I am enough of a Trekkie and a completist that I made a point of getting all ten Star Trek movies on DVD. The last three films all came out in the past year, after I started this blog, and I even posted some comments on First Contact (1996) and Insurrection (1998) when those discs came out. But Nemesis (2002) was such a lame disappointment that, even though I got the disc, I never felt motivated to write it up. I say let the franchise rest in peace.
With that in mind, I’m not sure how to react to this Variety item:
Paramount is breathing life into its “Star Trek” franchise by setting “Mission: Impossible III” helmer J.J. Abrams to produce and direct the 11th “Trek” feature, aiming for a 2008 release.
Damon Lindelof and Bryan Burk, Abrams’ producing team from “Lost,” also will produce the yet-to-be-titled feature.
Project, to be penned by Abrams and “MI3” scribes Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, will center on the early days of seminal “Trek” characters James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock, including their first meeting at Starfleet Academy and first outer space mission. . . .
Decision to relaunch “Star Trek” comes less than a year after UPN pulled the plug on “Star Trek: Enterprise” amid dismal ratings following a four-season run and four years after “Star Trek: Nemesis” turned in the worst performance of the 10 films with $43 million domestic. . . .
Under Sherry Lansing’s tenure, Rick Berman had been teamed several years ago with Jordan Kerner and Kerry McCluggage to develop an 11th feature set in the early days of Starfleet Academy.
So does this mean Rick Berman is no longer involved? That alone could be promising. So would an emphasis on character development over battle scenes. And the fact that they would presumably have to hire brand-new actors to play younger versions of the original 1960s cast means they won’t have to tailor the story to suit the original actors’ vanities. But will anyone care about the characters if they are played by other people? And let’s not even think about the probable continuity errors, etc.
MAY 1 UPDATE: It won’t be Kirk and Spock, says Abrams.
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