‘Cloverfield’ Director Starry-Eyed Over ‘Trek’ Trailer, Footage

'Star Trek'You could count on one hand the number of people who have watched the top-secret “Star Trek” that will be unveiled next month; even fewer fingers, most likely, would be needed to take stock of those who’ve seen dailies from the December ‘08 release. Writer/director Matt Reeves, however, is one of the chosen few.

“Way back, J.J. was like ‘When ‘Cloverfield’ comes out, ‘Star Trek’ will be on it,’” Reeves said of his mysterious monster flick, which will hit theaters on 1.18.08 with the “Trek” trailer attached. “I was like ‘That’s a terrific idea; that’s exciting’. So, I’ve known for a long, long, time that was their plan, and I’ve just recently seen bits of the teaser. I think it’s amazing, and it looks pretty incredible.”

Abrams is a producer on “Cloverfield,” and one of the main driving forces behind its unorthodox advertising campaign. Reeves, meanwhile, has been friends with the pop-culture-icon since they teamed up for “Felicity.” These days, he’s busy at work attaching trailers for his friend’s much-anticipated movie on to the front of his own.

“I think people are going to be very excited,” he said, offering a sneak preview. “It’s a teaser, you know, it’s a teaser trailer. But still, I was like ‘Wow!’ Just the scope of it, the scale of it, you just look at it and it’s so elegantly done.”

Having witnessed Abrams’ mindset as he tries to re-assemble one of film’s greatest franchises, Reeves said: “It’s one of those things where J.J. has a lot of ideas come out of [the fact that] he has a very simple, forceful way to express himself while capturing people’s imaginations. I think what [he and his producers] are doing with the trailer is fantastic; this is a great way to reboot the franchise, and get people excited about something new.”

The teaser trailer is so thrilling, in fact, that Reeves admitted to having some difficulty stifling his inner fanboy. “That’s what excited me about seeing the trailer, was that I thought ‘Well, this does look completely different and new,’” he marveled. “But while having all the stuff that will make fans of ‘Star Trek’ still feel fulfilled.”

As if that doesn’t make us jealous enough, Reeves revealed that he has also seen entire, completed scenes from the assembled dailies. “I’ve seen little bits of the movie too, and I feel that way as well,” the director said. “He’s doing an amazing job; it’s very exciting. It’s not your grandfather’s ‘Star Trek,’ that’s for sure.”

Will you be doing the ol’ “Wing Commander” trick of watching the “Trek” trailer and then sneaking into a different theater’s main program? Or are you looking forward to “Cloverfield” just as much? Weigh in with your plans below!

27 Responses to “‘Cloverfield’ Director Starry-Eyed Over ‘Trek’ Trailer, Footage”

  1. This new Star Trek THING they are making is going to suck hard. Real hard.
  2. Reeves could have mentioned he was allowed to bring a 'date' with him to the screening!

    I was free that night!

    I am soooo jealous! What a coup!
  3. In my humble opinion, people should refrain from judging the new Star Trek until they actually see it. No matter what kind of story we think "they" should have used, etc, these people are professionals and deserve a chance to show us what they've done first. They just might surprise us with something we never even thought of, which turns out to be really great.

    My two cents in the name of peace in the "should have wars".
  4. hey Steve, how much are they paying you to shill for the new Trek travesty?
  5. i wouldn't be interested in another superfluous star trek flick if it wasn't abrams to helm it. he proved to have extraordinairy ideas and realized them most convincingly, so i'm looking forward to the film.
  6. Look... WE ALL know it's a typical Time Travel story. It's going to have the same look and feel like the re-imagined BSG series.

    ... And there is nothing that we can do to change that.
  7. I was trying to figure out if it was the even ones or the odd ones that suck, and anyone I asked got confused half way through listing them. Then I figured it out: If you like Star Trek, and care about how the characters are portrayed or how the situations play out in the show(s), all the movies suck, a lot. It's just they all are pretty entertaining too. The Search for Spock is essentially LOST, five childsize spocks turn into one adult spock? What?
  8. iaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmm so pissed,,, how dare people talk about trek,,,, fuc--------------
  9. you should all get on with your lives and wait for the film to come out. be thankful it's coming at all and appears to have more than a 10 dollar budget.
  10. In my opinion Star Trek is not realy interesting thing...
  11. um. to all those pathetic whiners on here, star trek movies are already in the toilet. i mean, i couldn't even sit through one of the last four or five of the series. horrendous. i'm excited as hell about this new film, and that's the first time i can say that since i saw 'wrath of khan' as a kid. i think it's pretty sad that none of you have any idea what the film will be like, and you're already trying to hate on it. just shut up, and let the rest of us enjoy the coolness...
  12. This film is PRODUCT, and designed to maintain consumer interest in all the other Trek product that Paramount has churned out over 43 years. Roddenberry's Trek was about ideas, and morality parables, not space cadets cheating on the Kobuyashi Maru. The real star of Trek is the USS Enterprise, and any film not centred on that metaphor for humanity is not Trek. Whatever Abrams et al are doing in California has little to do with Gene Roddenberry or Star Trek. Especially if it is yet another unnecessary time travel story. Don't these people have any imagination?
  13. Well, if this film tanks, I wonder if CBS will do a remake? Just like what Marvel Studios did with the Hulk.

