Roberto Orci: Star Trek 2012 ‘Builds’ On Star Trek 2009 – But Not Just For Trekkies

In yet another Wondercon snippet from Roberto Orci, the co-writer/producer says the 2012 Star Trek sequel  will be "building on" the 2009 Star Trek movie, but will not require viewers to be Trek fans or even to have seen the 2009 movie. Watch the video below. 

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Orci: Star Trek sequel ‘builds’ on Star Trek 2009 – but don’t need to be a fan

Yet another straggler Wonderon interview with Roberto Orci has cropped up with some more comments on the Star Trek Sequel. This time from About.com. Bob confirmed again that filming is expected to start in the fall and offered the (joke) spoiler that it "would take place in space", but Orci did offer some info on how they approach the audience for the film.

Here are excerpts with Bob talking Bob Orci:

How is this next [Star Trek] going to catch the fans again?

Roberto Orci: "Well, even though it’s a sequel we want to make sure that, again, just like with the first one you don’t have to be a Trek fan to know what’s happening. It doesn’t rely on your previous knowledge of Trek or even the previous movie. It’s still building on that movie. If you watch the first movie, you’ll see where the characters have gone but every movie has to stand on its own. You can never just rely on the fact that it’s a sequel."

Is that a hard fan base to deal with?

Roberto Orci: "Yes."

How do you handle that?

Roberto Orci: "By engaging them actually, I think. Because they are one of the most long-standing, vocal fan bases around, from the very beginning when we signed on to those movies, we were interacting with them online and any time we ran into them. And literally the fans in a sense are consultants on these movies because we really do read what they have to say because I was a fan and I wouldn’t want someone ruining my Star Trek without at least my getting to complain about it directly to management. The comment box is always open."

Of course before every Star Trek film, producers going back to the 80s would talk about how their Trek film didn’t require a knowledge of Trek. However, in reality Star Trek films usually did mostly appeal to the fanbase, with some exceptions (especially Star Trek IV). The 2009 Star Trek film certainly reversed the trend of the previous two Trek features which had little mainstream appeal. Of course as fans, we want to be rewarded with nods and connections to both the 2009 film and the franchise as a whole, but if done right, Star Trek continuity can be thread into a movie without confusing general audiences.


The new crew welcomes all comers for the Star Trek sequel

POLL: Sequel Target

Do you want the Star Trek sequel to focus on us the fans, those elusive general film goers or both equally?

[poll=644]

 

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Bob I know you are trying to Thred a needle in a Giant Haystack and I hope you can pull it off again. I know we crazy Hard core fans can ride you but I do want to thank you for allowing us to be in there in helping you with Trek in any way. I don’t know of any other writters of any franchise who do that for there fans.

Bob I do have a question. A couple of weeks ago you said you were 75% done. What would that be now. Also. Can you tell us of any changes that might be made to our fav target. Engineering.

More times than not, the general public usually goes to a ST film with a ST fan, whether it be a boyfriend, girlfriend or whatever.

Oh Bob. One more. I asked you a few weeks ago if you could include Del J Trame the young guy who was a blogger on Trek Movie who passed away and you said you would try and include him. Can you tell us if he would be included in trek 12 in any way.

Nice. Will there be any transporter room scenes? ;)

I trust these guys fully.

Hey Chris Doohan. Will you be in the next Movie as well.

Really? Is that even a real poll?

It seems to me like the movies that don’t rely on being a sequel tend to be better movies anyway. Star Trek II doesn’t require seeing the Motion Picture, (in fact I saw TMP after seeing II, III, IV, and V). Likewise, the Dark Knight doesn’t require seeing Batman Begins.

7. Commodore Mike of the Terran Empire – April 18, 2011

Hey Chris Doohan. Will you be in the next Movie as well.

I guess that depends whether there are transporter room scenes. :)

Equally both – because that means it’s for EVERYONE.

All it takes is imagination to come up with something that’s simultaneously accessible and respectful of the source material – and yet, with the majority of movies based on TV shows/books/comicbooks/etc., TPTB seem convinced that it’s an ‘either/or’ decision…

If you listen to us, please fix Scotty’s engineering plant! We don’t need Budweiser on the Enterprise! :)

@5 Chris Doohan

I think you should be in deflector control.

I like the “builds on” idea.

