Intrepid and dedicated Screen Rant regular reader “790″ took it upon himself to visit Creation Entertainment’s 16th Annual GRAND SLAM: THE SCI-FI SUMMIT in Burbank, CA over the weekend and reported back with the latest from the Paramount panel on J.J. Abrams upcoming Star Trek reboot movie.
The host at the panel was my friend Anthony, from TrekMovie.com. While screenwriter Roberto Orci was in attendance, co-scripter Alex Kurtzman was not able to attend. I’ve distilled the report down to a few bullet points for you. Some of it is info that is already out there, but there are a few new details that were revealed.
Here are the highlights:
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- The budget on the film is far below $200MM.
- The film will be rated PG-13.
- The release date was pushed back to summer ‘09 because Paramount really wants it to be a summer blockbuster.
- The intent was to re-invent the Star Trek franchise, and that is why they went all the way back to start at the beginning.
- The script was written with Leonard Nimoy in mind. Nimoy read the script and liked it. It seems he’s so pivotal to the story that they would have had a big problem if he hadn’t liked it.
- Yes, the USS Enterprise will be assembled in space, although parts of it will be assembled on Earth.
- Orci revealed that originally Steven Spielberg read the script and talked to J.J. Abrams about directing it during a set visit to the Transformers set. Abrams mentioned it to his wife, who also helped talk him into the final decision to take on the potentially scary project.
- Nimoy was there and said that Star Trek 11 is a gigantic movie. It’s the biggest film he’s ever worked on and that it will be worth waiting for. He also said that Paramount is losing money on this investment now because they really have a lot of faith in the film as a summer blockbuster.
- He also went on to say that he didn’t like the death of Kirk in Star Trek: Generations. He resented it. He then went on to say that it would have been damaging to the story to put Shatner in the film.
I find it VERY interesting to see Nimoy’s comments regarding how including Shatner in the film would have been detrimental to the story. That makes it sound to me like all the talk by the producers and writers of trying to find a way to write “old Kirk” into the storyline may indeed have been B.S. all along, and put out there just to appease the fans.
On the other hand, it seems like the very thing that may have kept Shatner out of the movie was indeed his death in Generations. That makes his death in the movie doubly terrible: First, it was an ignoble death for the character, alone on a desert planet and now, second, it ended up keeping Shatner from appearing in what may be the seminal re-birth of the Trek franchise.
So now you’ve got the latest scoop on the Star Trek movie. It’s nice to get an update after it’s been so quiet lately and I want to give a huge thank you to Screen Rant’s own serial commenter: “790.” 
Star Trek is scheduled to open on May 8, 2009.
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67 Comments
Or, Shatner’s in it and they’ve taken pains to keep a lid on it?
Naw Shatners no where near this and as a matter of fact his name was not brought up when Bob Orci mentioned the actors that had visited the set. Nimoy had kind words for Tom Cruise who stopped by to meet Leonard.
Thanks adain Vic I had a great time. If anyone has any questions about the show I would be happy to answer them. If I don’t get back right away I will soon.
790
Oops!
Thanks again. Vic
Boy its been a long day.
if they’re keepin a lid on it, then you would not know about it. hence the word lid? not easy to do, but “cloverfield” ring a bell?
i’m not sayin i think it’s true, or even that i care (i actually don’t). but it’s possible.
Well Jimmy The C, Mr Nimoy said that the way the story is written they (the writers) couldn’t find a way to fit him in without making it a cameo. And by Nimoys own words “that would have been a disaster”.
Nimoy went on to praise Bill Shatner every chance he could durring the questions.
Its beginning to sound like the script was well written long before they started casting and wernt going to alter it. Shatner or not.
As a Star Trek fan, I will see this but every time I catch a Star Trek film on HBO I can’t help but think its too early to reboot this franchise. It just doesn’t seem that old or to put it clearer, it doesn’t seem broken. Bond needed to get away from the gadgets, Hulk from Ang Lee, Batman from Joel S., but there is nothing wrong with the original movies to warrant a reboot.
