May 2009

Shatner Cameo Scene Revealed + Monday Box Office + TOS Stars Talk ST09 + More Tidbits

We have been talking about it for year’s and now Bob and Alex have finally explained how they would have fit William Shatner into Star Trek. We also have the latest on Trek’s good box office performance, TOS stars talking about ST09 stars, and more tidbits, including a new augmented reality site and a Star Trek parody comic strip .


Star Trek ARG Ends + Nimoy Announces Winner (a TrekMovie community member)

Through the last month an alternative reality game related to the new Star Trek movie has been leaving clues on websites and in the real world, leading to a story of Romulans running around Earth and a desperate warning to Vulcan. Today the game has come to a close with a video message from Leonard Nimoy thanking participants announcing a winner from the finalists (all of whom are TrekMovie community members).



Check Out The Star Trek Promotional Partner Commercials – Including BK Spot Shot On Real Bridge

A big part of the TV promotion for the new Star Trek movie is not coming from Paramount, but is coming from their promotional partners Burger King, Verizon and Esurance. In the last week both BK and Verizon have put up new TV ads, including a BK ad shot on the real bridge of the USS Enterprise. We have all the Star Trek promo ads below.


GoAnimate Announces New Star Trek Animation Mashup Features + Contest

Back in February we reported that CBS had granted GoAnimate.com a Star Trek license and since then lots of fans have been playing with the free site creating and sharing fun animations with TOS characters. Today GoAnimate has added a feature that allows you to create ‘mashups’ between their Star Trek channel and their other licensed channels, including  Street Fighter and others.  And to kick it off they have a contest to create the best mashups including Star Trek prizes, details below.



Final Numbers In – Star Trek Breaks Franchise & IMAX Records + Outperforming Batman Begins

We now have the final opening weekend box office numbers for "Star Trek" and the results are quite impressive. Not only did the film out-pace initial expectations, but it even out-performed studio estimates en route to a $79,204,289 opening weekend + $35.5M from foreign box office.  Head on through the jump for extended details and analysis.


Quantum Mechanix Gets Star Trek Movie Replica License – Will Make ‘Studio Scale’ Enterprise & more

Many starship aficionados and collectors have been wondering if there were going to be studio scale or museum quality versions of the new Star Trek feature film ships. Well, to paraphrase the classic Captain Kirk, the word has indeed been given and Trekmovie has all the details of Quantum Mechanix’s new license for Star Trek. 



Reviews of ‘Star Trek’ Novel Adaptation & Audio Book + Limited Signed Hardcover Announced

Today The Library Computer brings you two special (and somewhat opposing) reviews of Alan Dean Foster’s adaptation of the new Star Trek feature film. Firstly Robert Lyons reviews the novel itself, and then John Tenuto reviews the audiobook version (read by Zachary Quinto). We also have news and a first look at the limited edition signed hardcover edition.


Star Trek’s $112M Global Opening Weekend + Quinto,Nimoy & Pine on SNL + More Tidbits

Judging by our current poll and the reader reviews Star Trek has has a great opening weekend for the fans, but it looks like that elusive mainstream audience are also on board. We have the numbers below [UPDATE: w/ Int’l returns] Plus there is video of Quinto, Pine & Nimoy on SNL and more interviews and opening weekend tidbits, including ‘Star Trek The Sneakers’ and much more.


Star Trek Invades The iPhone – Review of New Games & Applications

Shortly after the debut of the Apple App Store for iPhone and iPod Touch, TrekMovie reported on the severe lack of Trek applications available. It now appears that our readers headed our call and have, in the past several months, created a multitude of awesome Star Trek applications, including an official app from Paramount, a new game by Electronic Arts, and the Klingon Language Suite. TrekMovie has taken a closer look at these apps, and we’ve reviewed them. So, here it is: the best of Trek on the iPhone (and iTouch).


EXCLUSIVE: Interviews with Eric Bana & Clifton Collins, Jr.