Summer of 2012 can’t come fast enough for this old Trekkie. :-D
It’s nice to have a Star Trek franchise that non-Trekkies can enjoy too, however. I know people who positively loathe ST (including a sister of mine) who really loved the ’09 movie, and saw it more than once.

All I hope for is that the production team craft the best movie they can, and see what happens. I, for one, have a lot of faith in these guys and give them a lot of credit.

Good luck, Abrams, Orci, Kurtzman and the cast and crew.
Give it your best! ;-)

Looking forward to an original story and not a re-hash of an old TOS episode. New timeline, new Enterprise needs new ideas.

Well, this thread won’t end well…

Bob, we have been and always shall be your friends….. that is as long as you bend to our will and Kneel before Trek – just kidding!

Hope all your edits are small and your MS Word dictionary was given a complete overhaul by Mr. Okrand.

May the Prophets serve and guide you in all your enterprises.

Bob. It is like this.
1 Great Trek Movie gets you immunity from the Agoniser booth.
2. Bad Trek Movie gets you the Agoniser booth for a Very! Long! Time!
No Pressure Bob.

First film was a lot of fun, but my general wish-list:

* MORE McCOY, and specifically more Kirk-Spock-McCoy friendship — this was the cornerstone of the series (not to mention Karl Urban was grossly underused); please don’t get pulled into a love-triangle story re/Kirk-Spock-Uhura

* Refit the ENTERPRISE (i.e., lose the brewery and Uhura & Co. sitting in front of vats as if they were some kind of listening device computer)

* Reshape the ENTERPRISE a bit to lose the Naboo-esque engine mounts

* Ask Giacchino to work in some more TOS motifs (his soundtrack for SPEED RACER was perfect, mixing old music and new themes)

Just my 2¢;

#5 – “Transporter Room Scenes”

well, keeping with the brewery thing, maybe these will be filmed in a shower stall room at a YMCA

I have to say I voted for ‘fan and moviegoers’ simply because as a fan I feel it gives the movie more leeway, loosens the collar a bit, and in the end is just more badass, which after 10 great movies, it deserved to get a little badass.

When you try to please all the people, you wind up pleasing none of them. OTOH, Hollywood with some regularity shows that if you try to please the lowest common denominator, you can get good box office.

ST 2009 indeed didn’t rely on prior knowledge of Star Trek, as the characters had nothing in common with the original ones except for their names. The only thing that was there for the fans were some inside jokes, but the soul of Star Trek was gone. I’d really rather you called it something other than “Star Trek,” but go ahead and do 2012 for the general audience, as this long-term TOS fan doesn’t intend to bother seeing it.

OMG! … I better not make comment about it … I think the last comment I made in another article involved a bit about this subject… and unfortunately I could not explain myself right about it!… basically what I think is that the producers don’t need accept my suggestions I want to be surprised … I like their work by the way…

But doesn’t mean I don’t like to make suggestions … yes it’s contradictory I know! … LOL

Anyway I voted.. ” Equally for Fans & General Moviegoers ”

:-) :-)

Of course a blockbuster type movie ought to appeal to a wide audience but a Trek movie fails if it does not appeal to the fans first and foremost. Just my opinion. Beware of the wrath of the fans.. lol.

P.S. The 2009 film was totally awesome so I’m not worried. Just have to throw that out there in case Orci sees my above comment. haha.

Star trek of old is dead. There are so many plot holes in the 2009 that make no sense. In WWii there were many acts of courage on many ships. I could see a demonstration of exceptional leadership being a reason to put someone in command. With Kirk 2009 he got into a bar fight, cheated on an exam, and for some reason Starfleet ran out of experienced people. He stows away on a ship full of officers that have never been in space. Eventally during the 7 minute ride to Vulcan (which takes way longer later in the movie) Kirk get promoted to first officer (why?) and to gain command he verbally assaults Spock to make him angry. If you have ever heard of anyone getting promoted because they are a genius bar fighter who cheats on tests. I know the cheat is part of the history, but I envisioned a far more clever way to demonstrate a genius tactical ability. In the beginning of the movie the USS Kelvin lasts like 10 minutes in battle with Nero’s ship. The new fleet of ships that goes to Vulcan lasts less than 2 minutes. Remember TOS when Capt Kirk went head to head with the romulans for the first time he had to out think the romulan commander. I doubt we will ever see star trek like that again. I would like to be wrong, but. They have taken star trek and dumded it down so everyone will like it. Feel free to prove me wrong.

