The USA Network has given the axe to two genre shows co-created by Star Trek veterans: The 4400 and The Dead Zone. The 4400 was created by Scott Peters and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine writer and producer Rene Echevarria. The Dead Zone was created for television by Deep Space Nine & Voyager co-creator Michael Piller with his son, Shawn Piller (who wrote for TNG and VOY). Both shows also featured a number of Trek vets both in front of and behind the camera.
Over the last few months there have been a lot of stories regarding whether William Shatner will or will not be in the new Star Trek movie. Periodically a report crops up that claims to have the definitive answer one way or another. The latest is a new report at Moviehole claiming ‘final confirmation’ from co-writer and executive producer Roberto Orci that Shatner will not be in the film. However, it appears they have jumped the gun.
Last night one of the categories on the game show Jeopardy! was “Star Trek Jargon.” All of the clues were answered on the show correctly, with three being answered by the overall winner Max Zarou. See the questions below…the first TrekMovie.com reader to answer them all correctly wins a 2008 Star Trek Calendar.
TrekMovie.com has confirmed Internet speculation regarding another actress in the Star Trek movie. English-born actress Sonita Henry tell TrekMovie.com she has a small speaking role in the film. The 30 year old actress isn’t a household name, but some sci-fi fans may recognize her from her role as the President’s Aide in the 1997 film The Fifth Element. Henry has completed her shooting which took two weeks back in November. The actress talked to TrekMovie.com about her Star Trek experience (see below).
Last week TrekMovie.com broke the news that Stargate Atlantis’ Paul McGillion will have a small role in the new Star Trek movie. Apparently Paul didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, but now that the cat is out of the bag he is willing to comment (a little). The actor is keeping mum on his role, but did tell TrekMovie.com…
One Star Trek actor that still remains a bit of an unknown is Chris Pine, the new Kirk. Today SciFi Wire has put up some more quotes from the SciFi magazine interview with Star Trek co-writer and executive producer Roberto Orci that provide some insight into why the actor was chosen for the iconic role, as well as giving some insight into how the film makers are approaching the character…
All the big casting news for the new Star Trek film is behind us, but there are still a few loose ends to tie up. Two of those loose ends are related to who two of the women in the cast are playing, which has been the subject of much speculation. Firstly TrekMovie.com can now confirm that Jennifer Morrison (House) is playing (a pregnant) Winona Kirk, the mother of James T. Kirk. Apparently, like Chris Hemsworth who is playing her husband George Kirk, Morrison is finished with her work on the project. The new Star Trek will be the first appearances for both of Kirk’s parents outside the non-canon Trek novels.
On Friday in a surprise announcement, the entire staff for StarTrek.com team was laid off as part of a larger series of cost cuts at CBS Interactive. The layoffs have put the future of the official site for Star Trek in doubt. Now TrekMovie.com has been sent an official statement from CBS, see below
Missed another week, so once again, you get two for the price of one. These past two weeks in Trek brings lots of movie news as well as news on Star Trek iPods, a former Star Trek captain’s injury, a delay for Walter Koenig’s InAlienable, writers striking Star Trek style, and a Klingon take on Charles Dickens.
We haven’t heard much from John Cho, but in a great new interview with Star Trek Magazine the new Sulu talks Trek. The actor reveals that he isn’t a hard core fan, but says he has “more than a casual association” with Trek. He has been reviewing DVDs, but feels that he should “let J.J. dictate” how he should approach the role. Although Cho didn’t reveal any plot points, some of his answers gave insights into the character of Sulu in the new Star Trek movie. (see below…minor spoilers)
New Feature: Science and technology have always been a big part of Star Trek and so every week we will bring you news on how we are headed towards that future we know so well. Some things will have have a Trek connection and others will just be cool.
OK this just came out of nowhere. The last news item for the week at StarTrek.com, the official site for Star Trek, is titled “Goodbye from the STARTREK.COM Team” In short it states that CBS Interactive is restructuring and that the entire StarTrek.com team “has been eliminated. Effective immediately.” It also states “We don’t know the ultimate fate of this site, which has served millions of Star Trek fans for the last thirteen years.” There is also a big banner on the homepage that says ‘FAREWELL.’
We have heard a lot from Zachary Quinto since he was cast as the new Spock in Star Trek. We know about his DVD viewing habits (or lack thereof), his ear lobes fitting, his work on Heroes, and even where he went for his Thanksgiving holiday. But in a new interview with the official Star Trek Magazine, he delves into some detail into the how he sees the character of Spock and where we will see Spock in the new film. See below for quotes (minor spoilers):
The latest issue of SciFi magazine has a very good in depth article on the new Star Trek film. In addition to covering the background and casting, the article also has many quotes from co-writer Roberto Orci, executive producer Bryan Burk and the new Mr. Spock, Zachary Quinto. Some select quotes below on their approach to the franchise, Shatner’s possible role, Nimoy’ involvement and more.
In September TrekMovie.com broke the news that Stargate Atlantis’ Paul McGillion auditioned for the role of Scotty for the new Star Trek film, but of course in the end the role went to Simon Pegg. However it appears that wasn’t the end of the line for McGillion. TrekMovie.com has learned that the McGillion impressed the film makers with his audition and they found a different role for the actor. No details yet on his role, except that it is a small speaking part.
