Alex Kurtzman On Sequel Writing Approach

Star Trek sequel (sheesh I will be glad when they give this movie a name), Alex Kurtzman continues his marketing push for his directorial debut with People Like Us. This leads to Trek questions where he answered a few for The Hollywood Reporter. As always the cone of silence remains in place. He spoke about his writing approach to the script and characters and re-iterated that this crew still has a lot to learn. Below are a few segments, the full article is here.

The Hollywood Reporter: If theoretically Star Trek 2 examines what it means for Kirk to be Captain, how much is the film a Quantum of Solace follow-up that starts right after the first film, and how much does it take place some time after the events of Star Trek?
Alex Kurtzman: I can’t answer your question directly, but I can say the assumption that we did not want to make was that just because he’s in the chair and they’re on the bridge together that they’re the crew that you remember from the original series. They’re not -- the crew from the original series had gone on many, many journeys, they were a well-oiled machine in terms of how they function, and these characters are still figuring out who they are and who they are to each other. And I did not want to jump so far ahead that we missed a really important emotional connection to that transition for them.

THR: Has it been a struggle to find stories that are different than the library of tales from previous iterations of Trek, or is there groundwork laid out through those stories that you can build upon for your film but just make it more cinematic?
Kurtzman: Star Trek at its best was always allegory, and wildly entertaining at the same time -- they always coexisted, those two things. And we were supposed to be out this year in theaters, and part of why we all collectively said we really shouldn’t do this is because we put a lot of love and time and effort into making this without violating canon, and yet bring something totally new to the table when it came to Star Trek. The last thing we wanted to do was destroy that by letting a speed mandate mess up our storytelling, and we just felt we weren’t ready. So we wanted to take more time with the story to make sure that the story is as true to everything that keeps you watching one episode a night before bed.

Star Trek: TNG Blu-ray Season 1 Trailer, SDCC Panel

CBS Entertainment has released the first trailer for Star Trek: The Next Generation Season One Blu-ray set that is coming out on July 24th. To help promote the release, a panel will be held with the members of the team that remastered and reproduced the special effects for this 1st season set. Video and details below or here.

2:00-3:00 Before and After: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Journey into High Definition — Star Trek: The Next Generation fans are finally getting their wish, with all seven seasons of the beloved series being retransferred into high-definition. Star Trek: The Next Generation-The First Season will be released on July 24, and the team behind the project will give fans an insider’s look at how the original film elements were transferred into high-definition and how the visual effects were painstakingly re-created from the source material to look better than ever before. Robert Meyer Burnett moderates the panel, which includes Roger Lay, Jr. (producer/director, Blu-ray), Mike and Denise Okuda (project consultants), David S. Grant (vice president, multimedia, CBS Television Distribution), Ryan Adams (director, multimedia, CBS Television Distribution), Craig Weiss (creative director, CBS Digital), Eric Bruno (lead compositor), and Wade Felker (film transfer technician). Room 7AB

Chris Pine Talks Trek Sequel

Chris Pine continues the rounds to promote People Like Us that is coming out this Friday. During the various interviews, he occasionally commented on the Star Trek sequel. As usual nothing specific. He told AICN, "the story is that much better and the journey that these guys go on is that much more". People directory Alex Kurtzman also commented say that the movie is not the bridge crew from series "in age nor in experience". By this I think he means that they are still learning about each other and working as a team. Not quite rookies but not the experienced pros Trekkies have been used to from the Star Trek 1-10.

Pine also commented to Red Eye Chicago about taking on the Kirk role and how the crew helped him understand the importance of the role while filming the first movie.

I’m sure [fans] wanted Shatner back with a good makeup job.
CP: Totally. Totally. What was surprising to me … well, I will say this, having not been a born and bred [“Star Trek”] fan, the first time that all of us were on the bridge and I sat in the captain’s chair … looking around, it was like points of light in the audience. When that moment happened, there were real fans in the crew, grips and gaffers, the art department people, they had come just to watch that moment. Because for them it was a really momentous occasion, and I, not really understanding the gravity or the coolness of it, was kind of unaware until I saw these people light up … What it means to sit in that chair is quite powerful. Anyway, the chair became this wonderful, beautiful touchstone that was reflective of not only the journey in the film but also who you are and what you are as a person and how you want to sit in your own chair, for lack of a better metaphor. It was really cool.

TrekMovie has compiled more quotes and videos with Pine and the always stunning Elizabeth Banks as they talked about People and other topics.

