Archive


Rachel Nichols Talks ‘Star Trek’

Rachel Nichols has seemingly confirmed the rumor that will be in the Star Trek movie. In an interview with the Toronto Sun the 27 year old actress said “I’m very restricted on what I’m allowed to say, but yes, there’s a good chance you’ll see my shining face in the new Star Trek.” Nichols said she did not even know the name of her character and even her mom didn’t know about it until she saw the rumor reports online. As noted in the first report on Nichols, she has worked with Star Trek director J.J. Abrams before on his show Alias. The connection is not lost on Nichols who said “J.J.’s one of the most generous people I’ve ever met … He’s very, very loyal.”


‘Star Trek’ Begins Shooting Today

It has been two years, six months and two days since the last time actors have stood in front of a Paramount camera on a Star Trek production (for the finale of Star Trek Enterprise). It has been over five years since a Trek film was in production (the longest period since the movie franchise began in the 70s). Today J.J. Abrams will declare ‘action’ again as he begins shooting his re-invigoration of the Trek franchise, simply titled Star Trek. Sources tell TrekMovie.com that this week’s shooting will be on location (somewhere in Southern California), with the first shots on the Paramount lot scheduled next week.


‘Star Trek’ Extras Open Casting Call – Looking For ‘Unique Faces’

Lately the focus has been reporting on principal casting for the new Star Trek film, but what about the extras? TrekMovie.com has learned that Headquarters Casting, the agency handling extras for the new Star Trek feature, are currently looking to fill the backgrounds under the code name “Corporate Headquarters.” The agency will be holding an open casting call this weekend. They are now trying to find people with the right look to play Vulcans, Cadets as well as those with ‘unique facial features.’ More details below.


HD-DVD Giveaways + Australian “Menagerie” Screening

The release of Season One of the digitally remastered Star Trek: The Original Series is in two weeks (Nov. 20) and the promotions for it keep racking up. Firstly STARTREK.COM has a new contest with a grand prize of a Toshiba HD-DVD player and a TOSR Box Set, (DETAILS HERE). And if you live close to New York City and are one of the first in line to buy the box set at select Virgin mega-stores you will get a free Toshiba HD-DVD player and a ‘Star Trek goodie bag’ (DETAILS HERE). Lastly screenings of the HD version of “The Managerie” have been added in Australia (DETAILS HERE).


Star Trek Producers Join Picket Lines

The WGA strike kicked off on Monday with picket lines at all the major studios. The guild has ordered all of its members to do 20 hours of mandatory picket time per week. According to this morning’s Variety, Star Trek producer Damon Linedolof and producer-director J.J. Abrams (who are both guild members) hit the picket lines yesterday to show solidarity for their writing comrades. From the Variety article…


Chris Doohan Gets His Audition

James Doohan’s son Chris Doohan’s name first came up in relation to the new Star Trek film last February when he started a somewhat tongue-in-cheek campaign to land the role of Scotty. He has since gracefully endorsed the selection of Simon Pegg to fill his father’s shoes as the Enterprise’s engineer. That might have been the end of the story, but recently rumors arose that Doohan actually got an audition. TrekMovie.com contacted Chris and he confirmed that he recently read for an unnamed ‘minor speaking role.’ Doohan wouldn’t go into details, but stated:




Strike May Cut Heroes Season In Half + Lost and BSG Also Affected

TrekMovie.com recently reported that the new Star Trek movie should not be impacted by the WGA strike scheduled to start on Monday, but it appears that many TV shows are not so lucky. Heroes, the hit show featuring the new Spock (Zachary Quinto) along with recurring guest spots for a number of of other Trek veterans (Nichelle Nichols, George Takei and Dominic Keating) may only get 11 episodes this season. TV Guide is reporting that the Heroes production has shot an alternative ending to the show schedule to air on December 3rd which will allow it to act as a ‘season 2 finale’ instead of just the planned ‘volume 2 finale’ (Heroes’ 2nd season was originally planned to have 2 ‘volumes’).


