Eric Bana is currently hard at work playing the villain Nero for the new Star Trek (even shaving his head a week ago for the role). He is so hard at work he missed the New York premiere for his film The Other Boleyn Girl last week. Bana did do some interviews for Boleyn Girl which have cropped up in the last few days and when they get around to talking Trek there is a recurring theme.
In part one of our interview with Star Trek producer Damon Lindelof we learned about his Trek fandom, favorites and connections to his other job, Lost. In part two we get down to details and discuss why the film release date was changed and how the change affects the production, budget and promotion. Lindelof also discusses how the film will appeal to both Trek fans and the wider film going audience.
This week in SciFi news we celebrate Superman’s birthday (with some help from Captain Kirk) and bring news on a director for Star Wars TV, Indy 4 at Cannes, Terminator taking on Trek, plus news and images from Iron Man, Batman, Battlestar, Wall-E, Heroes, Avatar, and even a possible sequel to The Last Starfighter! so check all that and more below.
Last August The Hollywood Reporter revealed that one of the important roles being cast for the new Star Trek movie was an unnamed ‘Federation Captain.’ In the fall TrekMovie reported that the role was cast but we haven’t been able to put a name to it…until today. TrekMovie.com has confirmed that Pakistani actor Faran Tahir is the ‘Federation Captain.’ The 44 year-old actor has dozens of TV and film credits including a featured part in the upcoming Iron Man. His Star Trek role is said to be both important and not your typical Trek movie captain.
Bruce Greenwood didn’t know anything about Trek before being cast as Captain Pike in the new Star Trek, but he does now. MTV caught up with the actor at the Independent Spirit Wards last weekend where he told them that after doing his homework he “became a fan pretty quickly.” Greenwood was keeping mum on the plot, but did talk a bit about his impressions of the film and his cast members…see below with video.
Happy leap day and welcome to a special “leap-edition” of Science Friday! This week we bring you a new Cassini watch, how to book your next space shuttle flight, the key to fighting reptilian captains, mysterious space anomalies, and a new gadget of the week! Also check out our Science Quickies for some extra science tid-bits which we feel deserve honorable mention.
This week, CelebWatch brings you news on William Shatner going live, Patrick Stewart going Broadway, Whoopi’ going weepy over an Oscar snub, Mulgrew going political, Takei going snarky, Blalock going trooper, Greenwood going artistic… and Orci and Kurtzman going to ‘Michael Bay Jail’ (see artists rendition…right) Read below for more!
Last week we reported that Paramount was the last studio to announce support for the Blu-ray HD standard. At the time Paramount still had a number of planned HD DVD titles and even just announced two new ones. However today comes news from Video Business, HiDef Digest and The Hollywood Reporter that the two Paramount titles coming out next week (Into the Wild and Things We Lost) would be their last. All future announced HD DVD titles have been cancelled. Paramount has still not announced any Blu-ray titles or any plans for Trek.
The core team behind the new Star Trek has been described as a "Supreme Court" comprised of co-writers Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman, along with director JJ Abrams, executive producer Bryan Burk and producer Damon Lindelof. Lindelof (also the Emmy-winning show runner for Lost) is said to be one of the bigger Trek fans on the team and so TrekMovie.com decided it was time to have a chat. In part one (below) of our interview, Lindelof describes his Trek favorites, Lost/Trek connections and what he sees as essential in the new Trek.
A couple new video interviews with Star Trek actors have popped up. Yelchin spoke to Leonard Maltin on Reelz Channel about getting the role, views on Chekov, meeting Walter Koenig and more. As part of the press junket for the upcoming Harold and Kumar sequel John Cho talked about meeting Takei and the differences between the Harold/Kumar and Trek franchises.
The guys behind the fan audio production Star Trek The Continuing Mission have put up a very interesting audio interview with Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry from July 1976. Roddenberry discusses the creation of TOS, why changes were made between the pilots, the birth of the Klingons and Romulans plus much more. But it is the discussion of early plans for Star Trek The Motion Picture that stand out as most relevant to today’s Trek.
In early January Leonard Nimoy revealed that the new Star Trek movie will not only have two Spocks (himself and Zachary Quinto), but three Spocks. TrekMovie.com has identified this third Spock as twelve-year-old actor Jacob Kogan, who will be appearing as the adolescent version of our favorite half-human half-Vulcan. As a child actor, Kogan has few credits to his name, but he did feature in the title role of the 2007 horror film Joshua, starring Sam Rockwell.
Today, William Shatner boldly went where he’d never been before, The Oprah Winfrey Show. Shatner was featured as one of Oprah’s ‘TV icons’ series. The show also included Happy Days’ Fonzie, Henry Winkler and soap opera singing sensation Rick Springfield (who was also Zac on the original Battlestar Galactica). No big news (besides seeing Shatner using a cane) and no questions about the new movie, but was still interesting to see Shatner in this environment.
Last fall TrekMovie.com debunked a rumor that George Takei will be in the new Star Trek, but apparently you can’t keep a good rumor down. Today The Howard 100 News on Sirius ran an interview with Takei where he was asked number of questions on various topics which he did not answer because he felt they were based on “privileged conversations.” One of these topics was Takei’s meeting with director JJ Abrams. This sparked AICN to run a story “Is George Takei In J.J. Abrams’ STAR TREK Movie??” Of course this has sparked numerous “Takei in Talks” stories on other sites (examples: here, here, here). TrekMovie.com has talked to sources and Mr. Takei himself to get to the truth.
