Kirk actor named

[Irish Stu]

Star Trek film names Kirk actor

Little-known actor Chris Pine has been chosen to play the young Captain Kirk in the new Star Trek movie.

Pine had to turn down a role opposite George Clooney in the film White Jazz in order to play Kirk because of a clash of filming schedules.

Lord of the Rings actor Karl Urban will play Leonard "Bones" McCoy, the Starship Enterprise's medical officer.

The film, which chronicles the early days of the Enterprise crew, will be released in the US on 25 December 2008.

The movie will show the crew meeting at the Starfleet Academy and embarking on their first mission.

The Paramount Pictures film is expected to begin shooting in November.

Urban's character Bones was responsible for several of Star Trek's famous phrases including: "He's dead, Jim."

New Zealand-born Urban played Eomer in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. He also starred in The Bourne Supremacy.

The film, directed by Lost creator JJ Abrams, is Star Trek's 11th big screen outing.

The most recent Trek film, Star Trek: Nemesis, was released in 2003.

NEW STAR TREK FILM CAST
Captain Kirk - Chris Pine
Older Mr Spock - Leonard Nimoy
Young Mr Spock - Zachary Quinto
Scotty - Simon Pegg
Nero - Eric Bana
Uhura - Zoe Saldana
Chekov - Anton Yelchin
Sulu - John Cho
Leonard 'Bones' McCoy - Karl Urban

Beam me up

I'm pleased to see British actor Simon Pegg in there as Scotty. Should be interesting to see what he can bring to the role.

Simon

[Ardbeg... innit]

samnsi said:

The Paramount Pictures film is expected to begin shooting in November.

UNLESS the screenwriters union strikes. If its a long strike production on this and other movies could definitely be affected...

Movie Writers Eye Early Walkout

As Hollywood’s studios rush to shoot movies before contracts with actors and directors expire in June, strategists for the industry’s writers, facing an earlier deadline of their own, are considering whether to force a stop to the action.

Over the last few days, negotiators for the Writers Guild of America West and the Writers Guild of America East, whose contract with entertainment companies expires on Oct. 31, have been taking a hard look at the almost 150 feature films that are candidates for production by early next year, according to people involved with the talks who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly.

As many as three-quarters of those pictures — including projects as prominent as “The Justice League of America” at Warner Brothers and “Another Night,” the proposed sequel to “Night at the Museum,” at 20th Century Fox — appear not to have final scripts.

The question at hand is whether writers, in the event no deal is reached, can inflict maximum damage on their bargaining opponents by striking immediately rather than continuing to work and letting the studios add those films to their strike stockpile.

Negotiators for the guilds and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios and networks, are scheduled to meet again on Thursday. Guild negotiators could ask their 12,000 members for strike authorization in advance of the contract’s expiration. And they appear to be gathering information that would support a call for a walkout in November, rather than later, when the Screen Actors Guild and the Directors Guild of America will also be in talks.

If writers were to strike before scripts are delivered, tens of millions of dollars already spent, and hundreds of millions in future revenue, could be lost.

Barbara Brogliatti, a spokeswoman for the producers’ alliance, said the studios had never assumed writers would keep working after the expiration of their contract. “Every studio and every network has contingency plans,” she said, and those plans “assume there could be a walkout on Oct. 31.”

Neal Sacharow, director of communications for the Writers Guild of America West, declined to comment.

A walkout by Hollywood’s writers would bring the first widespread shutdown of the entertainment industry since a five-month writers’ strike in 1988. But given the prickly tenor of negotiations so far, companies have been banking movies and television episodes that could fill schedules for months to come. New signals that the guild is ready to strike are just as clearly intended to intensify the pressure on the studios and networks.

Still, guild leaders are looking for signs that some companies, under pressure to book another potential blockbuster or two before production grinds to a halt, have left themselves exposed.

This month the latest round of talks brought little progress on issues like the producers’ request to restructure the residuals system, or the writers’ insistence on extending payments for new media. Studios, meanwhile, continued to sign stars and filmmakers for feature films that can begin shooting by early next year and finish before a June 30 contract expiration with the actors and directors unions.

Those feature films are now being seen as high-value targets by those at the writers guild who advocate an immediate walkout should no deal be reached.

