Abrams: ‘Star Trek’ Is Movie They Couldn’t Afford In Past + New Trek Banner [UPDATE: Hi Res.]

In a new interview with MTV, Star Trek director JJ Abrams says that the final cut of the film should be completed very soon. He also talked about deleted scenes, humor, Majel Roddenberry, and more, including what is different about his star Trek movie. UPDATE: Plus we have a high resolution version of a new promo banner from Paramount.

 

What is new with JJ’s Trek
Go to MTV.com for the full interview, here is an excerpt about what is new in Abrams Trek.

MTV: When you look at the other "Star Trek" films, what are they missing that you wanted to bring to yours?

Abrams: There are a number of things that I think are unique to this movie. There's a level of relevance that I think is really because of the actors playing the part. I didn’t want to just re-create or reset everything, I thought going back to those characters was important. [In previous films] when we met those characters, we met them pre-established. They'd already been working together, they already knew each other. They had this history. And for some reason, the origin of those relationships of those characters was something that probably would have helped me, at least, connect to them and understand why I should care about them and who they were.

So on those fundamental levels, none of the movies have had that before. But on a much more practical level, "Star Trek" has never had the opportunity, nor the resources, to be realized in this way. Things like the ships and the battles and the planets and the chases and the action sequences … and do them in a way that felt thrilling and terrifying and entertaining in a way that the show and the prior movies simply couldn't afford to do. I feel we were able to bring to life, in a way we've never seen before, what it is to be a member of Starfleet. And that's kind of cool.

Abrams Countdown Comment
And on the MTV movies blog was additional comments from Abrams about the upcoming "Star Trek Countdown" comic book. He noted that he has been focusing on finishing the film while Roberto Orci helps with the comic, noting Orci is 'the resident Trekker.' However Abrams did comment about how the Comics include TNG characters of the covers:

I think you just have to see that the key is this world, this universe, is not disconnected from what’s come before.

For more on Star Trek Countdown (including pre-order links and spoilers) CLICK HERE.

JJ and his crew
One last bit of JJ news, a couple of weeks back JJ attended (and presented) at the Children’s Defense Fund 18th Annual "Beat The Odds" Awards, and he brought some of the stars of Star Trek with him. Here is a nice shot of the Star Trek director and some of his bridge crew.


(L-R) Zachary Quinto (Spock), JJ Abrams, Zoe Saldana (Uhura), and Chris Pine (Kirk)

UPDATED: New Star Trek Banner
MTV had an early release of a new Star Trek banner, now Paramount has provided TrekMovie with a higher res version of the banner.


(click for higher res version)

182 Comments
oldest
newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

first?

good stuff

cool

Interesting to know the budget will affect what the movie will be, and probably, what it will look like ^^

Yawn.
Hopeing some real news becomes available soon.

Suh-weet!

Gotta admit-
reading Orci’s “quantum” explanations (not sure I agree with them) made me consider that an elaborate cop-out had been made; but after seeing this comic cover I am very curious and intrigued.

Question: is that DATA, or B4? Thinking B4.

I presume the story starts before Nemesis…. that looks like Data top right!

I really hope some of those “low budget” Star trek movies that came before get some special edition effects added to them. No, I obviuosly don’t mean Staw Wars:SE effects, but something in line of what Star Trek: The Motion Picture got a few years ago on DVD. Star Trek 5 needs it the most, and I think alot of people would pay money to see Trek V with all new special effects.

Think Nutty Professor.

8… “Star Trek 5 needs it the most, and I think alot of people would pay money to see Trek V with all new special effects.”

Only if they also added an all-new script.

Another picture to colorize?

Get to work guys.

10,
Or we could just delete V from the archive and call it good.

#10. Thorny: “…8… “Star Trek 5 needs it the most, and I think alot of people would pay money to see Trek V with all new special effects.”

Only if they also added an all-new script. …”

I gotta agree with you on the script part. =/
Even if it’d had top-notch effects, ST:V still would’ve been.. not that great.
Hopefully ST:XI will have both good effects AND good acting/writing/directing etc. etc…

So why is JJ presenting an alternate timeline version of the beginning, instead of how it “really” happened (i.e. how it happened in the main timeline)??
Plus: more original Star Trek deprecation in order to validate his own version.

I’d have less confidence in Abrams if he were unwilling to tell the truth about previous versions of “Star Trek.”

8 – Actually, Star Trek 5 is probably the only one that actually needs this.

The visual effects for the rest of the TOS movies hold up very well.

The TNG movies actually are pretty good, although there are some things in Nemesis that are not that great.

When dealing with the Phasen Rift, there is this very green environment, yet the ships are lit by a flat sidelight for most shots.

