September 2007

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Conventions/Events/Attractions, ENT, Star Trek (2009 film), TNG | September 30, 2007 | By: Charles Trotter 81 comments so far

TNG stars talk last movie, next movie and Enteprise finale

Earlier this month the annual Dragon*Con was held in Atlanta, Georgia with many Trek events from costume contests, Klingon beauty pageants, and Nichelle Nichols screening her new film (Lady Magdelene’s). The cornerstone of the event was the presence of actors Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, and Gates McFadden, who were on hand to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation. During one of their appearances the subjects of the new Star Trek movie came up. According to a report on StarTrek.com, after feigning ignorance of the new feature, Frakes (director of Star Trek First Contact) praised the selection of Zachary Quinto as Spock and went on the praise the new Trek director as well, saying…

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This Week In Trek | September 29, 2007 | By: Charles Trotter 32 comments so far

This Week in Trek – TNG@20, season premieres, parallel universes, and bowling Klingons [UPDATED]

This week marked the 20th anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation…so it gets a special section. We also bring you new Star Trek: Year Four artwork, a fan-made audio series, a number of TV season premieres, evidence of parallel universes, Klingons who bowl with honor and much more… Furries vs. Klingons… songs will be sung about this day.

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Viral Video/Mashup/Images | September 29, 2007 | By: Anthony Pascale 39 comments so far

What Is This?

A little birdy has tipped me off to fightingthedead.com, a new teaser site for a sci-fi/genre TV project for 2008. Not sure what network or what it is called (possibly ‘Fighting the Dead’?), but apparently it involves many Star Trek veterans from in front and behind the camera. Once at the site you may even be able to distinguish one of their voices.

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Rumor, ST09 Cast, STXI Plot | September 28, 2007 | By: Anthony Pascale 192 comments so far

Karl Urban Up For ‘Star Trek’ Role (But Not Villain) + Casting & Plot Updates

This seems to be a week for Star Trek casting rumors and news. TrekMovie.com has confirmed that Karl Urban (Eomer of Lord of the Rings) is being considered for an unnamed role in the new Star Trek movie. IESB.net is reporting the Kiwi actor has been made an offer to play the villain in the film, but a source close to the production tells TrekMovie.com that Urban is not up for the film’s villain (nor is he being considered for Kirk). The source would not go further when pressed, but based on the Actor’s age (35) either Scotty, Bones may be a good guess (or possibly Captain Garrovick?). Regarding the casting of the villain a studio insider recently told TrekMovie.com that they are looking for well known brand name actor (especially one who will help the film play in foreign markets). This fits with the report that there is interest in Russell Crowe for the part.

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ST09 Creative, TNG | September 28, 2007 | By: Anthony Pascale 42 comments so far

New ‘Star Trek’ Filmmakers Inspired By TNG

The new Star Trek film may be a return to TOS, but the creative team behind the film are also fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation. TrekMovie.com asked the producer and the writers of the film to each share a quick thought on the show. Damon Lindelof – producer We aspire to do for Trek what Next Generation did twenty years ago — reinvigorate a timeless franchise for a brand new audience. See below for what Orci and Kurtzman had to say about TNG.

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Conventions/Events/Attractions, ST09 Cast | September 27, 2007 | By: Anthony Pascale 21 comments so far

Quinto To Make Convention Appearance

Creation Entertainment has announced that Zachary Quinto (Spock in the 2008 Star Trek film) has agreed to appear at the next ‘Grand Slam’ being held April 11th 2008 in Burbank, CA. Quinto will be the headliner for the event and will be available for photo ops and autographs. The film will be in post production by that time and hopefully the actor will have much to say about it. Roxann Dawson will also be attending with more names sure to be added soon.  This will be Quinto’s first time at a Creation event and he is the first (new) Star Trek actor to have signed on to any Trek related convention. The honor for the first actor to talk about the film at a convention (after the Comic-Con announcements) goes to Quinto’s co-star and Vulcan tutor Leonard Nimoy at the Vegas Trek in August. Tickets available at the Creation Website.

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DVD/Blu-ray/Streaming, Review, TNG | September 27, 2007 | By: Bill Hunt 44 comments so far

Review – TNG Complete Series DVD Box Set

It seems strange now to think that Star Trek: The Next Generation first debuted some 20 years ago, but there it is – there’s no denying it. I was in college at Wisconsin when the first episode, "Encounter at Farpoint," appeared on the air. I’d been watching reruns of The Original Series for as long as I could remember, so at the time it was a thrill just to have Trek back on the air. The sets, the ships, the technology – it all seemed so sleek and futuristic back in 1987. So it’s somewhat shocking, all these years later, to realize just how dated The Next Generation seems today. Unfortunately, of all the Trek TV series – including The Original Series – this is the one that’s suffered most the passage of time.

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1-18-08/Cloverfield, Rumor, ST09 Cast | September 26, 2007 | By: Anthony Pascale 205 comments so far

Rumor: Mike Vogel As Kirk?

