This week details and a cover have been released on a new autobiography from William Shatner, the first Captain James T. Kirk. The book titled "Up Till Now: The Autobiography" (co-authored by David Fisher) promises to be the definite Shatner-ography and will be available in May on both a hardcover and audio CD (presumably narrated by the man himself). Details and large cover image below.
For the last few months there have been mounting troubles at Perpetual Entertainment, the company making the “Star Trek Online” MMORPG, and now it appears that it has finally come to a head. TrekMovie.com has learned from a source that after failing to secure additional financing the company has stopped development on the game. However, all hope is not lost.
Last week when Warner Brothers switched to Blu Ray in the HD format war there were some questions about whether or not CBS and Paramount would stick with their agreement to go HD DVD exclusive. Earlier today a report from the Financial Times indicated that Paramount was considering dropping support for HD DVD, but a subsequent report with Bloomberg states that Paramount has denied the FT report.
Season One of Star Trek The Original Series was released on HD DVD/DVD Combo six weeks ago and it appears that CBS is happy with the returns and are hoping to follow it up by releasing the rest of the series in HD later this year. However, the HD DVD format took a big hit this week as another studio dropped it entirely.
Last year Christie’s auction house helped CBS Paramount unload 1000 lots of memorabilia from the Star Trek vault in a highly publicized auction that brought in over $7 million. However, it appears one collector is not so happy and believes he has been duped. Ted Moustakis of New Jersey spent a total of over $12,000 for a uniform and a poker visor worn by Brent Spiner (TNG: Data) as well as a poker table used on TNG. Moustakis now claims that the items are not genuine and says that Spiner is backing him up.
More TOS & TNG + New Frontier, Mirror Universe & Gary Seven! In 2007 IDW ended a six year drought in Star Trek comic books. Last week IDW announced a new TNG comic series to debut in January and today the company announced an aggressive slate of four additional series to premiere over the following 5 months. These include a TOS ‘Year 4’ series written by D.C. Fontana, a New Frontier series written by Peter David, a Gary Seven ‘Assignment Earth’ series by comic legend John Byrne plus a series set in the mirror universe. There are also plans afoot for an adaptation for the new Star Trek movie later in the year.
Since 1991 Hallmark has been selling Star Trek themed Christmas ornaments and we have almost every single one. This year we have 30 of them on display, which is just over half of the total collection. See below for a video tour ‘Star Trek: The Christmas Tree.’
Last week William Shatner participated in a live webchat on PalTalk.com. The first question he was given was actually chosen from the talkback in the TrekMovie.com talkback article announcing the event. Below is the answer to that question and a couple of other Trek related clips.
Profiles in History, long known for their Hollywood memorabilia auctions, will be featuring 31 Star Trek lots in an Ebay Live auction on Thursday and Friday (the Trek lots go up on Friday). Included will be Picard’s Captain’s chair from the Enterprise “E”, which previously sold at Christie’s last year for $62,400 and an original Uhura costume from TOS. The auction also features a stunt Geordi LaForge VISOR, a nice Angosian ship model from TNG, a rare DS9 Klingon Tricorder, a mobile emitter for Voyager’s Doctor and a whole host of weapons. A list of lots available at Ebay Live Auctions. For a detailed analysis check out the Star Trek Auction Blog.
Last week Perpetual released their first in-game image from ‘Star Trek Online,’ which showed a space shot. Today WarCry have nabbed the first land-based avatar shot. WarCry also talk to Perpetual’s Daron Stinnett about recent reports and rumors…
Get ready to Boldly Gamble! Last week the gaming company WMS showed off the first Star Trek slot machines at a trade show in Las Vegas.
There has been a lot of concept art from the folks at Perpetual, but in their latest DevLog they finally let loose with an actual in-game screenshot for the MMORPG Star Trek Online. Details below
In his latest Shatnervision, the Shat critiques the promotion for his latest Trek book “Collision Course” and discusses why there isn’t an audio version.
Last month Perpetual Entertainment, the company producing the “Star Trek Online” MMORPG announced they were scrapping their launch title (Gods and Heroes) to focus on the Trek game. In the last couple of days some new reports indicate there are more changes in store for Perpetual and the Trek game. Shack News reports that Perpetual has been acquired by a new company and that this new owner wants to make changes in the plans for STO. Specifically changing the game to make it more appealing to ‘casual players’ by changing the payment model from a monthly fee to a free game where you pay for optional in-game items with real money (a new model being adopted by some MMORPGs, mostly in Korea). Shack News also reports that some Perpetual employees are not happy with changes and have left the project. But other reports cast some doubt on Shack News article
As of Today the new TOS Remastered Season One HD DVD Set, The latest Titan Book “Sword of Damocles” and the new Trek Game “Conquest” (for Wii and PS2) are all hitting store shelves…just in time for holiday shopping. NOTE: It looks like Amazon has the best price on the TOSR set and they are in stock now…click image above
On Tuesday Star Trek Season One is released on the combo HD DVD/DVD format. Recently Paramount Home Entertainment announced that it is committed to HD DVD exclusively until 2009 (Star Trek Season Two hits stores on March 25th and Season Three by the end of 2008). So if you want to see the new box set or any other Trek in HD in the near future, then you will have to get yourself an HD DVD player. The good news is that it wont cost you too much latinum.
CBS and Paramount may have embraced HD-DVD as the Star Trek format for the foreseeable future, but there is still a way to put Blu-Ray to good use.