    Then again, if this film does well, will CBS go ahead and do a new series? Just like the re-imagined BSG series...
  14. Star Trek was and is about ideals, ideas and humanity imagined as better than it is now and how it can hope to be so! Without sounding like a bonfide pastor in the "First Church of Trek", I must also say that it was and is pure entertainment. Trek has been offered to us in the form of "fantastic" and "not so fantastic". But it is entertainment and that is how it should be judged. Entertainment that takes the high road alot of times and tries to teach us a thing or two now and then. Entertainment that also puts a phaser in our hands and says "set to kill" and has you aiming at klingons, borg, cardassians, species 8172, and Xindi. It's as fun as we can make it or as bad as we want it to be. I'm all for "good Trek" no matter the vessel or time period. If we're really honest with ourselves we can actually admit that there's been more "good" than "bad". Way more. So why waste time snivelling about it and just sit back and enjoy the ride! Let's See Whats Out There!! Personally I'm looking forward to Christmas '08! There's not a whiny fanboy or anti-Trek nerd out there than can put the kibosh on MY fun! So there! Nannie Nannie Boo Boo!!
  15. This movie will stink. People don't know how to create star trek movies anymore like Wrath of Khan, Search for Spock. I would rather see them create a TV series that told the Klingon side of the story instead of the federation. Create a darker star trek with klingon based rock music in the intro.
  16. Notice to naysayers:

    You must have time machines to know that a film not due for release till almost a year from now will "suck hard" or "stink". Get over yourselves.

    I am SO FRAKKIN' tired of people talking about stuff they have NO CLUE about!

    So stop having so much whine with your cheese and let us enjoy our anticipation of something we thought might not happen at all. Don't like it, DON"T WATCH!
  17. If it is a time travel movie, the Enterprise must go back in time to bring back some ice to cool down earth to save the earth from global warming. Wouldn't that be exciting. I am anxious to see what the movie will actually be about. It will be hard for us "old timers" to see a different cast. I hope it is good because I am looking forward to seeing it when it comes out. Once a Star Trek Fan, Always a Star Trek Fan for better or worse!!
  18. as a loyal trk fan for nearly 40 years. I was about eight when first saw trek.. I understand all the concern and over reaction about needing this to be true star trek. I understand that we may resist recasting the TOS.. but the decision is made, no use debating that, but I like to think that this movie will be successful. It will be true to canon and yes will have newness and freshness that JJ will bring. I don't think you can duplicate the success of the iconic series or characters by producing an exact likeness of it however we know the star treks of today is different from the star trek of the late 60s. So a good story, and script that focuses on characters and inter-relationships is essential but to appease todays viewers, you have grander production values, special effects, and action sequenses.. it's like old James Bond as compared to today's James Bond, familiar but different.. so the key is do we have a good story? do we have good character development and inter-relationships, if so the rest will fall in place.. as fars canonicity, we might have some inconsistencies but we can over look those if the movie as a whole is good..
  19. as a loyal trek fan for nearly 40 years. I was about eight when first saw trek.. I understand all the concern and over reaction about needing this to be true star trek. I understand that we may resist recasting the TOS.. but the decision is made, no use debating that, but I like to think that this movie will be successful. It will be true to canon and yes will have newness and freshness that JJ will bring. I don't think you can duplicate the success of the iconic series or characters by producing an exact likeness of it, however we know the star treks of today is different from the star trek of the late 60s. So a good story, and script that focuses on characters and inter-relationships is essential but to appease today's viewers, you have to have grander production values, bigger special effects, and bigger action sequenses.. it's like old James Bond as compared to today's James Bond, familiar but different.. so the key is do we have a good story? do we have good character development and inter-relationships? if so the rest will fall in place.. as fars canonicity, we might have some inconsistencies but we can over look those if the movie as a whole is good..
  20. I am sure this will be a great movie for us(((Trek Fans))). But as for keeping it so secret, that's just silly. Most of us live in parts of America that the only things we see other than work and the drive home, are the nightly movies on TV. We are just normal working folks out here. The only things we hear are from the news or a little internet networking. So feel safe in your secret!

    I'm very glad to hear there will be a new Trek movie. I'd hope they would have some sort of cami with the original actors though!

    Haley:)
  21. if jj f#@k's this up he will be forever known as the next UWE BOLL
  22. It's true. Robert, no fu**g words plz, i don't understand what u say...I'm bolgarian(
  23. I'm really excited about seeing "Cloverfield," but knowing the trailer for "Star Trek" is attached makes it even more exciting!
  24. lol i love star trek.. idk what it is haha cause they suck but seriously i cant stop watching them and after seeing how badly jj abrams *?@#*? up cloverfield and how much lost sucks that dumb son of a %@#$# is going to REALLY ~#?@ up star trek. they just need to not do anything new for star trek... hollywood or whoever pretty much proved that its worn out by *$$$*$~ up with that crap ass tv show enterprise LOL how about putting some time in effort into making a decent AvP movie that actually follows the AvP universe... do directors even read up on things before they ~#?@ up movies? oh well i could make everything better but thats just cause im amazing haha... OH WAIT I KNOW haha before i leave i know what JJ Abrams should do cause there is no way he could ~#?@ it up more than they all ready have haha... MORTAL KOMBAT 3 MOVIE by JJ ABRAMS coming 2010 LOL
  25. im not a trek-geek but i have enjoyed the films thus far. I thought nemisis was great..picard was a great character but kirk is the original and the best. They should never have killed him off..im looking forward to seeing what jj will do with this film in his eyes because i thought he did an amazing job with Mission Impossible 3 although id like to see john woo do the 4th. Anyways i think jj will do amazing with star trek just let the guy do his thing and see how it plays out...no use bitching about it i mean whats the going to do???
  26. Hi Thanks...
  27. I'm glad that chris pine will be starring as captiain kirk. this should bring a new breed of fan similar to how smallville revived Superman on TV.