March 2007

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Abrams | March 13, 2007 | By: Anthony Pascale 40 comments so far

Abrams: Choosing Trek XI Not About the Benjamins

At last week’s Cinequest Festival JJ Abrams did talk a bit about Star Trek XI, but didn’t reveal any details. However, he did discuss his passion for the script and the project: If I talk about this movie, everyone else who is involved with it knows where I live and will use that and, er, kill me. I can say that when the script came in it was so well written, it was so emotional, it was fun, and big and I found myself unable to not direct it! I couldn’t give it up. I think it’s going to be great. If in my gut I felt there was nothing else to offer, I wouldn’t do it. It’s not a business decision, I would rather take no money and do something inspiring. I hope it ends up being both a really cool, original, emotional ride and comes from something that we’re familiar with.

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Games, Interview, Star Trek Online | March 12, 2007 | By: Anthony Pascale 49 comments so far

Interview With Daron Stinnett – Exec Producer of Star Trek Online MMORPG

The massive multiplayer Star Trek game ‘Star Trek Online’ is still a year and a half away, but Perpetual Entertainment is already building buzz about the project. Last week they showed off some of their work at the Game Developers Conference and today they put some of that artwork (below) on the official site. Now that things are starting to happen TrekMovie.com decided it was time to make first contact with Perpetual. Executive Producer Daron Stinnett made it clear that the game (like Star Trek XI) is just in pre production, but there are already 35 people working on it full time. Stinnett is a long-time fan of the franchise and apparently when the word went out that Perpetual were giving Trek the MMORPG treatment, the Trekkie game designers came calling. "A lot of great talent was attracted by it…people really excited to be part of a new vision of Star Trek," says Stinnett. 

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Memorabilia | March 12, 2007 | By: Alec Peters 11 comments so far

Star Trek Auction Update: Week 12

This past week of the Its a Wrap Auctions on EBay was one 3rd lowest week for total sales with a total of only $37,688. On the upside it seems that reserves are a thing of the past (we hope). While week 12 was not spectacular, it had some interesting costumes, and a few nice props. It had a lot of inexpensive costumes and there were some real bargains in the $500-$800 range. There were a lot of Voyager items this week including Marquis rank pins selling very well. And again, we are seeing new bidders driving up prices. The big seller was a rare two piece B’Elanna Torres Voyager uniform complete with Maquis rank pin (rare as few of these costumes have rank pins). The costume, even though distressed, went for $2,300.

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Comics, Review, TNG | March 11, 2007 | By: John Tenuto 14 comments so far

Review: TNG Comics Issues 3 & 4

This week issue 3 of Star Trek The Next Generation The Space Between hits the stores with a story set sometime during season 7. After reading issues 3 & 4 the narrative threads that IDW promised are now becoming apparent. One thematic is that each issue focuses on characters, often one character, with a "A" narrative, and there is a "B" narrative with other characters. The photo covers clue you in to this, with issue 3’s featuring Worf and Troi whose romance is set against the story of the Enterprise crew being challenged by a very cool ship that is a hybrid of a Romulan Warbird, a Borg vessel, and a Federation starship. The issue deals with how the crew must defeat this mystery ship while Worf has to figure out how to balance his romance with Troi with his obligations to Starfleet.

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Abrams, Games | March 8, 2007 | By: Anthony Pascale 82 comments so far

Abrams Taking Advice From Futurists – May Work On Trek Game

JJ Abrams is a bit of a nerd and has a thing for technology. In a new interview with Wired, JJ Abrams talks about his influences and his views on technology. Of course he also talks about Star Trek XI. On the subject of why he chose to direct : When I read the script I couldn’t imagine — I’d feel like an idiot if I let someone else (direct) it. It’s clearly a fun, emotional and wild adventure. And I thought, if I have a chance to do it, how could I not take it? That was why I signed up. This is going to be an incredibly fun movie. I can’t believe that they’re letting us do this.

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Orci/Kurtzman, STXI Plot | March 8, 2007 | By: Anthony Pascale 335 comments so far

Orci & Kurtzman: Trek XI To Be ‘Reimagined’ Starship Adventure Titled ‘Star Trek’

MTV have a great interview with Trek XI screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. In it they still play things close to the vest about plot details and casting, but do reveal quite a bit.  MTV is also reporting the film is not a prequel, but a ‘reimagining of the franchise,’ quoting Orci: We’re not going to start totally from scratch…We want it to feel like it’s updated and of the now. That’s actually the discussions we’re having now: how to keep the look of the universe yet have it not look like nothing’s new. It’s tricky.

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Books | March 7, 2007 | By: Anthony Pascale 57 comments so far

New Novels To Mine Trek History

One of the bigger ‘gaps’ in Trek history is the one between the end of Enterprise and the beginning of The Original Series. Before J.J. Abrams and his band of merry men take a crack, Simon & Schuster are planning their own Enterprise sequels and TOS prequels in this period. Margaret Clark is the editor in charge of the Enterprise series at S&S and tells TrekMovie.com that she wants to make it all make sense. "I have taken a lot of what [Enterprise show runner] Manny Coto started and am taking it forward in such a way that it will make sense to Star Trek fans. So they will go "oh this is how we got to Kirk’s era" says Clark. To that end she has taken on the pos-ENT books like an executive producer and laid out an arc and an end point. The first of these novels (the recently released "The Good That Men Do") starts off by tackling the much maligned "These Are The Voyages" series finale of Enterprise. The good news for fans is that Clark feels she has ‘fixed’ it, saying "For the first time I am being allowed by CBS to contradict an aired episode."

