Star Trek XI Tagged Articles at Cinematical

The franchise comeback story of the year, if not the decade, is Star Trek, which arrived in theaters with an amount of buzz that could only be matched by a metric ton of tribbles, and eventually grossed almost $400 million worldwide. This week Trek debuts on Blu-ray in a 3-Disc Special Edition, and the set includes enough extras and special features that one can expect the series to continue on successfully for the foreseeable future – even if it's only because you can't get it out of your head.

Though it's unnecessary to revisit the merits of the movie itself – by now you're either with J.J. Abrams' reinvention of the series mythology or you aren't – it looks absolutely wonderful in high definition, emphasizing every last lens flare and visual flourish injected into its agile, lyrical cinematography. The color quality itself is just positively luminous, but augmented by the sound design, which offers a muscular 5.1 TrueHD mix, you're completely immersed in the film; in fact, so great is the sound on Disc One that even the menu screens rumble with house-shaking bass.

As for the encyclopedia of bonus materials.....

J.J Abrams seems like the busiest man in Hollywood. Thursday morning during a promotional appearance for the release of his franchise relaunch for Star Trek, he updated reporters on what's next for him. "Jeff Pinkner and Joel Wyman are running Fringe very well. We're still very involved in that, but they're running that," he said of the popular sci-fi series. "We have a new series that we just sold to NBC that we're going to be producing. It's a pilot. And, there's a movie that I'm writing that I would love to direct, early next year, so we'll see if that comes to fruition."

In addition to his television work, Abrams highlighted a few of the projects he's working on in the next several months both as a producer and director.

J.J Abrams, director of this summer's blockbuster relaunch of the Star Trek film series, told reporters that the forthcoming follow-up will, like its predecessor, both appeal to nonfans and reward those familiar with the long-running franchise. "Whatever the story is and whatever the final movie ends up being, I know it will be something that will work on its own terms and be something that you don't need to know and study Star Trek to get," Abrams said in a press conference Thursday afternoon. "But if you are a fan, there will hopefully be gift after gift of connections, references, characters that you hold near and dear. At least, that's the intent."

Cinematical spoke to Abrams at a press day for the DVD and Blu-ray release of Star Trek, which is due November 17, 2009. The following is an edited version of Abrams' comments to the press about the sequel, which is currently being developed by the director and his original screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman.

Since you were able to wipe the slate clean with your prequel, do you plan to come up with something completely original, or is there a possibility you will reference some of the existing creatures or races in the next installment?

I heard Wednesday is the new Tuesday ...

We never thought it would happen, but Hollywood has finally invented a time machine and is using it to resurrect a number of old franchises. From indieWIRE comes news that MGM's Mary Parent and Harry Sloan are interested in finding out whether audiences want Sly Stallone to return for another Rocky installment. The article adds, "Parent asked for a show of hands from the audience who might be in to that. Though there were a few very enthusiastic responses, many kept quiet." Hmm, maybe they were just pretending not to listen.

During the same MGM panel, Parent mentioned the recently-announced Robocop remake and said it "would be great in 3-D, as would something we're hoping to announce soon." Announce soon? What is it? Could it be Rocky vs Robocop: The Future Ends Here ... in 3-D? Fingers crossed. Here's our earlier story on the Robocop remake, which also includes a remake of Red Dawn. God help us. [via Moviehole]

Finally, on the Star Trek front, a few possible spoilers have leaked out over at TrekMovie.com. I won't go into many details here, though I will say the spoilers have to do with the several different ships featured in the film. Speaking of, what's the official title for this flick? Do we have one yet? Is it just Star Trek? Star Trek XI? How about Star Trek New Beginnings: The Future and the Past Together At Last? On a separate note, MTV spoke with William Shatner who -- wait for it -- is still pretty upset about not being included in the new film. His words (not mine): "I'm solidly behind being disappointed that I'm not in it." Next week Shatner re-phrases things and notes: "I'm not not devastated, though I am positive about being negative."

... is not online yet, but a description of what appears to be the first trailer has popped up over at AICN. A scooper attended the Toy Fair in Germany where movies like Iron Man, Star Trek XI and The Incredible Hulk were being promoted. The new Star Wars: Clone Wars animated series was on hand too, and it was announced that the first three episodes would screen theatrically in Europe this September, which pretty much means we'll get the same thing here in the states. As far as the first footage for The Incredible Hulk goes, the scooper felt that what they were watching was, indeed, the first trailer (which we hope will debut sometime in the next week or so). Here's the description (and beware of spoilers below) ...

