In addition to JJ Abrams (see previous story), writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman were also on hand at the Paramount Home Video press day. The pair took a lot of questions about the Star Trek sequel as well as their other projects, and we have full details on all of it below. Plus there is some late breaking news that the pair are producing a new Hawaii Five-0.
Q&A WITH ROBERT ORCI AND ALEX KURTZMAN`
Bob and Alex on Star Trek sequel
Question: For the Star Trek sequel, is it more interesting to you to come up with a brand new adventure for this characters, or to reinterpret and revisit a previous episode or a previous situation? What would be more rewarding for you?
Alex Kurtzman: Every franchise has a different need, so you have to look at them differently, based on whatever the mandate is there. In the case of Transformers it was very important for us to have a sequel idea that stood on its own. You need to be able to not have seen the first movie to appreciate the second one. But, I think for us, it’s always about going back to the sequels that we loved as kids and asking ourselves why we loved them. So, Empire Strikes Back, Superman 2, Aliens, Terminator 2, Star Trek 2. What do all those movies have in common? Well, they’re amazing stories, all on their own. You didn’t have to see the first movie, and there was some incredible, emotional test of character in all of those movies. Superman has to give up his powers for love. The Spock and Kirk relationship being tested by Khan. Ripley finding a daughter. All of those things are such big ideas in and of themselves, and you really can’t tell those stories in
movie one, because movie one is very much about establishing a world.
Bob Orci: How would you classify the first movie? As an original or as a riff on an old story?… We’d want some kind of similar balance with the second one.
Question: Are there any concepts or notions, things you wanted to squeeze into the first Star Trek that you couldn’t, that you would like to revisit for the sequel?
Bob: We had a few characters in early drafts, [Nurse Christine] Chapel, maybe some friends at the Academy. But in terms of big concepts, there is nothing where it was "oh, we are not going to be able to fit that in."
Alex: We kind of threw it all in, in the first one.
Question: Is there anything from Enterprise or Next Generation or Deep Space or elements, like the Borg, Cardassians, Bajorans, anything on the top of your list that you might want to throw in to the next movie?
Bob: I think we’d think about it, just because we do love The Next Generation…I think our instinct would be to first look at The Original Series, before we considered that. But, all that is on the table.
Question: It has been reported that there is an idea of doing the 2 and 3 Star Trek movies back-to-back? Is there any possibility of that?
Alex: It’s very, very important to us to make sure that each movie is good, not “Hey, let’s do as many as possible,” but make sure they’re good. We feel like we’ve inherited this incredible honor and this mantle of Star Trek, and the most important thing is to make sure that we’re protecting that first. So, if the studio wants more than one, great. But, our thinking is going to be very much about the story and whether the story prescribes that there will be more than one. Part of what is great about Star Trek is that it’s a continuing adventure, so you naturally think that there will be many, hopefully, but we only focus on what comes next, and then build off of that. Right now, we’re not thinking specifically about making 2 and 3. It may come up, but it’s not where our heads are at right now.
Question: Recently Bob, you and JJ talked about allegory for the sequel and going back to that Original Series notion doing an allegory. I think you alluded to torture. How are you going to balance the allegory and still keep the positive future.
Bob: The torture thing was just a for instance. Someone asked, “Modern day issues like torture?,” and we said, “Yeah, sure, modern day issues,” but, we’re not doing a story about Gitmo as I read on some site that it was going to be about Guantanamo Bay. But, now that we’ve established the characters, we can have a more philosophical allegory, where what’s happening in the future represents our world, like the best versions of it in the ’60’s did, representing women’s rights, racial equality, progressive issues.
Question: And can you give a status update on where you are with the story and the script, etc.
Bob: We’re still just brainstorming, internally and are going to get together soon and bust our riffs out and see what happens, and start putting it together.
Question: So, you haven’t figured out a story yet?
Bob: No.
Question: As fans of The Original Series and mythology, have you given any thought as to how you could incorporate Khan?
Alex: Where we’re starting is, “Okay, where are our characters now? What are interesting complications that we can put in their lives? What feels like an organic emotional place for us to get to? How do we want to test them?” And then, you look at everything and start asking, “Who would be the best foe?”
Bob: There are mental exercises we play. You can’t be a fan of this and not sit around and wonder.