Typhon, I don’t disagree with you. The additional fact that rebooting the franchise is guaranteed to chase away at least a portion of the old fans, among them some members of my family, says that this has the possibility of doing more harm than good.
The fact that they hired the “Transformers” writers to write “Star Trek” all but guarantees that I won’t see it. After they butchered my favorite franchise, I don’t want to take the chance of watching them butcher my second favorite.
All in all, from where I live, this movie is not shaping up to be a good thing.
I think this was the wrong direction for Star Trek as a franchise, I feel if they wanted to do a new film and reinvigorate it, they should have set it ahead of TNG and DS9 and came up with a new ship and new characters. I think this is the death knell for Star Trek, the movie will make its money but I don’t see anything happening past that.
I will judge it when I see it.
I’m pumped. Orci gets Trek. Nimoy loves the script. Spielberg was impressed.
What more does one need?
I’m an old fan – grew up with the original series when it first aired. The news coming out about this movie is very, very exciting!
To quote Kirk at then end of TWOK – ‘I feel young!’
Some of you keep saying that this is “the wrong direction” for Star Trek to take, but none of you say “WHY?” – just that you won’t go see it…
I have grown up with and loved MOST incarnations of Trek and will continue to enjoy them, and I look forward to seeing another “take” on Gene’s wonderful universe.
I the movie is awesome, then it’s awesome! Even if it’s different.
I was angry when I first heard the news a year ago but I got over it.
I don’t think anyone at Paramount knows how to make a film anymore unless its a remake, reinvention or a reboot anyway.
+ I’m going for 4 reasons.
1 The new Enterprise
2 Nimoy
3 Quinto.
And 4 if it does suck I need to be there to see the suckage.
Man, I need to get out to Cali more often, sounds like you and “790″ had a blast vic.
Like you guys, I doubt Shatner will nake an apperance. Everyone knows it will be awful if he does.
Also, it was a smart move holding off til’ summer, the fall is just a bad time for movies.
Kids, with regard to the nearly constant barrage of reasons we get from the studio stating why Shatner can’t be in the film, I have one thing to say:
Methinks thou protests too much.
Just throwing it out there, kids…
Well thanks Stan,
I don’t expect Bill (as Nimoy calls him) to be in any future Star Trek projects.
I’ll tell you where he blew it besides (Generations) was during Star Trek Enterprise season 4, Bill had a chance to be in the Mirror Mirror two parter. I heard from a source at the time that Shatner was offered a chance to play the Mirror Kirk from TOS.
Next thing Bill dosnt like the script , he wants a million dollars yadda yadda. Cya Bill.
He’s systematically burned the transporter between himself and trek.
I think after this next film Spock is going to have more fans than kirk.
One cool quick story from Grand Slam 2008, I met Gary Lockwood, from 2001 and Star Trek the Original Series episode “Where no man has gone before”.
I asked him ” in Star Trek were those silver contacts you had to wear?” He said “yeah and they were awefull back then, now a days they would just do all that with effects”.
(If you get a chance gang check that episode out. Those contacts look PAINFULL).
He was a very nice guy and was talking to everyone that came by about Star Trek and 2001.
Your one lucky guy 790,
I would have LOVED to have met him!
790, we need to get together sometime this summer so I can have some awesome experiences. i need some stories to tell.
Thanks Gary.
He told us (group of fans) a story about how when he heard about casting for 2001 he skipped football practice to go to the call. (He apparently went to UCLA and played football for them.). He said “that just wasn’t allowed back then. So I was really taking a big risk by skipping practice”.
Great guy still in great shape!
Thanks Stan! I’ve got a six pack waiting for ya!
Yeah the whole experience is a trip at these Science Fiction Conventions.
You see people that are really passionatly into the sci-fi characters. One guy showed up in full blown (Star Trek, Deep Space Nine) Bajoran make-up and uniform. He was camera ready (as they say). That same guy asked a few good question. Btw.