"The scene opens with Edward Norton meditating. We see images of a lab, experiments, Banner escaping from the (Russian?) military (led by William Hurt and Tim Roth), running in the streets, kissing Liv Tyler, guns, shooting, more running... The 'trailer' ends with Abomination walking towards Hulk. Remember the end of Rocky III? Apollo Creed wants to hit Rocky in their friendly duel? That's exactly the way the trailer ends. Abomination wants to hit Hulk. Hulk wants to hit Abomination, but before it actually happens the trailer is over. Abomination looks like a Hulk with the Voldemort face from the first Harry Potter movie. A really mean motha. He sure is a great opponent. I thought the shown footage was awesome. It promises much more action than the Ang Lee movie, a great love story and an even greater fight."

Personally, I'm surprised they'd show Abomination right off the bat in the first trailer; then again, they probably want to show fans how this film will differ from the previous one immediately and build hype. Fine with me. So long as the CGI comic book creatures look cool, I'm all for it. The Incredible Hulk arrives in theaters on June 13.

The Sundance Flu, The Sundance Cold, The Sundance Fever ... how about The Sundance I Feel Like Complete Sh*t ...

Looks like J.J. Abrams does plan to go all Wonder Years for his Star Trek flick! Coming Soon reports that 11-year-old (about to be 12) Jimmy Bennett has landed a role as Young Kirk in Abrams' upcoming Star Trek film, due out at Christmas. Bennett has played a little kid in films like Hostage, Firewall, Poseidon and Evan Almighty. A young Spock will also be featured, leading this writer to believe both characters will appear in the film and talk about how much they "like, like" Winnie Cooper. Fingers crossed.

The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed (what was already previously reported) that New Line is in talks with Platinum Dunes to re-launch the franchise that helped secure their name as one of the big players in town, A Nightmare on Elm Street. Dunes partners Michael Bay, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form will produce, and a writer will be hired once the strike comes to an end. Since it's a full-out re-do, expect Robert Englund to not play Freddy Krueger, though we imagine he'll still have a role in the film (perhaps as part of Freddy's family). God bless the guy they get to fill his shoes; he'll have to convince tons of hardcore fans that he's the real deal. Dunes and New Line are also prepping a re-launch of the Friday the 13th franchise, with Marcus Nispel directing.

And finally, though it's not really a fanboy film (but I needed one more thing to throw in here, so cut me some slack), Moviehole reports that director Phillip Noyce has officially dropped out of that planned Amelia Earhart biopic starring Hilary Swank. MH spoke with Noyce, who gave the following reason for his departure: "I had worked on Amelia for 5 months from July to end of December 2007, finding all the locations and extensively storyboarding the flying sequences - When it didn't appear that the film was going ahead, I had to make a painful decision to move on and returned to a project that had long fascinated me... Mary Queen of Scots. Scarlett Johansson will play Mary in a film to be shot on location in Scotland, England and Ireland during 2008." Apparently Swank is still attached to the film, which we all thought was moving ahead as planned (script issues, maybe), so we'll keep you updated and let you know what happens.

Oh yes, that's exactly what you think it is. Moviefone snatched the first Star Trek photo, and though it's a tad dark, you can clearly see the new Enterprise ship coming together. Ever since it was announced that J.J. Abrams would be directing a brand new take on the Star Trek franchise, folks have been itching to see what he's come up with. Starring Zachary Quinto (as a young Spock), Chris Pine (as a young Kirk), Karl Urban (as Bones), Simon Pegg (as Scotty), John Cho (as Sulu), Anton Yelchin (as Checkov) and Zoe Saldana (as Uhuru), this latest Star Trek installment apparently follows the original crew during their early days at Starfleet Academy up through their first mission together. Eric Bana will be playing a villain named Nero, while Bruce Greenwood will also make an appearance as the original Captain, Christopher Pike. And for those longing for some old school Trek, you'll be happy to know that Leonard Nimoy will also be showing up as his old Spock self. Head to Moviefone to see a larger Star Trek photo, as well as a gallery of the cast. Star Trek is set to touch down on December 25.

Additionally, you can spot the first trailer for Star Trek this weekend in front of Cloverfield, and the film's official site has now gone live.