There needed to be light from the environment, which would have allowed the ships to look like they belonged with the background plates.

Shouldn’t McCoy and Uhura switch places in the banner? I mean it may be an alternate universe , but it still has to be about the big three, right?

I think a few tidbits from the Star Trek V script could be edited out of the film in favor of a few new special effects. I know one quick edit I would love is that stupid scene where Scotty bumps his head. If you need to explain how he got in the sick bed, just add a quick scene of a guy jumping around a corner with a phaser or something. I would rather think he got stunned by someone then banged his head… lol…

As bad as some parts of Trek V was, there was alot of good in it too. It may not be the best film, but it certainly warrants having an effects upgrade the most. Had Star Trek: Remastered only added new effects to the best episodes, would we have been as impressed by it?

Sure, just like McCoy was on the ST:TMP poster instead of Ilia.

Oh. That’s right.

Movie promotion 101: feature the hot chick.

I personally like one poster’s theory that STV was all a bad dream, something in Kirk’s subconscious. If you think about it, it makes sense. The camping scenes bookend the movie, and all of the action takes place after they go to sleep. Kirk has the nightmare that he loses everything – a working ship, his best friend, his crew, control of the situation… when painted in that light, it actually works.

6. It’s gotta b B-4. Data was blown to bits. However, Nemesis very neatly set-up the return of Data (through the download to B-4). My guess by the time of this story…if B-4 is in a Starfleet uniform…Data has “returned.” Talk about a cop-out. Awfully safe writing on part of the Nemesis team. But they also snatch away any hope of real emotional resonance from Data’s sacrifice.

Well, now it’s official: Bones has been marginalized and pushed out of the trinity.

I think that’s the first actual thing that I find disappointing. Perhaps it’s a reluctance to have three white guys in the center of the photo or just the basic ‘sex sells’ equation. But Uhura was not at he campfire in Yosemite. She didn’t carry Spock’s katra. And, well, I don’t want to sound like the guy that complains about the angle of the nacelles… but this just doesn’t make sense. Karl Urban is the only pre-existing heartthrob in the cast. I know plenty of women across the demographic board who swooned over him in LOTR.

McCoy/Urban’s character is the most engaging in the trailer, with a line of dialog that’s instantly in the top 10 of Star Trek history, but he’s getting assed by the marketing department.

I’m all for the realignment of the universe and growing Uhura into a three dimensional heroic character… but WTF?

can that banner be considered offical teaser poster no 5? (badge = 1, logo = 2, kirk/spock/uhura/nero = 3, bones, scot, pavel, sulu = 4)

or maybe that is to be the new offical movie poster one sheet?

Chris Pine looks way more Kirk-like with THAT hair style and color than the one they gave him for the movie. Oh well.

Wow! Once again, I see people complaining about the movie even when it hasn’t been released… Clearly, the Trekkies and Trekkers can no longer be relied upon to keep the franchise alive. I hope the general public and open-minded fans (like myself) will buy tickets and get Star Trek going again!

All those canonistas, please remember this is Star Trek’s last chance. There will be no more if this movie fails!

@22…

Tuner, this banner is just stiched together from the earlier pictures, I bet the designer just mixed the portraits together by perspective and optical weight, not by the impact on single characters on the movie…

25 – Take it as a mark of concern, from those who care.

I’m optimistic about this movie, even with the rather interesting Quantum-mechanics argument for things matching up.

I’m glad KO are working on the Countdown comics.

In the interest of perusing IDW’s work, I just read the YEAR FOUR series this weekend and it was incredibly pathetic, undeveloped storytelling. Like, worse than TAS. About half of the illustrators were poorly matched to the subject, with terrible likenesses of the crew.

IDW should have serialized one big narrative instead of doing an episode each issue.

I can’t say I like the illustrations on the cover above, either. Looks nothing like Bana and nothing like the elder Spock in the trailer. Patrick Stewart probably broke out the tweezers when he saw that image.

@19

Then put her in the center – Pine’s hand grabbing at her boob!

Advanced Movie Promotion 102: sex sells!

They’ve done it before and they’ll do it again. It signifies nothing about the relative importance of Bones and Uhura in the movie itself.

I don’t know about this. Mr. Abram’s is basically saying that much of the film will be the same old stuff — planetary trips and space ship battles, but with a bigger budget. That’s all. So, nothing really new here — just a massively bigger budget for more eye candy.

As for his saying the previous TOS -era films did nothing to establish further character development from the TOS TV episodes — I don’t agree at all. At least not for the Kirk-Spock-McCoy triad.

ST:TMP gives fuller back story for Spock, as does Shatner’s ST V for both he and McCoy. As for Kirk’s character himself, nothing in Star Trek canon fleshes him out as a fully human character, with courage, foibles and vulnerability as TWOK and Shatner’s performance therein.