William Shatner is the gift that keeps on giving. A new ShatnerVision video shot at the opening of Star Trek The Tour (from a month ago) shows the original Captain Kirk answering that perennial question “are you in the new Star Trek movie?” He is very positive about not being in the film, but also very positive about the film itself. He then goes into a discussion of how Star Trek is like a frog…really..see it below.
Two Star Trek stars have been spotted sporting new looks for their for roles in the 23rd century. The most stark of these is Eric Bana, who plays the villain Nero. Bana showed up for the The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Monday with a shaved head. In addition, Simon Pegg (the new Scotty) was scene on British TV last week without his usual blond look.
TrekMovie.com has confirmed a couple of more actors in small roles in the new Star Trek movie. 32-year-old actress Darlena Tejeiro has an unknown part and 46-year-old actor and stuntman Paul Townsend is playing a Starfleet security officer. Both actors have extensive experience and for Paul, this is not his first time in the Star Trek universe.
This weekend at WonderCon in San Francisco, Paramount premiered the fourth promotional poster for the new Star Trek movie. The poster was free to attendees and measures 11 by 17 inches, the same size as the first promotional poster given out at the 2006 Comic Con in San Diego. The new poster has the new official logo and says "UNDER CONSTRUCTION" and (like the newly updated trailer) "SUMMER 2009."
Cloaks, Trickery, and Romulans In this TrekInk column we review IDW’s final issue in the "Alien Spotlight" series. Comic legend John Byrne doesn’t disappoint with this Romulan point of view from the classic TOS episode "Balance of Terror." We also take a look forward and preview Byrne’s upcoming projects with IDW (for both Trek and other comics).
The 80th Annual Academy Awards were held tonight at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. As TrekMovie.com reported last month, nine Star Trek alumni (present and future) were nominated for an Oscar this year including Michael Giacchino, the composer for the new Star Trek film. Of the nine ‘Trek’ nominees only two left with trophies and Giacchino wasn’t one of them. See below for our full coverage including photos from the show and Trek celebs spotted at Oscar weekend events.
Actors often have to sing for their supper, yet Star Trek actors have a tendency go above and beyond that. There is something about being on Trek that brings their inner Dion and Sinatra. While easy to mock these actors for "trying" to be singers, many have extensive singing and Broadway musical experiences. The latest effort is a new album, Dreamland, from TNG’s Brent Spiner. This has inspired this special Sunday edition of ‘The Collective,’ where we take a listen to some of the more memorable efforts offered from the Trek stars turned singers.
John Cho, Sulu in the new Star Trek, has been given the thumbs up by the original Sulu, George Takei. In an interview conducted at San Francisco’s WonderCon yesterday, Cho told SCIFI WIRE that, like his fellow cast members he was doing his best to “pay homage” to his predecessor and felt that he had “big shoes to fill,” but a lunch with Takei set his mind at ease.
This week in Sci-Fi news we have Saturn nominations, Jolene Blalock talking Starship Troopers 3, Cameron updating Avatar (and Saldana), Star Wars fans taking Lucas to ‘docucourt,’ news on the Akira movie, new photos from Watchmen, Iron Man and more plus some new trailers. Plus there are lots of Lost hints and spoilers and what everyone has been demanding…yes TekWar news!
As reported in our recent CelebWatch, on Thursday JJ Abrams attended the US-Ireland Alliance pre-Oscar party that honored Trek alum Colm Meaney. ReelzChannel interviewed the director and got him to talk about the new Star Trek movie. Abrams said they were using the rainy weather to their advantage and also spoke about the release date change and possibly using Meaney in a sequel. VIDEO below.
Last September TrekMovie.com first broke the news that Stargate Atlantis actor Paul McGillion auditioned for the role of Scotty in the new Star Trek. After Simon Pegg got the job we were happy to report that Paul still landed a different (albeit smaller) role in the film. This week Paul talked to TrekMovie.com about his audition and his time on the new Star Trek as well as his impending return to Stargate.
Boy Anton Yelchin is certainly the chatty Cathy this week. While the new Chekov is promoting his film Charlie Bartlett (opening tonight), he keeps dropping more and more hints about the new Star Trek. The latest is from The Chicago Sun Times where the young actor talks about his first day on Enterprise, a bit about the plot and the design of the new Enteprise. check it out below. [minor spoilers]
Kayla, your TrekMovie science gal here bringing you your weekly dose of Science Friday! We have Cassini headed for the geyser-filled moon Enceladus, new developments in material science from cloaking technology to something (allegedly) resembling a Klingon disruptor, a meteor caught on video and a “Spock’s Brain” themed gadget of the week. Yes, something good came of “Spock’s Brain”! Don’t believe me? Read on!
Greetings, Earthlings. This week, the Watch brings you news on upcoming Shatner projects, what Quinto was doing during the writers’ strike, a new Colm Meaney moment, interviews with Eric Bana, two Kurtzman/Orci movies getting pushed back, another award for Trek’s new composer, and much more! What, you don’t believe me? Just click “more” below and find out for yourself.
In a new video interview with MTV, Anton Yelchin talks at length about Star Trek. The new Chekov talks about aliens, a ‘gracious’ meeting with Walter Koenig on the set, a photo shoot, working with two Spocks, the move to May and more. Check out the video plus a new excerpt from his Star Trek Magazine interview below.