While tooling around the internets yesterday, I came across this post on Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch blog which pondered what, if any, affect the ongoing writer's strike (as well as the potential DGA and SAG strikes) could have on this year's Comic-Con. We already know the WGA strike has shut down The Golden Globes, and folks will start talking Oscars next, but in April we have the New York Comic-Con and in July we have the biggie -- San Diego Comic-Con. Last year, New York didn't give us too much by way of Hollywood product. However, after all the complaining, one would think the studios would pay closer attention to New York and pimp out some of their summer fare, along with bigger flicks coming down the pipeline. If the writer's are still on strike in April, and if they decide to picket the Con in New York, that could potentially mean no talent showing up for panel discussions and the like.

Now I'm just talking about film here; TV is already f**ked. Even if all this strike nonsense is over and done with by early summer, I imagine the after-shocks will still affect the geeked-out TV presence at the San Diego Con. Remember, after the writer's cut a contract, we're still looking at deals that need to be made for SAG and the DGA. Both of their contracts expire at the end of May. Should SAG go on strike at that time, how on earth will Hollywood promote movies like Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Watchmen, Star Trek XI and G.I. Joe if none of the talent will show up to partake in panel discussions? San Diego Comic-Con was perhaps the biggest fanboy-ish event of 2007, and I imagine there are plans to make it even bigger this year (in terms of Hollywood presence). The show will go on either way (after all, the convention is supposed to be more about comics than anything else), but I wonder how much of Hollywood will be there in 2008? Thoughts?

Lots of Star Trek love (and hate) flying around the internets today, as Leonard Nimoy spills some pretty big beans, a scooper claims to have read the shooting script and another person says they've seen footage. First off, Slashfilm reports (via CBS 2 in Los Angeles) that Leonard Nimoy (who'll be reprising his role as an older Spock for this new film) admitted there will be more than two Spocks in the J.J. Abrams-directed flick. He says, "I am Spock, and there is another Spock and there is another Spock. There are a total of three Spocks in the movie and that is all I will say about it." And who is that third Spock you might ask? Well, most likely it'll be a baby Spock, or a really young Spock -- the one they use in scenes with Winona Ryder, who was cast as Spock's mother. Not a big spoiler, I don't think, but it does seem more and more like this is Spock's movie.

Moving on, a couple super spy scoopers wrote into AICN; one claims to have read the shooting script, and one says they saw footage. There's lots of little spoilers included in both of their reports, but I will say the guy who read the script went off on screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. An example: "While this may sound okay, the way it's written is so ham fisted that it makes the TRANSFORMERS script read like Shakespeare." And some more: "The dialogue is about on par with their past works and some of the liberties they've taken are insanely sloppy." And one more nugget: "The problem with the script is all its blatant inconsistency with things in the TREK canon, not to be innovative... but because Kurtzman and Orci are lousy writers and have zero feel for Roddenberry's universe, even when attempting to reboot it."

The guy who claims to have seen footage was a bit nicer. Here's a taste: "By the way when I saw the new look of the Enterprise, I just wanted to go out and buy a model kit of that or something. I'm quite sure it will get as much positive response as the Milennium Falcon did. Yes, the stuff is that detailed." Feel free to head on over to AICN to read the rest, as I don't want to spoil too much, but if you ask me it seems we'll be getting the Star Trek version of Transformers -- hardcore fans will hate it, but Abrams will gain a whole bunch of new, younger fans who may help turn this puppy into a fresh re-booted franchise for the new millennium. Star Trek XI is due out Christmas Day.

While she's no Gary Oldman, Jennifer Garner has made a pretty decent career for herself in polar opposite parts. Most recently, she's yearned for a baby of her own in the hugely raved about Juno, but she's also the international spy lady behind the old television show Alias. That means, of course, that she has close ties to J.J. Abrams, who was the creator of the hit show. He also just so happens to be the man who is putting together the new Star Trek sequel. Now she's hoping that'll help nab her a part in the new movie, according to MTV.

Talking about Abrams, Garner says: "He rocks; I would do anything for him." But before anything, she's hoping for a little favor. "I want to be a Klingon in the movie. I just want to walk through [the frame] as a Klingon." Just when you think you have her pegged, you find out that she's a Trekkie! Or at least, "something of a Trekkie." Now this dream would depend upon there actually being Klingons in the film. However, MTV did point out that there is also the possibility that this is a slipped detail about the production. Whether Abrams told her about the inclusion of Klingons, or Garner is just being hopeful, it would definitely be another impressive morph for the actress.

On the other side: Will the Klingons provide the dramatic struggle for all of the young lads and ladies working their way towards fame on the Enterprise? Sound off below.