If Mr. Abrams couldn’t see why he should care about these characters from the whole canon of TOS and the six films that emerged them, then I’m not sure what we can expect from the new film that will respect the integrity of these characters who have been known and loved by millions for over forty years. But I for one do not feel that their histories have to be rewritten for the audience to empathize with them.

As Nicholas Meyer once said about them: they, as they are, exude charm in abundance. And that that is a rare quality indeed.

I wish the best of luck to Mr. Abrams and the new cast to bring the same character charm and charisma to this production. I am hoping that they will opt for substance over style: character and story development featured in the foreground and the special effects relegated to the background.

22 get over yourself. This film is about different characters, these arent the same spock, bones and kirk you saw sat around the camp fire. They’re alternates, they havent become a ‘holy trinity’ yet. Other than that, it’s a poster.

Quantum mechanics = lazy writing…..

33. Edwin – December 15, 2008
Quantum mechanics = lazy writing…..

Classical physics = lazy writing

Can we start talking about the sequel yet?! I think they should use a female villain for the next movie, since there has only been one in the movies (Borg Queen; Valeris doesn’t count).

Maybe Dr. Janice Lester. “I’m CAPTAIN KIRK!”

MORE QUANTUM PHYSICS PLEASE IF IT BRINGS ME MORE TREK.

Abrams: ‘Star Trek’ Is The Trek Movie They Couldn’t Afford To Do Before
Me: …’cos all a good movie needs is a shitload of money… and ‘splosions… (?)

I kinda feel sorry for the guy that he does not know anything about depth and breadth. He’s that two-dimensional flat man living on the surface of things. Fortunately even Hollywood has better than that.

I know what it is to be a member of Starfleet and I couldn’t be more proud.

@38…
welcome Back Chris!

26. thorsten – December 15, 2008
@22…
I bet the designer just mixed the portraits together by perspective and optical weight,

>Doesn’t really work on that level, either, as Uhura is the only one photographed at a one-quarter angle. So instead of balancing the weight of the faces, she spoils the symmetry. It also has the effect of making her look less professional, less serious. She looks coquettish rather than looking like a Lieutenant and a xenolinguist.

And why can’t they harvest one good photograph of Simon Pegg? He’s a conventionally good-looking guy, but either looks lumpy, crazy or creepy in every shot they use.

34.

Hi Bob…I was about to write hat “classical physics = better storytelling” but I guess I without seeing how you used QM in the film itself, I should not go there yet.

I’m OK with new actors, really, cause I have to be—and this looks like such a great cast.

With QM, is it possible to see a 1701 closer in design to the original Enterprise sometime in the movie?

Spocks Death- OMG! I can’t beleve they killed him!
Datas Death- Hrs of episodes & movies with a great deal of them about or with him in plot. Who cares?

Data was a great character but came to a dead end with development?

Darth “NCC-1701-BAllZ” BAllz

@40…

I agree, Tuber, that was a fast job, and the person who did it had to work with available material. It would have been smarter to shoot the whole crew same style from the front for a fitting reassembly ;))

And yes, Simon looks really strange, and kind of overly softed…

32. Jon – December 15, 2008
22 get over yourself

> Don’t personalize this, jerky. I’m only talking about marketing. Delivering men to theaters in May is not the challenge. Urban has a substantial female audience.

I SWEAR Cho looks like Garret Wang in that shot.

Warning for flaming to Tuber

I’m not a marketing executive, but I learned about marketing movies from one of the most respected marketing executives in Hollywood. That person said, in plain terms: To the extent that men decide whether to see a movie based on cast, it’s based on the Male leads. Women, almost across the board, decide based on cast and also on the Male leads. That’s why Pine, Quinto and Urban are such great choices.

I love Uhura and I think Zoe has a fierceness to her that goes beyond just being a beautiful woman. But no one is going to see the movie or not based on her being on the poster.

“Things like the ships and the battles and the planets and the chases and the action sequences … and do them in a way that felt thrilling and terrifying and entertaining in a way that the show and the prior movies simply couldn’t afford to do.”

Err, JJ, have you SEEN “The Wrath of Khan”?! Mutara Nebula, Reliant, ANYTHING? Don’t tell me THAT wasn’t thrilling, terrifying, AND entertaining!

Am I the only one who never thought Data was such a great character and never understood why he became the “second billing” under Picard for all the movies?? Was he “Number 1”? No. If they wanted him to be, they should have promoted him and demoted Riker.

Cutting room floor.

Please Nutty Professor stupidity go there, now.

Jar Jar Binks antics not needed here.