Zachary Quinto, I agree its uncalled for, and reveals a lack of intelligence and maturity from the posters who stated their contrarian views. Zachary Quinto is a great Spock. Worthy of succeeding Leonard Nimoy. Mr. Nimoy has said so himself. There can be no debate about it. Anybody who disagrees with this doesn’t deserve the right to call themselves a “Trekkie”. Just that simple.
@MJ #45
Are you being deliberately foul, or just an idiot? Are you implying these “other” reasons you imagine for my not liking Quinto are religious or racial in some way? WTF are you talking about? The rumor he is gay? I couldn’t care less.
And it is well known that “live and be well” is a sly Jewish curse. It is not some sterotype anymore than the Asian curse “you should live in interesting times” is.
You post twice in a row to tell me what is “uncalled for”? Why? Who are you?
@41 – Keachick
You like to post a lot of dramatic scenarios and interpretation on these boards, but honestly, I have found you off base EVERY TIME when it comes to understanding characters, theme, plot, dramatic structure…. Are you an amateur fanfic writer? I’m not going to get into personal critiques (although I am available professionally for editing). You saw Quinto snarl “Live long and PROSPER” and said “Whoa!”? I thought it was cheesy, unsubtle, badly written, and without nuance. Teen-level bad-ass attitude crap.
@47 Red Dead
I personally think that anyone who makes an asinine statement like “Anybody who disagrees with (me) doesn’t deserve the right to call themselves a “Trekkie”. Just that simple” deserves a permaban. What colossal arrogance. Disagreeing with you is “uncalled for”, unintelligent, immature, undebateable and reason for banishment from Trek? Yeah, well, Live Long and Prosper, and the horse you rode in on.
I like Nimoy as much or more than anyone here. But he is a professional man with compensated promotional duties for a movie. I’m sure he lfeels very mentor-like to Quinto. and did everything he could to help him. He is never going to offer public criticism. Why would he? What’s to gain?
And let’s say Nimoy really does think Quinto is a great Spock. Most actors don’t even like to look at their own performances because it affects them and they start imitating themselves. I’m not sure ANY actor is in an objective or emotional place to say “wow, that guy captures the real me!”
Now go work on your social skills.
Well, Odkin, I guess you must be one of the few who thought the scene with Spock “flipping the birdie” to the Council was “cheesy, unsubtle, badly written and without nuance”. Since the movie was released more than two years ago, so many people on other boards as well as family and other people here who have seen the movie have commented enthusiastically on this particular scene and have laughed about it.
I guess we now have you, Odkin, to thank for guiding us towards a “proper” appreciation, or lack thereof, of this scene and no doubt many others as well.
Gosh, who knew…
Oh and by the way, it is not well known to me that “live and be well” could be a sly Jewish curse. Such presumption.
@51 “I guess we now have you, Odkin, to thank for guiding us towards a “proper” appreciation, or lack thereof, of this scene and no doubt many others as well. Gosh, who knew…”
Yea, he sure set us all straight, didn’t he? :-) Seriously, now that I’ve seen the vitriol in his response, it makes even less sense to me that Odkin would not like that scene, seeing how he has pretty much given us all the bird here. LOL
“Oh and by the way, it is not well known to me that “live and be well” could be a sly Jewish curse. Such presumption.”
Yes. I suspect he would respond with something in the vain of “some of my best friends are Jewish.” Sorry Odkin, but we are not going to be giving you a free pass on your irreverent racial stereotype remark.
@49 “You like to post a lot of dramatic scenarios and interpretation on these boards, but honestly, I have found you off base EVERY TIME when it comes to understanding characters, theme, plot, dramatic structure…. Are you an amateur fanfic writer?”
I don’t always see eye to eye with Keachick, but I will tell you that she has her heart in the right place and does not deserved to be personally attacked like this. You are out of line, dude. If you have something specific you disagree with her on, then bring it up; otherwise, stop getting personal with her and stop bringing race and other crap into these discussions. Your comments are childish and embarrassing to all concerned.
I comment legitimately about the talent of professional movie stars and writers; and three of you attack me personally. You boys and girls are real class acts..
