Star Trek XBox 360 Bundle Announced

According to Videogamer.com, a new XBox 360 bundles are being prepared for Star Trek.

The Star Trek bundle includes an Xbox 360 Elite plus Star Trek the movie on a Star Trek USB stick, 800 MS Points to download "Star Trek PDLC" and an additional black Wireless Controller.

There's no indication of pricing or if the Xbox 360 Elite features the standard 120GB hard drive or the larger 250GB variety.

As the images indicate, the bundle will be in Transformers specific packaging. Also, besides price, it is also unknown what regions the bundle will be released for or when but I assume in time for Christmas sales.

Star Trek Klingon Deleted Scene

Below is a deleted scene that will be included in the upcoming home video release of Star Trek. The scene is part of a cut subplot that explains what Nero was up to in the 25 years he waited for Spock to appear after they hopped dimensions together after the destruction of Romulus. Nero and his crew were prisoners on Rura Penthe, the Klingon's prison world that was scene in Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country and this scene is part of their escape. This is also the same scene shown during the Spike TV's Scream Awards on Tuesday night.


Star Trek - DVD Bonus Footage

Nimoy Retiring Again?

Hero Complex is reporting that Star Trek's Leonard Nimoy may retire (again) after making a third and likely final appearance on Fringe as William Bell. Nimoy had retired before but took a break to film Abrams' Star Trek movie.

"I have such a great life," the 78-year-old actor said at his home last week. "I'm not looking for work."

"As an actor you're always wondering when you're going to work again, who you're going to work with, what it will be. I don't have that consuming drive," he said. Then he nodded toward an image that will be on display at [his photography] exhibit. "This is my creative outlet. This is what I do."

Nimoy was fresh from a trip to the Vancouver set of "Fringe," where he had shot an upcoming episode. He made it sound as if it might have been his final one in the role of Bell, a rarely seen character on the show but one that is, by all appearances, at the very core of the series' mythology.

"I've done three appearances for them. I don't know if I will do a fourth... "They've asked me to do more, but we have to talk about where the character is going. So far my character, William Bell, and my appearances have been used to lay in information about this alternate universe and the experience of being in this other world. And that's OK, but I don't know yet what plans they have for really developing a dramatic story for the character. I'm waiting for a conversation about that."

"I think they're talking amongst themselves now so they can present some kind of plan, a story arc of some kind."

It sounds like if we want more Nimoy on TV, we need to pray to the writing gods that Abrams, Orci and Kurtzman can come up with something compelling enough to keep Nimoy's interest to keep reprising the role.

Abrams on Sequel Challenges

In an interview with MTV, Star Trek director JJ Abrams discusses some of the challenges they are facing in trying to develop for the sequel to the hit movie.

"The second one has an obligation to go deeper and maintain the fun and adventure in the sense of optimism and scale that ['Trek' originator Gene] Roddenberry created," Abrams said. "But I do think it has to evolve and not become some polemic over-the-top, on-the-nose allegory. It needs to be something that is not just about the characters meeting each other and having their first adventure; it needs to be about having their most meaningful one."

These are the wide-ranging concepts that Abrams and writers Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Damon Lindelof are starting to explore. "We're literally just beginning discussions about the story and where we want to go," Abrams said. "We have some very broad stroke ideas that are very exciting. We're obviously going to do the best we can in terms of rewarding an audience."

One thing they likely won't do, according to Abrams, is call the sequel "Star Trek 2." Not even the second film in the original franchise — 1982's "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan" — slapped a number onto its title.

"I think we can't really do that, right?" Abrams laughed. "I don't know what you'd call it. It's a good question. I'm not sure."

Star Trek Online Cinematic War Trailer

A new trailer for Star Trek Online is out that shows off some of the graphics and the battle aspects of the game with an emphasis on battle as in this game there is essentially war all over the place between the Borg, Federation, Romulans, Klingons and more.

Star Trek Writers Talk Trek, Career

In a new interview from IGN, Star Trek writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman talk aobut their long writing careers that began back in the Xena and Hercules days all the way to their curent projects such as Fringe and the sequel to Star Trek. Below are the Trek relevant portions, click here to read the entire interview.

