18 months ago, Star Trek looked dead and buried. The whole concept of a crew going on a mission through space seemed to have run it’s course and studio’s wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole.
Star Trek was a thing of the past. Like the VHS, dial-up Internet, black and white T.V. and The Beatles.
Star Trek was no for those who watch their old tapes, in their Star Trek uniform.. the 30-40 odd year old guy who lives on his own and only ventures out of the house for work (where he talks about Trek all day) and for conventions.
But in the nostalgia climate that we live in, when people are constantly remembering how good things use to be and the bringing back of things that we held dear to our hearts in our childhood, Star Trek was never going to stay like this for long.
Last Summer, J.J. Abrams… the man with the big idea’s who wasn’t afraid to shake things up with Mission Impossible III and the man who gave us Lost and Alias… came aboard to the project and we all knew that it would never be the same again.
A restart was talked about, which would forget the whole 40 year history of a franchise which has the most loyal and obsessive fans. This outraged many, including myself but Abrams has since slowly changed his stance on this, and with the addition of Leonard Nimoy into the storyline… the new film will not forget the current continuity and will tie in… somehow… we think.
The whole idea of a remake probably still angers many but isn’t it fucking exciting? If your a Trek fan like me, you have to be pleased that at least something in the series is currently being made and if it’s the blockbuster hit Abrams thinks it can be… then don’t be surprised if a new television series quickly get’s commissioned and spin-off shows, etc.
Moviehole are today reporting that Star Trek will have the biggest budget of any Trek film in history, as Paramount Pictures have given the go-ahead to a $160 million budget for the film and it will now NEED to rely on attracting the bigger audience.
This ain’t just a movie for those in Star Trek PJ’s who visit all the conventions and can speak Klingon.. this is now a huge Christmas tentpole release… that NEEDS to attract the bigger audience, otherwise it will be a huge flop.
It has to be able to attract people like Peter (the guy who keeps the shields up and the warp drive running on this site) and my girlfriend, who either hate Star Trek or at best have just dismissed it for the length of their life… just like Transformers did… or it’s doomed to be a financial failure for Paramount.
This now looks to be the CREW for Star Trek, although the roles of Kirk and Bones have not yet been confirmed (looks very likely at this point)…
[div caption]
Chris Pine – Captain Kirk (offered the role)[/div][div caption]
Zachary Quinto – Spock[/div][div caption]
Karl Urban – Bones (offered role)[/div][div caption]
Simon Pegg – Scotty[/div][div caption]
James Cho – Sulu[/div][div caption]
Zoe Saldana – Uhura[/div][div caption]
Anton Yelchin – Chekov[/div][div caption]
Leonard Nimoy – Older Spock[/div]
With the following role uncast….
The role of Christopher Pike as a Federation Captain is somehow we expect going to be included in the storyline and personally I think it has to be Tom Cruise who ends up with this part as rumored in the past.
The movie needs some star power.
A Star Trek movie even at the height of it’s popularity has never generated $160 million. This is a massive risk… and it now has to get the Spider-Man audience. The Batman audience. The Transformers audience, just to stay afloat.
If not Cruise, then surely Abrams, despite the age problem… HAS TO GO FOR MATT DAMON AS KIRK
Damon is now at the height of his popularity, having just starred in the $400 million worldwide hit The Bourne Ultimatum… a movie he carried on his own.
Damon is yes starting to show his age a little but remember, he is still the same age as Shatner when he first took on the role… and Shatner carried on playing the character for years and years. Abrams has just 35 year old John Cho and 37 year old Simon Pegg for roles in the film, why not 36 year old Matt Damon?
And the thing is with all this… Damon has said he in the past he wants the part. The fans want him, he is that big star they need for the wider audience… not some Chris Pine who no-one has ever heard of or who anyone gives a shit who he is.
They got a strong actor for the villain…
Now they NEED a strong actor to up against him or this movie is going to flop like no other and Star Trek will be dead again… with no hope of a revival for many years to come.
Bottom line: STAR TREK now needs a huge star for the lead role… or it’s never going to be make it’s money back without some kind of miracle. Cast Matt Damon… NOW!
P.S. The film also needs another female part. I think you should have made Chekov a villain, but you didn’t… so you need to add the character of Janice Rand. She was in 8 episodes of the very beginning of the original series and she will help the male/female dichtonoty of the film….
Cast a Blonde bombshell for the part and make her have a relationship with someone… whatever. But this film needs another female I think, even if she is there just to be killed off.
Thoughts?
12 Comments
I reckon, whatever the case, this film is going to make it’s money back, and probably pretty sharpish. I’m not a Trekkie by any stretch, but I know countless people who are, and everyone knows how popular the series was. It has probably the biggest global fanbase of any franchise, and if every Trekkie buys just one cinema ticket to go and see it – whether out of love or curiosity – it’ll make a stack.
Thoughts????
The entire production needs to be shelved immediately before Abrams destroys his promising career and Paramount is crippled financially.