A new name is now linked to be in the running for Kirk. IESB.net reports that  28-year-old actor Mike Vogel (Poseidon) is " the front runner" to take on the role of James T. Kirk in J.J. Abrams new Star Trek film. IESB cites ‘two studio insiders,’ but acknowledge no confirmation. TrekMovie.com cannot confirm or deny anything except that has no Kirk deal has been done. Sources have recently told TrekMovie.com that Abrams and his casting team have found the task of picking a new Kirk quite challenging. Vogel does have a connection to the Trek team as one of the stars of next January’s untitled monster movie (aka ‘Cloverfield’, aka ‘1-18-08’) being produced by J.J. Abrams and fellow Trek producer Bryan Burk.

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ST09 Cast | September 26, 2007 | By: Anthony Pascale 30 comments so far

Brody Was Considered for Spock

One of the big rumors earlier this year (well before Quinto was cast) was that The Pianist star Adrian Brody was ‘in talks’ to play Spock in the new Star Trek film. It appears that there is truth to the rumor, although the ‘talks’ may have just been one ‘talk’ with director J.J. Abrams. Brody lamented to MTV about not being Spock…    

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ST09 Cast | September 26, 2007 | By: Anthony Pascale 121 comments so far

Paul McGillion a Contender for Scotty

The search for (a) Scot continues and now a new name can be added to the list of potential Enterprise engineers. TrekMovie.com has confirmed that Stargate Atlantis actor Paul McGillion has auditioned for the role of Montgomery Scott in the new Star Trek movie. The 38 year-old actor is well known to sci-fi fans for his portrayal of the Scottish doctor Carson Beckett on the popular Stargate spin-off and his name often comes up in fan discussions regarding potential ‘Scotty’ actors. Like the original Scotty (James Doohan) McGillion is from Canada, but he was born in Scotland and clearly does a ‘flawless’ Scottish accent. Unlike previously reported Scottish competition, McGillion held his recent Trek audition in Los Angeles instead of London. The actor tells TrekMovie.com "Obviously it would be a great honour to follow in James Doohan’s footsteps."

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TNG | September 26, 2007 | By: Anthony Pascale 28 comments so far

Stewart Wants In On Doctor Who

Star Trek The Next Generation’s Patrick Stewart may be ‘done with Hollywood’ but he is still open to doing some sci-fi. Stewart tells This Is North Scotland that not only is he a fan of the BBC’s Doctor Who, but he is "deeply dismayed" that he has not yet been asked to guest star on the show. Stewart has kept busy as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company since his time playing TNG’s Picard and X-Men’s Professor Xavier and is currently playing the title role in MacBeth on the London stage. Even if Stewart doesn’t end up on Doctor Who he will get a chance to act with Doctor Who. It was recently reported that David Tennant will be playing the title role in Hamlet along with Stewart in an upcoming production.

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ST09 Cast, TOS | September 25, 2007 | By: Anthony Pascale 70 comments so far

Takei: Wouldn’t Be Surprised To Be In Star Trek Movie

George Takei is still hoping for one more go at big screen Star Trek. Takei tells Entertainment Weekly "I wouldn’t be too surprised if I am" when asked if he might appear in J.J. Abrams new Star Trek feature.  EW added the editor’s note  "[To be clear, Takei means this in a”You never know what the future may hold”-kinda way, not in a coy,”I may or may not be dead”-kinda way."’]" The original Sulu was also very complimentary of his Heroes co-star Zachary Quinto saying "I’m very happy for him. The physical resemblance he shares with Leonard Nimoy is uncanny. I told him, ”Now you know what you’re going to look like in 40 years.”" Takei appeared in last night’s season premiere of Heroes and will appear in next week’s episode as well. Whether or not Star Trek New Voyages’ "World Enough and Time" will be the last we see of Takei’s Sulu remains to be seen. Read the full interview at EW.com  

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TNG | September 25, 2007 | By: Anthony Pascale 27 comments so far

TNG@20 – EW’s ‘Oral History’ Of TNG

There is a great feature article at EW today called "Star Trek: TNG: An oral history." It covers the development of the series and the pilot and has quotes from Robert Justman, Rick Berman, DC Fontana, Herman Zimmerman, Andrew Probert, Mike Okuda, Denise Crosby, LeVar Burton, and John DeLancie. There is too much in the article to just pull out the good stuff, so just go read the whole thing.    

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ST09 Cast | September 24, 2007 | By: Anthony Pascale 55 comments so far

Quinto: Planning To Immerse Into Trek – Worth Risking Heroes Role For

Zachary Quinto (Star Trek’s new Spock) has been doing some more interviews promoting the premiere for the second season of Heroes (Tonight NBC 9pm). Not much about Trek, but he did tell the New York Post: The experience that I expect to have with Star Trek and, hopefully, many other films down the line is that you really get to immerse yourself more fully and take a lot more time in the exploration of the characters in the film, since the shooting structure is so different-the time you have to spend on each scene, and so on. What you lack in longevity you more than make up for in depth of exploration.