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Memorabilia | March 7, 2007 | By: Alec Peters 5 comments so far

Star Trek Auction Update: Week 11

As expected the poor selection during week 11 resulted in a record low of $35,718.While the lack of reserves meant that every item sold, there were only 5 items that sold for more than $ 1,000. A Vulcan Musician’s costume was the highest selling item and a  Klingon costume from Star Trek: Enterprise was a good buy at $1,125. Although not as Iconic as a TNG uniform, it was a nice piece. The Admiral Jameson top went over $1,000, which was higher than when it failed to hit reserve a few weeks ago.

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Fandom | March 6, 2007 | By: Anthony Pascale 44 comments so far

Nygard and Crosby Planning Trekkies 3 – But Not Soon

In a March 5th Newsweek article about the Star Trek XI announcement there were some general reactions from George Takei, Rod Roddenberry and Trekkies documentary director Roger Nygard. Something that caught our attention was the statement that Nygard was ‘interviewing Trekkers for the latest installment of his "Trekkies" documentaries.’ TrekMovie.com contacted Nygard to find out what was up and apparently Newsweek ‘got their tenses wrong.’ Nygard says that he is not currently at work on a Trekkies 3, but that he and producer Denise Crosby are planning on doing one. "We are on a 7 year schedule," said Nygard, referring to how the previous two came out in 1997 and 2004 respectively. The Trekkies team would like to catch up with some of the Trek fans featured in the previous entries, like digital artist Gabriel Kroener who Nygard called "a Trekkies success story." 

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ST09 Cast | March 5, 2007 | By: Anthony Pascale 16 comments so far

McAvoy Denies Scotty Casting Rumor – Again

Although James McAvoy recently seemed to be relishing keeping the ‘cast as Scotty’ rumors going, he has now definitively stated he has not been cast. McAvoy tells Empire “No. There’s no truth in the Star Trek rumours. I am a Trekkie, but no – absolutely not." But as a Trekkie he left the door open when asked if he would be open to a part, saying  “Hmmm [smiling]…I’d have to see.” It is worth noting that the big IGN casting rumor from last week (with Damon, Brody and Sinise) also cited ‘sources’ saying that McAvoy was ‘in the mix.’ It is of course possible that McAvoy is on some one’s list at Paramount or Bad Robot (Abrams production company), but that is a long way from being cast. The same can be said about the other actors being talked about.

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ST09 Cast | March 5, 2007 | By: Anthony Pascale 73 comments so far

Kirk And Spock In Trek XI Wont Be ‘Official’ Until Actors Are Cast

Of course since the film was first leaked last April the working assumption in the media is that Trek XI will feature the classic characters of Kirk and Spock, but both the studio and the film makers have continued to say that they will not discuss plot details. Over the weekend Trekmovie.com has received some messages about an email newsletter from StarTrek.com that reads in part " …we know this: J.J. Abrams will be directing "Star Trek XI," centering on the younger Kirk and Spock characters…" Some have taken this the ‘official’ confirmation from Paramount – it is not. According to StarTrek.com, they were citing the Hollywood Reporter article which mentioned Kirk and Spock and that it is still not ‘official’. Of course TrekMovie.com long ago stated that we will no longer say ‘maybe’ or ‘reported’ with relation to Kirk and Spock, since we know it is about Kirk and Spock. However Paramount, JJ Abrams and his team have never confirmed anything about the plot or characters. The closest they got is perhaps the teaser poster that features the Kirk and Spock uniform colors and textures, but it is not ‘official.’

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Fandom, Humor | March 4, 2007 | By: Matt Wright 46 comments so far

All of Family Guy’s Star Trek references in one video!

If you have been following our little extras throughout the weeks when news is slow, you’ll notice we have found video clips of various Trek parody/references in Family Guy. The show’s creator Seth MacFarlane is an admitted Trekie and even had two cameos as an extra officer on Enterprise. Once again community member Kelvington has nicely put all the video clips into one giant Trek funny reel. I love it!

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STXI Plot | March 2, 2007 | By: Anthony Pascale 211 comments so far

Trek XI Still Has No Name – Still Not An ‘Academy Movie’

One thing is fairly certain, it is unlikely that Star Trek XI will actually be titled "Star Trek XI" when it hits theaters on Christmas Day 2008. Some have speculated that Paramount have already picked the simple name "Star Trek", which is how the film is listed at Box Office Mojo. TrekMovie.com has confirmed this is not the title and that no title has been selected. "That will be a big decision that will go through a lot of debate," said a studio source. The suggestion of the simple "Star Trek" however does seem to be picking up more and more support amongst fans. One issue is how Paramount plan on marketing the film as a new and different kind of Trek film. Perhaps Paramount may take a page from Bond and Batman (the next film to be titled "The Dark Knight") and not even us "Star Trek" in the title at all. It is certainly something to debate. 

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Conventions/Events/Attractions, TrekMovie.com | March 1, 2007 | By: Anthony Pascale 33 comments so far

TrekMovie At Wondercon

If you live in the Bay Area make sure to drop by Wondercon on Friday at 5:30 to see the panel  Trek Lives! The Rise, Fall and Rise of Star Trek.  The panel is set up by Geek Monthly Magazine and will feature other Treksperts ‘discussing the past, present and future of sf’s first franchise.’ I will be joined by Jeff Bond and Daren Dochterman as well as Robert Meyer Burnett (director of Free Enterprise). Daren will be showing some of his rare audio and video stuff from Trek history. I will pontificate on TOS-R, STXI and the future of Trek! I will also be hanging around the Geek Monthly booth. For more info see the Official Wondercon Site