As announced At ComicCon, Heroes' Zachary Quinto and ST:TOS star Leonard Nimoy will both play Spock. J.J. Abrams expressed his hope that a suitable part can be found for William Shatner, but they are still searching for their [young] Captain Kirk.
#6 Star Trek Magazine (July/August 2007)
STAR TREK XI
FAST FACTS
Filming: Fall 2007
Release Date: Christmas Day 2008
Writers: Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci
Director: JJ.Abrams
Producers: J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof
Executive Producers: Bryan Burk, Roberto Orci and
Alex Kurtzman
Unit Production Manager: Stratton Leopold.
Leopold's past credits include Paramount films such
as The Sum of All Fears and Paycheck. Leopold's
role as Production Manager centres [centers] on the project's
budget.
Cast
No cast announced at press time apart from Grey Gunberg who has appeared in almost all J.J. Abrams productions, including Mission: Impossible III.
Kurtzman and Orci confirmed the producers had met with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy: "It was pretty much the most stressful
thing ever, but it was wonderful," Kurtzman said.
Matt Damon has said he is open to taking over as Captain James T. Kirk. Tom Cruise has denied discussing a cameo, but James Bond star Daniel Craig has said he "would love a stint in the TV show or in a film. It's been a secret ambition of mine for years."
Actor James McAvoy, recently seen in The Last King of Scotland and Starter for 10, has offered mixed messages on rumors that he might play a young Scotty.
Other Production Staff
Alias and Mission: Impossible III's Daniel Mindel will be Director of Photography.
Michael Giacchino, who wrote the score for Mission: Impossible III and scores the J.J. Abrams TV series Lost, will compose the music for the new film.
Award-winning designer Scott Chambliss, who worked on Abrams' TV shows Felicity and Alias, will be Production Designer on the film.
#1 Star Trek Magazine (September/October 2006)
STAR TREK XI: THE FACTS (SO FAR)
J.J. Abrams will write the script with Mission Impossible III co-writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. Although he has the option to direct the film, he has not yet decided whether or not to do so.
Lost producers Damon Lindelof and Bryan Burk will produce the movie[.]
The studio is hoping to release the new film in 2008.
No plot for the movie has been nailed down and no one has been cast for the film. Writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci told Creative Screenwriting Magazine they expect the movie to contain some new characters--and some with whom viewers are familiar. They also said the film will not be recreating the series in the way that Battlestar Galactica has been re-imagined, but extrapolating on events in the Star Trek franchise as it currently exists.
With the new movie, "We certainly are hoping to bring Star Trek back to its former glory," according to Paramount spokeswoman Nancy Kirkpatrick.
Former Star Trek Executive Producer Rick Berman, who is not involved in the new film but had been involved in plans for a new Star Trek movie written by Erik Jendresen, declined to comment on the new film at this time when approached by STAR TREK Magazine.
BLANK SLATE
NEW FILM PRODUCERS DENY KIRK AND SPOCK RECASTING RUMORS
The storyline for the new Star Trek movie has yet to be decided and rumors that it would center on a young Kirk and Spock have been dismissed by the show's producers--although original series characters may appear.
Happy to learn reaction to the news that he would be producing the next movie had been positive, Lost and Alias . . . J.J. Abrams has said the movie news had been announced without his cooperation.
"People learned that I was producing a Star Trek film, that I had an option to direct it, they hear rumors of what the thing was going to be and ran with a story that is not entirely accurate," he told Empire magazine. "We've made a pact not to discuss any specifics."
Lost executive producer Bryan Burk, also part of the team developing the movie, says everyone is "very excited," by the project. Speaking at a fan charity event in Glendale, California in June, he declined to discuss details of the movie. "We actually have this thing where we're just not talking about it outside of 'us' right now. [But] it's going to be pretty great."
In a Creative Screenwriting Magazine podcast, Star Trek XI screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci revealed the movie would contain some new characters -- and some familiar ones.
The pair also indicated they would not be recreating the series in the way that Battlestar Galactica has been re-imagined, but building on established Star Trek continuity.
We're very mindful of being totally true to the mythology and what's there," the writers explained. "There are pockets within the universe, and we know the mythology well."
They also said the new ... team had every intention of recognising Star Trek's rich history. "This is not a case of trying to come in and be so clever that you're going to reinvent everything. It's a case of coming in and using the stuff you know is great . . . not violating anything that's come before it."
"Being involved with a series that has a passionate and vocal following makes me incredibly sympathetic," says Abrams addressing fan concern at a possible Star Trek 'reboot' in an interview with The Irish Times. "They have put up with so many incarnations along the way
"These fans are a smart bunch. They are an intelligent group. We are very respectful and we have no intention of subverting the material."
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