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Books, ENT, Interview | September 22, 2007 | By: Anthony Pascale 36 comments so far

Interview: Reeves-Stevenses Talk Mars and Enterprise

Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens have been writing science fiction books and TV for decades. They have written a number of Trek novels on their own and in collaboration with William Shatner (including "Star Trek: The Academy–Collision Course" coming out next month). They were also brought in for Star Trek Enterprise’s final (and most consider best) season. But the couple are also aficionados of science fact (see picture of pair on an actual Space Shuttle). They have written a number of non fiction books including one about real missions to Mars. Their most recent television project (the Race to Mars mini-series airing on the Discovery Channel in Canada this Sunday) brings fact and fiction together. Judy and Gar spoke to TrekMovie.com about their Mars project and also about their time on board Enterprise.

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TOS Remastered | September 21, 2007 | By: Anthony Pascale 22 comments so far

More Details On Toshiba Phaser TOS-R Promotion

Last week Toshiba announced a deal to get a free phaser remote control if you purchase Star Trek: The Original Series – The Complete First Season [HD DVD] and any Toshiba HD-DVD player. Toshiba has now provided us with some more details on the promotion. Toshiba Director of Business Development Louis Masses tells TrekMovie.com that they are "very excited and very proud to be associated with Star Trek." Details below… 

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Nimoy, Trek Franchise | September 21, 2007 | By: Anthony Pascale 33 comments so far

TrekMovie.com wishes you a “g’mar chatimah tovah” for Yom Kippur

Tonight (starting at sundown) is the beginning of Yom Kippur – the Jewish day of atonement. Although Star Trek was never overtly religious, there are many links between Judaism and Trek (including Shatner and Nimoy themselves). Below is a video of Leonard Nimoy talking about Trek and Jewish tradition (click to see video at YouTube).   For more check out TrekJews.com. 

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CBS/Paramount, Star Trek (2009 film) | September 20, 2007 | By: Charles Trotter 83 comments so far

Star Trek Movie To Get Vulcan Premiere?

The residents of Vulcan, Alberta are hoping the new Star Trek movie will make its first contact in their town. The idea is the brainchild of Dayna Dickens, the tourism coordinator for the small Canadian community which has been leveraging its Trek sounding name into tourist dollars for decades. Dickens tells TrekMovie.com the idea has the support of community leaders and she is currently working with the Alberta Film Commission on a formal proposal to Paramount. Landing the Star Trek premiere may be a long shot, but it is not without precedent. Dickens noted Fox held the recent premiere for The Simpsons Movie in town of Springfield, Vermont. Vulcan may have some competition from other self-proclaimed ‘Trek towns’ such Riverside, Iowa (‘future birthplace of Kirk) and Linlithgow Scotland (‘future birthplace of Scotty’). But Dickens is not daunted, observing "the worst they can do is say ‘no.’"

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TNG | September 20, 2007 | By: Anthony Pascale 114 comments so far

TNG@20: DeLancie On TOS v TNG + EW Countdown Top TNG Episodes

Our friends at VoicesFromKrypton have an audio clip from a 1987 John DeLancie (Q) interview discussing the differences between the new Star Trek and the original. DeLancie said that when they were shooting the pilot there was no mention of the Original Series and that he felt that Patrick Stewart brought a ‘weight’ to TNG that the Original did not have. (Listen to the rest  at VOK)

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ST09 Cast, TOS | September 19, 2007 | By: Charles Trotter 31 comments so far

Nichols Has Advice For New Uhura

On Cinema Blend’s Weekly Blend Audio Show Nichelle Nichols offered some advice for the actress who will be playing Uhura in the new Star Trek movie (which we now know will be Zoe Saldana). The original Uhura wants the new actress to remember the character’s background, pointing to her African roots and ambition. But Nichols also noted Uhura was grounded, saying "she’s down to earth, sings, is funny but she’s no nonsense." Nichols feels that the Original Series characters were not heroes, only people who make moral choices who believe that the edict "Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combination is what makes the universe beautiful. Then we go forth in peaceful exploration, where no man or woman has gone before. Take that to heart and then be yourself." She also believes that message is still poignant today, "maybe even more so than ever." Nichols also discusses her roles in the film Lady Magdalene‘s and her upcoming role on Heroes in the interview, which you can find at Cinema Blend.

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Abrams, CBS/Paramount | September 19, 2007 | By: Anthony Pascale 24 comments so far

Abrams To Focus On Paramount Until New Trek Released – CBS Bringing Stewart Show To US

The first ever article on this site was about the announcement that Star Trek producer/director J.J. Abrams had inked two major deals after his contract with Disney ended. One deal was with Paramount for multiple pictures and the other was with Warner Brothers for TV. Since then Abrams has been juggling his TV and film duties, but according to Slate.com Paramount is now getting the better part of the deal. Abrams reportedly got $10 million a year from Warner but has only announced a single project (a medical drama for HBO) in the 14 months since the deal was struck. Slate notes that another TV project will soon be forthcoming, but that the new Star Trek film at Paramount "is going to become [Abrams] life" for the next 15 months. Slate quotes a studio exec saying of the dueling deals, "somebody had to get hurt" and that somebody appears to be Warner Brothers. Another development may make Abrams even more important to Paramount soon….