Writers Discuss Linking Movies

Star Trek Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci continue to fuel speculation on exactly what the sequel will be about, this time continuing the thread that they might kick off their own trilogy of sorts for the rebooted Trek movies with links that would tie the next two films together. This occured during an interview with IESB as they promoted the new season of Fringe. Below is the Trek related segments with the full interview here.

Q: How far are you with Star Trek 2?
Orci: We had about a 15 to 30 minute discussion with the whole gang, and then went our separate ways. We're still in the re-reading and taking it all in phase, before we actually sit down and start designing it.

Q: How much of that involves classic missions?
Orci: Everything's on the table.
Kurtzman: We have to comb through everything and make sure that we leave no stone unturned. That's what we did with the first movie.
Orci: And even when you pitch stuff, sometimes someone will be like, "Wow, that's like that one episode." So, even in trying to stay away from it, you can crash back in there.
Kurtzman: And, there's obviously a lot of expectation with the sequel. We take nothing for granted, at this point. We're only going to do it when it's really right.
Orci: But, we haven't hit the ground running yet.

Q: Could it bridge to a third movie?
Orci: It was more the fact that we talked about the minute you start seeing how much Star Trek there is, and how many ideas everyone's having, you could have enough material for more films. There is 43 years of material. That's all that we meant by that. It has to cross your mind, but we're not leaning one way or the other yet.

Q: How careful do you have to be not to overdo it?
Kurtzman: Well, it's a balance. The approach for us, on the first movie, was, "How do we please fans? And, how do we please people who have no relationship to Trek?" That's what we have to keep asking ourselves, constantly. That's a very tricky formula because it's hard. A lot of what makes die hard Trekkers really focused on Trek are those details that can sometimes be alienating to people who are not on the inside. So, that leads us back to, "What are the big themes and the emotional ideas?" That's a language everybody speaks.

Q: You still have to have Bones say, "He's dead, Jim."
Orci: That's right, that's right. I was watching Star Trek on cable, the other night. The original series has been on rotation, and I noted that. He said, "He's dead, Jim." I was like, "Oh, that has to go."

Q: Wouldn't it be cost effective to do two Star Trek sequels?
Orci: Even if we conceived of stories that were connected, I don't know that we'd be interested in shooting them, back to back. It's not about doing them together. It's just about what's best for the story.