Alex: But, the short answer is that we haven’t landed on anybody yet.
Question: Have you guys decided how much time will have passed between the first Star Trek film and the sequel? Are they still going to be new on the job, or will they have some experience?
Bob: We’re actually debating that.
Alex: We don’t have an answer yet.
Bob and Alex on writing process and other projects
Question: Now that Cowboys and Aliens script is a go, how is that film developing and how is it to work with Jon Favreau?
Alex: It’s the greatest.
Bob: We just started and we’re getting along really well. We’ve sent ourselves back to school and we’re watching Westerns together and analyzing them. We’re just getting into it.
Question: Have you found any good references?
Alex: Oh, yeah.
Bob: We just watched The Searchers last.
Alex: We had a lot of these Westerns in our head, but Jon is an incredible fountain of Western knowledge.
Bob: And, Star Trek was originally pitched as a space Western, anyway, so it was a nice lead up to this, for us.
Alex: I think Jon also comes from a very similar emotional place and, because he’s an actor, he knows what plays and what doesn’t play very quickly. We’re having an unbelievably good time working with him.
Question: What is your involvement with Fringe this season?
Bob: We come in about once a week, and then we’ll oversee two or three episodes during the season, where we work with another writer. We all divvy up overseeing part of the staff, to generate episodes. We all sat around for weeks, early on in this year, to figure out what the overall season would be, and then we check in once or twice a week and oversee a couple episodes.
Question: Does JJ Abrams have the same schedule?
Bob: Yeah. We switch off. He’ll check in and oversee another episode when we’re not around. That way, there’s a constant stream of us consulting and helping the great showrunners that we have, Jeff Pinkner and Joel Wyman.
Alex: The credit really goes to them, honestly. Jeff and Joel are carrying the show right now, in an amazing way. They’re in there seven days a week. They’re there all the time, 24 hours a day.
Question: Do you have an update on the View-Master film
Alex: We’ve read a lot of the wildly cynical response to that. What I’ll say is that some toys should be movies and some toys should not be movies, and I’d like to believe we know the difference between those things. The movies that work, work when there’s a story there that you could take the toy out of, but then, when you put the toy in, it becomes an even more amazing experience, for whatever reason. Brad Kane, who was a writer for us on Fringe, came to us with an amazing idea, that had absolutely nothing to do with View-Master. We loved it and thought it was fantastic.
Bob: But, we said, “It’s missing one thing. I don’t know what that thing could be.”
Alex: And, along came View-Master, and it sounded like the perfect marriage of ideas. But, it’s because we started with a story that felt like it could be told, all on its own, before that came along. So, it’s like, “Bring it on!” If you want to be cynical about View-Master, great ’cause we’re so confidence in where it’s going to end up going that we feel like there’s nowhere to go, but up.
Bob: Spielberg actually told us once that his first draft story of E.T. didn’t have an alien in it. It was a family drama about a kid missing his father, and E.T. was born from that. And, that’s always stuck in our minds. You’ve got to be able to take out the thing.
Question: Because you are involved in so many projects at one time, how do you structure your time?
Bob: Fist of all there are two of us, and that is how we structure our time. And we have kind that we are never breaking the soul of the story at the same time. You can’t do two roadmaps simultaneously.
Alex: Television taught us a lot about muti-tasking. You are breaking a story while you are writing an outline, while you are writing a script, while you shooting a show, while you are posting a show, five episodes all at once. So you learn the discipline of figuring out how to focus on each thing as you go. In our partnership, one of the things we foundearly on, is is that one of the things we really liked is the energy that comes of of doing many things at once. You can step away from a problem and put your brain in something else, and come back half an hour later and have a fresh perspective. The other thing is to let as many voices into the process as possible, you want a sense of checks and balances. You never want to be dictatorial. It is a very open dialog, especial for something like Star Trek or Transformers, there are so many voices in that process, you have to let it in and let it be a part of what you do.
Question: You guys and JJ like surprises in your movies. What surprises you in the movies?
Alex: I was very surprised by District 9. I was surprised by it for a number of reasons. It was not the movie that was marketed, and I thought that was very bold. If I had read that script, I would have said there is no way this is going to work. Where it goes, it is going to be impossible to execute, and yet it was executed so brilliantly and so emotionally and I think that was my studio notes training, because a studio would never have allowed that movie to exist the way that it did. Yet, it became this massive success. I think that those kind of break-outs are truly surprising because they give you hope that you still be doing something different and be doing genre. It was an incredibly bold and great movie.
