Star Trek XI - spoilers!

[wraith1701]

Thanks for the heads-up, Rico!  I feel my trek-fever starting to build...

[Rico]

Some new Trek Academy pictures have popped up again on www.joblo.com

These are some pics from the set of Star Trek Academy. The location is California State University of Northridge and the school library is being used as a... well, school. This shows some nice costumes and art design. During filming, all the extras run over to the right side of the field, to the blue screen and point, as if something big crashes.

(more here:  http://joblo.com/index.php?id=21353)

[Bryancd]

Cool, althgough that little ground car thing looks more '70's sci fi than new Star Trek!

[Rico]

A few things I'm noticing in these pics.  Miniskirts, black boots, lack of insignia on the cadet uniforms but something on the guys in dark colors, a license plate on that little pod car, and the most important thing ---> pointy sideburns are back!

[Meds]

Yay for the pointy side boards.

[Rico]

Looks like a sequel is already being discussed....

Star Trek XI screenwriter Robert Orci revealed this week that Paramount is already trying to woo the creative team behind the new film to commit themselves to a possible sequel.

"[They] already want to lock us down to write the sequel. Take that as you will," Orci told TrekMovie.com. Orci's comment applied to the whole creative team, including his co-writer Alex Kurtzman, director J. J. Abrams, and the producers. However, he also clarified that this was simply the studio's standard way of making sure the same creative team would be in place for a possible sequel, not a confirmation there actually would be a sequel: "Unless the studio had a horrible experience with us, they would be trying to lock us down as standard operating procedure. They haven't even seen the movie yet, so this news should not be taken as evidence that we are anything special. It's a quite normal practice."

Of course, with the current film not even having been finished yet, let alone released, no work has yet been done on a possible sequel. But Orci did say the following when asked whether he'd put much thought into a sequel: "It depends on what you classify as 'much.' We've certainly thought about it some."

While Orci this week talked to TrekMovie.com, director Abrams briefly dropped by Entertainment Weekly to talk about his experience with Star Trek fans who want to know "every gory detail about a movie that's still a year away." Abrams advised Trek fans that they'd be better off not hunting down spoilers: "Learning raw detail and experiencing that detail as it was intended are two totally different things. [...] I would argue that not knowing those details in advance is a more refreshing way to live when it comes to entertainment."

source:
http://www.trektoday.com/news/050608_02.shtml

[moyer777]

sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

More trek is good.

[Rico]

Another quick interview with Zachary Quinto....

http://vids.eonline.com/services/link/bcpid1396519019/bctid1591450347

[Meds]

Do we have any news on what the phasers will look like?

[Rico]

Do we have any news on what the phasers will look like?

Well they should actually be called lasers and look more like the ones seen in "The Cage" pilot (given the time frame of the movie).  But who knows at this point.

[Meds]

I'm thinking Master Replica's will be ready to pounce.

[X]

I am sort of hoping that they ignore the Cage and the whole laser vs phaser thing. I would rather believe that this movie is an evolution of the Enterprise timeline and their look.

[Geekyfanboy]

There's Nothing Gay About 'Star Trek XI'

By MICHAEL HINMAN
Jul-15-2008

Star Trek has always been known as the franchise that props up minorities and presents a society populated by more than just the majority race. But it looks like the 43rd year of Star Trek will come and go yet again without any official acknowledgment that gays and lesbians will make it into the future.

Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman tells After Elton that while it was discussed, there won't be any openly gay characters featured in the upcoming "Star Trek" film.

"Nothing in the movie precludes that from being the case," Orci said. "Not everyone sounds off as to their preferences in the movie. I won't give anything away, and hopefully the franchise will last more than one movie and that can be addressed."

Kurtzman acknowledged that Star Trek has always been about diversity and inclusion, and that leaving the gay community out in the cold doesn't really support that. But if fans really want to have the gay community included, they need to go above the two writers and convince Paramount that it's the way to go.

"We'd like to see it and your support will be noted because it allows us to go back to the powers that be and go, 'When you finally hit this directly, you better support it.'"

The Star Trek franchise has a long history of false starts when it comes to gay and lesbian inclusion. "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry told fans in 1986 that he would include gay characters in "Star Trek: The Next Generation," a move that would've continued Star Trek's role as a trailblazer when it comes to minority inclusion. However, despite a well-known script from "Trouble With Tribbles" writer David Gerrold, Paramount Television nixed the idea fearing that the show could lose some of its pre-primetime slots in first-run syndication in markets around the country, detracting from its family audience.

Gay themes have been addressed in later years, including a same-sex kiss in "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," despite the fact it was technically initiated by a heterosexual couple. Also, it was implied that some of the characters in DS9's mirror universe were at the very least bisexual.

Michael Jensen, editor of After Elton, said it's time for Star Trek to catch up with the times.

"Two of those directly involved with the new franchise say they are aware of this issue. However, the proof is in the pudding, and with the new movie coming out in 2009, we're pretty much guaranteed that the Trek franchise will be almost 50 years old before the show finally fully lives up to its boast of diversity," he said. "And let me just add, giving us a minor ensign who kisses his partner in a scene only to beam down to an alien planet where he is promptly killed does not count. Given the franchise's ridiculous exclusion of gay characters for five decades, they owe us big time."

"Star Trek," in all its heterosexual glory, premieres in May 2009.

[X]

Wow. If there was any article that I ever disagreed with, this is it. I don't see any exclusion as opposed to simply not addressing the sexuality of every character involved.

I think people are grasping on this one.

[Geekyfanboy]

Wow. If there was any article that I ever disagreed with, this is it. I don't see any exclusion as opposed to simply not addressing the sexuality of every character involved.

I think people are grasping on this one.

I actually agree with this article, It doesn't take much to add a line from a crewmen or character mentioning their partner or boyfriend or girlfriend. I'm surprised that there isn't a gay character in the Star Trek universe (I know Hawk is gay in the novels) but if any show can pull off a main gay character it's Star Trek. Maybe some day Star Trek will go bodily where very few have gone before.