It is has been said that for serial films like Trek and Bond, they are only as good as their villains. And even though the new Star Trek film picked some classic bad guys, these working-class Romulans are of a kind we have never seen before. In our final release week interview, TrekMovie talks to the leaders of the Romulan pack, Eric Bana (Nero) and Clifton Collins, Jr. [interviews contain spoilers]







Star Trek ARG Report: The Story So Far (and it isn’t over yet)

Over the last few weeks there has been an intricate alternative reality game for the new Star Trek which has been keeping a lot of fans busy sorting clues and even visiting real world locations. TrekMovie has lead the way in reporting on the game’s progress, but it can be a challenge to follow. The game is coming to a close and there have been some recent new clues and so today we now try to put it all together in our guide to ‘the story so far’ with the Star Trek ARG.



Star Trek Brings In $7 Million Thursday Night + Online New Ticket Buyer Polling Data

The critics love it and the fans love it (based on our current poll), so the big question remaining is, will the rest of the film going audience love it. We won’t know that until the weekend is over, but the numbers are in for Thursday and they are very good. Star Trek racked up $7 million dollars last night in domestic tickets sales. More below, including interesting polling data from the online sales sites.


Star Trek Cast Interview Excerpts From Official Movie Magazine + Exclusive Cover Image

This week Titan will release the official Star Trek movie souvenir issue of Star Trek Magazine. It contains interviews with the cast of the movie and Titan has provided us with excerpts from  Chris Pine, Karl Urban, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Leonard Nimoy and Anton Yelchin. See below for more info. UPDATE: Plus we have a first look at the Previews exclusive cover.



EXCLUSIVE: Interview with JJ Abrams

Back in 2006 JJ Abrams ignited a bidding war between Hollywood studios for his next contract. In the end he went with Paramount and when he had the pick of projects, he chose the task of reviving Star Trek. In our exclusive interview with the director we get JJ to talk about some of the big decisions he made along the way to make this film, including what he cut. We also talk about William Shatner, and may be breaking some news. [interview contains MAJOR SPOILERS]


Star Trek DAC Game Trailer – With Footage From Star Trek Movie

The new Star Trek movie is not getting a traditional adaptation video game, however Paramount has put together a fun $10 downloadable arcade space-shooter ‘inspired by Star Trek’ called Star Trek D-A-C. They have just released the game trailer which you can see below. The trailer includes some cool ship-on-ship action footage from the Star Trek movie.


Some Mainstream Media Continue To Misunderstand (and misrepresent) Trek Fans

A couple of days ago we pointed to a funny parody news clip at The Onion which poked some good-natured fun at Trek and Trek fans, and how we were up in arms over how the film was ‘fun’ and ‘watchable.’ Trek fans are self-aware and most seemed to get the joke, but in the last day I have noticed a more disturbing Trend from some in the mainstream media trying to to perpetuate the most negative stereotypes of Trek fans, and what is worse they are trying to get me to help them. More below.


EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Bruce Greenwood

One of the surprises in the new Star Trek movie is the importance of the role of Christopher Pike, the Captain of the Enterprise. And for this key part, JJ Abrams chose veteran actor Bruce Greenwood, who is no stranger to portraying strong leaders. In our exclusive interview, the actor talks about how his Pike is different, his relationship with Kirk, life on the set, and a particularly uncomfortable scene, and more. [interview contains spoilers]


ST09 Tidbits (T-1): Fringe Clues + New Reviews + Pegg Moves Scotty + Interview Vids + more

Just one more day until the early showings in the US (and Star Trek is actually opening in some countries in Europe today). First tidbit is from last night’s Fringe which had some Trek moments you will want to see. Plus there are more reviews (including Ebert and Wheaton), and lots of interviews below (including JJ on Charlie Rose). And Simon Pegg is playing with Scotty’s geography. All that and more.


EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Karl Urban

Karl Urban is one of the better known actors in the new Star Trek, especially to genre fans who know him as Eomer from two of the Lord of the Rings films, but it is spot on take on McCoy that is getting him a lot of buzz now. In our interview with the new Bones, we talk about what it was like for a fan to take on the iconic role, how he chose to honor the original, where he wants to take Bones, and more. [interview contains minor spoiler].