Captain Kirk Tagged Articles at Cinematical

If you've already seen Star Trek (and don't worry, this really isn't a spoiler), then you remember the part where young Kirk steals his stepdad's car, throws on the Beastie Boys' Sabotage and races down a few dirt roads before launching the car off a cliff. When the song came on, I immediately thought to myself: "Really? He's listening to Beastie Boys that far into the future?" But then I waved it off, thinking The Boys were probably their version of old time, classic rock and roll. And heck, it's an awesome song -- I'd hope folks will still be listening to it hundreds of years from now.

Anyway, according to a post over on Topless Robot, director J.J. Abrams may have used the song not out of complete randomness, but as a nod to the original Kirk, William Shatner. See, Shatner always had a problem pronouncing the word sabotage, and, while on set for Trek, would insist on saying it his way: "sabo-taj." Could this be why Abrams used the song? If so, I think that's pretty awesome. Check out the video below of Shatner trying to pronounce sabotage, and some dude actually attempting to correct him (as if The Shat doesn't know what he's saying) -- it's pretty hilarious. Good on you Abrams ... this little nod to the original Trek is wayyy random; I hope it's true.



[via Ryan Rotten's Twitter]

Few genre properties bring out someone's inner geek – much less in actual fans of the show itself - more easily than Star Trek. Whether you love it or loathe it, everyone seems to have an opinion or a perspective, and almost everyone has an emotional entry point for the long-running series: a parent's welcoming knee or cold shoulder, the dingy carpet of a rec room or the negligent boyfriend next to you, a shelf full of spinoff novels or their indecipherable prose, an unwieldy stack of VHS tapes or the interminable hours suffering through commercials. It seems that no one could possibly be unfamiliar with Trek, no matter how they tried; but it was the unenviable task of writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci to digest some 40 years of characters, stories and mythologies, and tell a story that behaved as if no one but them had ever seen all that material.

The result of their labor is Star Trek, a spectacular opus, space opera, mythmaking science fiction story that condenses the sum total of its source of inspiration and reintroduces the series' mythology to viewers both old and new. Cinematical sat down with the duo at the recent Los Angeles press day for the film to discuss the process of reviving and reinventing the franchise for a completely new generation of moviegoers, much less potential Trek fans. In addition to indulging this critic's own passion for Kirk and company, Orci and Kurtzman talked about their ongoing creative collaboration with director-producer J.J. Abrams, discussed their own directorial ambitions, and dished a few details about their forthcoming follow-up to 2007's Transformers, Revenge of the Fallen.

I think this is the quietest week in the land of the nerdy since I started here at Cinematical. No major casting news from Marvel, no new graphic novels optioned, no reboots announced. It was a pretty crazy summer when it came to superheroes -- maybe everyone is just really tired. Nevertheless, let's look at what has come across the wire, shall we? It's a very verbal day -- Alan Moore still hates Hollywood, William Shatner is still annoyed at JJ Abrams, and M. Night Shyamalan is all wistful. There's plenty to discuss here!

• Geoff Boucher interviewed Alan Moore over on HeroComplex and finds him as intractable as ever when it comes to the upcoming Watchmen movie. He believes it sounds like "more regurgitated worms" as Hollywood is wont to produce. (Not just of his work, mind you, but of films in general.) He even hinted that its recent legal woes (which he finds "wonderfully ironic") might, in fact, originate from his corner of the world. "Perhaps it's been cursed from afar, from England. And I can tell you that I will also be spitting venom all over it for months to come." I'm not surprised, but I do wish he could concede that there are good films just as there are bad comic books. Can we send him something by Darren Aronofsky? Perhaps a gift set of The Fountain and its graphic novel companion?
  

It's time for a paltry Star Trek update -- I think a new tidbit surfaces about once a month. A scan through Cinematical's archives reveals the last one was on August 15th, so we're right on schedule.

This time, J.J. Abrams finally breaks his silence to SciFi Scanner about the original (and to many, the only) Captain Kirk. William Shatner has been pretty vocal about not being asked for so much as a cameo, particularly since Leonard Nimoy got one. Rumors tell us that just about all the surviving cast members might be popping up, too.

Well, it sounds as though Shatner has only himself to blame. According to Abrams, "It was very tricky. We actually had written a scene with him in it that was a flashback kind of thing, but the truth is, it didn't quite feel right. The bigger thing was that he was very vocal that he didn't want to do a cameo. We tried desperately to put him in the movie, but he was making it very clear that he wanted the movie to focus on him significantly, which, frankly, he deserves. The truth is, the story that we were telling required a certain adherence to the Trek canon and consistency of storytelling. It's funny -- a lot of the people who were proclaiming that he must be in this movie were the same people saying it must adhere to canon. Well, his character died on screen. Maybe a smarter group of filmmakers could have figured out how to resolve that."

