11.07.2007
ACTION! Cameras Roll on "Star Trek" Movie Rebirth
Production officially starts today on the eleventh movie in the Star
Trek franchise, but the first to be directed by J.J. Abrams and his Bad
Robot production team. This is also the first movie to "re-imagine" a
prior Star Trek, casting new people in roles defined by actors from the
Original Series. In many ways, this Star Trek gives birth to a new era,
one not defined completely by past production teams, sensibilities or
casts (save Leonard Nimoy, of course!). The film is in new hands, ones
trusted by the studio and, judging by the buzz, the fans.
So what do we know about the movie? Behind the scenes, we know that the
budget is the biggest yet for a Star Trek film. That's partly due to the
way movies are made these days, with special effects often pushing costs
well above the $100 million range. (Paramount has not published a movie
budget.) At least the special effects will be state-of-the-art, not
last-minute add-ons. We also know that the new cast members have been
tasked with putting their own personal touches on iconic characters,
which may or may not be a tricky transition for some fans. As for the
business aspect, we should point out that the market is much different
than it was 28 years ago when the first Star Trek movie was released, as
witnessed by the emphasis for a movie's success placed squarely at the
feet of its opening weekend box office.
A little over one year ago when the movie was first announced, there was
no script, no cast and no real conception in the minds of the fans as to
what would be forthcoming from J.J. and his team. Slowly the blanks are
being filled in, as the cast is now almost complete, and other small
details start to filter down. The movie has no official title yet, but
we wouldn't be surprised if it remained as it first appeared on the
original teaser art that debuted at Comic-Con 2006, and the follow up
poster that was unveiled at this year's event – simply, "Star Trek." The
name alone speaks volumes. If you happen to be unaware of the terms
"Star Trek," the "U.S.S. Enterprise," "phasers" or "Beam me up" by now,
then you probably were born yesterday. (And if you were, congratulations
for learning to read so quickly!)
What we also know for certain is that Kirk, Spock (young and old),
McCoy, Scotty, Uhura, Sulu and Chekov will appear, along with the
much-talked-about Christopher Pike character. Although the story is and
will remain under wraps, the characters seem younger, presumably not
long out of Starfleet Academy, and the story may be about one of their
early missions. It all remains to be seen. Literally.
Perhaps not by design, but by cosmic coincidence, the month of November
also sees the first season of the Original Series released on HD DVD/DVD
in its newly remastered form. This will be the first look for the mass
market at how these uncut, remastered episodes look on our own TV
screens, and in HD. If nothing else, these "new" old episodes will keep
us going into the next year as we await the new movie. One other item to
tide us over and serve as a forerunner for the movie is the big-screen
debut of the remastered episode "The Menagerie" in theatres around the
globe. Such an event has never been attempted before on this scale, with
showings in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, the
Benelux countries, and Australia.
Any pre-production shoots aside — for trailers, test footage, etc. — we
should also mention that the filming of the new Star Trek movie on
Wednesday comes amidst a time of great strife in Hollywood as the
Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike Monday morning when they
could not come to an agreement with the studios on revenue sharing,
particularly on DVDs and internet downloads. J.J. Abrams, what they call
in the business a "multihyphenate" due to his producer-director-writer
credits, is standing tall for his writers union; already, J.J. has been
seen hoisting picket signs in solidarity with his union. He is
reportedly set to go to work on Wednesday, in keeping with his
contractual obligations as a director, but he will not be performing any
writing duties.
"If I didn't stand with my fellow writers, I'd feel it in my gut," said
Abrams in the Tuesday Daily Variety.
You can now add strike action to the list of potential movie and TV
production inhibitors, along with fires, riots, earthquakes, floods,
heatwaves and mudslides. Los Angeles may be the home of entertainment,
but it can also come at a price. Right now, the price is right to pay
the writers what they deserve so we can keep enjoying the wide variety
of entertainment produced here. And that includes Star Trek, of course.
http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/news/article/2312154.html