Today the nominees for the 65th Annual Golden Globe Awards were announced as usual there are a few Trek connections. Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a TV Series for his role on Boston Legal. If he wins it will be his second Golden Globe. In addition, Star Trek Voyager writer/producer Bryan Fuller’s Pushing Daisies was nominated for Best Comedy or Musical TV Series. Fuller created Pushing Daisies and is executive producer; this is his first Globe nomination.
Profiles in History, long known for their Hollywood memorabilia auctions, will be featuring 31 Star Trek lots in an Ebay Live auction on Thursday and Friday (the Trek lots go up on Friday). Included will be Picard’s Captain’s chair from the Enterprise “E”, which previously sold at Christie’s last year for $62,400 and an original Uhura costume from TOS. The auction also features a stunt Geordi LaForge VISOR, a nice Angosian ship model from TNG, a rare DS9 Klingon Tricorder, a mobile emitter for Voyager’s Doctor and a whole host of weapons. A list of lots available at Ebay Live Auctions. For a detailed analysis check out the Star Trek Auction Blog.
TrekMovie.com had a brief moment to chat with William Shatner on the green carpet at the Jules Verne Adventure Film Festival on Sunday, where Shatner received a lifetime achievement award. Shat talked to TrekMovie about his new talk show ‘Raw Nerve’ and about talking to Nimoy now that he is in town to shoot Star Trek. The video below also shows a couple of questions from another reporter (with thanks) about TOS-R and Trek references on Boston Legal.
UGO.com has a brief interview from some recent event with someone named Paradox Pollack. In the interview he says he was recently ‘working on the new Star Trek‘ and also stated he worked “behind the scenes working with the creatures.” He also states he worked with Zachary Quinto (Spock) and seems to imply that he portrayed an alien (UGO speculate a Romulan), likely in the background. CLICK HERE to see the video interview.
Last week Perpetual released their first in-game image from ‘Star Trek Online,’ which showed a space shot. Today WarCry have nabbed the first land-based avatar shot. WarCry also talk to Perpetual’s Daron Stinnett about recent reports and rumors…
Star Trek Deep Space Nine star Nana Visitor (Kira Nerys) will be joining the ragtag fleet of Ron Moore’s Battlestar Galactica. In an interview with Starburst, Moore revealed that Visitor will have a recurring role as a cancer patient named Emily who meets Laura Roslin (played by Mary McDonnell) while she gets her cancer treatment. Moore states “Nana is going to be terrific for this role, and it’s great to see her again.” Visitor will actually be the second Trek Bajoran to join the Colonial Fleet, following Michelle Forbes (TNG: Ro Laren) who was most recently featured in in the BSG TV movie (and DVD) “Razor.” Read the rest of Moore’s BSG 4th Season preview interview at SciFi Pulse.
This Thursday (Dec. 13) William Shatner will be appearing on Hollywood Now, a live video Internet chat show from PalTalk.com. During the show Shatner will be taking questions from those who are logged via the PalTalk software. The half hour show begins at 1 pm Eastern, but you will be able to join the ‘room’ around 3 hours before hand and ‘raise your hand’ to be put into the queue. TrekMovie.com has arranged with PalTalk to have the first question come from from a TrekMovie.com community member (details below).
They were never able to get William Shatner to appear on Star Trek Enterprise, but now the Enterprise captain will be appearing on Shatner’s show. TV Guide is reporting that Bakula landed a guest spot on Boston Legal. Bakula joins other main cast Trek stars who have appeared on Boston Legal: Armin Shimerman, Ethan Phillips, and Jeri Ryan and of course Rene Auberjonois. TrekMovie.com has learned that Bakula has already shot his scenes, but unfortunately they are not with Shatner. However, Bakula does have scenes with Candice Bergen who he worked with on Murphy Brown playing her love interest.
It appears that JJ Abrams is certainly making good on his plan to do as much location shooting as possible for the new Star Trek movie. In their first 5 weeks of filming they have been to at least four different Southern California locations, with the latest being a hangar in Orange County. Now the Long Beach Press Telegram is reporting that Long Beach City Hall (pictured right) may the next stop on the Star Trek road trip.
The Star Trek day at Paramount was packed. Stars and writers from every Trek series and from the feature films were there to show their support for the WGA strike. You can’t find a stronger supporter for writers rights than Harlan Ellison. The never disappointing writer of the Original Series episode “City on the Edge of Forever” was in fine form discussing the strike. While he was at it, he also took a shot at the latest rumors on the web about the new Star Trek movie using elements of “City.” (see below)
EW has a brief interview with Star Trek’s Spock, Zachary Quinto. Quinto told EW that we would know ‘within a matter of weeks’ if his Heroes co-star Greg Grunberg will be in the film. If Grunberg doesn’t make it into this latest project from his pal JJ, it would be a first. Quinto also showed off his new Vulcan eyebrows and revealed that it takes 3 hours a day to fit him with both the ear points and ear lobes to match the Nimoy’s Vulcan look. Of Nimoy Quinto states he has “the biggest earlobes you’ve ever seen. But it feels good to change it up, put on some pointy ears, and shave my eyebrows for the role.”
On Sunday night William Shatner was presented a lifetime achievement award at the Jules Verne Adventure Film Festival in Los Angeles. The award was presented by none other than Malcolm McDowell (Generations: Soran) and Patrick Stewart (TNG: Picard). Shatner was also presented with a special gift from representatives from the Oneida Indian Nation. See below for the entire 21 minute video.