If you think there was anything racial in anything I said, then you are hystericallly hypersensitive . In either case, I’m done on this topic, and stand by my comments.
#49 Odkin – “@41 – Keachick
You like to post a lot of dramatic scenarios and interpretation on these boards, but honestly, I have found you off base EVERY TIME when it comes to understanding characters, theme, plot, dramatic structure…. Are you an amateur fanfic writer? I’m not going to get into personal critiques (although I am available professionally for editing). You saw Quinto snarl “Live long and PROSPER” and said “Whoa!”? I thought it was cheesy, unsubtle, badly written, and without nuance. Teen-level bad-ass attitude crap.”
I have just quoted above what you wrote earlier to me, about me. You were NOT making comment about the talent or otherwise of professional movie stars or writers. I simply disagreed with your understanding and assessment of both Spocks, the prime universe one and the newer alternate universe Spock. You respond by telling me that I am off base “EVERY TIME” in all of my interpretations of anything to do with Star Trek (ie “characters, theme, plot, dramatic structure…”). Have I understood you correctly?
Then you ask me if I am an amateur fanfic writer. Why? Is writing a couple of short fiction stories (which I have done) OK/not OK?
If I may comment, professional editors are necessary people, but being an editor does not necessarily mean that person can also be a (creative) writer. I often visualise scenes, characters, events and spend time working out how to put those images down so that they might be read and seen and understood by other people. Sometimes these ideas have come in the form of dreams… I am not a professional writer. I just get ideas, scenarios, plot lines sometimes, not all of the time. Anyway, one can only be an editor if and when there is actually something to edit.
why not, Anthon is beautifull in star trek movie, go Anthon, don’t worry I believe you in star trek movie.
#50.
“I personally think that anyone who makes an asinine statement like “Anybody who disagrees with (me) doesn’t deserve the right to call themselves a “Trekkie”. Just that simple” deserves a permaban. What colossal arrogance. Disagreeing with you is “uncalled for”, unintelligent, immature, undebateable, and reason for banishment from Trek? Yeah, well, Live Long and Prosper, and the horse you rode in on.”
Well, your posts directed at me, Keachick, and MJ prove me right.
“I like Nimoy as much or more as anyone here. But he is a professional man with compensated promotional duties for the movie. I’m sure he feels very mentor-like to Quinto. and did everything he could to help him. He is never going to offer public criticism. Why would he? What’s to gain?”
Dude, the movie came out two years ago. If Mr. Nimoy was going to criticise Mr. Quinto, he would have done so already. Walter Koenig, for instance, has criticised Anton Yelchin for trying too hard to copy his Russian accent from TOS. He didn’t slam Yelchin, he just offered up a bit of constructive criticism. If Nimoy didn’t like any aspect of Quinto’s performance, he would have said so. Mentioning the fact that Leonard Nimoy has been compensated for his work is you trying to build a straw man arguement. Totally ridiculous.
“And let’s say Nimoy really does think Quinto is a great Spock. Most actors don’t even like to look at their own performances because it affects them and they start imitating themeselves. I’m not sure ANY actor is in objective or emotional place to say “wow, that guy captures the real me!” ”
Again, another straw man arguement from you. You present NO FACTS OR PROOF to back up your statements. You’re just questioning Mr. Nimoy’s integrity, which is just sad. Leonard Nimoy understands his character perfectly. Better than anyone else, and certainly better than you. After all, he helped create that character. He evolved the character over the past 47 years (I say that because he was in “The Cage”, the first pilot made in 1964, two years before the show premiered). Leonard Nimoy has always spoken of what makes Spock tick. There is no better person to mentor Zachary Quinto than Nimoy. Zachary Quinto played Spock great in the new movie. His character was emotionally compromised after witnessing the destruction of Vulcan and the death of his mother, Amanda.
Whether an actor likes to watch his own performances is irrelevent. Yet another one of your straw man arguements. William Shatner never watched any of his performances, and yet he acted just like himself in “The Final Frontier”, “The Undiscovered Country”, and “Generations”.
Where was the objectivity there?
“Now go work on your social skills.”