Orci Comments on Trek Series, Characters Not in Sequel

During a Q&A session for KERN radio over the weekend, Star Trek sequel writer answered a few questions about the sequel and the possibility of a future TV series. While he did not drop any specific nuggets about the movie, he did head over to TrekMovie and answered a few more questions including eliminating a few possible characters that fans theorized might be in the film. One was my pet theory that Alice Eve was cast as Janice Rand but that would be a negative as the Rand is not in the sequel.

The highlights:
- Have discussed doing a series after the movies but "Paramount controls the movies and CBS controls TV. So there is a little bit of power struggle there in terms of what happens. I have mentioned to CBS the idea of a Star Trek series and they are interested in it, but they would have to coordinate with Paramount and they would have to coordinate with Bad Robot." Basically I am not holding my breath on it occurring anytime in the next five or so years at least and definitely not with any existing movie cast members (I suspect they will run from Trek as fast as they can at the first opportunity).
- Remain open to doing an animated series, but "We haven’t even gone in to pitch, because the rights of how to get it done are so complicated that we are sort of waiting to see what can really happen."
- They might have a title with a "75% chance" it will contain the words "Star Trek" (I guess going the The Dark Knight route was considered)
- Characters not in the movie: Janice Rand, Gary Mitchell (2nd pilot episode becomes God-like), Charlie X, Ruck the Android, and the Borg.

Star Trek: TNG Theater Screening Promo

Fathom Events has released their commercial to promote the upcoming Star Trek: The Next Generation in HD screening event. The event is set for July 23rd at 7:00pm to promote the release of the first season on Blu-ray. The event will have the HD versions of "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and "Datalore" along with a behind the scenes feature on creating the Blu-ray with remastered scenes, sound and special effects. The cost of the tickets is $12.50 and can be bought at the theater box office or online. The list of participating theaters is here and more details can be found here. Screen shots from the HD release can be found at TrekMovie.

IDW September 2012 Star Trek Comics

IDW Publishing has released their publishing plans for September. The adventures of Doctor Who and the The Next Generation crew continues while TNG television series writer Brannon Braga pens another adventure for the crew. Three comics and two trades are being released that month. 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, Locke & Key and more click here.

Star Trek #13
Mike Johnson (w) • Stephen Molnar (a) • Tim Bradstreet (c)
The Redshirt’s Tale. Everyone knows the joke about the dire fate of crewmembers who wear red on the Enterprise. Even the redshirts themselves! The countdown to next year’s blockbuster STAR TREK sequel continues here, with an ALL-NEW stand-alone story that shows life on the Enterprise through a redshirt’s eyes!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Kurtzman and Pine Talk Sets and IMAX

Star Trek 2's Chris Pine (Kirk) and Alex Kurtzman (writer/producer) briefly commented to Collider about the sequel that recently finished principle photography. The pair are promoting Kurtzman's directing debut of People Like Us that is coming out on June 29th. As usual nothing spoilerish was revealed. Kurtzman spoke about the connecting Enterprise sets while Pine spoke about the pressures of a sequel and IMAX footage. It was recently announced that the film will be released in IMAX 3D with certain key scenes shot with IMAX cameras. The key parts are below, you can find the full interview with Alex Kurtzman is here and Chris Pine is here.

Collider: What was it like, the first day back on the Enterprise? Was it an emotional experience?
ALEX KURTZMAN: Oh, yeah, for sure! Me and Bob [Orci] and Damon [Lindelof] and J.J. [Abrams] and Bryan Burk all feel very protective of Star Trek. The studio had wanted it a year earlier and we said, “No, we can’t. We’re not going to be ready and we don’t want to rush this.” We felt very fortunate that the first movie was well received, and the last thing that we wanted to do was destroy that by rushing something. It’s very precious to a lot of people. We love our Trek and we just wanted to keep it safe.

Star Trek Sequel IMAX 3D Announced

Since Star Trek 2 was going to be released in 3D and would likely get IMAX screening (since first movie did), it isn't a leap to assume it would also get the IMAX 3D treatment. However, that had not been confirmed until now with a press release from Paramount Pictures. Even better, parts of the movie was actually filmed in real IMAX 70mm format. The 3D itself remains the post production converted variety. The first movie was only in IMAX theaters for a few weeks due to a last minute decision to join the schedule so this advance notice should provide fans with greater opportunities to see the film on the really big screen of IMAX. Press release below.

