Although Star Trek is currently their focus, the new Star Trek team are still in high demand. First up is director J.J. Abrams who has sold his first network show as part of his Warner Brothers TV deal. According to the Hollywood Reporter ABC has bought a pilot for a one-hour dramedy to be executive produced (along with Abrams and Bryan Burk) by Jill Soloway (Six Feet Under, Grey’s Anatomy). The show, titled Boundaries, centers on a failing cable access shrink who rediscovers her true purpose when she is forced to take a job as a mobile notary. If it gets a series commitment it will be Abrams fifth show for ABC (after Alias, Lost, What About Brian and Six Degrees).
Orci & Kurtzman on Transformers 2
The Star Trek writing team of Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman had previously cited their multiple commitments for choosing not to get on board for the already greenlit sequel to their summer blockbuster Transformers. After the boatloads of money that movie has made, it appears Paramount & DreamWorks were determined to get the entire band back together. According to the Hollywood Reporter the pair are now in talks to rejoin star Shia LaBeouf, director Michael Bay, executive producer Steven Spielberg and producers Tom DeSanto, Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Don Murphy for the sequel. The only difference this time (and perhaps the lighten the load) is that Orci and Kurtzman will be joined by Ehren Kruger (who recent adapted Stephen King’s The Talisman). The writing team are already working with Kruger on the serial killer movie Nightlife which he is writing and they are producing.
Transformers 2 Robotic Boogaloo (ok I made that up) is tentatively slated for the Summer of 2009. Based on recent comments regarding a commitment to franchises from Viacom’s Chairman it would not be surprising to see Paramount put out Trek movies on the even years and Transformers movies on the odd years for the next decade.
But all this stuff will have to wait, for now the team are deep into Trek with shooting slated to start a month from Friday.
Boy, is this guy spreading himself thin, or what??
I thought it was going to be “Transformers Forever.” Either that or “Transformers with a Vengeance.”
Cool! A Transformer sequel. I know there have been critics of the summer blockbuster, but the way I see it is this: the writes knew who their target audience was and wrote the movie accordingly.
Back to Trek: hungry as ever for more news.. just.. can’t.. wait…!!!
Uh OH Transformers 2 up against Superman Man of Steel…..
Good times are here again.
“The show, titled Boundries, is about a traveling notary public who gets involved in the lives of her clients and does not appear to have a genre twist.”
Sounds just exciting! I’m sure most people can relate to that concept. Because I know that the last time I met a traveling notary public….man, we had us some crazy adventures. Quick sand, fighting off ninjas and finding out what about Brian?
I shouldn’t criticize, but I will because it’s in my nature. I realize that you want to keep working to keep getting shows and movies made, but I hate it if quality of some of their work goes down because of quantity of work they take on.
I’m sure they know what their doing.
I was hoping Michael Bay would not do the sequel. I thought he was the weak link on that team…2/3 of the film was great (the parts with dialogue), but that last over-the-top battle scene went on WAY too long. That last action scene could have been half as long and the movie would have been better.
But I suppose that’s Michael Bay’s signature scene — the type of long action scene that is great for 10 minutes, but it goes on so long it gets boring.
It’s called “the law of diminishing returns”…look it up, Michael.
oh great. Orci and Kurtzman did such a great script on the first transformers I just can’t wait for them to finish writing the second. [/sarcasm]
I’m happy for Abrams. he is an excellent idea-man. get him working with a whole bunch of folks and they could keep his new stuff on the right track.
can they PLEASE include Soundwave this time???? Sheesh!!
More lines like ‘My bad’ from the robots then… ;)
Oh come on. How hard is it to write Boy meets Girl, Robot Truck blows up city, Boy and Girl Fight, Robot Truck gets mind-meld virus and turns into Boy, Girl saves Boy, Boy and Girl drive off in Robot Truck?
Tranformers did nothing for me. Gangsta robots with corny lines. Juvenille jokes and horrendous action..hell I didn’t know left from right in all that editing. It was just too cheesball for me to enjoy. But, having said that, a LOT of people get off on that sort of cheesyness and they enjoyed the hell out of it so more power to them and the powers behind it. . Also, these guys also wrote MI3 which I dug immensly..so I know they can adapt to whatever subject they are writing. Also Leonard has pretty much given the script his seal of approval so I don’t think we’ll be seeing any overly cute lines in the Trek movie.