Go work on your arguement skills. Your statements have proven to be most unintelligent and immature. You’ve lashed out unfairly at Keachick without any legitimate reason to do so and you seem to blame MJ for your own lack of understanding. Pathetic!
I am not sure where to post this, but I have just seen this. It comes from a cinemablend.com article dated 5 June 2011 –
“The only good news there is that they aren’t holding the thing up to add a bunch of 3D to it or anything. Abrams confirmed that 3D has nothing to do with the delay and when asked if they’re considering doing 3D at all he said, “I’m not yet considering it, but you know, I haven’t gotten any phone call from people in suits. I know what’s good for me.” Abrams has never done a 3D movie and he doesn’t sound interested in starting now. With the recent news that 3D ticket prices are starting to slide, hopefully he won’t feel any studio pressure to make this the first ever Trek movie in the format.”
#58.
The delays are due more to script problems as opposed to whether the movie is going to be filmed in 3D or not.
@59. The problem being there is no script.
On Chekov, Spock et all:
While I believe that speculating about the characters’ respective evolutions is pointless, I can’t help but partake. Trek does that to me.
I would like to think that the production team have concrete ideas for character arcs. If the film picks up a few years into whatever analog to a five-year-mission this universe and its particular realities entail, it would be safe to assume that Chekov will have settled in, become buddies with Sulu and be a bit less of a young dork. Kirk cannot remain as brash and reckless and in-your-face, as he’s settled into a command role and has a lot of lives to watch over and has to inspire confidence as well as show it. I suspect a more charming and likeable Kirk is in store. I hope Scotty, while remaining fun-loving, will act more like the guy you leave in charge of the ship when the higher-ups are away and the guy who’s ready to take on a bar full of Klingons if they’re asking for it.
McCoy is just like he used to be and I think I speak for everyone when I say ”keep it coming, Bones”.
Sulu and Uhura were not that well defined back in the day, so anything is possible. He likes swords and she likes music. The rest is a blank page.
Spock is a little tougher. The loss of his mom and the Vulcan genocide could easily see him delve deeper into that Vulcan identity and more in line with Nimoy’s portrayal, much like how some people turn to religion after periods of deep crises and become full-blown born-agains. A Vulcan’s religion is logic and that may be where Spock seeks refuge from the huge dump the universe took on him where we last left him. Then again, he could go the opposite route and develop a massive drug problem, but I vote for the former.
That being said, I’m getting anxious to find out what’s going on.
#60 There is a script. In fact there may be several different scripts, for all we know. The problem may be to do with which script to follow and the most cost effective way to bring said story to the big screen. It is also possible that what Orci/Kurtzman wrote may be deemed very good, but too controversial for most audiences to handle at this point. Then there are MPAA ratings – can it still get a PG-13 rating?
I suspect that if, and that is a big if, they used some of the material I have offered (re Menosian culture etc), it may be considered borderline R-rated. It shouldn’t be, but unfortunately, it could well be the case.
There may be all sorts of reasons for the delay. I am just hoping that finally there will an actual, real announcement made by JJ Abrams (as owner of Bad Robot) and Paramount accurately detailing where to from here with the Star Trek sequel. I also believe that most of us here want to hear GOOD news, ie the sequel is getting made, and made well, and will be released sooner rather than later.
Dear Bob Orci – are you getting this?
@61. “There is a script.”
That is not true. The only thing that has been confirmed is that they are now supposedly working on a script based on the 81-page outline that was developed last winter.
My own theory is that Orci and Kurtzman started with a script based on the outline that we way too juvenile (i.e. “Star Warsish”) for Lindelof and Abrahams, and that now Lindelof is leading (with Orci and Kurtzman in supporting roles) either a substantial rewrite or a complete starting over of the script, based on the 81-page outline with last Winter.
If this is true, then the good news is that we are going to get a much improved script when it finally is ready.
@ 61…humor. I get it.
Why would Roberto Orci, who I believe has always been more of a Star Trek fan than a Star Wars fan, want to write a more “Star War-ish” type story? It is Abrams who seems to prefer Star Wars, not the other way around.
Interesting that you would think that Orci and Kurtzman might write juvenile stories/scripts when it is these two who are the main producers and consultants for the television series Fringe, one series I would not consider “juvenile”. They are also behind the Hawaii-Five-O series and that does not seem “juvenile” either.
