The "Library Computer" column is new here at TrekMovie.com. Last week we kicked off with a Valentine’s Day themed review and interview (and giveaway). But before we move on to more we thought we would take a look back at the books of 2007 and see where there were hits (and misses). Plus we gaze forward and see what you can look forward to be reading in the next year…join us will you?
TrekMovie.com has confirmed that English actor Greg Ellis will appear in the new Star Trek movie in the new role of Chief Engineer Olsen. Ellis is probably best known for his role as a villain for the third season of 24. The 38 year-old Ellis has also appeared in numerous TV series and feature films as well as doing quite a bit of voice work. This will not be his first time with Trek as he appeared in an episode of DS9 and provided voice work for two Trek games.
Today a couple of images have cropped on the Interweb which some believe to be from the new Star Trek movie. First up is from a New York Toy Fair report at Gearlog. It shows pictures from various booths including the one above right from the Master Replicas booth with the following caption “A phazer model from the upcoming J.J. Abrams-directed Star Trek remake.” Soon after that report TrekWeb ran an article titled “First Look at Phaser from New Star Trek Movie.”
The popular independent fan production Star Trek New Voyages is changing its name and changing direction. Starting immediately New Voyages will be known as Star Trek: Phase II, adopting the name of the planned but never produced ‘second Star Trek series.’ Show star and executive producer James Cawley announced the change at the Farpoint Convention in Baltimore on Saturday. Cawley talked to TrekMovie.com about the new name and new direction for the show formerly known as New Voyages.
Last Fall CBS and Toshiba made a big splash over Star Trek coming out exclusively on HD DVD, starting with the first season of The Original Series. Toshiba reps dressed up in Trek uniforms at an industry trade show, they did a phaser remote-control give-away, and used Trek as a big selling point for their platform during the holiday season. However 2008 has been a very bad year for HD DVD and indications are that the format war is over and HD DVD has lost. Studios and retailers alike are jumping ship and all that is left is for Toshiba to finally call uncle…leaving Trek as a casualty of war.
Review: Star Trek TNG: Intelligence Gathering #2 Although it is set in the time of The Next Generation, the second issue of the Scott and David Tipton written "Intelligence Gathering" series is another opportunity for the pair to show off their knowledge of The Original Series. This time they bring in Rigelians (who first appeared in “Journey to Babel”) and the Kaylar (who made their only appearance in the original Star Trek pilot, “The Cage”). But the center of this story of intrigue is Worf.
Day 2 for TrekMovie.com at the New York Toy Fair was supposed to be all about Playmates and their upcoming line of figures and toys for the new Star Trek feature. Playmates did finally officially announce their movie license along with details on the the planned line. However (likely due to Paramount’s recent decision to delay the film) Playmates limited their Trek presentation to just a press release with no prototypes on display. But we do have pictures and details on a fun DVD game all about Trek from SceneIt?
TrekMovie.com now continues our look back at Trek films past…
TrekMovie.com has hit Toy Fair 2008 in New York City. Today we got a personal tour of the Diamond Select booth and a preview of what’s in store for Trek toy fans for the next year. The biggest news is new figures for Voyager and Star Trek The Motion Picture. But DST also showed off new MEGO and DS9 figures, lots of new Minimates and an Enterprise D. See below for more details and pictures.
This Week’s Sci-Fi Saturday brings news of Star Wars headed back to the big screen, a Hobbit lawsuit, Transformers 2 news, a new time slot for Lost, the return of Battlestar Galactica , plus first look images from G.I. Joe, The Incredible Hulk and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. check it out below.
This week Patrick Stewart hit the new York Stage in the title role of “Macbeth” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. In a couple of new interviews the actor talked about the show and of course a bit about Star Trek. Stewart said that he would consider playing Picard again, talked about his friendship with William Shatner, how he is glad to be back on the stage and even about his Trek collection. See below
In the latest issue of the official Star Trek Magazine, Karl Urban talks in more detail about being a Trekkie working on Star Trek. The Lord of the Rings actor reveals that he is a big time sci-fi fan, and cites Star Trek The Original Series, The Next Generation and Voyager as his favorite Treks. He tells the mag that after persuing and then getting the job as the new McCoy he felt like he had “won the lottery.” More below.
Once we finished mourning Trek’s new release date (actually we just ran out of tissues), we were able to pull it together to bring you this week’s Science Friday! It’s a great one! We’re introducing our ongoing ‘Cassini Watch’ to see what’s happening with Dr. Carolyn Porco (Trek’s new science advisor). Also, a new galactic discovery, Steven Colbert’s opinions of other dimensions, and some pretty electrifying outerwear. Not to mention, our latest gadget of the week!
Those pesky paparazzi at JFX Online went down to the Star Trek location shoot (after a local news team blabbed to the world where to go) and nabbed some shots of the set piece, faux ice sheet and lots of shots of John Cho (the new Sulu) in some kind of space suit practicing for an action scene. See below [spoilers].