I have no interest in Transformers.
But I’ve read this week that Orci and Kurtzman have also been called in to do a page-one rewrite of the film I’m most geekily, deliriously, and warily looking forward to (at least as much as Star Trek): WATCHMEN.
So, Mr. Orci, if you’re reading — even though I’m not a screenwriter, I’m absolutely out-of-my-mind jealous of you guys for getting to work on both of these films. Amazing, and congratulations.
And no pressure :).
Help, a further battle of material – obviously another film for the “young and hot audience”, the new target group of Orci and friends. The only hope left is that Orci & Co. are “writing” those things in order to save their brain waves for Star Trek XI. Whether it will help or not – we will see…
PUSH THE CUBE INTO MY CHEST, BOY.
Roberto – add Soundwave, show more Starscream, and keep Hot Rod away from the movies.
Transformers is a not great film in regards to its own history.
I just hope the Star Trek movie is not like that.
For example the original Transformers story was about the struggle for resources on the planet Cybertron. Because of the war between the Autobots & Decepticons, the Transformers had to leave & ran into earth in the process. But you can’t do that when your making a big GM CAR AD can you? This movie was really a Shoot Em Up Alien Invansion story, a real Independence Day Piece Of Crap. They followed the Marines around? What is this GI JOE? Oh & the Autobots just fell out of the sky (w/ very little speaking parts) ? Megatron on ice by the government? The alspark? Bubblebee a camaro? All of this hollywood BS made me throw up. Sony can’t put out Transformers G-1 0n dvd, but they’ll release this stinker in all formats & call it the beginning of the great transformers tale. Meanwhile shitting on everything that came before it & retooling it for SUV/NFL/NASCAR/CMT/BET/MTV/CNN generation. Hopefully they don’t do to Star Trek, what they had to do on Transformers. Take something thats ok & make it suck, so all the american dumb asses at the mall can understand it. I wanted the Transformers movie to be good, sorry about my luck. Thankfully I don’t think they are being ask to stink up the Star Trek material, like I think they had to do on the Transformers. After all they we’re writing a script for Michael Bay (You thought Rick Berman had bad ideas). They should of called the movie “Michael Bay’s Transformers”. JJ is not a cheese dick like Bay so maybe the script Ori & Kurtzman wrote for Star Trek won’t get the “stupid cable tv style”, treatment like my other beloved universe did.
I’m hardly the authority here, but I think notbob has put it most succinctly. I liked Transformers because it made my kids happy. That’s great. I also like Transformers because there were some cool scenes with giant friggin’ robots. That’s great. But mostly I liked Transformers because of the smokin’ hot girl that was in it. That’s really great. Whatever the braintrust decides to do with their non-Star Trek lives is, of course, entirely up to them. Don’t need my blessing. Just please don’t screw up Star Trek.
scott, I agree with the title “Michael Bay’s Transformers,” although the Cybertronians were little more than props in that movie. A total disappointment. I can’t see the sequel being any better with Bay still at the helm. TF fans have been aching for a real return to “Transformers,” last seen IMO in 1986’s Transformers the Movie. Instead he made a movie where the TF’s were the story yet looked horrendous and had no lines, and the ones they had were so garbled I couldn’t understand them.
What the hell is Transformers?!
So, Trek due to start shooting in a month!!!! yaaaaaaaaa!!
Transformers is about robots that disguise themselves as ordinary machines (photocopiers, garbage disposals, weed whackers, etc.) that turn back into robots when no one is looking. And then they fight.
“Orci & Kurtzman on Transformers 2”
Aw jeez…
well, here’s hoping a better script comes forth this time, because I KNOW they can do better.
oh my, it’s only registered on me its October already, shooting on ST-XI begins in November, gonna be so much fun here when the real in-studio rumors kick in full gear, woo hoo!
#2
Try these for title…
TRANSFORMERS: A NEW HOPE
TRANSFORMERS: THE MOTION PICTURE
TRANSFORMERS: RETURN OF JAZZ
TRANSRORMERS: THE WRATH OF PRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIME!!!
What do you think?
Too origional?
24. Aaron – October 4, 2007
How about this?
Transformers 2: How BumbleBee became a VW bug again making his name make sense.