CBS/Paramount

Star Trek Super Bowl Commercial (Officially) Online + TrekMovie Shot-by-shot Analysis

The new Star Trek commercial aired during the 2nd half of the Super Bowl, and now it is available at the official movie site. You can see the official version below. Plus, just like we did for the theatrical trailer, we have a full set of screenshots including a shot by shot analysis of the commercial, explaining what you are seeing. All that and more below.



Esurance Launches Star Trek Promo Site w/ Behind The Scenes Shots + Contest

Today Esurance, a new Paramount promotional partner for the new Star Trek feature film, has launched a special Star Trek website that has a new video with the first behind the scenes footage for the movie. The new promotional site also has a contest to win tickets to the premiere of the movie and some other goodies, details below.


Star Trek Movie Getting Super Bowl Commercial

If you were looking for proof that Paramount is serious about promoting the new Star Trek movie, look no further. In another franchise first, Paramount has purchased time to run a Star Trek commercial during this year’s Super Bowl airing February 1st on NBC. Trek will be joined by a number of other movie spots from Paramount and other studios, details below.


Pro-Abrams/Trek Paramount CEO Contract Extended + Hollywood Vet Predicts ‘Star Trek’ Blockbuster

Today it was announced that Paramount CEO Brad Grey’s contract has been extended until 2014. One of Grey’s first actions after joining Paramount in 2005 was signing JJ Abrams and his Bad Robot production company to a multi-picture deal, which included Star Trek as its first big film. Abrams and Trek are now being cited as part of the reasoning for Grey’s extension.





Paramount Finance Deal Falls Through – No Effect On Trek

This afternoon the Financial Times reported that a finance deal between Paramount and Deutsche Bank has fallen through. The FT report states that Paramount is seeking funds to partially finance “up to 30 films, including possible blockbusters such as the sequel to Transformers and a new version of Star Trek.” However a trusted studio source tells TrekMovie that this deal will not have an impact on the post-production of Star Trek.



Paramount Crosses $1Bil For 2008 – Becoming More Reliant On Franchises

Today Paramount Pictures announced they crossed the $1 Billion mark in domestic sales (after crossing $1Bil in int’l sales last week). Currently the #1 ranked studio (as they were in 2007), this is a turnaround for Paramount which rarely broke into the top 5 in recent years. However, changes are in store and it appears the studio is becoming more reliant on franchises (like Star Trek).


Paramount Already Thinking About Sequel To Abrams Star Trek

With the JJ Abrams Star Trek movie still eleven months away, is it too early to be talking about a sequel? Apparently to Paramount Pictures the answer is ‘no.’ Star Trek co-writer and executive producer Roberto Orci has revealed exclusively to TrekMovie.com that the studio is already perusing the new Trek team to nail them down for a follow-up.


TNG Headed To Sci-Fi Channel [UPDATED]

After being recently pulled from both the Spike TV and G4 schedules, reruns of the Star Trek The Next Generation were off the air for the first time in years, but that is about to change. The SCI FI Channel, which currently airs Star Trek Enterprise, is now the new cable home for Star Trek: The Next Generation . TNG is as part of a newly announced package deal between SCI FI and CBS, but is the only Trek series named.


Paramount Announces First Blu-ray Titles – No Trek (Yet)

Over two months after being the last studio to announce support for Blu-ray, Paramount has finally announced titles, but so far no Trek. The initial five Blu-ray releases (coming out between May 20th and June 3rd) are catching up on previous films released on DVD like There Will Be Blood, and Cloverfield. Then, starting on June 24th Paramount will issue its first Blu-ray title on the same day as the DVD, “The Spiderwick Chronicles” with ‘more to follow.’


‘Star Trek’ To Have Pay TV Premiere On New Viacom Channel

If you have HBO or Showtime and were hoping to see JJ Abrams Star Trek film on either, you are out of luck. Today Viacom (parent company of Paramount Pictures) announced a joint venture with MGM, UA and Lionsgate forming a new premium cable channel with exclusive rights for all four studios. The not-yet-named channel launches in the Fall of 2009 and the official press release names the new Trek movie as one of the ‘exclusives.’


UPDATED: Paramount Spokesman: Star Trek In Same League as Star Wars & Transformers

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.



Writers Strike (Almost) Over + Showrunners Return To Work Monday

Over the weekend boards for the WGA recommended to the membership approve a new contract and end the 3 month long writer’s strike. Members vote on Tuesday to suspend the strike with a separate vote on the contract later in the Month. Picketing has been suspended and the Variety Strike Blog is reporting that ‘showrunners’ (writer/producers) will be returning to work on Monday.


WGA Strike Update: New Optimism As Talks Resume

The Writers Guild of America strike has entered its fourth week, but the parties actually sat down to talk to each other Monday for the first time since the strike began. Although both director JJ Abrams and co-writer Roberto Orci have stated that the script for Star Trek (currently in production) was solid and that they had planned ahead to ensure it was strike-ready, Abrams was also recently quoted as saying he wasn’t happy he couldn’t add a new line to the script. But new reports give hope that Abrams may get a chance to add that line sooner rather than later. According to today’s Daily Variety “optimists took solace in speculation that the outlines of a deal have already been hammered out.”


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…


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.


Star Trek Movie To Get Vulcan Premiere?

