Star Trek XI

[Danny Stewart]

Oh. I haven't seen it yet, sorry.

[Chris Britton]

Ah, i see what he is on about.

[Danny Stewart]

I happened to stumble across this fascinating article on Trek Today:

Paramount Pictures announced today that Lost creator J.J. Abrams will co-write, produce and direct the eleventh Star Trek film, set for release in 2008. According to an article in the Daily Variety, the new film will be a prequel to the original Star Trek series, featuring younger versions of characters like James T. Kirk and Spock. The movie will chronicle events such as their first meeting at Starfleet Academy and their first mission into outer space.

The as-yet untitled new film will be written by Abrams together with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. Abrams is the creator of television series such as Felicity, Alias and Lost, and will soon be making his debut as a feature film director with Paramount's Mission Impossible: III. He's also written the scripts for films such as Regarding Henry and Armageddon. Kurtzman and Orci cooperated with Abrams on the MI: III script, and were previously part of the Alias writing staff, as well as writing the scripts for films such as The Island and the upcoming Transformers movie.

Besides Abrams, the film's producing team will include Damon Lindelof and Bryan Burk, who both also produce Lost. The Variety article made no mention of the fate of Rick Berman, who has been heading the Trek franchise for the past two decades.

According to Variety, the decision to produce a new Trek film is part of an effort by new Paramount head Brad Grey to try and raise the profile of Paramount by producing several "high-profile tentpole" movie, and having them developed by some of the most talented people in Hollywood.

The Starfleet Academy concept is an idea that has been floating around Paramount for several decades now. In February, former Trek movie producer Harve Bennett told the Trek Nation that as recently as two years ago he had a discussion with the then-current regime at Paramount about reviving the idea. Variety confirmed Bennett's statements, writing that several years ago Rick Berman was asked by Paramount to develop a Starfleet Academy feature together withJordan Kerner and Kerry McCluggage. Presumably this idea evolved into the Star Trek: The Beginning concept, which now appears dead in the water (story).

For the original story from Variety, please follow this link.

What are everyone's thoughts on this? Personally, it strikes me as a bit strange... but I hope it works to breathe new life into the Star Trek franchise. Note that the article states the movie will premiere in 2008, and that it makes no mention of Rick Berman's fate. We can only hope that this will be a good thing.

[Ross Hendrie]

Ah yes, I heard about this. Thankfully Rick Berman is not confirmed to be involved. I think this should be good, then again odd numbered Star Trek films have a tendency to do poorly.

[Chris Britton]

Berman will be executive producer i think,. but won;t have any real power. That can only be good, But this will be odd, Star Trek at the academy, i knew they wanted to do that before, it was the origianal plan for Star trek VI, since they will be in out space i am relived, Star trek on the stars is important, but will younger versions really be able to play the parts of classic characters, will they live up to expectations, as Ross rightly said, odd numbered films seem to do badly, although Star Trek: Insurrection was a deecent film. But i am keeping my fingers crossed.

[Ross Hendrie]

Originally Posted by Chris Britton

As Ross rightly said, odd numbered films seem to do badly, although Star Trek: Insurrection was a deecent film. But i am keeping my fingers crossed.

Indeed, I was thinking that, it seems to have reversed itself to even numbered films since Insurrection, as Nemesis was extremely shallow im sorry to say.

[Danny Stewart]

The whole odd-numbered thing is just superstition, and it's convenient that it's worked out like that so far, but you really can't use it to predict how good future films will be. And as far as Chris asked about new actors being able to live up to the old characters, it is a valid concern, but the casting process will be rigorous and I'm sure they'll get top-notch talent for each part. I wouldn't worry.

Also, Ross, I must defend Nemesis, as I liked it a lot and thought it was a very strong film in many ways.

[Chris Britton]

Nemisis was a good film, one of the best, i cried when Data died, the reason it did so badly was because many fans boycotted the film, they were fed up with Berman and Braga because of the state of 'Enterprise' i can't blame them to an extent, but argueable all TNG films did pretty well, im just hoping this film breathes new life into the franchise, otherwise it will crash badly.

[Danny Stewart]

Yes, agreed fully with Chris. It would indeed be disastrous if the franchise was dying, so they attempted to resurrect it, and then the new movie failed as well... it would take Star Trek a very long time to recover from that. So let's just hope it does well.

[Chris Britton]

personally i tihnk they should have done what they did with TOS, let is rest for a decade and show repeats around the world. If they prove popular then do another movie, Im just saying, what if it is too soon for a movie?

[Danny Stewart]

To be honest, I agree. I think it needs a longer break than this if they really want to make an impressive comeback.

[Ross Hendrie]

Nemesis was good in terms of the fighting sequences and the death of Data, but before that the plot was infinately shalow. The thelaron thing was badly introduced, and the Shinzon/Picard thing wasnt explored enough.

[Danny Stewart]

Maybe, but I still found the movie enjoyable, which is what it's supposed to be -- entertainment.

[Danny Stewart]

Looks like some good news for Berman haters!

StarTrek.com has confirmed that longtime Star Trek executive producer Rick Berman, who was personally brought into the franchise by creator Gene Roddenberry and worked on all of the second-generation shows and movies, is not involved. "This project is separate from the previously rumored script developed by Eric Jendresen and overseen by Rick Berman," stated the official site. "The former Star Trek producer is not involved in this project."

[Chris Britton]

As i said, and good for all of us, heres hoping for a good film.

[Danny Stewart]

Things are probably going to go quiet soon because the movie's still a very long way away.

[Chris Britton]

understandable, as long as it does not have the same problems the Red Dwarf movie has had i am ok.

[Ross Hendrie]

Red Dwarf movie? Does it exist? lol

[Chris Britton]

Well, yes and no.

After series 8 concluded in 1999, Doug Naylor was hoping they could start filming, but there was problems, and since then, everytime he has tried to start it off, something stops him, mainly money, but the website has not been updated the movie page for years.

[Danny Stewart]

This is a Paramount production, and something as big as Star Trek will never suffer problems like that.