In the long, long (loooooooong) lead-in to the release of J.J. Abrams' reboot of the "Star Trek" franchise, a lot of rumors surfaced concerning who would be joining the cast. At one point, Gary Sinise, Adrien Brody and Matt Damon were even said to be playing the legendary threesome of Dr. McCoy, Spock and Captain James T. Kirk.
Well recently, MTV's Josh Horowitz had the opportunity to speak with Abrams, and his "Trek" star Chris Pine, in an exclusive interview pegged to the fact that, in 2009, these two guys rank among those that we movies fans are most thankful for. And a decision was made to find out exactly what truth lies behind those years-old casting rumors. Given how well "Trek" worked with a cast that was relatively devoid of big-name superstars, one has to wonder if Abrams ever really did call Damon up to talk about the Kirk role. Read more...
FROM MTV.COM: With a worldwide box-office haul of $384 million, "Star Trek" was one of the biggest movies of the year. But more important than its cash haul was the mere fact that director J.J. Abrams pulled the franchise from the cinematic dustbin and gave it a sleek, big-budget sheen. "Trek" was finally back, and perhaps it was cooler than it'd ever been. A lot of the credit for the cool factor goes to Chris Pine, who took on the iconic role of James T. Kirk and made it his own.
We at MTV News couldn't be more grateful that the U.S.S. Enterprise is once again patrolling outer space, which is why Abrams and Pine are two of the entertainers we're most thankful for in 2009. In a recent chat with MTV News, both these guys reflected on the experience of making "Trek," revealed some secrets about the project that we never knew and talked about the future of the franchise.
Continue reading J.J. Abrams And Chris Pine Have Our Gratitude For Rebooting 'Star Trek'
While the rest of the planet is looking forward to "New Moon," here in the world of home entertainment it's all about looking back...specifically to two of the summer's biggest films which are now hitting store shelves. From space cadets to a fashion-savy Austrian, this is your DVD Report for Tuesday, November 17.
You'd be hard-pressed to find a group more anxious than "Star Trek" fans on the date director J.J. Abrams was tapped to reboot the franchise. It was a tall order. "Trek" had notably faltered at the box office after the dreadful "Nemesis," and had been unceremoniously dumped from the airwaves after the lackluster "Enterprise." And now here was a guy who openly boasted that he had barely watched "Star Trek." Even his directing credentials were thin -- a few television episodes here and there and one feature film in "Mission: Impossible III." It all made for a very skeptical fanbase for a franchise many thought should lay dorment to catch its breath. Read more...
The Blu-ray/DVD isn't the only "Star Trek"-related piece of awesome hitting stores today. Serious fans can also pick up "Star Trek: The Art of the Film," from Titan Books. We ran a few exclusive monster design sketches last week to psych you up, and now we have a couple more looks at the book.
These are no sketches though. Oh no... we've got photos to share today. Two of them. First up is a look at the rebooted bridge of the U.S.S. Enterprise, from various angles. Pretty badass, but it doesn't compare to the second one. It's a full Enterprise crew cast shot taken on the bridge, only Abrams himself is in the captain's chair. As he should be. The poster above you might've seen before, but I love the design of it so much that I'm running it to go with this post. Hit the jump for the exclusive hotness. Read more...
Back in May, J.J. Abrams delighted fans and newcomers alike with his mass audience-friendly (yet still fan-serving) reboot of "Star Trek." It's been a six month wait, but finally we all get to enjoy the movie at home thanks to today's Blu-ray/DVD release. What many people may not realize however, is that the wait could have been longer.
"Trek" was originally set to hit theaters on Christmas Day in 2008. Paramount chose to delay that release to May 2009, which turned out pretty well. Abrams didn't mind either, since it gave him extra time to ensure that the movie would have something for all who might be interested. "We had the luxury of time," he said in a recent interview with MTV's Josh Horowitz. "I would argue that literally the last ten days of our post process we did 30% of the work." Read more...
"From the very beginning, we talked about wanting to do a Kirk and Spock story." That's "Star Trek" director J.J. Abrams, speaking on how the story for the May hit was originally conceived. The clip below, a brief snippet focused on the Kirk/Spock origin story, comes from the bonus content included on the DVD/Blu-ray, which hits stores today. Check it out.
Abrams and his team, including writing superstars Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, made the right move in focusing on the birth of Kirk and Spock's friendship. It is as essential to the DNA of the series as the name "U.S.S. Enterprise." As much as the two butt heads in this reboot, they have to be friends in the end if Abrams' is to have any hope of pleasing longtime fans. Read more...
We were just discussing in the MTV Newsroom last week the fact that J.J. Abrams' reimagined take on "Star Trek" was this summer's "Dark Knight." They're both releases which transcended their geeky followings to deliver universally enjoyable movie-going experiences for one and all. Next week, the theatrical release finally comes home to DVD and Blu-ray for viewers to enjoy, along with all manner of other behind-the-scenes material.
Chief among those is Titan Entertainment's hardcover coffee table book, "Star Trek: The Art of the Film." Featuring a mixture of concept art, behind-the-scenes photos and movie stills, the book gives fans a look into the process of how the classic, decades-old franchise was translated to hold an appeal for modern audiences. After the jump, check out three exclusive design sketches of what eventually became the beast that pursued James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) during his stay on the ice planet Delta Vega. And you'll have a chance to see plenty more when "Star Trek: The Art of the Film" from Titan Books hits stores on November 17. Read more...
J.J. Abrams nailed the recasting of "Star Trek" icons James T. Kirk and Spock for his big screen reboot this past May. The question, "Who in the world could possibly replace William Shatner on the Enterprise flight deck?" was answered with the resounding cry, "Holy crap is Chris Pine good!"
With these casting achievements behind him, Abrams knows he's opened up some creative leeway in terms of replacing characters in the mythology. Could that lead to another go at the franchise's #1 villain, Khan? In a recent interview, Abrams admitted taking on the genetic superfreak would be a challenge, but one no bigger than ushering in new versions of Kirk and Spock. Read more...
FROM MTV.COM: What's the bigger challenge: rebooting an iconic sci-fi franchise that had lapsed into disrepair, like an interstellar spacecraft whose warp drive missed a couple of tune-ups and could no longer handle faster-than-light-speed travel? Or following up that triumphant reboot with a flick that not only proves to be a worthy successor, but which sets fanboys' geek phasers on "Oh, hell yeah!"?
Such is the conundrum facing "Star Trek" director J.J. Abrams and his creative team as they begin to brainstorm ideas for a sequel to May's $258 million-grossing hit. "The first one did what it was required to do, which was bring the family together and reset," Abrams explained in an interview with MTV News. "It was a bridge, no pun intended, between what came before, what the 'Star Trek' people knew and the 'Star Trek' of now. And that was the heavy lifting of the first film."
J.J. Abrams Sheds Light On Plan For 'Star Trek' Sequel
One of the better event blockbusters of the year was undoubtedly J.J. Abrams' franchise reboot of "Star Trek." It's been a lot of months and a lot of movies since that May release, but it's still a heavily anticipated home video release for this holiday season. He's got an auteur's sensibilities, and each successive bit of work he turns out brings that fact into clearer focus.
As a man who straddles both film and television, "Star Trek" is an amazingly good fit for Abrams. And now that he's well and truly nailed the movies side of things, one has to wonder what his plans might be for the small screen. After all, that's really where he defined himself, with series' like "Felicity" and "Alias." So when MTV's Josh Horowitz got to speak with Abrams earlier this week, one of the big questions was obviously what plans might be in store for a "Trek" TV series. Read more...