It could well be that Paramount is wanting a Star Trek to be more like a Transformers 3 type movie in the hopes that if the Star Trek sequel had those elements it would clean up at the box office the way Transformers 3 has done. It is a scary thought, I know. Anyway, it is all conjecture at this stage.
I merely posted the quote above (post no. #58) as a sort of confirmation of a thread posted here not so long ago which had Damon Lindelof say that the notion of whether the next Star Trek would be done in 3D or not was not under discussion at that stage.
@65. Huh? Did we see Abraham’s and Lindelof doing the “Star Wars Planking” or inserting the line, “Lt. Vader, U.S.S. Hood” into the Screenplay? No, that was Orci and Kurtzman, the Transformers/Cowboys and Aliens action movie guys.
The reason Trek 2009 was so good is because the writing of the screenplay was a TEAM effort. Orci and Kurtzman brought the energy and more action that was needed to the franchise, while Lindelof and Abrahams brought more adult and better storytelling skills to the table. The sum is greater than the parts here.
BTW, I can’t stand Fringe. Sorry.
@65…Interesting that you would think that Orci and Kurtzman might write juvenile stories/scripts…
You did see Transformers 2, right?
Just remember the entire Bad Robot and/or Orci-Kurtzman record since Star Trek:
Transformers 2, universally hated as utter garbage
The Proposal, meh
Morning Glory, bomb
Transformers 3, underperformed
Super 8, bomb
Cowboys & Aliens, bomb
This is about money and control I imagine the studio is VERY concerned at this point about the fate of this franchise, and a LOT of negotiation is happenning. Still betting we see changes at best, turnaround at worst.
#68.
“Super 8″ is far from being a bomb. I think it had a budget of $50 million and has made at least $200 million worldwide. It recieved generally positive reviews.
“Welcome To People”, written by Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman, directed by Kurtzman and starring Chris Pine, is supposed to come out early next year. If that movie bombs, I think people will have doubts about the next “Star Trek” movie. Questions will be raised over whether or not they had their plates too fulll, or maybe they aren’t as good at their jobs as we had been led to believe. What seems to be evident though, is neither Bob nor Alex put out their best work without J.J Abrams and Damon Lindeloff–two “Star Wars” guys–present.
@68. Not bad points Odkin — maybe I have misjudged you a bit? In all those movies above though the full team of Abrahams, Lindelof, Orci and Kurtzman was not together. This kinds of supports my argument that all four of these guys as a team is much better than when they split up. That is why I am still hopeful for the sequel despite the recent track record of these guys when they have been separated from each other.
Also, not that Super 8 did not bomb, but it also did not achieve blockbuster status. And non of the Supreme Court were involved in any way with Transformers 3.
“Super 8″ wasn’t meant to be a blockbuster. Paramount saw it as a potential sleeper hit that could bring in a good return-on-investment.
It’s one of the better movies of the summer, and has earned a lot of money.
@71. It was a fine film. I will be getting it on Blu-Ray.
Y’know, it was funny how awhile back on this site how those who HAD NOT seen “Super 8″ despised it, yet those who actually got off their fat asses to see it loved it!
I think Yelchin, and all the actors, did a great job emulating the original portrayals – with Bones being a huge standout. One thing that differs from the original actors, though, are the voices: Nimoy, Takei, and even Koenig and Nichols had such great, deep voices, that Quinto and Cho sound like teenagers waiting for puberty next to them.
I think it’s likely due to the extensive stage training that most actors had 40 years ago, that’s less common today.
@74. Yea, and he’s pretty much making a name for himself now. It is got to hard to make it in a foreign country in the footsteps of a famous uncle who lead Russia out from under the Soviet Union in the 1990’s. He never even brings us Boris in interviews anymore.
@68..
Are you making this up as you go? Orci/Krutzman were not involved with Transformers III, but Transformers II made plenty of money. Every movie you listed, except Cowboys and Aliens, was successful, either generally well received, profitable, or both. Sounds like a good track record to me.