Is that a hard fan base to deal with?

Roberto Orci: “Yes.”

I wonder why this made me chuckle a little bit. :)

As for the survey, I said for the movie-goers.

I hate to say it, but most Trekkies are far too fickle to be a suitable target for anything more than the technical details.

Plot? Story? Just think about the movie-goers.

Get ‘er done.
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Bob, at this point, whatever you come up with I’m sure a majority of us will enjoy and be pleased with. I realize how much of yourself you’re putting into this. Don’t aim to make the best movie ever, just aim to make it significant, and something you can enjoy. If you get joy from it, I suspect that’s your key to know when it’s right.

Thanks for showing such amazing respect for all of fandom: even in spite of the worser aspects of it. And drop us some ideas you may have chosen *not* to do for this sequel… things you know you’d never use, that is. Uncle Frank kind of stuff.

…….. and it would be great if boborci can continue coming here when they start filming the sequel… and give us a little bit of information about it! … oh and it would be awesome if they could do something like the director Peter Jackson did when he started filming The Hobbit … that video ….AWESOME!

again … Please, Mr. Bob Orci!

:-) :-)

Didn’t they create the whole alternate reality thing precisely because they wanted freedom from the canon?

So basically, freedom from fans expectations as well, since canon is all a Trek fan knows that a general moviegoer does not. Trivia like finding the tribles or spotting the Archer reference don’t count.

Just watched the video and laughed even harder at that look he gave the camera.

Seriously Orci, just listen to us for the technical nerdy details, otherwise, just follow your gut. :)

I have to say it kinda’ makes me uncomfortable that just because Bob Orci has decided to participate a bit here and there, that now some see this as license to make demands of his time.

…And I’m not necessarily talking about suggestions for the script, because that’s what he’s asked for, after all. :)

…But some recent threads have *really* gone in that uncomfortable direction of demanding that he respond to *you*, in particular, be here on our time, or give us more information than is remotely feasible.

The fact that he’s here when he wants to be is a gift, we shouldn’t be giving this gift horse a thoroughly probing-ly, invasive, once-over for it.

He’s just a person, like all of us. His job just happens to be cooler than our own. :)

@3. I wonder if this last film changed that. I suspect it did.

I don’t know, isn’t a great movie, period, the goal? Making a movie for fans is a bad idea, because, well fans don’t agree on anything, we often have terrible ideas, and then they’re just inserting random things they guess the fans will get off on.

Homages are fine but easy, cameos are fine but easy, and I’d rather take a great movie and forgo either of those. I don’t want winks at the camera. i’ve already seen tribbles in a cage (how long had they been there, why weren’t they reproducing?). If it requires explaining to a non-Trekker, as in, they wont get parts of the movie without a guide, then it probably shouldn’t be there.

What’s the point of the little nods, other than the filmmakers saying ‘see skeptical fans, we’ve watched the series (or have the Internet)… please like us and our movie.’ God, using Delta Vega was an ill-conceived nod to fans. Get the spirit (and the look is part of that, arguably) right and you’re fine. That’s how you pay respect to the original. Yet again, the Dark Knight is an example. Star Trek II is an example. Heck, TOS wasn’t made for fanboys, it was made for the general public.

#32.

No question about Star Trek Sequel is just “personal interest”… and as I said is not necessary for him to accept my suggestions… lol … Hey, he never answered any of my questions until now … but he said he’s not ignoring me … so … I try! …

And boborci is not a person like us… no way … he knows Chris Pine personally!!! … LOL and +LOL

:-) :-)

@33 TOS was very fanservece-y, I thought, more than the Reboot movies will ever be. I’ve only watched it recently and reading commentary on it, for me it’s pretty obvious how in tune they were with the fanbase.

The Rebbot movies are set in such way that they can even alter the dynamic, so when fans say there MUST be a McCoy-Kirk-Spock triad , it’s wrong. In this universe, Spock is banging Uhura and Vulcan was blown up, your argument is invalid.

And just for the record, TDK was a mish-mash of actual comic-book storylines. It was a lot more than just a spot-the-tribble kind of nod to the fans. :)

I voted for “Fans and For General Moviegoers” because you need the base support (fans) to allow the franchise to survive and the mainstream to help it thrive. That is all.

