Chris Pine attended the Hollywood Awards tonight and the fine folks at Collider got a red carpet interview with Star Trek’s new Kirk and he talked about fan feedback, thoughts on the production design and what he is up to these days, details below.
Watch it
Click the image to see the video (opens new window)
Pine on fan reactions:
I am not sure if they are going to embrace it or not. The heat behind it I feel. I’ve seen posts about it going both ways. People are either excited about it or giving it the middle finger already. It’ll be what it’ll be and people will like it or they wont. I’m really proud of it from what I’ve seen I think we did a great job.
Pine on what he thought of the design of the Enterprise sets
I think when you get the opportunity to work on something with that much money is extraordinary because you get the best of the best of the best. You have the best production designers, you have the best actors working along beside you, you have one of the best directors in Hollywood today, you have a costume team that is out of control. So it is like being a kid and being given everything at your fingertips. When you first saw the bridge — and I wasn’t a fan when I was growing up so it wasn’t as sacrosanct as it was to many others — but you kind of have an out of body experience. It is pretty awesome to get to do what you get to do.
am I first?
seems like humble comments. I really hope to like this film.
At least he can feel the ‘heat’
I mean understand
I hope to embrace it, I am sure they have done good work.
he has some big boots to fill but I think he’s going to pull it off. he’s even starting to look like Shatner now at least to me. I am getting a good feeling about this movie and can’t wait to see him and the rest of the crew in trailer next month!
At least he’s honest and keeping up! Hi Chris if you’re reading ;)
Does he wear a green shirt in the movie?
“When you first saw the bridge — and I wasn’t a fan when I was growing up so it wasn’t as sacrosanct as it was to many others — but you kind of have an out of body experience.”
Well, I WAS a fan growing up, and the bridge IS sacrosanct to me… I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it won’t look like an iPod store.
Hopefully, it will maintain SOME military / utilitarian look / function…
Cool ships / bridges is a ST must!
LL&P
They Shouldn’t Focus On the Negative So Much. I’m sure More People will like It than Not. It’s all fun and everything but it’s not life and Death if they don’t
Nail everything 100% like the Original. I wanted to see a Newer spin on the Old anyway as much as I love TOS. This Should Be good.
He wants to visit Europe he said…..well :-) If you come to germany, come visit me and we’ll have a beer together .
Well, seriously, from that Interview, I really think he has the absolute potential to be a perfect Kirk. Look at his face, his kirkish smartass look.
And..he this guy has got humor….I am confident that this movie will be great Star Trek, better than everything after the TOS era……Good luck to the whole cast and Crew. See you in the trailer…..
It’s just a movie.
If you like it, then fine.
If you don’t like it, that’s fine too.
It’s not all that important considering what is going on in the world today.
Yes, the REAL WORLD.
Remember that place?
It is sweet how Frosty describes the scene at the carpet, where Chris still has a quantum of leisure time…
Seems they got the best money can buy. :D
The more that is said about the new movie, the more apparent it becomes that it is going to be quite different to TOS. And I’m glad about that.
To do a purist remake of TOS now wouldn’t work – I struggle to watch TOS now, because it looks so dated. I want to get the remastered sets, but I’m waiting for the blu-rays. The last thing this movie needs is to look like it was made in the 60s.
People have criticised the shots we’ve seen of the so-called iBridge – but we’ve seen stuff like it before. The ENT bridge looked far more advanced the the TOS bridge, yet it was set 100 years earlier. OK, ENT isn’t exactly everyone’s favourite series, but you see my point.
Everything I’ve seen about the new movie so far makes me excited, not because it’s exactly like TOS, because it isn’t, but because it evokes my childhood memories of TOS.
I think all the individual actors will do their parts well. For me, the crux of it will be the interaction between Kirk, Spock and McCoy. One line from ST:III sums up their relationship:
Kirk: You’re suffering from a Vulcan mind meld, Doctor.
McCoy: That green-blooded son of b***h. It’s his revenge for all those arguments he lost!
Roll on May!
He does look an awful lot like a 20-something Bill Shatner. It’s pretty eery.
Sweet!
Everything I have seen of Chris Pine and his thoughts simply works. He doesn’t have to love it as aggressively as we all do… or even some of his cast mates –so long as there is a flying leg kick, I’m good.
Even if Pine doesn’t quite get why it was so important.
Of course, if after leg-kicking, Pine watched Shatner decades ago, that would be cool… but he doesn’t have to be Shatner.