Out of curiousity, Transformers III just topped the billion dollar mark. I doubt that Michael Bay was setting out to create high art, so how, exactly, has this “underperformed”?
#75 What on earth are you talking about?
The guy who played Chekov in Star Trek 09 was Anton YELCHIN. It has been reported that Anton Yelchin’s parents were Olympic class ice/figure skaters who could not compete on behalf of the Soviet Union because they had Jewish heritage… The couple immigrated to the USA when Anton was six months old, ie about September 1989.
The guy who ran the Soviet Union, then Russia, was Boris YELTSIN.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Yeltsin
#74 I think that Chris Pine has the most live stage work experience of all the new actors in the plays “Fat Pig” by Neil LaBute (2007), Farragut North (2009) and The Lieutenant of Inishmore (2010). I am not sure of the part he played in “Fat Pig”, but in the last two plays, he played the lead characters. Each play ran for about six or so weeks. In The Lieutenant of Inishmore he did eight 2-hour performances each week (two performances on both Saturday and Sunday) between 30 June and 8 August 2010.
#68 Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman were Executive Producers of the movie The Proposal. They did not write the script. I actually find this movie enjoyable to watch as it was light hearted, quirky and fun.
The only real problem with Transformers 2 was that it had too many long drawn out scenes of fighting and destruction. I doubt Transformers 3 is that much different, except that you get to see autobots climb tall buildings…par for the course for a lot of the *bigger* movies. None of the Bad Robot team had anything to do with the latest Transformers movie. However, it was a Paramount production, as was/will be Star Trek.
Super 8 was a good movie, with a nice understated ending.
I really will have to check out Morning Glory and Cowboys & Aliens now that Odkin has given them both the thumbs down and given that I have no idea what I am talking about…
It does seem that with C&A, it could be the problem you can have when you have too many cooks…
@77. Can’t believe you fell for that, Keachick? :-)) Was hoping somebody would take the bait! LOL Just having some fun here!
“The only real problem with Transformers 2 was that it had too many long drawn out scenes of fighting and destruction”
Really? Transformers with balls? The racist twins? Completely incomprehensible action? Here are two good overviews to refresh you memory of this crapapalooza:
http://www.toplessrobot.com/2009/06/tr_review_transformers_revenge_of_the_fallen.php
http://www.toplessrobot.com/2009/06/bonus_robs_transformers_2_faqs.php
“Cowboys & Aliens” really irks me. My feelings aside for the crooked SOB who did the graphic novel, how do you screw up such a great premise? The movie should have been cowboys drivng away evil aliens by good old “God’s on our side” American gumption. People would have lined up for that, instead of what they got. Any movie where a hero takes mescaline or buys into Indian mystic nonsense for insight is automatically a loser.
#79 – “Cowboys & Aliens” really irks me. My feelings aside for the crooked SOB who did the graphic novel, how do you screw up such a great premise? The movie should have been cowboys drivng away evil aliens by good old “God’s on our side” American gumption. People would have lined up for that, instead of what they got. Any movie where a hero takes mescaline or buys into Indian mystic nonsense for insight is automatically a loser.”
My coin bank just got richer by NZ$16.50 because of your review of C&A. It is now must-see movie. Thank you, Odkin.
You know, people outside the US do not always want to see “good old “God’s on our side” American gumption” narcissistic trumpet blowing. A little Indian mysticism will do me fine, thank you.
Oh and btw, I do not need any reviewer’s comments on the Transformers 2 movie or anything else that happens to sit on my bookshelf containing our DVD movie collection.
@79 @80
I come somewhere in-between here. C&A should have been a great movie, but the screenplay and the acting too the concept way too seriously for its own good. It was an OK movie that did not come close to realizing its potential. And it was a worldwide box office bomb — the biggest bomb of the summer.
