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
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.
I’m sorry but there’s no way I can believe from a business standpoint that Paramount purposely allowed movies to fail and to lose millions of dollars so they could get rid of Berman. I mean he’s just an employee, just show the guy the door for crying out loud. No need for any spy-like shenanigans and the loss of big bucks.
Vic
I agree 790…Paramount wouldn’t have thought twice about dumping Berman if it wanted too, and it certainly wouldn’t have greenlit 2 multimillion dollar movies and destroyed a franchise to get rid of him. Those movies failed for the same reasons many movies fail. They did not play to a broad audience.
Those two films did not have the balance of the most successful ST films (2,4,6 and First Contact). Those films had an excitement and humor that played to a wide audience, not just the Star Trek fans. Star Trek may get you an opening weekend (Nemisis and Insurrection opened decently), but without strong word of mouth that will draw in the non fans…who just want to see a good movie…they bombed.
Well it happens Vic as hard as it is to believe.
Rick Berman was setup (contractually) by Roddenberry himself to look after the Franchise. A lot of people hated his guts.
And over time Paramount went thru a lot of management changes. One thing Berman remained. They couldn’t show him the door because he was under contract and it would have cost them a lot to get rid of him. (Milions).
I think the studio was responsable for green lighting Star Trek scripts they knew woundt loose money but certainly wouldn’t garnish a new fanbase.
And another reason they didn’t want any Next Gen films after Berman is because they would had to pay and include him.
Well this type of infighting between studios and producers happen all the time.
Green lighting projects to make a producer or director look bad is not a new thing.
And Paramount would have thought 20 times before getting rid of Berman because he had and still owns a big chunk of the creative piece of the Next Generation, Yoyager and Star Trek Enterprise.
No one plays by the rules in this town….. Its cutthroat.
Conspiraces happen daily.
790 WRONG
{{Jimmy the C, that’s right out of the script from “Starship Farragut, “for want of a nail”.}}
Kel WRONG
}}
{{Great work, 790!
It’s the Transformers over-the top [literally] scene where Mikaela’s boobs almost pop out of her shirt as she caresses the engine, and Sam’s eyes almost pop out of his head as he thinks of getting the car a paint job.
Only the names were changed:
Oh nice headers. You got a high rise double pump carburetor–that’s pretty impressive.
…..D-d–double pump?
It squirts the fuel in so you can go faster.
…..I like to go faster.
Damm.
Your right. Jimmy.
Most of transformers was soooo forgettable I must have forgot..(You added the “licks ice cream -in slo mo) right? That’s the part I thought was funny.
That scene in particular made me cringe.
Teen angst makes me wanna puke.
Reality Check:
Anyone associated with the film is CONTRACTUALLY OBLIGATED to not say anything bad about it. So, the moment Nimoy siged on the dotted line, Paramount could have revisioned history so that the Enterprise is a garbage scow and Chris Pike’s command was just a dream by Bobby Ewing, and Nimoy would have been obligated to say “I’m excited by the new possibilities” or forfeit everything he’s paid on the project.
As far as not signing Shatner – trust me, Bill doesn’t need the money because he’s a very wealthy man (and Nimoy certainly isn’t).
If you want to know the truth about Nimoy and Shatner, you’ll have to trust Gene Roddenberry’s own words. The Great Bird of the Galaxy wrote a wonderfully revealling book, “The Making of Star Trek” which explains how Shatner’s ego rubbed everyone the wrong way. Roddenberry has a funny way with words when describing his creation (real excerpt: “Klingon’s fart in air lockers“)
As far as forcing out Berman – look, in Hollywood, Ego is everything, and the dollar is a distant second. If Berman has a contractual NDA, until it expires, he’s restricted as to what he can say. If he’s not under an NDA, mouthing off virtually guarantees that he’ll never work in that town again.
I feel your pain Bill but you know there not going to change there minds. We will have to live thru this reboot weather we like it or not. + I’m pretty sure Nimoy is a millionare so he’s not hurting.
He made a lot of cash narrating (In Search Of). That show ran for like 10 years.
Plus he prob gets 10.000 per convention.
I’m glad at least Paramount put out all the Star Trek shows on dvds.
Berman by the way sure gets a lot of blame on his Star Trek shows. Personally I loved TNG, DS9, Voy, and (deep breath) Enterprise.
Sure they wernt perfect but they were Star Trek.
And all take the worst episode of Enterprise over ANY reality show or any CSI crapfest any day.
And Bill please I can’t take anymore threads that begin with (working shatner in the film).
Personally, I felt that Voyager was the closest to the Original, and I still enjoy the reruns.
And no, we don’t have to live through the reboot because we don’t have to go to the movie, or buy the DVD, if this turns out to be another Nemesis.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m hoping for a terrific movie with the continuity that has made Star Trek a smashing success. But Nemesis disillusioned The Original Generation of fans. It’s a hard sell for people past 40, so I’m concerned that Paramount will pull another Nemesis; problem is, a cast of young, arrogant kids rarely succeeds in Sci-Fi movies.
You know, if anyone at Paramount was daring enough, they could put out an exciting film on The Chronicles of Chris Pike. The only continuity that would be required would be technology, and Spock’s character. Since the rest of Pike’s bridge crew was mostly undeveloped in ST:TOS, Paramount could play with the crew as they wished. According to Spock (and my original edition Star Trek Concordance!) Spock served with Pike as Captain of the Enterprise for an exciting “eleven years, four months, five days”. That’s enough time for a new series! And it could easily revive The Great Bird’s vision of “Horatio Hornblower to the Stars”.
All it would take is a good writer that stays away from Paramount’s constant use of the Godfather Formula – youngster succeeds his mentor, youngster battles for position, youngster is betrayed, then vindicated etc (you see this in many of Paramount’s films and it is used when it shouldn’t).
Please excuse my rants – ST:TOS has always been more of a morality play to me than a science-fiction series, where the people were the story and not the props. I’ve already seen how my beloved Amber series by Zelazny was horribly disfigured by an openly mercenary writer. I’m hoping the same doesn’t happen to Trek.
Wow Bill that’s the first time I’ve heard anyone ever say that Voyager was closest to the Original. (I totally agree). Voyagers my favorite version of Trek. Reruns I can’t wait for those so I had to buy the dvds. Anyone could clearly see that Kate Mulgew was channeling Cap Kirk. I have so many friends that are now watching the Voyager reruns and there blown away by how badass she is. Janeway never took any sh*t. Right up to the end when she destroyed the Borg with the help of Echips dna virus.
Nemesis, yeah everyone hated that film. I liked it. I thought it was ok. It did have some great space battles that I still love to pop in and watch after a bad day at work.
I don’t think Abhrams is going to screw up TOS that much. Sure the ship and uniforms will prob be a little different but what do you expect.
I’m really upset more with the abandonment of TNG Ds9 and Voy timline.
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