Shatner. Leg kick. Kirk. All VERY SEPARATE THINGS!
Food for thought – it may be best to approach this movie as a new project in the Star Trek universe. New players are involved in front of and behind the camera. Their take on things will definitely different than any body else’s.
Instead of looking at the history of the franchise and trying to map it into the movie the reverse should be done. Take the details of the movie and map them back to the original material. That way the hits will be positive instead of negative.
The details are window dressing. The play is the thing!
Star Trek is in a ‘do or die’ situation. It has bigger issues than whether Kirk is wearing a black shirt, or Chekov has curly hair, or the bridge does not look the same. None of those details will affect the story.
If the story is not powerful to break out of the current Trek fanbase and entice mainstream audiences to see it, the franchise is dead. There is no way it will recoup its costs.
So instead of looking at branches, step back, back from those branches, step back from the trees for those branches, and step back and look at the forest.
If Trek fans are not able to do that, then how are they going to even have the slightest chance to enjoy the movie?
….and the adventure continues….
“People are either excited about it or giving it the middle finger already.”
I think it’s a shame that there is a segment of the fanbase that is already making itself to be known as virulent naysayers. I even feel embarrassed that the professionals who are working hard to bring us this new movie already feel hounded by this element.
Shame on fans acting like spoiled brats!
That heat Pine is feeling comes from the feminine contingent of the fanbase. May I get an OH YEAH, my sisters… and TOG, of course…
Loved the interview and loved Pine in BottleShock. Enjoy your leisure time now Chris because I don’t think you’ll have much once this movie comes out. In fact i do wonder if Star Trek will be able to hold this guy for long. I think Chris has mega star written all over him.
And a big Oh Yeah to you Denise
Do the characters transcend the actors? And are the characters — sans the original actors — iconic enough to endure beyond the time that they were born?
If yes, then Kirk & Co. join the ranks Dracula and Batman, Hamlet and MacBeth.
If no, then they go into the same pile that contains Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, the Lone Ranger and Singing Cowboys.
Hopefully, Chris Pine and friends will help with the transcendence…
”Hamlet” has been envisioned and re-envisioned and adapted on the screen probably more than any other literary work (I believe over 30-times at last count). Certainly I do not put Star Trek in the same lofty category, but it is very similar considering it is much more enlightened science fiction when it is at its best.
I just plain don’t understand the negative reactions of ”first generation” fans (among whom I include myself) of the franchise to this new movie who prejudge this upcoming film based on a few sparse photos of hardware and wardrobe. It’s just so silly on so many levels, not to mention closed-minded.
Star Trek belongs to the ages now. It will always come down to character and storytelling first and hardware second. ”Fresh minds and new ideas” (we talked) will bring new timely and contemporary interpretations of these beloved characters and their voyages.
I know I for one never did and will continue not to draw conclusions based on ”shadows.”
”Hamlet” survives. Star Trek will too.
This is perhaps the most unique situation ever as far as recasting all the roles. Hamlet, Superman, Batman, et al.. None of these films or shows have had a situation where the same actors played or were associated with a particular role for 40 years. These actors took Star Trek from a tv series to a motion picture series. They even had a send off film. George Takei played Sulu in Voyager in 1996. Because of this, I see this as one of the most ambitious projects in film. So far, I like what I have seen as far as the casting but as it has been or will be said, they have some big shoes to fill. Here’s hoping that they can do that!!!
This movie’s going to be sooooo good!
This wait is going to to drive me soooooooooooooo crazy.
Well, so much more crazy!!!!! :-)
re: 22. crazydaystrom – October 28, 2008
“This movie’s going to be sooooo good!”
But what if it ISN’T?
What then?
I’ve had a chance to sample some of Chris’s work by way of “Blind Dating.” Gotta say, the guy can act!
Sort of makes me mad when I see rather pointless comments about him just being hired because he’s “pretty.” Look, he’s got the same features William Shatner does, so I guess William would be a “pretty boy” too. But the whole thing is, that’s just gravy on top of his acting. I enjoyed his work! I think he’s got a certain Kirk-ness to him.
I think he’ll do fine
These people who are giving this the middle finger already, well, these folks are welcome to hold on to Trek’s past, but there’s a problem. The franchise has been dying in spite of past projects and so a new road is needed. The people who can’t see that and are holding onto cannon so much that they’d rather see something they love perish than to try and appreciate a new vision. These folks need to find something else that they love in their lives. Nothing lasts forever, and I fear that if this movie doesn’t make it and if Star Trek does ride off into the sunset, that these people will find themselves in a state of loss that will bring the realization that they’d given up their whole lives for a fantasy.
