Behind the Scenes with Drexler Video Blog

Star Trek designer Doug Drexler has released a new video blog from his Drex Files blog that he put together for StarTrek.com that covers decades of Star Trek history from The Original Series up to Enterprise. So far he has released two entries in what I hope is a long lasting series as he edits together interview footage with decade’s old footage taken from all eras of Star Trek. As a longtime fan, I keep out over moments such as the crew doing something as "simple" as turning the hundreds of thousands of dollar hero model of the TNG Enterprise ship or the who knows how many man hours and love that went into a smaller model to replace it.

Video blog one can be found here and number 2 here or below. (via TrekMovie)

Drex TV 02 highlights
- Interview with Michael Forest, Apollo in TOS episode "Who Mourns for Adonais"
- Behind the scenes video of team handling TNG USS Enterprise D model
- Behind the scenes video from Gary Hutzel, Okuda and team painting Enterprise D model
- Blooper reel from Enterprise episode "The Crossing"
- Behind the scenes shooting shuttlepod on Enterprise "planet hell" stage
- Plus a couple of "Ships of the Line" animations

Star Trek II for Legal Precedent

This is something that could probably only occur in Texas, a core philosophy of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan has been enshrined as part of the decision written by Justice Don Willett of the Texas Supreme Court. For the cast of Robinson vs. Crown Cork Seal Company he wrote:

Appropriately weighty principles guide our course. First, we recognize that police power draws from the credo that "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." Second, while this maxim rings utilitarian and Dickensian (not to mention Vulcan), it is cabined by something contrarian and Texan: distrust of intrusive government and a belief that police power is justified only by urgency, not expediency.

With that came a footnote to explain the reference:

See STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN (Paramount Pictures 1982). The film references several works of classic literature, none more prominently than A Tale of Two Cities. Spock gives Admiral Kirk an antique copy as a birthday present, and the film itself is bookended with the book's opening and closing passages. Most memorable, of course, is Spock's famous line from his moment of sacrifice: "Don't grieve, Admiral. It is logical. The needs of the many outweigh . . ." to which Kirk replies, "the needs of the few."

Very cool, shows that Trekkies are everywhere. (via IO9)

Vulcan Female with Major Role in Sequel?

An article from the New York Times talking about how Hollywood has embraced the iPad, a possible nugget of information was revealed about the sequel to Star Trek. In a meeting about Star Trek 2, Roberto Orci was described as using the iPad in a "meeting [last month in Hollywood] with the producers J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof and Bryan Burk, and his fellow writer Alex Kurtzman, jump-started the discussion with an iPad slide show, showing stills from the first film, snapshots of potential locations and a photo of a suggested actress for one of the roles. On the woman's photo, he had used his iPad to paint on a Vulcan ear."

On the surface the news is really shrug worthy since the script is in the very early stages of development but it gives you an idea of what could be a major character in the film since it is unlikely that a meeting like that would waste time on minor characters. Current speculation has offered that maybe this Vulcan female will be the ST2.0 universe versions of T'Pau (a once leader of the Vulcans), T'Pol (character from Star Trek: Enterprise), Lt. Saavik (the woman from Star Trek 2 and 3) or even T'Pring (from Amok Time who was Spock's arranged marriage).

Personally, I still keep thinking that the writers and Abrams want to blaze their own trail and create original major characters. Any nods to the Prime universe will through minor characters and references to events as part of the overall story. Thanks to Brian for the link.

New Villain Sequel Rumors, No Khan

The scripting on Star Trek continues and even though the pages have probably only been seen by a few, it seems already the rumor machine is in full gear with a recent report saying that a previous Star Trek villain may be used as the big bad and it is not Khan. Khan not being used in the film is a pretty easy call to make as it is probably safest to stay away from that as the film would be unfairly compared to the Wrath of Khan and I don't care how good the script of Abrams is, they will lose in the comparison. A source to Bad Ass Digest says:

It’s definitely a character that will make fans of TOS excited. Think along the lines of Harry Mudd or Trelane or Gary Mitchell or the Talosians or the Horta. Actually it’s one of those that I named.

In Process of Writing Trek Script

Popcorn Biz recently recieved an update on the progress being made on the script for the sequel to Star Trek. The site spoke with the writers Damon Lindelof, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci.

“We are in the process – It is being written,” Lindelof told Popcorn Biz. “It's a lot of fun. There's a tremendous amount of pressure because expectations, I felt, were a little bit low the last time. Now they're high – but that brings its own level of excitement. So, you know, I hope that we do the fans proud.”

Kurtzman called breaking the sequel’s story “an epic moment for us, of feeling like we finally came to something that meets our expectations.”