IGN: I have to throw in the requisite pulling teeth Trek sequel question. You mentioned that you ended up with more time to write it then you first expected. Has that allowed you to take a step back and not have to rush anything?
Orci: Yeah. We want it to come like the first one, which came organically.
Kurtzman: Because we weren't rushed.
Orci: We weren't rushed, so I think the time we got to spend on it is reflected in the work. We feel the pressure a little bit coming on, but we're easing into it slowly.

IGN: Kirk and Spock have always been the stars of the series. Is it a difficult to make sure all those characters get their time to shine?
Kurtzman: For sure. In a sequel, you have even more of that burden, because the first movie is about introducing characters, but the second movie is about digging deeper into them. So you've got to make sure your story is giving everyone a moment… More than a moment. An arc.
Orci: We've always thought of the bridge crew as a family, so it's not just, "What are we gonna find for them?" It's part of the DNA of doing Star Trek right, I think - to make sure all the characters represent a significant part of the family.

IGN: How did you decide to make Spock and Uhura a couple?
Kurtzman: It actually came from the original series…
Orci: There was a little flirtation in the original series. But we thought that since we were doing a harmony on some of the things that were happening before, well, what happened in the original series? The first interracial kiss was with Kirk. So we thought what can we do that's different, but that still pays homage to that? Spock!

Star Trek Online Beta Begins

Star Trek Online reports that Close Beta has officially begun today.

We're happy to announce that we've entered Close Beta as of today, October 22!

If you've signed up, keep an eye on your email, as we'll periodically be inviting people to join in and share their feedback. Additionally, if you look to the right of the page, the "Closed Beta" application graphic will change to indicate you've been accepted, if you've in fact been accepted. (It'll read "ACCEPTED" in big, bold letters.)

If you haven't signed up yet, head on over to the preview application, create an account if you haven't and sign up!

If your interested in trying to join Beta testing for the game click here.

Star Trek Alternate Episode Coming?

In time for Christmas, the third and final season of remastered Star Trek: The Original Series on Blu-ray will be released and a new special feature has been leaked according to TrekWeb.

The new feature will be an extended version of the second pilot of the series, "Where No Man Has Gone Before" that will show Gene Roddenberry's cut of the episode before it was tweaked by NBC. The video below shows the additional footage not included in the broadcast (and home video) versions of the episode. The differences include the opening credits, the one we know now with an "Enterprise log" voice over rather than Captain's log, identified act breaks, and additional cut lines and scenes.

Star Trek Sequel in 2012?

While at the 2009 Screenwriting Expo in Los Angeles, Star Trek writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci spoke with Coming Soon about the target date for the sequel to the film being set for 2012, indicating a long way for Trek fans.

"We're rereading some of our favorite 'Star Trek' novels now and watching the original series again. The honest answer is we don't know yet," Orci said. "We think it's going to be a 2012 release, but I'm not sure," he continued.

"Originally we thought we were going to have to have the script in by Christmas, but the release changed so certainly within the next eight months I'd say," Kurtzman told us.

We tried to find out where the two writers would like to see the story go and Orci said: "They're established now in the second movie and they're finally a crew so it will resemble what you see in terms of they are already who they are."

On the bright side, its sounds like the 2012 date is just an educated guess and it is possible that the film get come sooner. Then again, Abrams and the writers are hot properties right now with projects in the pipeline that include Fringe, Mission Impossible 4, Cowboys and Aliens, and more so really no telling how things will shake down until official announcements are made.

I wonder what Trek novels they are reading? Personally I recommend pretty much any of the novels written by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens if your thinking of giving the novels a go to get a Trek fix between films.

Star Trek Wins Six Scream Awards

Saturday Night, the Spike TV Scream Awards ceremony was held at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, CA and Star Trek took home six awards including the top award of "Ultimate Scream". Star Trek had 17 nominations in 15 categories.