Patrick Stewart Talks Trek Typecasting

Patrick Stewart is currently having his second go in life as a Shakespearean actor on the London stage. His current performances of Macbeth are getting him rave reviews. In a new interview with the London Times, TNG’s Picard talks about how he never expected the job commanding the starship Enterprise he took in 1987 to become such a big part of his life and his career: It came to a point where I had no idea where Picard began and I ended. We completely overlapped. His voice became my voice, and there were other elements of him that became me



Business Brief: Viacom Chief Talks Abrams, Trek, Transformers and Franchises

[WARNING: boring business article ahead] To all of us Star Trek is a hobby (or to some a way of life), but to CBS and Paramount/Viacom Trek is a ‘brand’ and a ‘franchise.’ The good news is that Trek is again getting the notice of the higher ups. In a conference call with Wall Street where he announced a big jump in profits, Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman talked up Paramount’s 2008 line-up with a shoutouts to J.J. Abrams and Star Trek…


Star Trek Teaser Trailer In The Works

Today Latino Review reported that there is a teaser for Star Trek in the works and that it will show the construction of the Enterprise. TrekMovie.com has confirmed this with multiple sources. In addition, one source revealed that parts of the teaser have already been shot. Dates for release are under discussion and two possibilities are for it to be shown with Cloverfield (Jan 18, 2008), or Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (May 22, 2008).


Rumor: Rachel Nichols In ‘Star Trek’

Does Star Trek have its second female cast member? FreezeDriedMovies is reporting that a source ‘overheard’ that Rachel Nichols has been cast for an unnamed part in film. Although it cannot be confirmed yet, it would not be a surprise as the 27 year-old actress has worked with Abrams, Orci and Kurtzman before as a recurring character on Alias. So far the only woman in the cast is Zoe Saldana (Uhura). In addition to mothers for Kirk and Spock we know there is at least one other female role (the one that Felicity star Keri Russell was talking to director JJ Abrams about). Nichols age would make her a reasonable fit for ‘Number One’ (Pike’s XO), Nurse Chapel, or a love interest for Kirk (Carol Marcus?).


‘Of Gods And Men’ To Premiere December 22nd

After many delays the producers of “Of Gods and Men” have finally announced December 22nd at 17:01 EST (5:01 EST) as the release date for part 1 (of 3) of the Internet mini-series. OGaM is one of the most ambitious independent/fan Trek productions to date and is distinguished by having a cast made up almost entirely of professional actors, including Trek veterans such as Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, Alan Ruck, Gary Graham and many others. The film was directed by Voyager’s Tim Russ, who also has a part. The OGaM team also announced they will be using the same technology partners that handled the ‘relaunch’ of the recent Star Trek New Voyages episode, after the initial release was hampered by the demand. More information in the latest OGaM newsletter and the official site.



Writers Strike Looms – ‘Star Trek’ Ready For It [UPDATE: Strike To Start Monday]

You may have heard that the Writers Guild of America has been in negotiations with the studios and producers (along with a federal mediator) for a new contract and according to reports the parties failed to come to an agreement Wednesday before the current contract expired at midnight. Although the WGA did not call for a strike immediately, industry watchers expect one could be called for within a week. [UPDATE: Variety: Strike set to start Monday] However, it appears a strike will not impact Star Trek which starts shooting next Wednesday. Variety lists Star Trek as one of the films Paramount has ‘ready to go’ despite the possible strike. Executive producer and co-writer Roberto Orci tells TrekMovie.com that Paramount and the team have been working on the assumption of a strike for months. “The script is in great shape and we had a long lead time,” said Orci confidently.


Giacchino: ‘Star Trek’ Score To Honor Original

It looks the like nods to Original Series in the new Star Trek film will also extend to the music. In an interview with SciFi Wire, the longtime Abrams collaborator and Star Trek composer Michael Giacchino states he will be incorporating the original Alexander Courage Original Series theme into his score: I think that the thing to do would be to hold on to the only thing that does speak—that says Star Trek—universally, which is the [opening theme from the original series]…To me, that fanfare, boom, that says it all right there. And this film is about everything that came before that. So, yes, I want to keep that.


1-18-08/Cloverfield Trailer (and title) Coming Soon

Remember that monster movie J.J. Abrams is producing codenamed ‘Cloverfield’ coming out on 1-18-08? It is the one the teaser site (1-18-08.com) with just random photographs and viral sites like slusho.jp and various MySpace pages for the films characters. Well Paramount will be releasing the first full trailer for the mysterious film in front of Beowulf on November 16th. The trailer will reveal the final name for the film, which has been the subject of much debate. Now CHUD.com reveals that they have seen a draft of the trailer…click for details. But it looks like in the end the title will actually be…Cloverfield. TrekMovie will put up the trailer when it becomes available.


Nimoy Expects Trek To ‘Surge’ Again

The Star Trek shoot starts next week, but Leonard Nimoy doesn’t need to be on the set until December. In the mean time he is keeping busy with his photography. In a couple weeks he will be appearing at a book festival in St. Louis to promote his “Full Body Project” book. In a new interview with the St. Louis Jewish Light he discusses his photography, but inevitably Nimoy gets around to talking about that other project he has in the works: I will be acting in a new Star Trek movie, that is going to be filmed later this year and early next year, the first acting job I have accepted in 15 or 18 years. So they need me to come back once more to play the character of Spock, in a sort of prequel to the original story. I am still strongly identified with it, no question about it, and there will be a surge again because of this new movie.