Nobody cares about this franchise anymore. The films have steadily declined in B.O., despite bringing better villains (The Borg) and more action-oriented storylines. The last version of the show limped along with low ratings on a minor cable channel before finally dying.
At $150 million+, the budget is WAY too high, no matter who you bring onboard to play Kirk. Frankly, I think Damon in the role would be a joke … and it certainly doesn’t help to put Pegg in there, either. Instead of becoming Kirk, I think audiences would be saying, “Oooh, look! It’s Matt Damon playing Kirk!” Damon is a fine actor, but I just think this franchise is so dead that the curiosity factor is all it has going for it.
What a huge fucking mistake.
http://www.therecshow.com
Please scap this idea before it’s too late!
One small correction!! THE FANS DON’T WANT DAMON!!
You would be surprised at the amount of people who would love to see this movie. I for one would like to see this, millions of fans would agree with me on that!
By all recollections, Star Trek has a worldwide fan base. The problem has been the quick scripts and low budgets in the past.
I’ve been a huge fan, but the last few movies have not been very good.
And why?
Because the Original Series did one thing very very well and the last few series (and movies) abandoned the core principal.
And that being: There is hope for the future.
No matter what happened during the show with Kirk, Spock and McCoy, no matter what red shirt died, no matter who Kirk hooked up with, no matter what conflict there was with Klingons, Romulan, Horta or Gorn….in the end, there was at least a truce, but more often there was understanding and unity.
Trekkies 2 showed that some of the largest fan bases outside of the U.S. were in war torn areas who were looking for hope in a peaceful future where people got along and learned from each other. Where money wasn’t and issue and people tapped into their passions for art, performance, literature, and exploration.
And while the Triad of the main characters was a reflection of what we all wanted to be: Kirk (heroic, passionate and tried his best for everyone and his crew), Spock (logic, reason, patience), McCoy (our conscience, caretaker, and maybe inner kid who speaks whatever he feels).
With this kind of budget, with a GREAT heroic story and with star power to draw a wider audience, I imagine a blockbuster would work. Although I believe only movies would be made as most big name stars would NOT do Television. At least not Matt Damon. Most of the others on the list might.
I have said for years, that Trek needed a reboot with new actors going back to the original series.
As for Matt Damon, he might do fine. I still think Christian Slater has the personality for the part…but he’s definitely too old at this point.
All I know is that I will be there opening weekend and will avoid spoilers as much as possible. I just hope that they don’t spend TOO much time on the “Origin” and just get on with the adventure.
Generations did a great job. Just wish Kirk’s death was like in the book adaptation. Much more heroic.
I think your right about the Kirk and Pike roles they need to be large names because at the moment the cast is full of C name actors and that meant with no disrespect to them. Its that bloke from Heroes or the guy on a Horse from Lord of the Rings.
I think you are absolutely right about having Matt Damon as Kirk. In response to Mark, I am one of those fans that DOES want to see Damon. If it was up to me, I would cast Chris Pine as Chris Pike and Matt Damon as Captain Kirk.
As for a female character, I say the introduce Spock’s estranged lover Leila from “This Side of Paradise”. Since part of the story takes place at Starfleet Academy, I imagine it would not be too difficult to show these two interact. One of my favorite lines in all of Star Trek stemmed from their relationship:
“I am what I am, Leila. And if there are self-made purgatories, then we all have to live in them. Mine can be no worse than someone else’s.”
Unfortunately this looks more and more like the making of teen soap opera in space. The whole problem with the degradation of ST as a franchise has been an attempt by paramount / UPN to make it appeal to the masses – which effectively meant dumbing it down and sexing it up. The bottom line is that Trekkies are the real and only fans of ST. You either love it (intelligent people) or hate it (the average Joes and dumbs shmucks who are only interested in inane subjects, like what Paris and Britney are up on a daily basis and who unfortunately are Hollywood`s target audience these days). ST was never about making loads of $$$. It used to be about making quality entertainment that was intelligent and different. Somehow that changed in the mid to late 90`s in an effort to make ST appeal to a larger audience, effectively turning off the real fan base that made it successful in the first place. Trying to make those who were not interested in ST before and like it now is a wasted effoirt and it just turns away the real ST fans, so the franchise gets destroyed in the end. What a shame.
Unfortunetely I fear that Abrams and Paramount are steering this towards the big opening weekend syndrome targeted toward the 15-25 yr olds which has sadly degraded the quality of Hollywood movies. The measure of a successful movie right now in Hollywood is the opening weekend box office grab, with the actual movie quality and storlyline taking a back seat.
I am not too hopeful for this movie.
The cast is slightly B-list (which doesn’t mean it’ll be bad), but I agree they need a big name to bring some star power to this.
If this movie really has a budget that high then it will tank at the box office. Star Trek nerds and even movie geeks like myself (I’m only in because I’m a fan of Abrams’ stuff) won’t make back the money.
To whoever wrote this:
Can you please stay the hell away from your keyboard and not write anything again until you learn some basics of English grammar and spelling?
Thanks
Hi James,
That will me be.
I pRomIs 2 immove my, spelling, and… my, gramare for ya in da, future.
Cheers mate.