Book em’ Dano: Bob and Alex producing Hawaii Five-0 reboot
In late-breaking news, tonight Variety reported that Bob and Alex are going to reboot another classic franchise, this time the 70s cop show Hawaii Five-O for CBS. A script is currently being developed for the pilot by Peter Lenkov (CSI: NY) under Kurtzman and Orci’s supervision, with Lenkov serving as showrunner (if picked up).
More to come
Look for more coverage on the Star Trek home video releases coming November 17th. You can pre-order your copy or copies below.
| Title | Blu-ray | DVD |
| Star Trek 2009 | 3-disk set
3-disk set w/ replica 3-disk set w/ badges |
2-disk
1-disk |
I hope they read JJ’s comment about there being “gift after gift” of connections with the original. Done right, that would really satisfy me!
These guys are still talking about “who would be the best foe”!
Wrong thinking! The villian/foe storyline has been DONE TO DEATH!
Why not have the crew encounter something in space that both threatens and challenges them without it being about an enemy/revenge theme?
Bob, Alex, I’m in the camp that wants to see a “Kirk begins” story line, which means I would rather see the second movie begin not too long after the first, before Kirk has really had a chance to be tested, when there are doubts about his ability, even among his own crew. The defeat of Nero was a fluke. Kirk is too young to be a Captain. He doesn’t have what it takes. And then he proves to the doubters that he deserves to be where he is by his actions in the second film. In that way you can also answer the objections so many people have made that you guys promoted him to quickly. Rather than run from the criticism, take it head on and show that he’s earned it, that Pike’s faith in him was well .
Placed. That Pike’s faith in him was well placed. Oopsy.
>>Why not have the crew encounter something in space that both threatens and challenges them<<
You mean like a foe?
In the sequel, please set the film a few years after the first one, where the characters are the experienced crew we love. MAKE IT SO… please.
Make it a love story! Get Carol Marcus in there, and let’s involve Christine Chapel or Number One as well!
#5
No, smartypants, I mean like in The Immunity Syndrome where the crew goes up against an entity in space. Have them go up against something in space that doesn’t WANT to kill them, but WILL kill them just because it exists! Have Kirk rise to the occasion as an untested captain and win over the situation!
Still toying with Khan I see. I don’t want Khan to be rehashed.
If they redo Khan it will be inferior to Space Seed and TWOK.
Do a story that is unique to Star Trek, not a film that will turn Trek into a Michael Bay style film. That is what I want
Would love to see Kang, Kor and Koloth…
The whole cadet to captain thing in the latest movie was so contrived.
Start out the movie with Kirk and Spock playing chess. Throw Gary Mitchell in there somewhere. Gotta have Carol Marcus in there, too, for a romance with JTK. Will she end the movie knocked up? Why not? Kirk leaves her at the end whether she be on a space station or planet, McCoy and Spock at his side. Read the TOS novel Faces of Fire. Good one.
On another note, I can see Paramount demanding a big name actor to get in there to try and increase international sales. Will we see Brad Pitt playing a Klingon? Lol, he’d be funnier than hell as, say, Apollo.
I don’t know if the second movie would be the proper time, but I’d LOVE to see a story with Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln. Because of his unique position as someone from the future there could be some VERY interesting stories written involving Gary Seven and other characters/races from the original series.
If Paramount insists on casting a big name at least get somebody WHO CAN ACT!
That means NO Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, etc.
#11: captain_neill:
I must concur. It was “bulls**t!
The BEST thing that could happen to the franchise now is if JJ and company would just walk away. Let them do their re-boot of “Hawaii 5-0” and leave “Star Trek” to a competent team of people who KNOW “Star Trek!”
NOT “Star Wars!”
BTW! I recently purchased the Playmates Enterprise toy just to compare it to all the Enterprises before it.
It’s symmetry is ALL WRONG!
I did find a use for it though! I ripped out all it’s guts and lit my “War of the Worlds” Martian war machine with lights! I just disabled the sound board!
Works GREAT!
Best $30 dollars I ever spent!