I’ll tell ya Nimoy was totally relaxed. Like he has done these a million times and I couldn’t believe how relaxed Zac Quinto was. He was also very articulent.
It was like he was a seasoned pro at answering fan questions.
A lot of the questions were about Heroes.
One guy even asked if Sylar would ever use his powers for good and Zac said “that’s good I’ll bring that up to Tim Kring” and he seemed serious.
One major bummer is that next year the Grand Slam Summit is going to be held at the Los Angeles Aiport Marriott. That sucks for me seeing how I live only a few miles from the burbank location. And Burbank is way more green and suburban. LAX is a sh*thole area.
Yeah that sucks, you gotta drive a little. I gotta go across the country to get there, haha. Yeah, it is a sh*thole. I have been there. Never been to burbank though.
Kirk’s death in ST:Generations was perfect. Pay attention, cadets. After Jimmy T was distracted and fell off the mountain in Yosemite, he told Spock and McCoy that, even as he was falling, he knew he wasn’t going to die. After all, he was with his dearest friends. He said he had always known that when he died he would die alone. I don’t know how much more “alone” you can get than on an uninhabited alien planet you’ve never visited fighting a bad guy you have never met alongside somebody from about 80 years in your future that you’ve known for about half an hour. I think that falls within the definition of “alone”. Don’t you? I love Shatner and I love Kirk, but I have to agree that he’s probably not in the new picture because it just wouldn’t make sense. It would be too much of a stretch to “work it in”. By the way, I know what the hot rod in the new movie is all about. I spent a day as an extra on the set and witnessed it’s importance to the story firsthand… but my lips are sealed. Confidentiality Agreements and all that. – Captain Crash {=0)
Jeez (Again)…
Shatner can…
Read the intro as usual. (”These are the…”)
‘Wake up’ (somehow) in the Desert after death. (Q could have a hand in it.)
Future-Time could unconver a ‘video-time capsual’ that could have been sent anytime… BACK in time to tell the ‘New Kirk and Crew’ some of the challenges/mistakes/problems they may face in the future.
The ‘Memories, Voice and Images’ of Kirk, Spoke and McCoy could also be ‘in the computer, (again from a future time discovered) for advice and comment for any situation. (Hell, it works for Jor-El on Smallville when that Superwiner can’t figure it out for himself…)
Get with it Paramount! IF you REALLY wanted the origionals back in some way… you could write it in. Any Star Trek fan could!!!
Won’t even waste a Repulsor on this one… -Stark
Its not the drive Stan its more the location.
The Burbank Marriott is a real cool location. Its surrounded by Yahoo.coms west coast headquarters (a real cool looking complex of buildings).
Its across the street from Bob Hope Airport.
They just remodeled that area and it has some cool resturants etc.
The new Marriott LAX is right in line with the landing zone. (Planes landing every minute). There’s no cool enviroment its all fast food resturants, strip clubs and hotels.
The Burbank Marriott is WAY better! I hope they change their minds.
one reason Quinto and Nimoyy were so relaxed could be their faith in the project.
they believe box office or not ,
Its a solid story .
I hope they are right.
Rock on Cap Crash!
Kirk could easily be involved in a future Star Trek film despite his apparant death in Generations. In that same film, Picard enounters Guinan in the Nexus and she says that a part of her will always be there. Therefore, the same should be true for Kirk. He…or some part of him…should still be in the Nexus (presumably forever).
Sure anythings possible but how would Shatner look in a Starfleet uniform at this point. Dignity alone should prevent him from appering in any new Star Trek films.
If the Nexus could restore Shatners age to say 40 it would be no prob but Shatners too old to play Kirk.
In this weeks Boston Legal Shatner entered the first scene without pants, and in previous episodes he has worn dresses and made out with a life size doll, so I’m not sure “dignity” is a huge issue at this point. I’m sure his ego would love the boost from the rapturous screams fans would give to see his face, however briefly, on the big screen again as James T. Kirk.
Everyone involved would have to know that it would be a crowd-pleasing moment, especially if there was a way for him to share that moment with Nimoy.