Details Revealed On “Star Trek The Beginning”

After the failure of Star Trek Nemesis and Before JJ Abrams came along, there was a project in development at Paramount called “Star Trek The Beginning.” It was written by Band of Brothers producer/writer Erik Jendresen and was being shepherded through the system by producer Jordon Kerner (although Rick Berman was reportedly involved, he actually had very little to do with the project beyond being contractually attached to any Trek project at the time). The story covered the events of the Romulan War and was set shortly after Star Trek Enterprise, but without using the Enterprise cast. In 2005 the project stalled for a variety of reasons and then Abrams and his team came along and that was that. Now AICN has revealed details of the first draft of the script…CLICK HERE to read a Star Trek that never was.



Abrams Took Convincing To Pick Quinto

Of all the casting announcements for the new Star Trek, the one that seems most obvious is the first one – Zachary Quinto as the new Spock. He is talented, a break-out star on a hit TV series (Heroes), has the right look, and was highly motivated to get the part. But apparently it wasn’t a slam dunk after all. In a new Hollywood Reporter article about Quinto moving up to a bigger agency, there was this tidbit: When he did a work session for Spock with the “Trek” casting director in June, the response he received was that, after seeing his tape, Abrams “wasn’t convinced” he was right for the role and had to move on and see other actors. That changed a couple of weeks later when Quinto met with Abrams. Soon after that, he became the first actor cast in the movie.


‘Star Trek’ Close To A Pike – Still Looking For Kirk’s (and Spock’s) Parents

J.J. Abrams has his entire new Star Trek crew, but he still has casting to do on a number of important roles. TrekMovie.com has learned that although casting has progressed on a number of minor roles (such as crew members on other ships), no major roles have been cast since Karl Urban signed on as McCoy. However, a source tells TrekMovie.com they are close to picking their new Captain Christopher Pike. The source confirmed that Josh Lucas was considered, but implied that he wasn’t the leading candidate. Although Pike is said to have a “significant role,” the source also disputed recent rumors that Pike has a larger role than Kirk.



Shatner: No ‘Star Trek’ Cameo For Me

In case you were wondering, William Shatner is still not happy that he has not been asked to be in the new Star Trek film. When asked by MovieWeb if he had a cameo role he denied it, and went on to say: I would be reluctant to do something that had so little value as to be a cameo. I’m disappointed that the story that they chose to do does not include the character I play, having been in on the birth of Star Trek, I would love to have been in on the rebirth or the resuscitation of it. The fact that I’m not is a disappointing and I think a foolish business decision on their part. Somebody decided how to play their story and they’re knowledgeable people and wonderful entertainers so we’ll see what happens.


Nichols Praises Abrams – Kyson Lee Talks Sulus

Since she began her recurring role on Heroes, Nichelle Nichols has been getting a whole lot of new attention. NBC recently held a press conference call with Nichols and her Heroes co-star Dana Davis. Nichols reveals that she actually found out she was going to appear in Heroes after being told by some Trek fans, but she didn’t appear surprised saying “They’re Trekkers, they know everything." Nichols also says that her role on the show, like George Takei before her, keeps ‘expanding’ and revels we will see her in a flashback scene in an upcoming episode. No word yet on if she has any superpowers, but they do seem to run in her family. Nichols was also asked about the upcoming Star Trek film and, unlike her former captain, she had nothing but the nicest things to say about young J.J. Abrams…even proclaiming that Gene would approve of the new master of Trek…



Rumor: Josh Lucas As Pike?

One of last bits of major casting the new Star Trek films need to do is for Chris Pike, Spock’s captain on the Enterprise before Kirk. We know that they are looking for a well known name and now IESB is throwing one into the ring. According to their source the studio is ‘considering’ Josh Lucas (Poseidon, Glory Road) for the role originally played by Jeffrey Hunter. This cannot be confirmed at this time by TrekMovie.com. However, Lucas’ name was once heard in relation to the role of Kirk, but it couldn’t be confirmed and at 36 he seemed too old for that part. He would be in the right age range for Pike. Lucas just recently finished shooting one project and is attached to three other films, including one that will possibly overlap with the Trek shooting schedule (something the Trek producers have dealt with for other actors). (More on Lucas @ IMDB, Wikipedia)