#15 and #11 Well if you didnt like the new film at least you havce the original show to wind your time away. Star Trek was, lets be honest, completely dead…JJ and the crew added some MUCH needed energy into it and what they delivered was the best film this past summer
Kirk was too young to be captain? so what!? Contrived? again so what!? its a film with a guy with pointed ears and green blood…let it go boys, enjoy and go along for the ride.
JJ and the crew…fantastic work…bring on the sequel
How about Kirk and the lead guy in The Green Mile playing a Klingon (a old generation TOS version TOS one have there ships sucked into a black hole and they pop out in klingon space and the klingon comes out as a New style Klingon (ST:TMP) and because Kirk and the Enterprise saved the Warbird from becoming a singularity the Klingon helps get Kirk back to federation space. The trip takes months and when they get back the surviving Vulcans have started to remake a new Vulcan world. And Spock-Prime is now the Vulcan Counsel leader but uses the name of his yet to be and now never born brother.
@ 15 – rolls eyes
The real difference between them and Roddenberry is that these writers are character driven. They will deal with Kirk being inexperienced as captain, Spock rebelling against what Spock Prime said to him, etc, etc.
Roddenberry would take a stand for the future of humanity itself. He had a bold vision, he did not care about personal issues inside the crew; every choice came from the word Future, of what the Society wants to be. Instead of dealing with traumas from the past
We wont have a 5 year mission to explore strange new worlds, but in its place the unbalance of Vulcan destruction, bringing Klingons into war. And as we all already know, war is pointless, it just postpones the Future.
As much we all like Wrath of Khan, it wasn’t Roddenberry choice. His choice was the Motion Picture, where there is no villains to fight, but to understand, to connect with them towards the final conclusion that we and the villain are the same, so we can move on together to new worlds.
These writers have the biggest challenge because this old tune I just wrote was played so many times. Bringing War to Star Trek will have an obvious ending. It needs a third player, one above the war, and it cannot be Q.
15: Tastes like sarcasm, I like. ;)
Anyway, can’t wait to see what they’ll do with the next movie.
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is the best western ever made. Both Star Trek and Cowboys and Aliens couldn’t go wrong by borrowing elements of that film.
– a story set within a backdrop of war
– a “good” character (eg. Federation), a “bad” character (eg. Klingon Empire), and ambivalent character (eg. Cardassians or Ferengi or Breen or Gorn or Tholians).
– epic, cross-galaxy scope
– all parties in pursuit of a common “treasure” (eg. “The Chase” TNG episode), sometimes cooperating, sometimes conflicting
I liked the film, I had a blast watching it
but depite my enjoyment of the film I was not sold on the cadet to captian thing for Kirk.
I am looking forward to the next movie, even people who liked the film have admited that it was a bit silly Kirk going from cadet ot captain.
…and there was NO need for it as well.
Yes, we have Roddenberry to thank for Star Trek. He had a great idea that turned into a great show…with the help of a lot of creative people.
He was not a great writer and I don’t believe he is really the “visionary” that everyone seems to so romantically remember him as.
If Roddenberry had his way, which he really did with the first couple seasons of TNG, there would never be any conflict or any violence or anything bad happening to anyone. He was a utopian 60’s hippie. Nothing against his beliefs, but they make for pretty boring TV and movies.
All just my opinion.
The story should be about two universes colliding (the Prime one and the new one) – maybe because of the events in the first movie.
This way we wouldn’t have the old big-bad-villain-wants-to-destroy-everything-and-gets-killed-in-the-end-story. And this would be a perfect opportunity to bring old Kirk back.
And Prime Kirk and Prime Spock have to “fight” side by side with New Kirk and New Spock to save both universes from destruction.
How to complicate our character’s lives and test them? Very nice approach. I hope by “foe” they are open to not only a “who” but also a “what”. The whale probe was a great test and complication for our characters. I guess as long as the situation created by the “foe” effects all our characters on a personal level, maybe even challenging their core beliefs, that is more important than who the foe actually is. Alot of great Trek comes from our characters being put in perilous situations that don’t always involve a “villian” or “enemy” in the traditional sense.
I think bringing in T’Pring would be a good complication for Spock and Uhura’s relationship, with Sarek forcing Spock to yet again choose between his human and Vulcan side.
@15: “…It’s symmetry is ALL WRONG!”