In this week’s CelebWatch we got lots of George Takei, including talking about his first meetings with Roddenberry to his recent resurgent career. Plus Patrick Stewart converts Trekkies to theater lovers, Avery Brooks celebrates Abraham Lincoln, Nichelle Nichols talks Spock, Wil Wheaton goes to the dark side, Leonard Nimoy gets grilled by Stephen Colbert (we got the video) and much more!
It’s Valentine’s Day and even though Paramount took our Christmas away, love is still in their air. Throughout the decades of Trek there have been many romantic moments and so the staff of TrekMovie.com thought we would pick some of our favorites.
UPDATE: Yesterday first word came out that Paramount were moving the release for the new Star Trek to May 8th 2009. Today a Paramount spokesman explains that the film will still be completed by this year but they feel it can stack up against traditional summer blockbusters. In addition Paramount have updated the official movie websites, but for now are only saying “May 2009” for the release.
Back in November when Variety announced that Winona Ryder was playing Spock’s mother Amanda Grayson, the article stated she was his ‘Vulcan mother.’ This was a mistake that wasn’t in the print edition, and was later fixed in the online version of the article. Even though TrekMovie.com has confirmed that this was a mistake and that Spock is still half human and half Vulcan, this error continues to show up every once in a while.
Variety is reporting that Paramount has pushed the release of the new Star Trek movie from Christmas 2008 to May 8, 2009. Apparently the reason is to go for bigger box office during the summer season. Variety quotes a studio insider saying “Star Trek has the potential to gross more in May than in December.”
Last week TrekMovie.com took a look back at the history of Star Trek film merchandising. We will now take a look forward at what we can expect with merchandising for the new JJ Abrams Star Trek movie. According to sources the film will have the biggest merchandising campaign since Star Trek The Motion Picture, which is befitting the film’s budget and mass market target. See below for what we know as of now.
In a new interview with The Jewish Daily, Star Trek’s once and future Spock spoke about his upcoming role in JJ Abrams Trek and how Trek connects to Judaism. Nimoy, who had retired from acting, said that photography was the major love of his creative live but that the new film was “something special.” More from Nimoy below…
This morning on KTTV’s This Morning LA the traffic copter spotted location shooting for the new Star Trek movie taking place close to downtown Los Angeles. Although the anchor team were not sure, TrekMovie.com has confirmed that the footage (which is now on YouTube) is indeed Trek being shot. See the video below [minor spoilers]
After 100 days the members of the WGA have finally called off their strike and are headed back to work. Today 92.5% of the writers voted in favor of going back to work. A 2nd vote on the new contract is due in a couple of weeks, but it is assumed that will be approved easily. What Next? TrekMovie.com has compiled a quick guide to the effect on the new movie and many favorite genre series and shows with Trek-connections…see below.
Star Trek, Rescue 911, TekWar, and TJ Hooker are all shows where William Shatner was not able to break through the 100 episode barrier. Hopes were that he would finally do it with a fifth season of Boston Legal, but that is now in some doubt. Yesterday ABC announced pick-ups for their fall line-up and Shatner’s current series was not on the list. However, ABC will be bringing back Trek-related series Lost , Samantha, Who? and Pushing Daisies.
NEW FEATURE: ‘Library Computer’ is our latest regular column and it is entirely dedicated to Trek Books. The goal will be to review and preview every new Trek book (novels and non-fiction), plus offer interviews, retro-reviews and retrospectives. This first ‘Library Computer’ has a Valentine’s Day theme as Rob (and Kristen) Lyons take a look at the new "Captain Kirk’s Guide to Women." Plus we have copies of the book to give away…see below.
The American Film Institute has released their nominations for its “10 Top 10,” in which they will honor what they believe to be the ten greatest films of ten different film genres. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was among the fifty science fiction films nominated. The winners will be revealed when AFI’s 10 Top 10 TV special airs on CBS this June.
A couple weeks ago Eric Bana, Star Trek’s villain Nero, stated that his role in the film was a ‘cameo.’ At the time TrekMovie.com noted that Bana’s usage of ‘cameo’ wasn’t in the traditional sense and that he had more than just a quick scene in the film. At a press junket today for his latest film The Other Boleyn Girl, the actor clarified his comment to assure people that he was still indeed the main villain in the film. Details below
It was announced today that Carolyn Porco, the leader of the Imaging Science team on NASA’S Cassini mission at Saturn, has accepted an invitation from Star Trek director/producer, J.J. Abrams, to join the Star Trek production crew as a consultant on planetary science and imagery. Porco spoke exclusively with TrekMovie.com about her role bringing science to the Star Trek film (and the fans).
In Empire Magazine’s ‘25 Most Exciting Movies of 2008‘ feature, Star Trek director JJ Abrams speaks briefly about the film he is currently shooting. Abrams tells Empire “I’m completely respectful of the Star Trek canon and I feel that there’s a great movie to be made.” And is Abrams worried about us famously persnickety fans?…nope….
Stardate 02.14.2008 is approaching rapidly, do you want to show that special Star Trek fan how much you care this Valentine’s Day? In this week’s ‘The Collective’ we look at the many presents for your Star Trek paramours now available in retail or online stores.