Trek X

The more I learn about the new Star Trek “reboot” the more excited I get. Look at how Batman Begins and Casino Royale essentially breathed new life into abused franchises; now comes a hint that the original Star Trek continuity and canon itself might be ditched, which is really good news. Via AICN, a panel at the WONDERCON in San Francisco revealed a lot of tidbits:

Pascale said how the writer of Spielberg’s BAND OF BROTHERS series had written “a great script” to follow NEMESIS, but was ousted with Berman & Co. He also said that the idea of just making new films straight-to-DVD wasn’t likely or viable. When the panel was asked what the new film needed to be sucessful, they stressed that they need to try and “[not] alienate old fans, but don’t be afraid to go for new ones… We classic Trek-fans, we’re getting old. We’re not gonna be around too long… Look to [films like] CASINO ROYALE as an example.” Daren said the new film need “optimism and fun. The TNG films got too full of themselves. I want to see these characters enjoy themselves!” Bond applauded the fact that “Abrams has an adult sensibility. He makes serious stories from ridiculous premises.” Pascale agreed, adding “He’ll do what he did with MI-3; make it realer and scarier.”

When asked who was officially involved with the film, Pascale said “Go to the IMDb, look at the crew list for MI-3 and just put STAR TREK at the top. He went on to say that the film does NOT (primarily) focus on Kirk & Spock at Starfleet Academy, but will more likely be about their first mission. He also said that the character of Pike will likely appear (Sean Kenney, who played the infamous “burned Pike” in TOS, was also in the Autograph Alley). He also said that there’s neither confirmation or denial about the infamous Matt Damon rumour, but Jeff Bond said “I’ve been hearing it for so long, I can’t think of anyone else in the role.” He also said he’d like to see someone like Gary Sinise as Dr. McCoy. Pascale was asked if this “re-boot” would respect the known canon or not. He and the other panelists agreed that the “official” canon is full of holes when one sees all the episodes. He said that Abrams has “never seen DS9, NEMESIS, or ENTERPRISE.”

The idea of Gary Sinise as McCoy is just inspired. But the single most encouraging thing is that Abrams, a genuine TOS and TNG fanboy, has never even seen the other series. That gives him a perspective that is both fresh and rooted in the foundations of what made Trek a success.