Only this month Warner Brothers began a last-minute push to prepare its “Justice League of America,” a multisuperhero extravaganza to be directed by George Miller (“Happy Feet,” “Mad Max”) early next year — if the studio can get a viable script together, never mind a complicated cast. Kieran and Michele Mulroney, who did uncredited work on “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” have worked on the project, which still does not have a so-called green light to begin production. A spokeswoman for Warner Brothers declined comment.

Similarly, 20th Century Fox is in hurry-up mode on “Another Night,” the hoped-for sequel to “Night at the Museum,” which was released late last year and took in more than $250 million at the domestic box office. Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon, who wrote the original, have been working on a script. A Fox spokesman declined to comment about the project’s status.

Among the many films that have been pushing toward production before June are “Wolverine” at Fox, “G.I. Joe” at Paramount, “The Wolf Man” at Universal and “The Soloist” at DreamWorks. Whether any particular picture remains on track is uncertain, as the status of films ch-ch-changes quickly and often in the face of scheduling pressures.

On the television front, networks have similarly been booking business that would apparently bump up against a Nov. 1 strike deadline, if it is set. Only this week, for instance, ABC ordered six episodes of “Section 8,” a new science fiction series from the writer Zak Penn and the BermanBraun production company. A quickly called strike would also complicate the networks’ planning for the 2008-9 season, because they are starting to work on pilots to show advertisers in the spring.

Link

[♥ COVID-19♥]

Generally, if the movie studio already has their final draft of the finished script, a WGA strike shouldn't prevent them from shooting; it's somewhat different in the world of TV, however:

As Writers’ Strike Looms, Stakes Are Higher for TV Than Film

In the film business, once a script is completed and turned in, screenwriters rarely are intimately involved on the set with the production of a film. As such, film producers have been stockpiling scripts in anticipation of a writers’ strike.

Television series operate with more of a just-in-time approach to script inventory, however, with the writers, who are employees of a television series, often stepping in to make ch-ch-changes to a script between scenes on the set.

[Chicago Jake]

Personally, I'm having trouble getting excited about this movie. Young Kirk and Spock? It smacks of desperation. I'd rather see them boldly go where no man has gone before with new characters, new planets, new aliens, new situations, etc. It's not like there is any lack of ideas out there........Jake

[Merlot Joe]

admin said:

Personally, I'm having trouble getting excited about this movie. Young Kirk and Spock? It smacks of desperation. I'd rather see them boldly go where no man has gone before with new characters, new planets, new aliens, new situations, etc. It's not like there is any lack of ideas out there........Jake

That would be the right way to do it.

Start all over, reinvent the institution of Star Trek. Give us new characters and a new ship to bond with.

Kirk is dead. I am sorry but you can not get another actor to play James T. Kirk or any of the other character.

I think the first 5 series and 10 movies burned out that part of it out. I'll go see and I hope it is good enough for me want them to continue that road.

Joe.

[Irish Stu]

I agree with Joe and Jake. Whilst I'm curious to see how they treat this new movie I'd much rather see the Star Trek franchise move forwards rather than start from the beginning again. In fact I'd be more than happy to continue watching movies featuring Next Gen characters and cast for years to come.

Simon

[Ardbeg... innit]

I have to agree. While the concept of the movie, to fill a hole in the 'timeline', can be argued, is it really necessary? Frankly the early years of Kirk and Spock was something that I never really thought or cared about before the movie theme was brought to light.

Boldly forward... maybe. Or how about something based on one of the alien species point of view, Klingon, Romulan, etc.

[justheidi]

ok girlie opinion....he's too cute to be kirk......as you were...

[Ardbeg... innit]

Given what Daniel Craig did for 007, he would have been the obvious choice for a new Kirk, but he is otherwise occupied with Bond 22

[Merlot Joe]

On the next movie it would have been my preference if the would have picked up the ending of NS9 and completed it or even Voyager and continued with those two parts of the franchise. At the same timethey could have continued to create a whole new Start Trek Line. I really think it would have worked.

Joe

[Chicago Jake]

For what it's worth, here are the ideas I'd like to see them pursue, in movies or on television:

1. Star Fleet Academy, but keep it contemporary with the DS9/TNG timeline; and all new characters.
2. The "Mirror Universe" where the just about everyone is evil and most of the women are lesbians.
3. Life on a Klingon ship.

[Irish Stu]

admin said:

2. The "Mirror Universe" where the just about everyone is evil and most of the women are lesbians

You could be onto something with this one...

Simon

[Ardbeg... innit]

admin said:

2. The "Mirror Universe" where the just about everyone is evil and most of the women are lesbians.

Lots of the green Orion women.. LOTS!