Now, given the intense secrecy surrounding the film, we may all walk into the theater and find Shatner beaming back at us. Oh, the head shaking and bemusement that would ensue! But I think the rift is pretty real on this one.

By now, anyone who follows movie news on an even semi-regular basis knows about the lack of William Shatner in the next Star Trek movie. The original Captain Kirk has been all kinds of vocal about this fact, which recently led him to a spot on Cinematical's Lame in 2007 list. Now, even though production is well underway, Sci Fi Wire says that there's still a chance. It seems that Roberto Orci, the co-writer of the latest installment, says that the first Kirk could still get a spot in the film, but that it's less of a possibility. Considering the fact that it didn't sound like much of a possibility to begin with, aren't we talking about almost none from almost none?

Although Orci says that they're still trying to find a way, they've struggled with the Trek sticklers and how to deal with Kirk's death in Star Trek VII. Now things are further complicated by the writers' strike -- they can't make script changes until the whole thing is settled. To me, it seems like they're just trying to appease Shatner as much as possible, although I don't see why. The way everyone is talking, you'd think that they're trying to figure out how to write a vampire into an historic war drama or something.

If they want to have Shatner at least pop up, without being able to write it into the script, they could always have Kirk look in a mirror, or some reflective surface and see Shatner, and what Kirk will become. Back when they could still mess around with the script, it wouldn't have been hard for Spock to muse about what his life would be like had Kirk not died, or the Vulcan seeing the different crew members morphing into his once-friends. Or heck, even a daydream where he talks with an imagined Kirk about whatever his role is in the film. But the "possibility" will probably just sit there until the production is finished, and when the Enterprise zooms onto the big screen once again, it will be without Shat.

Let's go where no movie marketing has ever gone before ...

Have the first pics of Chris Pine as Captain Kirk arrived online? JFXOnline, who have apparently been camped out around the Star Trek XI set since filming began, claimed to have snapped photos of who they believe is Chris Pine in his Kirk costume. Said costume, in case you were wondering, is all red -- and it kinda looks like the sort of thing Santa would wear under his big, heavy coat. Anyway, the photos, which also include shots of a girl they claim is an Orion Slave Girl (kinky!), are pretty blurry. And JFXOnline insists on throwing up this watermark to block the pics even more. But it's definitely a guy in the pics ... and he's definitely wearing a lot of red. Captain Kirk or some guy doing the Walk of Shame following a holiday party that got way too out of control? You make the call.

So you know all that Cloverfield and Slusho stuff? How a bunch of viral sites pimping this weird Japanese drink called Slusho have popped online, and how we all thought it had something to do with Cloverfield? Yeah, apparently not. Slashfilm tells us that, based on a bunch of early screenings, Slusho doesn't appear anywhere in the film (except on a water bottle or something). Yup. No Slusho in Cloverfield. So if it's not in Cloverfield, then what the hell is Slusho? Well, Slashfilm claims it might be part of another project J.J. Abrams is working on, and that for some odd reason the two got mixed up because a) Bad Robot is involved in both and b) the whole Japanese angle lead lots to believe Slusho had something to do with Godzilla, which, in turn, was believed to be the monster featured in Cloverfield. Yeah ... no. And if that's the case, then why hasn't J.J. Abrams come out and said something by now? Why? Because the guy loves f**king with people. And if we're completely off course, then that means we're nowhere near the stuff he's actually hiding. Bastard. Abrams is like the kid who would hide in the most insane spots during Hide & Seek as a kid. You'd be behind a bush, and he'd find a way to hide on top of a roof somewhere. Cloverfield arrives on January 18.

I'm still holding out for the surprise announcement that William Shatner will indeed appear in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek. In the meantime, though, I expect to hear another complaint from the original Captain Kirk after reading this juicy bit of goodness: George Takei has a cameo in the upcoming movie*, which will be a prequel-ish reboot of the TV and movie franchise. According to a Starburst magazine interview with the actor, Takei will feature in a flash-forward scene that will also showcase original Spock, Leonard Nimoy. From the sound of it, he will be returning to his iconic role as an older version of Sulu. Best guess is that Takei and Nimoy will be sitting in futuristic rocking chairs reminiscing about their beginnings at the Starfleet Academy, and this scene will be the prologue to the rest of the movie. Playing the younger versions of Sulu and Spock throughout the rest of the film are John Cho and Zachary Quinto, respectively.

Well, if Shatner doesn't put up more of a fuss, the fans should. After all, as long as we're getting two of the surviving original cast members, why can't we get the rest? Sure, it would be a sad scene, considering DeForest Kelley (Bones) and James Doohan (Scotty) aren't around to be a part of such a reunion, but the Trekkies would certainly appreciate seeing Nichelle Nichols (Uhuru), Walter Koenig and of course Shatner together again. Am I right? They could all have a few laughs while yelling at the kids to get off their damn lawns. And we could all feel better about having to accept all new actors as these beloved characters. So, who is going to start the online petition? Oh wait, that's already been done.