Star Trek 2 Skipping SDCC 2012

Variety's Showblitz is reporting that JJ Abrams' Star Trek sequel is skipping the San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) this year. The movie writers (Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof) had indicated a desire to do something for the annual convention but had hedged their bets essentially saying that the details had not yet been discussed. Lindelof had said that ""we are going to go big or not at all" so with production having just wrapped a little over a month ago, I guess they could not yet go big. TrekMovie is reporting their sources also indicate that no panel will be held at SDCC. Now this isn't to say something Trek related info may not come out of the convention as chances are all the writers and possibly even Abrams will be on hand as they all have various TV and movie projects to support (and likely to geek out like everyone else). This is just saying there will be no panel. No panel probably means no teaser. Since the movie is a year out, likely Paramount marketing and JJ Abrams just don't want to hand out any surprises that could be used better next year in promoting the movie.

Star Trek Video Game Demo

Below is the demo video presented at this weeks E3 that shows off a little bit of Star Trek the video game. The game is set in the new Abrams 2.0 universe and it allows players to control either Kirk or Spock as they go on a mission against the Gorn. In the video below, the footage is split to show the same co-opt experience from Kirk (left) and Spock (right) perspective. For all intents the game is a shoot em up in the Halo/Gears of War style set on New Vulcan. Below is the demo video. If like to see the Trek E3 booth along with a hand-on impressions, click here.

Damon Lindelof Q&A

Damon Lindelof, as part of promoting this Friday's release of Prometheus, spoke with TrekMovie about the Star Trek sequel that recently wrapped principle photography. While he avoided revealing any spoilers, he did discuss their motivations for the secrets and some of the production of the film. Highlights below, the full interview is here and here.

Highlights:
- Desire to not even confirm character roles are in part because film is still a year out and "we don't want to flood the interwebs with confirmations. We want to leave some air of mystery and intrigue surrounding the movie."
- Recognizes details will come out starting with teaser trailer but hoping for "a kind of slow burn"
- On showing something at next month's San Diego Comic-con: "we are going to go big or not at all" and that is unknown yet because production just wrapped so post-production (special effects, sound, editing, etc.) still a long ways to go.
- On set re-writes occurred based on feedback from actor's, director, etc. but no set pieces were altered. More of tweaking of lines and modifications to a particular scene.
- Would not say how much story time has passed between two movies. (My guess: A year or so to indicate this is a veteran bridge crew not noobs still figuring each other out like in first film)
- Can't say film is "bigger" as rather focus on the human aspect of Trek but shooting in IMAX (70mm) does give it "tremendous scale and energy"
- Converting film to 3D did not impact the script and Abrams shot the movie his way
- Open to writing a third Trek movie but just focused on the second film

Star Trek Game Villains Revealed

This week E3 was held. The annual expo is used by video game makers to show off their years’ worth of gaming and hardware plans. One of the games is Star Trek the Video Game. A teaser trailer of the 3rd person shoot em up was released a few months ago but since then not much has been said. With E3, oddly no new trailer or gaming footage but some new information was released. The main bit of news is The Original Series villains the Gorn (think sentient lizards) will make their 2.0 debut in the game. In addition Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto have signed on to voice the characters in the game. Finally, the official website has launched with the Gorn logo and screenshots from the game. The video game will be released in early 2013, probably a few months before the movie is released in May.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture Score Released

Just a few weeks ago the Star Trek: The Motion Picture - The Complete Score was announced. As of today, the limited run of 10,000 copies is now available for $34.98 at La La Land Records. The 3CD set includes fully restored and remastered music conducted and composed by Jerry Goldsmith for the movie. Disc 1 and part of 2 is the music used in the film whiel rest of 2 and 3 include alternate music cues that presents a kind of a behinds the scenes look at developing what would become iconic Trek music. More details can be found at TrekMovie.

Star Trek 2 Teaser Trailer? Nope

AICN has posted what seems to be the teaser trailer for Star Trek 2 but is fan made. Eisenhower's Farewell Address plays over images of biological science that ends with Benedict Cumberbatch in status. It is clearly designed to invoke Eugenics research that gives rise to the superhuman Khan Noonien Singh. It has a very JJ Abrams feel to it. The images of Chris Pine as Kirk and Cumberbatch are lifted from elsewhere. Besides, Simon Pegg was pretty adamant that Cumberbatch is not playing Khan. At this point I am leaning to the theory he is playing a Klingon spy that infiltrates Starfleet and the Enterprise. Pretty slick over all, nice use of a speech about the military industrial complex takeover with poor fiscal planning for the future and turning it into a warning of Eugenics is an especially nice touch.

The recent image (left) of a Klingon during a MTV Movie Awards bit might have seemed like a good opportunity to release this fan trailer. The image has not been proven to be from the new movie as the costume and head gear identically match what guards were wearing in the cut scenes from the first movie. Nor does it disprove since the Klingons were thought out enough for the first movie to create their look and no reason to toss those designs if using them in the second film.

Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan Turns 30 (Updated)

Thirty years ago, on June 4th, 1982, arguably one of the best Star Trek films and now a film classic was released. After Star Trek: The Motion Picture nearly crippled the franchise; this film revitalized Trek once again and insured it future. Khan is what all Trek films are compared against and often fall short with mix of character, theme, and perfect villain. So much so that even now most fans are hoping that Abrams is doing their take on Khan for next year's Star Trek film. Long time Star Trek novelist Dayton Ward gives his thoughts on the film at TrekMovie. Below is the original trailer and fan edit version. 30 years...wow I feel old. Cheers to an entertainment masterpiece.

Update: For 1982 era promotional cast interviews and behind the scenes videos click here.

Orci Q&A Reveals Sequel Tidbits

While on a plane ride, Star Trek sequel writer and producer Roberto Orci engaged TrekMovie fans in an impromptu Q&A about the yet unnamed Star Trek 2 sequel. It occured on the site's post about the five Star Trek Captains panel that occured this weekend at the Wizard World Philadelphia Comic Con. He did reveal a few tidbits of info but for all intents the Abrams cone of silence remains intact. The full transcript is here. The highlight summary is below with my random thoughts in ().

- Klingons are in film, have ridged forheads like in cut scenes from 2009 movie. (*see below)
- Official sub-title still being debated (Always hard to top Wrath of Khan and The Undiscovered Country)
- No decision has been made yet on what Trek might do at San Diego Comic Con
- "The sequel was hard to get behind and figure out" compared to first in part due to "benefit of lower expections."
- No date on teaser trailer, "but super soon."
- "Harry Mudd is not the villain. (Thank god, always hated that character)
- Would not answer question if Leonard Nimoy is in film. (Easy to say no if he isn't...)
- Simon Pegg (Scotty) does more in this film as does McCoy.
- Orci open to participating in a Trek TV and animated series. (Neither is currently in the works and likely will not be until Trek 3 comes out years from now)
- Said there are "more than a few" hints in the comic books about the sequel.

* The comment about the Klingons suddenly gave me the idea that Benedict Cumberbatch could be a Klingon. One that was cosmetically altered to infiltrate Starfleet. It would explain ability to take on Spock since Vulcans and Klingons are about equal in strength.

Lindelof Comments on Enterprise Sets, Cumberbatch

Damon Lindelof, co-writer on Star Trek 2, is making the press rounds to promote Prometheus that he also co-wrote. While talking about that film, he spoke a little about Star Trek 12 with Collider. Specifically he spoke about how they decided to connect all the Enterprise sets to allow for longer and more dynamic shots. He also commented about the the various actors including Benedict Cumberbatch's "iconic" performance. As is the norm, nothing was revealed about the film.

"It was incredible, and I think that Trek 2—there’s certainly an instinct to just go bigger in the second movie and one of the things that we did was we connected all the sets, so you can just basically follow the actors off the bridge, into a turbo lift, down, walking through a plaza, into the med bay as opposed to [having to] cut every time you do that, because when we were shooting on the Paramount stages we just didn’t have the money to connect all the sets. So the first day that I actually walked on the Enterprise, you walked through the Enterprise and it’s a very insular experience of like, ‘Wow I’m actually on a starcraft.’"

"And then when you see all the actors again, and Kirk in his yellow—which we only really see at the very, very end of the first movie—and start playing those interactions between he and Bones, he and Scotty, Spock and Bones, etc. And then bringing in some new blood, Alice Eve is awesome."

New Uniform for Star Trek Sequel

New pictures from the Star Trek sequel set made their way online reveal a few more costumes from next year's movies. The photos will uploaded under child actress' Anjini Azhar's IMDB profile who plays the daughter to Noel Clarke (Doctor Who) and Nanzeen Contractor. The photos were since pulled probably due to JJ Abrams' cone of silence. Simon Pegg and Anton Yelchin's modeling of the new uniforms, complete with hat, should provide cos players with something new to create for Trek conventions. Other than being a curiosity I am not seeing anything that tells me squat about the story or the characters. Below are a few photos, the rest can be found here.

Star Trek: The Next Generation HD Theater Screening Details

A little over a week ago Paramount released the details of the Blu-ray release of Star Trek: The Next Generation Season One with new HD transfer from original film and improved special effects. To help promote the release they are going to have a special Star Trek: The Next Generation 25th Anniversary of two episodes at theaters nationwide through Fathom Events. The screening will occur on Monday July 23rd at 7PM (local time) with episode 1.06 "Where No One Has Gone Before" and 1.14 "Datalore". The Blu-ray set will be released on July 24th. Amazon currently has it available for pre-order at $78.86. Details can be found here, the complete list of theaters is here.