Yeah well I don’t think everyone would like to see Shatner shoehorned into the film so that the Shatner fans can scream halalooya.
Star Trek dosnt have to include Shatner to be successfull.
I think that Abrams is going to do a great Star Trek movie, but it would still be awesome to have Shatner in it to give it the send off the new franchise needs. That’s just my feeling, and I don’t think I’m alone. Will it ruin the movie if it’s not in it? No…but I think it could be done in a way that respects the characters and honors the past.
You’re going to hate this idea, but if they didn’t want to go the Nexus route, I think a cool way of doing it would be to have Spock replicate Kirk on the holodeck. It would acknowledge their relationship and that Spock misses his old friend. They could spar with each other and Shatner could even make a comment about why he created him so old and out of shape, and Spock could reply that after so much time to do otherwise would be “illogical.”
Yea well I’m a big Capt Janeway fan, why isn’t she in the movie. They could maybe have Voyager come thru a rift back in time to save Spock and Kirk?
That sounds as realistic as Spock recreating Kirk on the Holodeck.
Think it would hurt the film? Who cares I want Janeway!!!
^
This is how all the Shatner fans sound to me.
Anyone who has seen the spoof, Galaxy Quest, then this fits. We all know Shatner has a huge ego, but the fact is. Star Trek and Shatner are synonymous with each other. Therefore, not having Shatner even involved somehow removes the movies connection. Shatner should at least be involved with the movie, even if he is not in it.
Also, with all this talk about how great Nimoy is…. They brought him back to life? This is Sci-Fi guys, besides remaining true to Star Trek Canon, anything else is possible. I for one think that having Shatner in the film, in some fashion will only help to connect the new movie with TOS.
You seem to be taking this much more personally than I am. I am not a “Shatner fan.” To be honest I have only watched a few episodes of the original Star Trek. I’m a NG fan (so where is Picard???).
My thinking is that if they are going to build the film around Spock, it might be nice to find a way to throw Kirk a bone. Shatner’s ego might not let him be a part of a film where he is not a central character (and Spock is), so it might not matter anyway. But it would be a nice gesture to both Shatner and original Trek fans to at least consider it.
Call me sentimental…
I agree Jay…
I’m waiting to see what they do with the story. I’d love to have Shatner and admire the man greatly, but really, Nimoy comes across as a wise and aged Vulcan while it would be a bit cringe inducing to see an overweight Captain Kirk.
As to the whole “Generations” death excuse, that’s B.S. All they had to do was make the movie take place in old Spock’s timeline just before the Enterprise B explosion.
Vic
So far, everything I’ve heard from everyone involved sounds exactly like what I’d expect to hear from people trying to promote a movie. You’ll never hear the actors, writers, director, or producers saying, “This movie sucks, but please go see it anyway.”
Personally, I’m finding it hard to believe it’s impossible for good writers to fit Shatner’s Kirk in if they wanted to, even just as a cameo, without ruining the story. Then again, we’ve got Orci and Kurtzman writing this one, so the comments that they couldn’t do it without ruining the story could well be true. Of course, I find it hard to believe they can write any story without ruining it. Which makes me suspicious of Nimoy’s comments that this is a good story.
On the other hand, there may be some truth in his words. I can easily believe they would have been unable to work Shatner in without making things worse.
(IMO) shatner fans…..
Its becoming clear to me that the reason people didn’t like Next Gen , Ds9 and Voyager is prob cause Kirk wasn’t in there.
I think when people say that Kirk and Spock are Star Trek, there really missing the point.
Can the writers of Transformers really influence this movie? Someone just slipped me part of the script, and I’m afraid so.
Scene: Enterprise in drydock. Female Cadet gives Scotty a walk-through of the Engine Room. She has No Idea he’s the Chief Engineer.
Scotty: (bending over to inspect)
Oh nice headers…you got a high rise double pump carburetor …that’s pretty impressive.
Cadet: (stammering)
D-d–double pump?