From your comments, I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt that you hadn’t seen it. But Occam’s Razor should have reminded me of my earlier observations…
“Cowboys & Aliens” might have been too big of a concept to work as a movie. The idea of a Western, in particular the Sergio Leone movies, was to be epic in scope, with characters/heroes who are likable, interesting and mysterious at the same time. Westerns are adventure films as well as drama pieces. All of that takes up considerable screen time. Adding sci-fi and aliens to the mix took away from storytelling, character development, and the sense of awe that comes from watching an epic Western. C&A was limited in these regards, taking place in one small town and in the nearby desert. The Native Americans featured were token Indians, while Daniel Craig was looking pretty bored playing a token cowboy. Harrison Ford was reduced to co-star. Some scenes were shot too dark, and the aliens looked like concept creatures rejected from “Independence Day”. I couldn’t get over the idea that the aliens came all of this way and went of all that trouble just to steal gold.
Give this concept to Rockstar Games’ “Red Dead Redemption” and it will work better, way better. Obviously the characters names would have to be changed, but “Red Dead Redemption: Alien Infiltration” would be epic. And much more satisfying.
By the way, “Red Dead Redemption” is a Western-themed game influenced by the Clint Eastwood movies as well as “Deadwood” and John Wayne westerns.
“Red Dead Redemption” is one of the greatest video games ever, and my all-time favorite. Hence “Red Dead Ryan”.
Of the movies listed earlier, C&A is probably the only dud there in terms of box office. However, “Mars Needs Moms” is still the biggest bomb of the year.
But who really thought “Mars Needs Moms” was going to be a blockbuster? Note me. I could tell it sucked well beforehand from the trailer.
In fact for Cowboys and Aliens, I was one of the few people who was worried based on seeing the trailer for that movie…I could tell that it just did not look like that much fun.
I guess I must have a good bullshit filter…years of listening to Shat’s pompous statements have trained me well! :-)
#79 – “Really? Transformers with balls? The racist twins? Completely incomprehensible action?”
Not that again. If these transformers/autobots had taken on a more or less humanoid bipedal form, then why would some of them not have balls, or scrotum (the word used in the movie)? On many of the larger quadruped animals, male genitalia are very visible – bulls, billy goats, rams, dogs, horses…The scrotum (the sac that contain the two testicles) are also very visible among the monkey and primate males – chimpanzees, orangutan, gorillas, baboons etc… If autobots have what look like two legs and two arms, a torso, a head and neck, then why not an easily seen ball sac or scrotum as well?
The only thing odd about that is that some 19 year old Sam would call what he saw a scrotum rather than just saying balls. (Probably had something to do with some insane MPAA ruling…)
I also find it peculiar that some of you STILL seem to be obsessing about a silly throw away line from a movie you obviously hate that was released nearly two years ago. You seem way more familiar with a movie that you claim you hate and I do about a movie, which I thought was OK, apart from certain aspects, the reasons for which I posted on an earlier post on this thread.
This is just weird, childish and unhealthy.
#82 – “From your comments, I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt that you hadn’t seen it. But Occam’s Razor should have reminded me of my earlier observations…”
Were you referring to me?
Oops… my coin jar is not looking quite so good now. I think the money would be better spent on other items, like essential groceries. No thanks to you, Odkin, but cheers to MJ and RDR.
Geez, I’m willing to give up on Trek II for now. So little is happening that I’ll just wait ’till the trailer. THEN I’ll come back.
#85.
“Mars Needs Moms” was an expensive animated film from Disney. Most CGI animated movies tend to do well at the box office, and make a lot of money. People expected the trend to continue with MNM. But word got out about how dark and miserable the movie is and families stayed away. It wasn’t like your traditional Pixar or Dreamworks animated films, which are bright, intelligent, cheery and fun.
39 – Odkin You couldn’t be more wrong. I read and saw Nimoy many times cite that scene specifically as a moment he LOVED in Quinto’s performance.. just saying.
You might not have loved it, or imagined Nimoy performing it differently, but he loved Quinto’s performance particularly in that scene.
On a different note, apparently it was the way that Karl Urban played McCoy, that had Leonard Nimoy, at one point, get tearful because the performance reminded him so much of DeForest Kelley and his McCoy and how much he missed DeForest Kelley. Kelley died in 1999 from cancer.
Great scene – how to “flip the bird” without…well, flipping the bird. A brilliant Zachary Quinto performance.
quinto is no spock period.. he did a mediocre job and he was just angry all the time…
he seemed evil, while nimoy never gave that impression.. even the bearded spock in the alternate universe (tos)