A lengthy rare interview with Gene Roddenberry that was believed to have been lost has now been found, and is hoped to become the basis for a new documentary on the birth of the Star Trek series he created. Catch a glimpse of the footage below, plus find out how you can help.
Just in time for the film’s 35th Anniversary, a new book detailing the production of Star Trek: The Motion Picture is coming this fall, and TrekMovie has a first look at the details. Find out more and how you can pre-order below.
George Takei has revealed that he tried to convince Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry to add a gay character to the TOS movies. More details below.
Seinfeld is celebrating its 25th anniversary this month, and so TrekMovie takes a look at some of the connections between the groundbreaking sitcom and Star Trek.
Following up from our look forward to all the Star Trek fiction coming in the next year, today we take a look at the non-fiction, both scholarly and fun. See what is coming below.
The eagerly awaited second volume of author Marc Cushman’s exhaustive examination of the production of The Original Series, These Are The Voyages, was released this past Wednesday, and we have a closer look. The first volume, which covered the history of the series from its earliest stages to the end of season one, was lauded by critics, fans, and cast members for it’s incredible attention to detail. Leonard Nimoy himself called the book’s level of research “astounding…an incredible job”. The second volume, which covers the entirety of season two and features a forward by Walter Koenig, promises to be even more expansive than the first. According to the promotional materials the second book will cover a variety of interesting topics: Learn why Leonard Nimoy almost didn’t return for Season Two. Explore why Lucille Ball, whose Desilu Studios had gambled big on financing Star Trek, would lose her studio in trying to keep Star Trek on the air. Discover the real reason Gene Coon suddenly quit as series producer in the middle of Season Two. Learn which stories by renowned science fiction masters never made it to the screen and why. Find out which episodes almost didn’t make it in front of the camera. Read the memos from Roddenberry and his staff, and NBC, concerning all 26 episodes from Season Two. Witness the continuing deception by the network over the show’s ratings, and how the fans took on a corporate giant to save their favorite series.
TrekMovie was excited to receive exclusive clips from the new CD by Larry “Dr. Trek” Nemecek, TREKLAND: On Speaker Volume 2. In the new CD, available for $21.99 on the Trekland Blog, you’ll hear direct from some of Trek’s greatest including Ronald D. Moore, Michael Piller, and more. What’s special about this CD series is that you’re getting a unique perspective — you’re hearing from the people who made Trek while they were making it. The audio is from conversations way back when — in the 90’s. Hit the jump to hear some clips from the new CD.
It’s the big-ticket Star Trek item of the season (well, for book-lovers, anyway). Join us for a look at “Federation: The First 150 Years.” Find out how this history from the future weighs in – and watch the unboxing video to see how all the components work – below.
Today, December 7th, is the 33rd anniversary of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the first feature in what will soon be a twelve film franchise. To celebrate TrekMovie is featuring a rare behind the scenes feature that shows how the film was made. We also have video of William Shatner reflecting on TMP and if you want to relive the movie but don’t have the time, you can watch the 10 minute version.We also remember Star Trek VI, which had an anniversary yesterday, with another BTS video.
Today Publish 47 North released their elaborate coffee table book "Star Trek: Federation: The First 150 Years". Our regular reviewer will be giving his opinion on this history book soon but today we start with an interview with the author, David A. Goodman, who explains how he went about creating history, including making some controversial decisions. Goodman also talks about writing Futurama’s historic Star Trek homage.
The US Navy’s aircraft carrier bearing the same name as Star Trek’s iconic starship has been officially inactivated. After over fifty years in service the nuclear carrier USS Enterprise was ‘inactivated’ at an event in Norfolk, VA. More details and video from the event. The US Navy has also announced that the next aircraft carrier will be named Enterprise.
Following up from their 2010 Star Trek The Original Series 365 photo book (positively reviewed at TrekMovie), Abrams Books recently released a follow-up, this time revealing rare images from Star Trek: The Next Generation. TrekMovie continues our look at new exciting Star Trek non-fiction books with our review of Paula Block and Terry Erdmann’s new mini-coffee table book below.
Six years ago TrekMovie broke the news that CBS was considering a new animated Star Trek series developed by some insider vets. This show "Star Trek: Final Frontier" never made it past the development stage, but in the past the creators have shared images and details on the web. And now they are revealing the scripts they wrote as well. Details below along with an exclusive image.
This past September marked four important anniversaries in Star Trek history: two most fans are well aware of, one that many may have forgotten, and a fourth the anniversary of an event many fans still regret happened. All are worth noting here.
