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."

Alice Eve on Trek Set Pic

A new picture has surfaced on the Zachary Quinto Community site that shows Alice Eve, unknown person and Quinto posing while on a Star Trek set. When and where the photo was taken is unknown. The main point of interest is the outfit suggests a little bit more info on the character she is playing. The main point of interest is the costumes seem to match the same dark gray and black uniforms that John Cho (Sulu) and Zoe Saldana (Uhura) wore for the film. The new darker scheme also matches outfits that Quinto and Chris Pine (Kirk) have worn. So this indicates a member of Starfleet (no likely not Dr. Carol Marcus). The outfit also suggests not a member of the medical corps (so bye Christine Chapel). Since she is wearing the costume but no alien makeup unlike Quinto, she is probably a human character. This fits my theory of Yeoman Janice Rand but there are still a host of contenders including Lt. Maria Givers who fell in love with Khan and helped in escape in The Original Series episode. As usual time will tell.

Star Trek Sequel Completes Principle Photography

Today JJ Abrams has completed filming Star Trek 2 (or 12) and now moves on to the post-production phase. The news was confirmed by TrekMovie when Trek writer Bob Orci wrote "And... That's a wrap!" Simon Pegg and Zachary Quinto also confirmed the wrap via twitter. Pegg tweeted "Time to pull on the old work clothes and hit the coal face one more time..." with pic of his costume shirt while Quinto wrote "zq. picture wrap. holy shit" with pic of his set chair.

Filming occurred from January 12th to May 8th and as expected Abrams kept everything close to the vest. In theory after nearly five months of filming the only real leaks is Spock fighting Khan and Leonard Nimoy may reprise his role. And the costumes might involve a black shirt. So that covers a few minutes of the movie. The very first trailer will reveal more than the entire production did. Quite an impressive feat in secret keeping if think about it.

The film doesn't come out until May 17, 2013 so post-production will have plenty of time to perfect those lens flares. All kinds of works remains with editing, special effects, scoring, sound effects, ADR and host of other tasks that don't involve filming but will likely keep Abrams occupied through the rest of the year. For fans, hopefully the next bit of breaking news will come via the San Diego Comic-Con in July where Trek writer Damon Lindale had indicated a desire to present something for fans. It would be a good time to premiere a teaser trailer...

Cumberbatch's Star Trek Quiz, Audition

Benedict Cumberbatch is making the rounds to promote the United States airing of Sherlock Season 2 starting this Sunday on PBS. The series already aired in the UK early this year and very much worth checking out. During these interviews (below) he was asked questions about Star Trek. VH1's Carrie Keagan tried to verify his possible role of Khan was unable but he did briefly speak about his audition story (starts at the 3:41 point). It also turns out his female fan base have a new name - the Cumberbitches. For MTV he was given a Star Trek quiz which he failed spectacularly with no knowledge on things like Klingons and Khan's original ship the Botany Bay. His lack of knowledge about the Botany could be read as meaning he isn't playing the role but it could just mean his character is different enough new origin story that the Bay is irrelevant. Also be sure to hit up YouTuber romangirl88 or TrekMovie for an interesting Sherlock Q&A panel with the actor.

Star Trek Filming at Lawrence Livermore Lab

The Mercury News is reporting that Star Trek 2 is filming at the Lawrence Livermore Lab in California. The classified government facility (so sure Abrams is in secrets heaven), is there filming unknown scenes for an unknown amount of time. "We do have a film crew on site, known only as the HH project. We are not allowing media on the set, per their request," lab spokeswoman Lynda Seaver said in an email Tuesday. The scenes are being filmed at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) whose building is larger than three football fields and houses "the world's largest laser to produce thermonuclear ignition at temperatures and densities similar to those in the sun." Judging by the sample picture of the facility, it looks like it portions of it would be perfect for an engine room or maybe part of a warp chamber. (via Bleeding Cool)

Cumberbatch Talks Trek Audition and Filming

While promoting the upcoming airing of Sherlock Season 2 (worth watching) on PBS's Masterpiece Mystery starting May 6th, Benedict Cumberbatch spoke about his audition (via iPhone) for Star Trek 2, filming the movie and working with JJ Abrams. As usual no spoilers but he did film scenes at the Budweiser Brewery suggesting he has a few scenes in the Enterprises' engineering section.

From THR about his audition via iPhone:

[Benedict Cumberbatch] recalls having received a call last Christmas that the director was "very interested" in Cumberbatch playing a "not-so-good guy," as he puts it, in the sequel. Cumberbatch, who was in England at the time, "begged" his best friend to shoot his audition. "I was pretty strung out," Cumberbatch said. "So that went into the performance."

It clearly did the trick: A day after New Year's, Cumberbatch received an e-mail from Abrams reading, "You want to come and play?" -- the director's way of telling Cumberbatch he got the part. Abrams tells the Times the iPhone-captured video was "one of the most compelling audition readings I've ever seen." As for the nature of the bad guy he'll be playing, Cumberbatch's lips are securely sealed: "You could stick a knife in my thigh, and I wouldn’t tell you,” he said.

From Zap2It on Abrams and filming:

Orci Briefly Comments on Star Trek Sequel

Bob Orci, one of the writers for the upcoming Star Trek sequel, occasionally likes to lurk the web to read about what fan are saying about Star Trek. One of his stomping grounds is sadly not this site but TrekMovie where he answered a few questions about the sequel. He spoke about the budget (larger than last), scope (bigger), and mentioned that more of the engine will be seen in the film. In regards to what "more" means to the budget, the previous film's estimated budget was $145 million so as long as in that range that should give Abrams the room to make excellent use of visual special effects and add more lens flares.

Star Trek Sequel Filming Begins

It has finally begun. After many delays for other projects, the Star Trek sequel has begun filming today. Since it is a JJ Abrams budget, the details on the film are not available, not even what people are playing in the movie besides returning cast members. Other unknowns besides what the film is about is the budget (more or less than previous film) and how long filming will occur. TrekMovie was able to determine that most of the film will be done on studio sets with some on location shooting including that a jungle sequence will be filming in sourthern California instead of Hawaii. Star Trek writer Damon Lindelof essentially confirmed the start of filming on twitter saying "I love the smell of dilithium in the morning. Good to be back." and Roberto Orci wrote on the TrekMovie comments that the Budwiser plant engine room might get an upgrade saying "I'll tell you this. There are some cool improvements to engine room!" The film is set for release on May 17, 2013.

Star Trek 2 Production Starts January 15th

TrekMovie.com has learned through sources that the Star Trek sequel is near the end of pre-production and ready to start principle photography on January 15th. The information isn't officially confirmed but the start date fits various rumors and accounts of the actors who indicated a 2012 start date. It is also early enough so Paramount still has the option of a Christmas 2012 release date (but Summer 2013 more likely). In addition, the site learned a few details on a possible shooting location, script prep, and other pre-production notes. Below is the summary.

- Production starts January 15th, 2012
- Pre-production has been going on for months using the reported 80 or so page outline from this summer
- The writers are currently working on a third draft of the script with goal of fitting it to Paramount's budget.
- Design team, headed by Star Trek (2009)'s production designer Scott Chambliss, has completed their design work.
- Construction of sets, props, etc. has begun and ILM is working on visual effects shots.
- Location scouting has begun. Possible choices include somewhere in Hawaii as a "jungle planet" and a Los Angeles museum as "famous Star Trek location." Paramount lot will likely also have plenty of built sets such as the Enterprise bridge and hallways.
- Casting discussions have begun but no roles have been cast.
- Scale of film described as "bigger" in scope as the first.