In the Last couple of weeks William Shatner’s comments about not yet being asked to be in the new Star Trek have been all over the news. Shatner called in to the Howard Stern show this morning [listen to audio below] and right off the bat Stern dug in, telling him he was “carrying on like a crazy man.” Shatner defended himself saying that he only answers questions when asked and that “they blow it up.” The original Captain Kirk went on to say he “doesn’t care” about not being in the movie, but again stated that asking Nimoy to be in the film without himself was a “stupid business decision.” When asked what he felt about new young actors taking over the roles, Shat seemed OK with it stating “time marches on.”
In a new videoblog William Shatner discusses the real world connection for his latest Star Trek novel “Star Trek Academy Collision Course”
For many years, the enigmatic Q has been a recurring companion (or should that read nuisance?) to Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the USS Enterprise. For the better part of two decades we have witnessed his exploits on the Federation’s flagship, as well as in other parts of the universe. But now, the ultimate riddler prepares to deliver the ultimate answer in Keith R. A. DeCandido’s new Star Trek: The Next Generation novel, "Q&A". Right off the top, "Q&A" sets itself apart from the recent batch of Next Generation novels, opening with quite possibly the most unique prologues of any Star Trek work I have ever picked up. To be honest, it felt more like the work of Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker’s Guide series) than anything else.
Living on the fringes, 17-year-old Jim Kirk has fled from his father’s Iowa farm to that traditional haven for rebels, San Francisco, where he is a dropout hacker who has seen and experienced too much at a young age: As a wide-eyed space enthusiast three years before on Tarsus IV, he was caught in a nightmare of murder and betrayal, caused by the sudden dictator who called himself Kodos (familiar of course to TOS fans from the episode, “The Conscience of the King.”) We meet Jim as he is trying to clear his Academy cadet girlfriend of false charges, and to show up Starfleet at the same time, for reasons that become clearer as the story goes on.
Bethesda just released the following trailer for Star Trek Conquest. The strategy game for Wii ($29.99) and PS2 ($14.99) is released November 13th.
Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens first started writing Star Trek books back in 1988 with "Memory Prime" and after that went on to write the two epics "Prime Directive" and "Federation." In 1995 they collaborated with William Shatner on his first Trek novel "The Ashes of Eden" and the trio went on to complete three trilogies – creating the so called "Shatnerverse" of Trek fiction. This month their latest opus, "Star Trek: The Academy–Collision Course" hits books stores. The novel chronicles the lives of young Kirk and Spock as they head to Starfleet Academy. In a new exclusive interview the Reeves-Stevens talk to TrekMovie.com about their Trek writing career and their latest collaboration with the original Captain Kirk.
Looks like there is a bit of trouble over at Perpetual Entertainment, the young company that is building the "Star Trek Online" MMORPG slated for early 2009. Their launch title, the Roman-themed "Gods & Heroes" game, was to premiere sometime this year but has suffered from various delays and now it appears it is being put on indefinite hold. According to an official announcement the move was to allow the company to focus on Star Trek Online, and TrekMovie.com has been told that STO is still on track and will actually benefit from the move.
A month ago TrekMovie.com reported that CBS issued a licence to a funeral products company to help send Trekkies into the afterlife. Today at the Funeral Directors Expo in Vegas (complete with costumed characters from Star Trek The Experience) Eternal Images revealed these new products. They have an approved prototype of the urn and a sketch of the casket. See below for higher res image.
A year before J.J. Abrams brings his vision of The Original Series to the big screen, the original Original Series is going to get a go. CBS just announced a special presentation of the remastered "The Menagerie" on November 13th at almost 300 theaters nationwide. Both parts of "The Menagerie" will be shown in HD and cinema surround sound. The presentation includes a 30 minute behind-the-scenes featurette about the remastering. You can find theaters and buy tickets at Fathom Events ($12.50). More info at STARTREK.com Of course it is no coincidence that these screenings are being held one week before the release of Star Trek: TOS – The Complete First Season [on HD DVD]
Last week we linked to fightingthedead.com without explanation. Now we can reveal it is for a 2008 TV series called Alive from the brains of Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens and starring John Billingsley and Gary Graham.
Perpetual’s Star Trek: Online MMORPG is still over a year away, but in a new ‘DevLog‘ they are showing off quite a bit of new artwork for the game. In the past they have shown large matte painting vistas, such as this Vulcan Village… …now they are showing individual components, plus a ‘killer’ surprise (below)
It seems strange now to think that Star Trek: The Next Generation first debuted some 20 years ago, but there it is – there’s no denying it. I was in college at Wisconsin when the first episode, "Encounter at Farpoint," appeared on the air. I’d been watching reruns of The Original Series for as long as I could remember, so at the time it was a thrill just to have Trek back on the air. The sets, the ships, the technology – it all seemed so sleek and futuristic back in 1987. So it’s somewhat shocking, all these years later, to realize just how dated The Next Generation seems today. Unfortunately, of all the Trek TV series – including The Original Series – this is the one that’s suffered most the passage of time.
Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens have been writing science fiction books and TV for decades. They have written a number of Trek novels on their own and in collaboration with William Shatner (including "Star Trek: The Academy–Collision Course" coming out next month). They were also brought in for Star Trek Enterprise’s final (and most consider best) season. But the couple are also aficionados of science fact (see picture of pair on an actual Space Shuttle). They have written a number of non fiction books including one about real missions to Mars. Their most recent television project (the Race to Mars mini-series airing on the Discovery Channel in Canada this Sunday) brings fact and fiction together. Judy and Gar spoke to TrekMovie.com about their Mars project and also about their time on board Enterprise.