*UPDATE: Apparently this is just another rumor, one that has been debunked. According to TrekMovie.com, Takei will not have a cameo in the new Star Trek.

We already knew that Chris Pine was in talks to star as Captain Kirk in J.J. Abrams upcoming Star Trek XI, but up until now we haven't had official confirmation. "In talks" can mean a lot of things, and if the recent almost-casting of Jessica Biel in the Justice League of America movie means anything, it's that you should never take "in talks" as proof the actor or actress has landed the role. Over on his blog, Smokin' Joe Carnahan (who was vying for Pine to star in White Jazz) confirms the actor will not be taking on the role of Junior Stemmons in Jazz. Why? Well, that's because he's opted to go for Trek.

Here it is, straight from Carnahan himself: "The young man playing Junior Stemmons has opted to 'go where no man has gone before' and thus, had to bow out of WHITE JAZZ. I've been talking to him this past week and knew how tough the decision had to be for him. I don't envy ever being in that spot but I gave him my full support, even if it meant he didn't do JAZZ. I get it. You don't get opportunities like that often and I told him as long as he could control as much of that process as possible and not get sucked into doing lesser sequels as a result of taking this gig, then good luck and God bless. We're sure to do something down the road. I've already slotted him in for KILLING PABLO." So there you have it -- Chris Pine will indeed be starring as Captain Kirk in Star Trek XI (according to Carnahan, that is), and instead of placing him in Jazz, the director has instead found a part for him in Killing Pablo. No word on what that part is, but it looks like Pine's stock just shot straight up. I guess there was a reason why he starred opposite Lindsay Lohan in a film called Just My Luck -- and, as ironic as it might seem, the premise of that film is, like, totally becoming true.

Chris Pine as Captain Kirk? Whadyya think?

Though it's been a relatively slow process, the Star Trek XI is starting to come together. Variety reports that Eric Bana has landed the role of villain in the film, which will be some sort of re-boot -- a "when they were young" Star Trek, kind of like when a character opens up a high school yearbook, notices their first crush and has a flashback. Variety has no other details regarding Bana's character, however Star Trek.com claims his name in the film will be 'Nero.' Also cast in the film thus far are Anton Yelchin (Chekov), Zachary Quinto (Spock), Zoe Saldana (Uhuru) and Leonard Nimoy. Production is set to begin this November, which means more casting is currently underway.

And that brings us to Captain Kirk. The Hollywood Reporter tells us this morning that Chris Pine is in talks to take on the role of Kirk; a guy whose only other major role came opposite Lindsay Lohan in Just My Luck. (And here's where I should say, "Looks like his luck is about to change ..." ) I'm not too familiar with Pine, as I'm sure you're not either, so I can't say whether he's right for the role. Variety had said folks were chasing a big-name actor for the roles of villain and Captain Kirk, but Pine is hardly a big-name actor. As it stands right now, this is a pretty interesting cast, and not the one I expected after guys like Matt Damon and Adrien Brody were originally reported to be up for the roles of Kirk and Spock. I love the choice to go with Bana as villain (the guy seems as if he was born to play a Star Trek villain), and I like the Quinto casting move, but the others I'm iffy about. How do you feel about this Star Trek cast?

Let's see now, we've got a Spock, a Uhura and a Chekov. We still need a Kirk, a Scott, a McCoy ("Bones") and a Sulu. I feel like I'm collecting trading cards, but really I'm just anxiously awaiting more Star Trek news. The new sorta-prequel (aka Star Trek XI) is set to begin filming soon, so it's about time J.J. Abrams finds the rest of his cast. Or, if he's already found his stars, it's about time Paramount announced them. At least the rumors and unconfirmed choices continue to float around the net. In fact, this morning we have two fairly reliable sources reporting new names to place in the Kirk and Scott slots.

The investigative team over at IESB got word that Mike Vogel (Poseidon) is the front-runner to fill William Shatner's shoes in the role of James T. Kirk. The site attempted to confirm the rumor with both Paramount and Vogel's agents, but obviously neither would comment. But IESB did get a hint of nervousness from the latter, Gersh Agency, which was curious about where this news had come from. The way IESB's Robert Sanchez relays the encounter, it does sound like a slight, accidental confirmation. But we'll see. Vogel (who makes me think of Superbad's Fogel) is also co-starring in the Abrams-produced monster movie coming in January -- you know, Cloverfield, 1-18-08 or whatever it will be titled -- so at least we know the actor has an in with the director.