And my keyboard only types out exclamation points! Oh noes!
THIS IS… wait for it…. A DISASTER!
Seriously, though. Let the new actors stand on their own feet. No holdovers, re-hashes, cameos, alternate universes, etc. You’ve got an entire new, blank-slate universe to play with. Go nuts.
#2—“These guys are still talking about “who would be the best foe”!
Wrong thinking! The villian/foe storyline has been DONE TO DEATH!
Why not have the crew encounter something in space that both threatens and challenges them without it being about an enemy/revenge theme?”
I don’t think that means “enemy/revenge theme”.
“Okay, where are our characters now? What are interesting complications that we can put in their lives? What feels like an organic emotional place for us to get to? How do we want to test them?” And then, you look at everything and start asking, “Who would be the best foe?”
As is often the case in Star Trek, a “foe” may turn out to be someone or something which isn’t a “villain” at all. For example, the Whale Probe in TVH certainly isn’t a villain, but at one point, it is considered to be a “foe”. Kirk even mentions the option of destroying it, and only after being reminded that they lack the capability of doing so does he consent to exploring another option.
The Horta is another example which comes quickly to mind.
I am totally cool with Star Trek saying, ok, this is a new universe now where we tell fresh stories. But to then turn around and say, Khan (or other story lines that had been previously covered) is going to be part of our “new and fresh” world, dramatically undercuts what the whole point was: to start fresh.
Why are you guys even giving interviews if you have nothing to say?
Nurse Chapel did get a namecheck in the film though…
I hope they give these poeple some experience. Cadet to Captain makes for some very stretched imagination. If they’re in the middle of a 5 year mission, say in year 2.5, it makes it better though.
#2/Harry Ballz – Hear! Hear!
As captivating as the 1st movie has been, as time goes by I find myself dissatisfied with its plot, which is flat and uncompelling – it’s more like a glorious exercise in fandom than anything else really.
Here’s hoping these guys finally toss their “Transformers” tendencies aside and show some REAL talent for engrossing sci-fi storytelling.
I’ve written it before and if the powers that be visit this website, here is an open letter to the crew behind the Star Trek movies:
I think for the sequel, instead if introducing Kahn, the next film should be like “Batman Begins”, but instead be “Kirk Begins”. The last film dealt with how the crew came together and worked as a unit. I think the next film should be about WHY Kirk should be in the Captain’s chair of the Enterprise. Like Batman Begins, the film should be a journey as to how he becomes the most respected captain in Starfleet. Face it, in the new film, he got his butt handed to him several times and he becoming captain (at first) because he emotionally compromised Spock is not exactly the way some saw history unfolding. I think fans need to see why he deserves to be in the Captain’s chair, specifically, the chair of the Enterprise. We need a true hero’s journey (no, not like Spiderman 2 where he quits, then has a change of conscience) where by the end of the film, he will show that he is competent and a force to be reckoned with (like Bruce Wayne / Batman did in Batman Begins.) Bringing Kahn into the mix so soon would not work. Save it for the third film the way Nolan saved the Joker for a later film. That way, when Kirk is challenged, audiences will feel like Kirk is in over his head, creating great drama the way “The Dark Knight” did.
I think the possibilities of a “Kirk Begins” are endless. The ending could even mimic “Batman Begins” with Kirk and crew on the bridge, basking in the glow of their latest victory, when Uhura says to Kirk “Captain, I am receiving a distress beacon from a ship identifying itself as the SS Botany Bay.”
Kirk just smiles, saying “Let’s look into it!” (Or words to that effect, don’t want to copy Batman word-for-word.)
As for Kahn, I know Javier Bardem is a fan favorite, but I think Antonio Banderas would be better. Banderas and Ricardo Montalbán played family in Spy Kids 3 and I feel that Antonio would bring the right mixture of charm and menace to Kahn. The Kahn fans remember the most is from “The Wrath of Kahn”. The Kahn we should meet is from Space Seed (Or “Kahn Begins”, sorry couldn’t help with that one!). Watching “Space Seed”, we see that Kahn was charming, suave and dangerous, qualities that I feel Antonio Banderas has. It is his banishment to Ceti Alpha V that turns him into the Kahn we know and love.
Any thoughts? Good idea? Bad idea?