Scotty: (bending over to inspect)
It squirts the fuel in so you can go faster.
Cadet: (wistfully, to self)
I like to go faster.
Scotty: (caressing his communicator button)
It looks like your distributor cap’s a little loose.
Cadet: (licking an ice cream cone in slow motion)
Oh yeah? How’d you know that?
Scotty: (hiking his pants up, putting on a pouty face, turning around as if in front of a mirror, in a “do you think I’m fat?” pose)
Uh, my dad–he’s a real grease monkey.
He taught me all about this. I can take it all apart, clean it, and put it back together.
Cadet:
That’s like, so weird, I just wouldn’t peg you for mechanical.
Jimmy the C, that’s right out of the script from “Starship Farragut, “for want of a nail”.
Somebody slipped you a mickey.
LMAO. Btw.
“Can the writers of Transformers really influence this movie?”
Well, considering the fact that the writers of Transformers are the writers of this movie, I’d say it would be pretty hard for them NOT to influence this movie.
That aside, either you’re the victim of a prank, you’re trying to pull some kind of prank on us, or calling Orci and Kurtzman “writers”, even bad ones, is being far, far too kind. Personally, I’d say that’s a tough call.
Well far as I can tell Kirk is in the new film…It is my hope that someday people will be worried whether or not Chris Pine will be in some future Star Trek movie. Now that would be a true testament to what this delightful universe Roddenberry created. Frankly, I still wish Gene could be a part of it.
Great work, 790!
Interesting news. I can’t wait to see this, the reinvention has got me rather excited.
Too bad about the next summer release tho.
That’s just one more film I’m looking forward to seeing next year:
JLA (WOOT!!)
Star Trek
The Spirit
Gi Joe
Watchmen
Transformers 2
Wolverine
I hope ST can compete.
Wow…some of you guys and gals are far too narrow-minded to appreciate the new direction of this film.
Star Trek died as a franchise when Kirk died. Sure, First Contact was a decent film — if you really were into the Next Generation. But even the most arduous Trek fans would admit that the Big Screen films plunged into a “movie Nexxus” following that film.
The writers are reverting to what Paramount had intended to do with the original Star Trek 6: Star Fleet Academy. After a fan outcry created by the original crew, they switched courses and created a last truly great Trek film. After the last two ST:TNG films blue up upon entry, Paramount considered its options.
Option 1 was to do nothing and consider this well-beloved franchise DEAD. Option 2 was to move on with films based upon the less-loved “new” series (ST:TNG, ST:Voyager, ST:DS9 or Enterprise). But with the enormous failure of ST:TNG films, this was an unlikely option. Polls indicate that those series have an extremely limited fan base. The final option was to reboot the original series with a prequel of sorts. From what I understand, they have taken some elements of the Starfleet Academy script and mingled it with a time travel plot (ala LOST).
I’m not saying that it is a certain success — but this could work. JJ Abrams is seasoned enough to do this franchise justice. Although it wasn’t a box office success, MI:3 is generally regarded as the best of the trilogy (and rivals even Casino Royale as one of the best action dramas of the “spy” genre). I say: Give Abrams a chance. My biggest fear is not that he won’t respect the mythology or the fans. He is certainly up to that task. My biggest fear is that initial Trek fan response is cynical — even before they watched the film. If it is rejected by fans (even before having seen it), then it could end up earning a MI:3 box office tally (less than hoped for). Fan cynacism could be have the same effect on this film’s success as the “scientology” beliefs of Cruise had on MI:3. Otherwise, this film has the potential to REBOOT the entire Trek franchise. It simply needs to be watched objectively.
As for a Kirk cameo: It could be possible to insert an old Kirk along side old Spock at the conclusion of the film (albeit with CGI thinning). This could demonstrate that Spock, by contacting or “melding” with his younger self might have been able to alter Kirk’s future demise. This would insert another degree of HOPE into the story — while making the viewers aware that they don’t know how the story will ultimately end. Just a thought…
Chris from what I know about this film , it does take a lot from “First Contact”. Minus the borg obviously.