Th wins:
Ultimate Scream
Best Science Fiction Movie
Best Director (JJ Abrams)
Best Science Fiction Actor (Chris Pine)
Best Cameo (Winona Ryder)
Best Fight Scene (Kirk Spock bridge fight)

Probably the highlight of the night for Trek fans was Shatner accepting the Ultimate Scream trophy:

Morgan Freeman presented the Ultimate Scream award (essentially best in show) to "Star Trek" — and William Shatner shocked fans when he stepped on stage to accept the trophy.

"J.J., I'll handle this," Shatner said to J.J. Abrams, seated in the audience, who also won best director and best sci-fi movie for "Star Trek." (via Trekmovie)

"This movie was big," Shatner said. "Imagine how big it could have been with me in it? ... I'll be waiting for your call."

The full list of winners can be found here. The telecast of the award ceremony will air on Spike TV on Tuesday, October 27th from 10:00pm to midnight ET/PT.

Star Trek Online History Lesson Part One

As a primer to bring potential new gamers up to date on the history of the Star Trek Universe for the upcoming MMORPG Star Trek Online is a new video (below). It gives you an idea of the state of the various factions since the game takes place about 20 years after Star Trek: Nemesis. No idea on when the second game will come up but the first part lets you know that death and war is alive and well in the future settings the stage for lots of game action. Note that the footage is on a pre-beta design which has likely gone under many revisions since then.

Chris Pine New Jack Ryan?

According to various online movie sites including Dark Horizons, Star Trek's Chris Pine has been tapped to revive the Jack Ryan franchise. The series already has four films to its credit with The Hunt for Red October (with Alec Baldwin as Ryan), moved to Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger (Harrison Ford taking over the role), and tried a revival with critically panned reboot attempt with The Sum of All Fears (Ben Affleck as younger Ryan). The movies were based on the Jack Ryan series of books written by Tom Clancy but largely ignored Ryan’s rise to the Presidency due mostly to its probably controversial method of having a plane kill most of Congress (written pre-9/11). The new series would be another reboot that would ignore the previous films AND the books.

What impact this could have on filming the Star Trek sequel is unknown but considering both franchises are owned by Paramount, I am sure money will be no object in making it work out.

Star Trek Gag Reel

Below is the gag reel for JJ Abrams' Star Trek that is a special feature on the DVD and Blu-ray edition that hits store shelves in November. This is a prime example of why smart directors, actors and studios should include these whenever possible. The feeling, other than amusement, is an appreciation for the sense of humor of participants. Some feel it takes away from "the craft" but what it really does is show a "human" side of actors and just makes for excellent and easy fan friendly moments that are pure public relations gold. It’s the ultimate win-win situation.

Trek Writers Update on Sequel Status

The other day Paramount Home Video held a press event to promote their upcoming slate of releases including Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Star Trek. As part of that they participated in a Q&A answering questions about the Trek sequel and other projects they are working on. Below are a few snippets, the full interview is here.

Question: For the Star Trek sequel, is it more interesting to you to come up with a brand new adventure for this characters, or to reinterpret and revisit a previous episode or a previous situation? What would be more rewarding for you?
Alex Kurtzman: Every franchise has a different need, so you have to look at them differently, based on whatever the mandate is there. In the case of Transformers it was very important for us to have a sequel idea that stood on its own. You need to be able to not have seen the first movie to appreciate the second one. But, I think for us, it’s always about going back to the sequels that we loved as kids and asking ourselves why we loved them. So, Empire Strikes Back, Superman 2, Aliens, Terminator 2, Star Trek 2. What do all those movies have in common? Well, they’re amazing stories, all on their own. You didn’t have to see the first movie, and there was some incredible, emotional test of character in all of those movies. Superman has to give up his powers for love. The Spock and Kirk relationship being tested by Khan. Ripley finding a daughter. All of those things are such big ideas in and of themselves, and you really can’t tell those stories in
movie one, because movie one is very much about establishing a world.

