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Trek Franchise, Uncategorized | December 17, 2006 | By: Anthony Pascale 49 comments so far

Longest Period Without A Trek Film Since 1979

Since the relase of Star Trek: The Motion Picture on  December 7th, 1979 there had been a steady stream of Star Trek films. Over the next 23 years Paramount released new Trek films every 2-3 years. The longest gap of 4 years and 2 days was between Star Trek Insurrection and the last film Star Trek: Nemesis, which was released on December 13, 2002. As of this weekend that record has been broken and every day between now and the release of Star Trek XI will be a Trek franchise record. So if you were wondering why you were especially jonesing it isn’t just that this weekend is a Trek Remastered repeat. In honor of the occasion, TrekMovie.com decided to take a quantitative look back on the Trek franchise…see chart below 

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Abrams, Interview, STXI Status, Uncategorized | November 2, 2006 | By: Anthony Pascale 20 comments so far

Abrams Talks Kirk and Spock With TrekMovie.com

JJ Abrams was in Beverly Hills Wednesday to present an Atrios Award to his longtime casting director April Webster. TrekMovie.com was there and got a moment to talk a little Trek XI. Abrams confirmed our earlier story on the film’s current status and Spring 2007 production start. He also explained why he hasn’t yet committed to direct and talked a bit about why he thinks Kirk and Spock continue to endure…see  the (shaky) video. video removed full transcript for the TrekMovie.com Abrams ‘mini interview’ below…

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TOS Remastered, TOS-R Preview, Uncategorized | November 1, 2006 | By: Anthony Pascale 130 comments so far

New Enterprise Premieres In ‘Trouble With Tribbles’ Remastered…See Promo & Sneak Peek

Two weeks ago TrekMovie.com revealed that the CBS Trek Remastered team were working on a new model for the Starship Enterprise..and it arrives this weekend. CBS Digital was kind enough to let TrekMovie.com visit their offices and we can say that the new model is a big improvement, here is a little peek. (click for a closer look) 

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Rumor, ST09 Cast, Uncategorized | October 25, 2006 | By: Anthony Pascale 14 comments so far

Cruise Trek Rumor Denied

It looks like Tom Cruise won’t be beaming up. As we reported yesterday there is a new rumor about Tom Cruise and JJ Abrams being in talks for a cameo role in Trek XI. TrekMovie was skeptical so we looked into it and so far cannot find any corroboration. Paramount insiders say they know nothing about it, and Arnold Robinson, a publicist for Mr. Cruise, tells TrekMovie.com "that story is not true." As yesterday’s article stated, WENN (who first reported the rumor) don’t exactly have the best track record on these things. However WENN’s Editorial Director Kev Lewin tells TrekMovie that they stand by the story, but also stated "we are not on that story anymore, that is yesterday’s news."

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Interview, TOS Remastered, Uncategorized | October 25, 2006 | By: Anthony Pascale 55 comments so far

CBS Is Future Proofing Original ‘Star Trek’

According David La Fountaine, exec-producer on Trek Remastered and Exec VP at CBS Paramount, there there is more than meets the eye when it comes to the Star Trek Remastered project. As everyone knows, each week the CBS digital team send out a new digitally remastered CGI-enhanced version of the Star Trek: Original Series for broadcast syndication. La Fountaine tells TrekMovie.com that what we are seeing is only one of the many different versions of each episode that the team is making. The first version they make an unedited or ‘network’ version without any CGI enhancements but with all the digital remastering from the original source. Then they make the CGI enhanced version of the full length version, and then edit it down for syndication. This means that some of the new CGI effects being done are not being seen in the syndicated versions. Plus all 3 versions are being done in both High Definition and Standard Definition. In addition all the new CGI space shots and matte paintings are being done in 16:9 wide-screen, so every time you see a new shot in Trek Remastered there is a bigger HD version waiting in the wings. 

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Abrams, Rumor, ST09 Cast, Star Trek (2009 film), STXI Plot, STXI Status, Uncategorized | October 19, 2006 | By: Anthony Pascale 103 comments so far

Trek XI Update: Abrams Already Auditioning Actors – On Track To Start Shooting In Spring

With so much reporting on other things, thought we should update you all on that other little Trek project  Although Trek XI is still just in ‘development‘ there already is quite a lot of activity going on. According to studio insiders the assumption is that Trek XI will get a greenlight and will be one of Paramount’s tentpoles for Summer 2008. Apparently the first draft of the script is due shortly and the Abrams team are already seeing actors for the major parts. Although no names are available, TrekMovie is told that "many A and B listers have been in and out of Abrams offices" (which are actually still on the Disney lot). One Paramount source tells TrekMovie that it is possible there will be a casting announcement even before the script gets final approval and the film gets the greenlight (which should be sometime in December/January). "Although it hasn’t been greenlit yet, it is as close as you get around here," said the source. Still unclear how many TOS roles are being recast, but another source indicates that the treatment included the characters of McCoy and Scotty in addition to Kirk and Spock. The ‘Kirk’s first Mission’ plotline (which TrekMovie first reported in August) still seems to be the prevailing assumption amongst those TrekMovie has spoken to, but still nothing firm so it is still in the realm of ‘rumor’.

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Interview, TOS Remastered, Uncategorized | October 18, 2006 | By: Anthony Pascale 104 comments so far

Producer: Trek Remastered Is Getting A New Enterprise

TrekMovie got some time with Trek Remastered Producer David Rossi to talk about how the project is going and where they are going next. Like any Trek endeavor, the CGI-enhanced Trek Remastered project has spawned much discussion. In general the show has been well received. The re-recorded theme and the digital transfers get a lot of praise. Much of the CGI work like the new matte paintings and planets have gone over quite well, and some of the live action touches have been pleasant surprises.  However, much discussion has focused on how CBS have been digitally recreating Kirk’s classic Enterprise. Many seem to feel that the team have not got it quite right yet, but what may surprise the critics is that the producers at CBS agree. "It is not that we are unhappy with the work, but it is not yet the Enterprise as we want to see it" says Dave Rossi, going on "we want it to be there as much as everybody else does." And this is not just talk; the team has a plan…and a new model.