Chris you claim that TNG, Ds9 and Voyager have a limited amount of fans… I strongly disagree. They may not post comments up on Screen Rant but I happen to know that ratings on Spike are consistantly high and the DS9 novels outsell any Shatner written or TOS series books.
(IMO) TNG, DS9 ,and Voyager are this Generations Trek.
I’m a big fan of TOS but I don’t think that Kirk & Spock are the focal point of Star Trek and I’m pretty sure Gene Roddenberry would agree.
Chris, gotta say I agree, bro. First Contact was ok, but that was the last gasp on the big screen for Trek.
Vic
Yeah your right Vic but I think Paramount was setting up Rick Berman for the fall.
Paramount expected “Insurrection” to bomb and ruin TNG but enough fans put up with it.
Then Paramount approved the script for Nemesis and. Bam I sunk your battleship.
Berman was gone within a few years and I think that was the mission all along.
Remember gang, Paramount has last word on any Star Trek projects. They approve or tell them rewrite it.
Hi 790…
I’m not saying that the later incarnations of Trek don’t have fans. What I am trying to say is that they just don’t have a fan base that would justify a $100M film that is meant to REBOOT the entire STAR TREK franchise.
Yes, I think that all of these later incarnations (including Enterprise) were very good. However, as great as they are to the fans, they simply are not ICONIC. However, the original series was (and still is) iconic. A film based upon the original series and movies has the potential to attract fans and those who would watch it because of the Trek nostalgia.
For a Trek film with a $100M budget, Paramount needs approximately 20 million people in the US to watch the film (given the median ticket price of $5 a pop). Would 20 million people watch a film based upon ST:DS9 or ST:Voyager? I just don’t think so. If the last Trek film was poorly received by everyone except the most ardent ST:TNG fans — I have a difficult time believing that even 5 million people would attend a film based upon the later franchises.
Paramount is really placing all of their eggs in one basket. They are hoping that this film will earn at least $175-$200 Million in the United States alone — and advance the popularity of Trek in this new global film economy. However, if this film performs poorly (or barely breaks even), it may place the final nail in the Trek franchise (at least, for 10 years).
I am hoping for this film to succeed as a work of art. I hope that the writers/directors/actors etc… will do their best to carry the Trek franchise well into the 21st Century. If they can, then this film will be an economic catalyst for future Trek projects (and possibly, projects involving the later TV incarnations). Who knows? If this film is popular enough, perhaps a new Trek franchise could be created for the small screen?
I have a great deal of faith in JJ Abrams. He is a fan of sci fi. He worked wonders with Alias and LOST (although to a lesser extent with LOST). MI:3 was a great film in its own right — and probably would have raked in a fortune had it not been for the controversy surrounding Cruise and Scientology. Cloverfield was truly unique and well received. So I think that Abrams is quite able to do well with this franchise. As a fan of the first eight movies (Star Trek 5 notwithstanding), I am certainly crossing my fingers!
Hey Chris. Yeah I tend to agree with your assesment on the state of Trek.
I’m on both sides on this because I really don’t have a major prob with going back to Kirk and Spock. Yet at the same time I’ve read script proposals that would have united all factions of the Next Gen timeline and believe me some of them were remarkable.
I read one treatment that had the Federation grappling with Section 31’s handling of Voyagers advanced technology. (They wanted to secretly advance all Federaton ships with the tech) but the Romulans find out about it and its about to damage the peace talks with the Romulans. Meenwhile USS Titan uncovers a space anomoly that turns into a gateway the Mirror Borg are secretly developing to refortify the Borg in our muiltiverse.
This all culminates into a huge epic that brings a lot of Next Gen favorites back together.
There plan was to do this film as a intro for a new tv show that would have come afterwards.
BUT
Paramount said “no we don’t want to resign any of those actors”.
So I’ll be there for this new venture but if it sucks, Wow the perfect shtstorm is going to rock paramount.
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