Personally, I believe this movie will be great and will be very successful–if people will go see it, and I hope that movie viewers–most especially Trek fans–will approach this with an open mind selflessly based on giving Star Trek the shot in the arm it needs to carry onward (as it should).
#23- Mr. Stankford T. McF., may I call you Stanky? :-)
If its not good I’ll wait for the Watchmen dvd, anticipate Cameron’s ‘Avatar’, watch old Trek dvds and oh yeah, I’ve a girlfriend, family and work, you know, the stuff of real life (it would appear I do have one).
It the next May’s Trek is not a good movie or even worse not good Trek, it’ll be a dissappointment for sure but my life and my Trekking both will go on as it has for the past fifty-one and forty-two years.
BUT, its going to be soooooooooo good!
Call me crazy.
re#26-
I meant ‘IF next May’s Trek is not good…
He looks more like Kirk in this particular clip than i’ve ever seen him look.
I kinda like that he’s so cautious about it. I appreciate the candid nature he has when expressing his thoughts/feelings about the film and fans.
It’s like that he’s not in full spin mode…. not part of the spin machine! He’s giving it to us straight…as best he can…from his own point of view. I like it.
“People are either excited about it or giving it the middle finger already. It’ll be what it’ll be and people will like it or they wont. I’m really proud of it (from) what I’ve seen”
It’s good that he seems to have a thick skin. Star Trek fans, while forward-thinking and usually peace-loving, can sometimes be caustic when things don’t go the way we want.
I’m not a huge lover of the new bridge (from what I can see of it) but I’m not going to let it keep me from enjoying the movie. Trailer will be coming soon, so that’s exciting.
In other news….James Cawley, when the heckies is BaF going to be released?
is Pine still sporting the pointed sideburns???
#6. Me, I’m just pumped that he used the word “sacrosanct” in a red-carpet interview. Nice brain on the guy.
I find it kind of refreshing that he basically feels like, “well, we did what we did the best that we could- hope you like it but I’m well aware that some of you are gonna freak out.”
The thing is that it’s not like Abrams and Co. have gone into the archives and deleted the past 40 years of Trek. If I end up liking this movie, I’ll embrace it; if it blows, I’ll ignore it.
I DO think that it looks like an iBridge Genius Bar, but I guess the argument can be made that the Excelsior and the first iteration of the 1701-A bridge looked exactly like that as well ( and decades before The Steve launched his, at that!)
” am not sure if they are going to embrace it or not. The heat behind it I feel. I’ve seen posts about it going both ways. People are either excited about it or giving it the middle finger already.”
Or some like me….firmly in the middle. Worried and excited at the same time. Glad to see though that he seems able to handle it all. It’s certainly tough stepping into those shoes. Trek fans are a vociferous lot but anytime anyone redos something so close to people’s hearts, you will have a reaction The Internet in general is a harsh place and it’s not confined to Trek fans. The reactions to Star Wars, Xman, Superman, Hulk and others have been incredibly heated; and let’s not forget TV — anyone read TWOP? Sheesh!
I’ve actually never heard him talk before, but now I think even more that he’ll be doing great as Kirk. I already had a good feeling about him just judging from the pictures. And if he does a good job, I can even cope with a blue-eyed Kirk ;) (hmm, really wonder, why they didn’t fix that little thingy – maybe Pine’s uncomfortable with contacts…) hey, why don’t we try to give it a canon explanation (: – Kirk’s eyes turned hazle in his thirties due to an allergic reaction to “Retinax 5” (remember that line from STII?) – so, because of his vanity he continued to command the Big E until he was blind as a bat and Bones finally got him those bloody glasses…
i want to see Pine in the thick WOK black ‘fro in the sequel..i dont care if its canon or not!
I wonder if he’s read those posts here, which wouldn’t surprise me. At least those involved in the new movie know that not all the fans have gone off the deep end and passed final judgment on the film based on what relatively little we know about it so far. I for one am always optimistic about future Trek and I’ll be there for the first showing of this film in May.
I swear that the bridge did not look the same more than 2 movies in a row in 10 ‘Trek’ films, so why all the fuss about the white lights on this new bridge set? I’m confused – did the same fans complain when they showed the new bridge sets in ST I, II, and VI?