How about a movie centered on Harry Mudd, one of my favorite ST rascals of all time.

[Irish Stu]

admin said:

For what it's worth, here are the ideas I'd like to see them pursue, in movies or on television:

1. Star Fleet Academy, but keep it contemporary with the DS9/TNG timeline; and all new characters.
2. The "Mirror Universe" where the just about everyone is evil and most of the women are lesbians.
3. Life on a Klingon ship.

4. An entire movie about the childhood of the puddle of oil that killed Tasha Yar in 'Skin of Evil'

Simon

[Chicago Jake]

samnsi said:

admin said:

2. The "Mirror Universe" where the just about everyone is evil and most of the women are lesbians

You could be onto something with this one...

Simon

Simon, you should read the "Dark Passions" novels (two of them, I think, although there may be more by now). The main character is, well, I forget her name, but it's basically Seven of Nine, as a Cardassian spy, surgically altered to look like a Klingon and infiltrate the Duras family. And from there it just gets darker. Eventually, she is the intimate playmate of the evil Intendent of Bajor, Kira Nerys......

[Ardbeg... innit]

Worst Star Trek movie plots...

The biography of Q

[Irish Stu]

admin said:

samnsi said:

You could be onto something with this one...

Simon

Simon, you should read the "Dark Passions" novels (two of them, I think, although there may be more by now). The main character is, well, I forget her name, but it's basically Seven of Nine, as a Cardassian spy, surgically altered to look like a Klingon and infiltrate the Duras family. And from there it just gets darker. Eventually, she is the intimate playmate of the evil Intendent of Bajor, Kira Nerys......

Thanks for the recommendation Jake, I may well read it.

Simon

[Irish Stu]

bornagaindruid said:

Worst Star Trek movie plots...

The biography of Q

Anything at all about Wesley Crusher.

Simon

[Irish Stu]

Ditto Commander William T. Riker.

Simon

[Merlot Joe]

admin said:

For what it's worth, here are the ideas I'd like to see them pursue, in movies or on television:

2. The "Mirror Universe" where the just about everyone is evil and most of the women are lesbians.
.

The one I really like was when they did the Nazi thing on Enterprise in the last season. That would make a good series.

Joe.

[Chicago Jake]

jdwinelovers said:

The one I really like was when they did the Nazi thing on Enterprise in the last season. That would make a good series.

Joe.

That was a good one. I especially liked the way the re-filmed the opening credits, showing all sorts of weapons technologies developed through the ages, instead of explorations vehicles, and included the Evil Terran Empire logo instead of the UFP logo.

"Enterprise" was a very underrated series, if you ask me........Jake (who believes that the Nazi episode was a part of the "mirror universe" sequence)

[Ardbeg... innit]

The Nazi episode preceded the "mirror universe" pair of shows but didnt lead directly into it, and it was the later that had the alternate opening you are thinking of.

One problem that I have had with both Voyager and Enterprise was the short sighted production of series ending episode that basically closed the book on both series. Unlike the original, TNG, and DS9 series where the outcome of all the characters were left open (AND movie opportunities abound), finishing the stories make it much more difficult to go back and 'fill in the blanks' with a movie, and damn near impossible to extend the story (how could they do an Enterprise movie without Trip)

[Merlot Joe]

admin said:

jdwinelovers said:

The one I really like was when they did the Nazi thing on Enterprise in the last season. That would make a good series.

Joe.

That was a good one. I especially liked the way the re-filmed the opening credits, showing all sorts of weapons technologies developed through the ages, instead of explorations vehicles, and included the Evil Terran Empire logo instead of the UFP logo.

"Enterprise" was a very underrated series, if you ask me........Jake (who believes that the Nazi episode was a part of the "mirror universe" sequence)

Yes they did a good job open it by re filming the credits. It seemed like a whole new series and not just another Enterprise episode. I think they should have ran with it more than they did. And yes I will agree that Io was part of the mirror universe sequence.

Joe.

[DT]

NEW STAR TREK FILM CAST
Captain Kirk - Chris Pine
Older Mr Spock - Leonard Nimoy
Young Mr Spock - Zachary Quinto
Scotty - Simon Pegg
Nero - Eric Bana
Uhura - Zoe Saldana
Chekov - Anton Yelchin
Sulu - John Cho
Leonard 'Bones' McCoy - Karl Urban

Add this sweety to the list.

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7086747.stm