Bob doesn’t have an obligation to listen to us fans, he does it because he is a fan himself. He cares. But I would have to think that he has a “filter” of some sort in his brain where he can easily forget most of the “ideas” fans have come up with on this site. One can easily care too much and let everyone else dictate the story of the next film, resulting in a crappy product that neither the writers nor the fans end up enjoying.

I loved the first move as both an old-school fanboy and a general movie-goer.

My ONLY big petty fanboy request for the next one: Give us a realistic size for that Enterprise! Don’t tell me it’s as big as the Enterprise-D! Please!

I don’t want Kirk to say, “I am responsible for the lives of one-thousand and twelve crewmen.” It just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

(Yeah, I went and looked up the crew size of the “D.” Nerd check.)

Just give us a great story!!

And thanks!

#26

I can point out just as many plot holes in the old Trek movies, some far worse than Trek 09. The difference is that those movies conformed to what *you* think Trek should be, so you were willing to excuse them. Trek 09 didn’t, so now they bug you.

Awww…so we won’t be dealing with the ramifications of the fact that the a founding planet of the Federation is completely gone? We’re just going to like…brush over it?

Hmm, I dunno, I think dealing with that emotional (and of course economical and political) problem could be interesting. Well, maybe the writers think that’d be too depressing. But still, it was an important development of this new reality. *shrugs* oh well.

As far as villains go though…it’s going to be tough to outmatch the futurist Romulans. You can’t really get higher stakes than having the futures of Vulcan and Earth hanging in the balance. Next thing ya know the Enterprise will be saving the Universe from a preternatural heat death. Hmm…wonder who’d be behind that? Klingons? The Borg? or maybe…KHAAAAAAN?!?! ;)

Just like all the other TV shows that have been exploited, it’s all about the money. The new movies are NOT Star Trek.

Makes business sence to make it for a general movie audience like 2009. The more that watch it the more paramount makes the more they are likely to keep making Star Trek which is good for everyone… Bob your a business genious!

I love how the creative team brought Star Trek to the mainstream for the first time in nearly 20 years with ST 09… I for one never want to see it aimed at super nerds who want to argue about the size of Ferengi’s ears or engage in techno babble while reading ship manuals…ST needed to by taken away from those geeks and given back to people who aren’t afraid to talk to the opposite sex once in a while…I am confident that Bob and the others will find just the right balance as they did the first time around.

I hope that Chris Doohan is in the transporter room again….it’s all about continuity, dammit! And, also that there should always be a Doohan at the controls.

BTW: I like how Anthony Pascale stated that the last two Trek movies had little mainstream appeal. Haha. I’d also like to add they had little appeal at all.

@43 Aren’t we fond of stereotypes.

At the end of the day, it’s those geeks that are going to love it the longest, though. Without them, this franchise wouldn’t even exist or entered, as Quinto so eloquently put it, the cultural zeitgeist.

For the “people who aren’t afraid to talk to the opposite sex once in a while”, it’s just another block buster movie.

The stupid thing is that Star Trek began to lose steam when it began to be more for the fans than anyone else.

boborci, you always say the right things.

But you’re absolutely right–the second film HAS to deal with the ramifications of the events of the first film. You can’t just destroy Vulcan and walk away. A major stabilizing influence in the universe has vanished. The s**t is really gonna hit the fan, now.

Can’t wait!

I hope, HOPE for CHRISTINE CHAPEL!!! :( I’ll be sad if she isn’t in the sequel….

35. yeah, agreed about the Dark Night, of course it had all the Batman pieces in place and it used stories, villains, all the characters and other elements, but it wasn’t like “look, it’s Batman.” “Look, it’s the batarang, check.” Somebody who’d never heard of Batman and hadnt seen the first movie could still get it. Heck, elements have to be there, and the Wrath of Khan was certainly Star Trek, but it played it straight, I think. And for TOS, especially the early first season, there WAS no fan base, other than general science fiction fans, arguably, and it was on network TV Any show plays with what works and what’s popular, and with formulas. But once it’s just about that (Alien babe falls for Kirk, check. McCoy and Spock spar, check. Kirk talks computer into self-destructing, gives speech.) and gets all self-referential, well, it’s usually lousy. I’m sure somebody thought Fonzie fans would love to see him waterskiing.

Wow, Chris Doohan really wants in on the next movie- he’s giving it all he’s got to get in isn’t he!

Bob, who would you say the Spock/Uhura love thing was designed to appeal to? I need to know before I vote!
Thanks awfully.