If the film respects and follows what StarTrek is, then I will embrace it with open arms and call it a great film and I will continue loving new and further Star Trek adventures
If JJ Abrams completely changes the Roddenberry philosophy and retcons teverything to fit Abrams desire then I will be pissed off and boycott every future JJ Abrams project.
Either way no matter the outcome at least I have my DVDs of the episodes and past movies.
I really want to love this film as it is new Trek. I hope JJ has got it right. I hate how the bridge is looking as it is not faithful to TOS.
Wow, I am really seeing Kirk in this pic of Pine. I’m sort of ambivalent about the bridge, but, heck, we only gotta’ glimpse.
I’d like to see some sort of reference to The Menagerie (Cage)/Where No Man Has Gone Before style uniforms. May be too much to ask, but I guess I want some sort of continuity in my head that makes a little sense. I grew up with Trek, so it is hard to gear for a BSG-style reboot (besides I think the original BSG was complete schlock, so it doesn’t hold the same place as TOS to me).
Denise,
Oh hell yeah! TOG is pleased with Pine. In many ways.
13/28 yes i imagine thats why he was chosen!
2 exclusive new Star Trek pictures are up on empireonline.com who are running a Trek exclusive in this month’s addition with a specially shot Kirk/Spock front cover. The viewscreen looks amazing!
http://www.empireonline.com
See anything familiar?
http://www.empireonline.com/images/news/temp/empire234.jpg
“People are either excited about it or giving it the middle finger already.”
Isn’t that the truth?
Count me among those who are excited…By the time of the film’s release, I will have waited about 18 years for Star Trek’s return to the 23rd Century and the iconic Original Series characters.
“When you first saw the bridge — and I wasn’t a fan when I was growing up so it wasn’t as sacrosanct as it was to many others — but you kind of have an out of body experience.”
I think this is important because much of the target audience is not so heavily invested in the franchise that they actually consider the 1960’s window dressing for the series as part of its ‘canon’.
It’s not about whether it will look like the set design in TOS. The important thing is whether it looks believable as the bridge of a starship in the 23rd Century.
“I think when you get the opportunity to work on something with that much money is extraordinary because you get the best of the best of the best. ”
I love TOS, and always have since the first rerun I laid eyes on in the 1970’s—-but with a budget in excess of $150 million and the ability to make 40 year-old Star Trek Tech appear functional to a 21st Century audience—-they had better ‘not’ go too nostalgic.
Retro-looks at the TOS-era bridge like the one in ENT, “In A Mirror, Darkly” are fine for a UPN television series directed at Trek fans. That ‘was’ fun. However, such nostalgia would certainly be lost among teenage viewers, many of whom were not even alive the last time we saw Jim Kirk in a Starfleet uniform on the big screen.
Star Trek is summed up best to me as this:
The vision of a possible future for us in which mankind does not destroy itself, but instead, unites to conquer the social ills which plague us (as a species) today and eventually commits itself to exploration of the final frontier…
If a ‘new look’ helps to convince another generation of fans to embrace that vision…then all of this is justified, IMO. How could it not be?
For those of you who have already displayed your middle fingers, you can see the front of mine in my rearview mirror as I move forward with Star Trek.
I can promise you this. No matter what Bad Robot does with Star Trek, it won’t wreck your dvd shelf…the past will still be there to hold on to.
If this, to any of you, is “the death of a franchise”, just remember that— “this death takes place in the shadow of a new life.”
:)
here da stories
http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=23522
http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=23519
45
did you notice that you can see the registry numbers on the front of the saucer through the viewscreen…guess it’s more of a window with an electronic overlay.
I wonder if people from other ships will just pop up in the corner of the viewscreen semi-transparent like a webchat type element.
I definitely like empire’s attempt to recreate the old photo for the cover….def. a win over the EW cover
Wow, it’s like looking out over the hood of your car…..what a great concept…it gives a feeling that you are actually on a ship, not in some room that could be anywhere…I love it….and as far as Chris is concerned, I am a believer at this point….Of course, I think the movie will still have to prove itself but I have confidence from the things we have seen so far.
I am unable to load any of the empireonline.com links Canonfornication provided.
Is anyone else having this problem, and are there alternate sites that have these images?
#33 “Or some like me….firmly in the middle. Worried and excited at the same time.”
Right there with ya, bro. I’ll be there for the 1st showing, at midnight! Fingers crossed…
maybe this means that the trailer WILL be attached to Quantum in the UK in 3 days time!!!
*crosses fingers*