I just hope and wish that the next ST movie doesn’t have a exponentially larger amount of cussing in it compared to the last. I was really turned off by the last Transformers movie having way too much cussing…it was distracting and nearly embarrassing. I think good writers can make an interesting and captivating story without resorting to the lowest human common denominator. Sure, probably 75 percent* or more of this world thinks nothing of cussing, but there is the other 25 percent* that could totally do without.
*(These figures are just a very unscientific estimate. Don’t nail me to the wall if I’m not close on my estimates)
I loved the movie and am really looking forward to the sequel. However I still found the whole cadet-captain thing too hard to swallow. I agree with #3 that the next film should in some way explore how Kirk, a new inexperienced untested captain, gains the confidence and respect of his crew and Starfleet.
Alternatvely set the new film a few years on but with a weary Kirk, possibily considering resigning. The responsibility of captain so young weighing heavily on his shoulders. Thru the film we would see Kirk grow and become the Captain of the Enterprise that we’re all familar with.
Hey I got an idea…instead of arguing over something that ISN’T EVEN ON PAPER YET…shut up and wait for a draft. If you don’t like the draft, don’t watch the movie. Problem solved!
30 – They are giving interviews on other projects, and they keep getting asked about Star Trek.
They are simply keeping us updated on their thoughts and the current state of Trek while promoting other projects.
Are they going to say No Comment when someone asks?
You have to remember Khan shows up in the middle of the TOS story line, and he is a geneticly enhanced Uber Alpha Male. Even being a Alpha Male you tend to want to be in charge of every thing. That power balances your Brain chemisty so you feel clam.
Beta Males like to do things but in an orderly mater, they know how all the parts work and try to get them all to fit into a working order.
Gamma Males are your submissive fools that always say whats wrong and beg others not to blame them for it.
Epsilon Males are only looking for fun or pleasure, Who cares if the World ends, lets party til it ends.
I know whom Kirk and Spock are, you can plug the others into what you think and feel are their Male type molds, as for Female there is a few other personality types also, like regenerator of the race or survivor of that races existence.
When creating new story’s, unless you want a dull movie two Alpha Males need to battle. Or you got the Ripley -vs- Alien type where most of the Men are Gamma types and the Beta type is machines and technology.
How about a total story flip, if you had Khan (no mater how much I hate the over use of old ideas) have Khan appear as a Female, you know like the Queen Borg type master of the Genetically enhanced humans of the past. But again that would be kind of reusing old ideas. We need a new idea that’s not been used before. The more New and different the story is the better the odds of newbie viewers and more money to fill their pockets with.
That is why Khan needs to be a past event. Using Khan again is just changing the frame around a painting. And very few care about the frame over the painting. Khan has a good history frame and doing Khan again would only be changing the picture frame around the painting.
The only good a new frame would do is add the paleness of repeated ideas, that’s unless the frame can convert a 15th century masterpiece into a holographic 3D window into that universe. And you need the tech toy before you make the idea.
Why can’t the story be about personal growth? Why can’t we see the various characters coming into their roles, and expressing the same doubts and fears everyone feels when thrust into a new situation?
Oh, right…because then you couldn’t blow stuff up. :-)
I don’t like the alt-Kirk and alt-Spock fighting alongside the prime-Kirk and prime-Spock to save both universes, because it smacks of “Crisis on Infinite Earths.” In fact, keep the prime characters out of it completely. The alts own the universe now, let them play in it.
Orci and Kurtzman – The Franchise Writers :)
– Transformers
– Star Trek
– Hawaii Five-O
– ViewMaster
– The Legend of Zorro
– Mission: Impossible III
I like what they’ve done on those I’ve seen.
I swear to God, if I hear those 2 guys use the word “organic” ONE more time in an interview, I’m gonna puke. They really need to buy a thesaurus.
Star Trek sequel-
To: Mr. Abrams, Orci, Kurtzman, and Lindelof
As a fan of the Star Trek franchise since 1966; having watched every incarnation of Trek on television and all of the films (and read several of the highly regarded Trek books as well). – And, following the release of Star Trek, you have all stated you would welcome and had hoped for fan feed back… I offer my following comments, for your consideration, regarding possible script elements for the highly anticipated sequel(s).