The residents of Vulcan, Alberta are hoping the new Star Trek movie will make its first contact in their town. The idea is the brainchild of Dayna Dickens, the tourism coordinator for the small Canadian community which has been leveraging its Trek sounding name into tourist dollars for decades. Dickens tells TrekMovie.com the idea has the support of community leaders and she is currently working with the Alberta Film Commission on a formal proposal to Paramount. Landing the Star Trek premiere may be a long shot, but it is not without precedent. Dickens noted Fox held the recent premiere for The Simpsons Movie in town of Springfield, Vermont. Vulcan may have some competition from other self-proclaimed ‘Trek towns’ such Riverside, Iowa (‘future birthplace of Kirk) and Linlithgow Scotland (‘future birthplace of Scotty’). But Dickens is not daunted, observing "the worst they can do is say ‘no.’"


Abrams To Focus On Paramount Until New Trek Released – CBS Bringing Stewart Show To US

The first ever article on this site was about the announcement that Star Trek producer/director J.J. Abrams had inked two major deals after his contract with Disney ended. One deal was with Paramount for multiple pictures and the other was with Warner Brothers for TV. Since then Abrams has been juggling his TV and film duties, but according to Slate.com Paramount is now getting the better part of the deal. Abrams reportedly got $10 million a year from Warner but has only announced a single project (a medical drama for HBO) in the 14 months since the deal was struck. Slate notes that another TV project will soon be forthcoming, but that the new Star Trek film at Paramount "is going to become [Abrams] life" for the next 15 months. Slate quotes a studio exec saying of the dueling deals, "somebody had to get hurt" and that somebody appears to be Warner Brothers. Another development may make Abrams even more important to Paramount soon….


Nimoy Treks To The Hollywood Bowl

The stories of Leonard Nimoy’s feuds with Paramount are legendary, but on Sunday night America’s favorite Vulcan put Mr. Spock, beer bottles and Hollywood accounting behind and turned out to host "The Big Picture: The Films of Paramount Pictures" – a music tribute at the legendary Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA. Despite the sweltering weather, Nimoy was classy as always and surprisingly avuncular as he introduced a litany of classic scores (and accompanying film clips) to some of Paramount’s greatest films including A Place In The Sun, Forest Gump, Chinatown, The Godfather Trilogy, Titanic, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and many more.


Inside The TOS-R HD DVD Box + Paramount Drops Blu-ray

TV Shows on DVD has revealed the interiors to the upcoming First Season of Star Trek The Original Series on HD DVD/DVD combo. Each of the 10 disks comes in a sleeve with a description of the episodes and features on the disk. Bear in mind that the disks are double sided (DVD on one side, HD DVD on the other)…so there is no artwork on the disks themselves.


Posters, Directors, Books, Robots, Psuedosience and Paramount Politics in a Presidents Day Roundup

Here are some some bite sized Trek nuggets to hold you over until the next item on TOSR or STXI. To promote TOSR StarTrek.com is running a giveaway for a new poster for Star Trek Remastered. Got to this page to enter to win this 2′ x 3′ poster made for syndicated stations. SciFi.com ran a poll on who should direct Star Trek XI and Joss Whedon came out on top with almost half the votes. Abrams came in 2nd to last with only 14%, click here for full results.


Departure of Paramount President Shouldn’t Affect Trek XI

Gail Berman (no relation to Rick) announced today that she is resigning as President of Paramount Pictures. Although Berman was involved in bringing in J.J. Abrams in a multi-year deal including Star Trek XI, Abrams’ primary champion within Viacom/Paramount has been Paramount CEO Brad Grey. A Paramount insider tells TrekMovie.com that Berman’s departure should have no impact on Star Trek XI as the project (along with Abrams himself) has too much support around the company. This support has recently been evidenced by the Chairman of Viacom talking up both Abrams and Trek XI to investors (on two separate occasions).  Berman’s departure is mostly due to changes in the company after the Viacom split, the Dreamworks acquisition, and changes made in reporting lines by Brad Grey resulting in Berman finding she had more and more of a diminished role. More info at Variety


Viacom Chief Trumpets ‘Revitalized’ Trek [UPDATED]

In speech to investors, Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman named Star Trek in his list of key components of Paramount’s future. Apparently JJ Abrams really sold the new cheif of Viacom on  Trek when he spoke to him last month (story). Specifically on Trek the executive said "we’re revitalizing it in a new and interesting way." This shows how Trek has again moved to the front burner for Viacom and Paramount. Also of note is how the article states a Trek XI release date as ‘2008 or 2009’. It also claimed that Abrams would be directing the film. Abrams recently told TrekMovie that he still was not sure if he would direct and that they will start shooting in Spring 2007 to meet a Summer 2008 release date. TrekMovie will try and clarify these two issues, but it is good to see that Trek has support all the way to the top.Full story in Variety UPDATE: Abrams still not Confirmed To Direct


Viacom Chief Hearts JJ

A couple of months ago TrekMovie speculated that changes in the leadership at Paramount’s parent company Viacom may ripple down to the recently signed JJ Abrams. However it appears that the new CEO of Viacom is a fan; Philippe Dauman had the following to say in a conference call with investors: We are doing all this while ramping up to produce a strong line-up of films including Tent Pole under the Paramount marquee. A key component to this revitalization is making sure we attract the best talent and we’ve already been successful in making deals with some of the biggest names in the business including Steven Spielberg, J.J. Abrams, whom I had the pleasure to spend some time with last night, Brad Pitt and Will Ferrell.


Trek XI Convinced Paramount To Pass On Halo?

Like Star Trek XI, the Halo movie was one of the more anticipated films planned for 2008. Now the film is in limbo, and apparently Trek is partially to blame. After losing financing from Universal and Fox, the Halo producers (Peter Jackson and Microsoft) pinned their hopes on Warner Brothers and Paramount. According to IESB, Abrams and Trek factored into Paramount’s decision to say no. IESB quotes a Paramount exec as saying Why share a franchise with other parties when we own Star Trek and have a real director doing that film?.