“It’s exciting and terrifying and wonderful, and yet I want to put my head in the sand – all at the same time,” Kurtzman said. “I think Bob and Damon and I have to shut the noise out. You do listen to what people are saying, and our antennae are always out for what people are saying and what people want. We take that in, we process it, we adjust it, we talk about it, we debate it, and then we shut it all out and say ‘What are we going to do here? What do we want? What feels right?’”

“Now we have all of characters in place for the beginning of the movie, so order number one is to make sure we’re taking care of them,” explained Orci. “The first movie had the benefit of slowly introducing them – they weren’t all there from the beginning. Now they’re all there, and we want to make sure everyone gets what they deserve first before we see who else can fit in.”

IDW January Star Trek Comics

IDW Publishing has released their publishing plans for January. The month kicks off their "Infestation" storyline that has their version of Zombies invading their worlds of their various properties including the Star Trek universe. Overall, another slow month with just a single title being released. Starting to think the sales on Trek are very bad and IDW is just holding on hoping the next movie will help turn things around. If you are interested in the books, just let your local comic book store know. For the full details of IDW's other books including GI Joe, Transformers, Angel and more click here.

Star Trek: Khan: Ruling in Hell #4 (of 4)
Scott Tipton, David Tipton (w) • Fabio Mantovani (A) • Michael Stribling (c)
It’s all-out war on Ceti Alpha V! Reeling from last issue’s devastating loss, Khan Noonien Singh rallies his troops for the ultimate battle for control of their world! The final missing piece of Khan’s life between “Space Seed” and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is at last revealed!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Star Trek Sequel Scripting Started

TrekMovie.com was able to verify with Star Trek writers Roberto Orci that he and his writing partner Alex Kurtzman have now begun work on the Star Trek sequel script. The information comes as a result to a follow-up to a tweet from Orci that said, "To do list: get groceries, do laundry, start writing Star Trek, walk dogs, get new book to read, vote..." This aligns with the unofficial plan of getting a draft script hammered out by the end of the year, a finalized script early next year as pre-production begins for filming to start by early summer.

Star Trek: Typhon Pact Excerpt

TrekMovie.com has posted an excerpt from Star Trek: Typhon Pact - Zero Sum Game by David Mack. The Typhon Pact series takes place in the post Star Trek: Nemesis universe shortly after a huge Borg invasion devastated much of Alpha quadrant and led to the various enemies of the Federation to join together to form the Pact. The idea is kind of the pre-World War II formation of Allies and Axis Powers set in the Star Trek universe. The book will be hitting store shelves in two weeks, click here to read the excerpt.

IDW Plans an Infestation

Today at the New York Comic-Con, IDW Publishing announced a crossover event for their licensed products that starts in January. Called "Infestation", it will be essentially a multi-universe zombie invasion (like Marvel Zombies) that will impact Transformers, Star Trek, G.I. Joe, and Ghostbusters. The zombies are based on IDW's Zombies vs. Robots comic book where the bad guys have the capability to zombify robots so the threat could cause problems for Transformers.

The crossover event is being written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (Legion, Realm of Kings) with various artists for the books. The invasions begin with Infestation #1, continue in Transformers: Infestation #1-2, Star Trek: Infestation #1-2, G.I. Joe: Infestation #1-2, and Ghostbusters: Infestation #1-2. Infestation #2 will close out the crossover. Comic Book Resources spoke with event editors Tom Waltz and Andy Schmidt about the crossover. Click here for more details and the first issue covers.

"Without giving too much away, I can say that we start in the IDW universe with a zombie outbreak of epic proportions. The threat is contained (or is it?), but not before it infests other realities - the realities of our licensed books," Waltz told CBR. "The individual series will show just how our intrepid heroes - folks like Optimus Prime, Dr. Peter Venkman, Mr. Spock, Baroness, and so many others - face down this new and obviously shocking threat, and their desperate efforts to stop it before it can completely consume - both literally and figuratively - their realities."

Shatner Remains Open to Star Trek Return

In an inerview with Access Hollywood, William Shatner indicates he is open to returning to Star Trek as Kirk for the upcoming movie "but I am very expensive." He also briefly spoke of his "tentative relationship" with JJ Abrams and the Star Trek Captains documentary he is making. Long story short, if you are hoping that Shatner will play Kirk again, I would not hold your breath. The sequel's unspoken goal will be for Abrams and company to blaze their own trail that may acknowledge what came before but that is the extent of it. For all intents and purposes, the Star Trek "Prime" universe will live only in the books being made but doubtful it will be revived for television or movies. (via TrekMovie)