Reconsider formulating the arc… with the “Main Threads” established in your film, merged into the next two films creating a Trilogy. (As set-up for the forth film beginning the new 5 year mission).
Thread – The destruction of Vulcan has caused an immense power-vacuum within the Federation. Not only has Earth lost it most powerful allies within the Federation… Earth /Star Fleet Command, has also lost all the natural resources and advanced technologies provided by Vulcan. This plot element alone is ripe with opportunity for you to exploit. This power-vacuum is quickly ceased and filled by the Andorians. One of their many demands, outlined at the summit at UFP Council, Paris, requires a command rank Andorian to stand on the Bridge of all Federation Star Ships. i.e. [As other fans have suggested – the addition of a new strong (sexy) female lead character to the Enterprise bridge; to be the new in-house antagonist to play off our protagonist Kirk and to be a true rival to Spock, would allow for continued conflict on the bridge and greater exploration of all our human emotions.] > Lieutenant Commander “__?__ ”, a Andorian / Human hybrid > https://market.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1648565&member > graduated second in her class to Spock from Starfleet Academy – current posting, first officer aboard the Andorian Federation Flag Ship – but she has been obsessed with a command post on the Enterprise since her construction began.
{Possible Canon – This new character could be the great grand daughter of Commander/ General Thy’lek Shran- http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Thy%27lek_Shran the grand child of his daughter Talla Shran— and her human Star Fleet officer husband?}
As just one emample…
One key thing I’d like to see in the sequel (it’s a ‘must’, really) is the “triangle” between Kirk, Spock and McCoy. That was essential in the original series, and they definitely need to build on that now. And, Spock and McCoy definitely need one of their private one-on-one “humanity/emotion” debate sessions (arguments) that Kelley and Nimoy always did.. McCoy pushing and challenging Spock.
Some more general things I’d like to see..
– an “old style” staff meeting at the Briefing Room table, like we used to see all the time, perhaps with a classic “Kirk speech” to rally the troops.
– tighter uniform shirts (they don’t have to be “skin tight” like the old TV show, but I did feel like the were a bit TOO loose fitting in the movie.. too informal, they looked too much like pajamas, the neckline hung too much off the black undershirts)
– Engineering needs to “blend” better with the rest of the ship. I’m not opposed to all the pipes and the industrial look, but it looked too much like a cross between Titanic, and a brewery. Just blend it better, with some more recognizable “Engineering station” control panels added in there. The pipes dominated too much of the visuals in there.
I think the opening scene to the new Hawaii Five-O film should be the remains of the Narada emerging from a portal and falling to Earth, completely destroying Maui.
Question: As fans of The Original Series and mythology, have you given any thought as to how you could incorporate Khan?
-If Khan shows up i’m blaming Pascale.
He keeps bringing it up apropos of nothing .
“hey, speaking of star trek…what about Khan?”
#2 you hit the nail on the head! We don’t need a “bad guy” who is out for revenge. Let them be pitted against a Nomad, Doomsday Machine, or something like the entity in Star Trek IV (except a bad one).
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don’t turn off half of your potential audience by doing some lame alegory that so many people keep talking about. People want to have fun at the movies, not be preached to! If you have a political allegory you can count on half of your audience being turned off by it and therefore, half of the box office receipts.
To all those who have negative reviews of what has been done by these guys with Star Trek and what’s to come….. Understand that you are all a far outweighed minority of the opinion of the last movie. Believe me, your arguments will carry no weight and will have no input as to what comes next. In every poll on every website you’re looking at about a 90% ratio of those that thought this new movie was fantastic. That is what the studios and writers and producers look at (and the box office of course).
The reason you go back and take the best of what has come before is because there have been over 700 hours of Star Trek produced and pretty much everything has been done. The movie still has to appeal to all. I don’t think doing a story about torture is the greatest thing in the world to promote in a sci-fi fantasy film. Nor should there be some really in depth love story. It’s about a foe that serves the story in such a way as to make all the characters have some sacrifice in what’s going on.
Most people seem pro movie on this site.
On IMDB though, there seems to be a concentrated effort to write and post multiple negative reviews.
Taste of Armageddon.
We’re getting closer and closer to fighting our own wars that way so…
I absolutely LOVED Hawaii Five-O when I was a kid and if anyone can reboot the series successfully, it’s these two guys. I have complete faith in them. :)