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Interview, Of Gods and Men, Uncategorized | October 16, 2006 | By: Anthony Pascale 38 comments so far

Interview: Grace Lee Whitney Talks Past and Future Rands

Grace Lee Whitney (Janice Rand) only appeared in 8 episodes in the first season of Star Trek before being let go amid some controversy. But fans remembered Yeoman Rand and she came back (as Lt. JG Rand) for Star Trek: The Motion Picture. She went on to appear in three more Trek films (III, IV & VI) and even an episode of Star Trek Voyager (‘Flashback’). She is again reprising her role for the new independent Trek film ‘Of Gods And Men’. TrekMovie chatted with the actress about playing Rand again as well as her thoughts on a new Rand for Star Trek XI.

City on the Edge of Forever

Review, TOS Remastered, Uncategorized | October 12, 2006 | By: Dennis Russell Bailey 39 comments so far

Review: “City On The Edge Of Forever” Remastered [w/ new pics & vids]

Captain Kirk Meets The No-Win Scenario The Enterprise crew discovers an alien time machine on an uncharted, lifeless world.  In a fit of drug-induced paranoia (it’s an accident, kids  — I can’t stress this enough; don’t do drugs, stay in school), “Bones” McCoy leaps back into 1930s New York and alters history such that the “Star Trek universe” never happens.  Kirk and Spock go back in time themselves in order to fix history; in a twist familiar to anyone who has read much of Harlan Ellison’s work, a blameless young woman who loves the protagonist has to be killed in order to make Everything Okay Again.

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Feature Films (TMP-NEM), Shatner, Uncategorized | October 6, 2006 | By: Anthony Pascale 35 comments so far

Shatner Plays Kirk Again For Commercial…Plus Hosting New Gameshow

In the last week a new DirecTV commercial has shown up that features William Shatner playing a movie era Captain Kirk. The commercial is part of DirectTV’s new ‘fourth wall’ campaign were they show scenes from popular films re-edited to have some of the actors talk to camera about the clairty of DirectTV. Previuos commercials featured Vern Troyer from ‘Austin Powers’ and Ben Stein in ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’. The new Trek commercial uses footage from Star Trek VI. Walter Koenig and Leonard Nimoy are also featured, but it appears their footage is taken from the original film. And here it is… download wmv

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Fan Productions, Interview, Of Gods and Men, Uncategorized | October 5, 2006 | By: Anthony Pascale 17 comments so far

‘Of Gods And Men’…The Other ‘Trek Movie’

TrekMovie visits with Of Gods and MenThe crew for the independent Trek web mini-series ‘Of Gods and Men’ (henceforth referred to as OGaM) did some location shooting in L.A. last weekend and TrekMovie.com was there. The first thing you notice when pulling up to the location is that this does not look like the proverbial ‘bunch of fans in a barn’ scenario. The scene looked like a typical L.A. filming location complete with honey wagons, equipment trucks, trailers, P.A.’s running around screaming into their headsets and extras milling about. What was different about this is that most of the extras had pointy ears. OGaM has turned a little corner of the San Fernando Valley into the planet Vulcan.

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CBS/Paramount, Orci/Kurtzman, Uncategorized | October 2, 2006 | By: Anthony Pascale 2 comments so far

Trek XI Writers Hold ‘Write A Line’ Contest For Transformers Movie

Next summer Paramount Pictures is bringing the Transformers franchise to the big screen in a live action movie. The film is directed by Michael Bay and written by Trek XI scriptwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. Weeks ago we covered their streaming video Q&A session where they mentioned an upcoming fan contest. This week marks the start of the contest where they are letting fans submit lines for their script. 10 entries for a line of dialog will be recorded by star Peter Cullen (the voice of Optimus Prime) with the winning entry ending up in the final film. Paramont along with Orci and Kurtzman are to be applauded for their fan outreach on Transformers. With Orci and Kurtzman also having exec-producer credit for Star Trek XI we can only hope that this kind of feedback and involvement will be in store for Trek fans as well. The Transforms film is just finishing up principal filming and will be released on July 4th. The official website promises to provide many goodies like pictures, video, blogs, etc but so far it all says ‘coming soon’ Go to the Offical Transformers Site to Enter in the Contest

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Abrams, Fan Productions, Uncategorized | September 27, 2006 | By: Anthony Pascale 7 comments so far

Siddig, Sulu, Singer, and Spaceballs In A Slow News Day Smackdown

TrekToday interviewed Star Trek DS9 star Alexander Siddig and it appears that he has put Trek behind him. Siddig talked about his successful post Trek career and only said "next question" when asked if he would be interested in getting a call from Trek XI’s JJ Abrams. He also said that he doesn’t think his Syriana co-star Matt Damon would want to even be in Trek XI, telling TrekToday "Damon would be a great Trek captain, but I’d be a little surprised if he has agreed to do it, frankly."  Check out the full interview for more. We still dont know if a new Sulu will be in StarTrek XI, but it seems the old Sulu is getting one more shot. Star Trek’s George Takei will reprise his role as Sulu for the popular online fan film "NewVoyages" which is shooting a new episode this week. With his usual humility Takei tells AP "My coming back is crucial to the existence of the Enterprise…It’s classic drama, and it’s rip-snorting good." More coverage on the TrekFan Film phenom at Forbes.