Question: Is there anything from Enterprise or Next Generation or Deep Space or elements, like the Borg, Cardassians, Bajorans, anything on the top of your list that you might want to throw in to the next movie?
Bob: I think we’d think about it, just because we do love The Next Generation…I think our instinct would be to first look at The Original Series, before we considered that. But, all that is on the table.

Question: It has been reported that there is an idea of doing the 2 and 3 Star Trek movies back-to-back? Is there any possibility of that?
Alex: It’s very, very important to us to make sure that each movie is good, not “Hey, let’s do as many as possible,” but make sure they’re good. We feel like we’ve inherited this incredible honor and this mantle of Star Trek, and the most important thing is to make sure that we’re protecting that first. So, if the studio wants more than one, great. But, our thinking is going to be very much about the story and whether the story prescribes that there will be more than one. Part of what is great about Star Trek is that it’s a continuing adventure, so you naturally think that there will be many, hopefully, but we only focus on what comes next, and then build off of that. Right now, we’re not thinking specifically about making 2 and 3. It may come up, but it’s not where our heads are at right now.

Question: And can you give a status update on where you are with the story and the script, etc.
Bob: We’re still just brainstorming, internally and are going to get together soon and bust our riffs out and see what happens, and start putting it together.

Question: Have you guys decided how much time will have passed between the first Star Trek film and the sequel? Are they still going to be new on the job, or will they have some experience?
Bob: We’re actually debating that.

Abrams Talks Trek Sequel, More

As part of Paramount Pictures press event to promote their upcoming slate of home video releases including Star Trek, director JJ Abrams was on hand to help promote the release. Trekmovie.com spoke with the man were he discussed the sequel, Nimoy, and more. Below are snippets, the full interview is here.

Question: With the prequel, you have a chance to wipe the slate clean with maybe Romulans and Klingons. [In the next film] Do you have any intention of using the pre-existing monsters or characters, or bringing in a whole new mythology?
JJ Abrams: In going forward, the fun of this movie series is that we will have the opportunity, given its alternate timeline, to cross paths with any of the experiences, places, characters that existed in The Original Series. . We have to be really careful, doing that. I don’t want to do something that is so inside that, once again, only die-hard fans will appreciate. But I guarantee you , and we are just now working on the script and just now beginning the process of story breaking, whatever the story is and whatever the final movie ends up being, I know it will be something that the intent is that it will work on its own terms and be something that you don’t need to know and study Star Trek to get, but if you are a fan, there will be, hopefully, gift after gift of connections, references and characters that you, as a fan, hold near and dear.

Question: Any chance of you shooting the next Star Trek film in 3-D?
JJ Abrams: It is funny. Paramount talked to me about doing the first one in 3-D and, having it only be my second film, I was petrified just at the addition–I thought it would be another dimension of pain-in-the-ass. I thought I would be like, "oh my god, I just want to make a decent 2-D movie.” I was so worried that, instead of being a decent 2-D movie, it would have been a bad 3-D one. So I’m open to looking at it because now I feel a little bit more comfortable and, if I, in fact, direct the sequel to our Star Trek film, 3-D could be really fun, so I’m open to it. What I’ve seen of Avatar makes me want to do it, because it’s so crazy-cool looking.

Question: You have said the hardest decision for you with Star Trek was not including William Shatner in the movie, can you talk about the possibility of him being in the next one?
JJ Abrams: I am open to anything. I would love to figure out something. Given the challenge of introducing these new characters, given the burden of cast these new people, I feel like the first did some of the heavy lifting that needed to be done in order to free us going forward, maybe there is less of a burden and more of an opportunity to work with him again. We speak, we actually have a lunch date planned. I am fan, I am a friend of his, or he is at least a friend of mine–he may say otherwise on his blog today, I have no idea. I really couldn’t like him more and would love to work with him.

New Star Trek Online Gallery

Click here to view new images from Star Trek Online, the upcoming MMORPG that is aiming to come out by end of the year. At least that seems to be the goal as the Star Trek: TOS Season 3 Blu-ray edition will come packed with the ability to unlock an admiral uniform (what that means in the game isn't indicated).