On this day in 1966, Star Trek debuted on television. Google may have celebrated a day early, but today Oreo Cookie celebrates the 46th “Star Trek Day” by tweeting their #dailytwist photo in honor of Trek with the caption, “We are the Captain Kirk to Milk’s Spock.”
46 years ago, Star Trek beamed onto the TV sets of America for the first time. Today, Google celebrates that anniversary with an interactive “Google Doodle”, a game embedded into the search engine’s logo at Google.com. Click on characters and objects on the bridge and watch a famous Trek story unfold. Hit the jump for photos.
It is with a heavy heart that we post here on TrekMovie the passing of a worldwide hero, Neil Armstrong. He passed away after complications from heart surgery, his family told the press. Here’s to Neil Armstrong: first man on the moon, American astronaut, engineer, university professor, US Navy pilot, test pilot, self-proclaimed nerd, inspiration, and symbol of the golden era of space exploration. Rest in Peace and god speed.
Scotty’s unauthorized transwarp beaming research comes back to haunt him with a furry vengeance in Star Trek #12. Meanwhile, IDW Publishing solicits more Star Trek comics for November 2012 and TrekMovie rounds up recent comics news. Some spoilers after the break.
Coinciding with the Las Vegas con , Rod Roddenberry (son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry) has launched a new podcast. Each episode of the new "Mission Log" series will examine a different episode of Star Trek, with the first looking at the pilot ("The Cage"). More info below.
For the second weekend in a row The Dark Knight Rises is the top movie at the box office. In just ten days the film has taken in over half a billion dollars worldwide. This film cements Tom Hardy, who plays the villain Bane, as an even bigger star. But, it was just 10 years ago that Hardy got his big break in Star Trek: Nemesis. A video of his screen test with Patrick Stewart has been going viral again this week. Check it out below.
Earlier this week in our review of the Star Trek: The Next Generation theater events we also reported that TNG actor LeVar Burton surprised fans at the Times Square theater screening in New York. Video of Burton’s Q&A with the fans. Burton also tried to clarify that an image from the set that has gone viral is not him.
William Shatner’s new documentary "Get A Life!" premiers tonight on the Epix channel. For the second year in a row Bill explores Star Trek, but this time he turns his focus to the fans. Find out how it all turns out in the TrekMovie review below.
In two weeks the EPIX Channel debuts the new Star Trek documentary, "William Shatner’s Get A Life!" The new doc features Bill finding out why we are all in love with Star Trek. A preview and a trailer for the doc have been released and you can check those out below.
Over the weekend Leonard Nimoy appeared at the LA Festival to introduce and talk about Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The film, which is enjoying its 30th anniversary this month, was being shown for free at an outdoor screening. Nimoy talked about how [spoiler alert] his death scene was changed at the last minute to give them an out to bring him back in the next movie. Watch the video below. Plus see how Nimoy is a little upset over how the video was edited.
Star Trek: The Next Generation’s LeVar Burton is also famous for his 21 seasons as the host of the kids show Reading Rainbow. After PBS stopped airing reruns of the series in 2009, Burton was determined to bring it back. Today Reading Rainbow was re-launched as an iPad app. More details and LeVar’s video intro below. Plus we flash back to 1988 with a video from when LeVar and Reading Rainbow went behind the scenes on Star Trek: TNG.
In July, just in time for the 25th anniversary, the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation will be re-released, remastered in HD on Blu-ray. And now the first officer of the Enterprise D is reflecting on his time in the 24th century and it "was not real fun" at the beginning. More details below
Today a major piece of Star Trek history became available to the highest bidder. The Shuttlecraft Galileo from the original Star Trek series is up for auction. There is also a group that is trying to acquire the shuttle with plans to restore it and put it on display for the fans. More info below.
TrekMovie continues to celebrate June as Wrath of Khan month in honor of the 30th anniversary of what we still think of as the best Star Trek feature film. Today we have Star Trek II behind the scenes footage from Entertainment Tonight in 1982 which features director Nick Meyer, producer Harve Bennett and actor DeForest Kelley talking about the movie. You can also see some scenes being shot and catch Leonard Nimoy’s final day on the set. Watch it below.
This week TrekMovie.com is celebrating the 30th anniversary of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Today we look back at 1982 with some rare video with William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and Ricardo Montalban promoting the film on talk shows and with the press. We also are sharing an interesting video from ILM talking about the making of the CGI sequences in the movie (the first time CGI was used in a feature film).
Still considered by most to be the best film of the franchise, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was released on June 4th, 1982, or exactly 30 years ago today. So today in a guest blog for TrekMovie, Star Trek novelist Dayton Ward remembers what were surely, the best of times from three decades ago…