STAR TREK Movie Update - REVISED!
Catch up on the recent news about the highly-anticipated film, Star Trek. UPDATED WITH NEW RELEASE INFO!
We've not done a substantive Trek movie update in a while, so enjoy the following synopses of the major news items gathered by TrekMovie's ANTHONY PASCALE and CHARLES TROTTER:
NEW UPDATE: Variety reports that Paramount is moving the movie's release date from Christmas 2008 to May 8, 2009. The trade quoted a studio insider as saying "Star Trek has the potential to gross more in May than in December."
Bana still the main baddie
A couple of weeks ago, Eric Bana (right) stated that his role as the villain Nero in Star Trek was a "cameo." However, at a February 11 press junket for The Other Boleyn Girl, he clarified his comment to Cinematical.
"I guess what I mean is that in the context of the roles I usually do, the weight is firmly on other areas," he said. "I feel like I’m very much in a supporting role, not one of the main guys. It’s a luxury to not be in that position. It’s nice to be offered a part like that."
Bana told Cinema Blend that he liked the 60s TV show as a kid, but "even if I was crazy about the original series, that wouldn’t have been enough to make me sign on to a film I didn’t want to do. I read the script and I went, ‘That is an awesome script.’"
New science advisor
Carolyn Porco, the leader of the Imaging Science team on NASA’S Cassini mission at Saturn, has joined the Star Trek production crew as a consultant on planetary science and imagery. She will work directly with visual effects supervisor Roger Guyett (Star Wars, Harry Potter).
One of The London Times's "18 scientific leaders of the 21st century," and the recipient of the 2008 Isaac Asimov Science Award, Porco will help the Star Trek team artistically show the reality and beauty of space.
While she "couldn’t tell you the year Kirk was born," she did watch the original series during its initial run. Also, she caught some of The Next Generation and "the best of the previous ten movies." Her work on the film likely won't commence until post-production, but, she said, "I have a feeling from everything I have seen and heard, that this Star Trek production is going to be very different."
Abrams on the fans
Director J.J. Abrams told Empire Magazine that he's "completely respectful of the Star Trek canon" and that he thinks "there’s a great movie to be made." However, he feels that "living in fear of fans of a television show" is "a little silly."
Budget
Empire Mag estimated the budget for Star Trek at $150 Million, but TrekMovie has been told that this figure is roughly $10 million over.
More actors confirmed
TrekMovie recently confirmed two more actors appearing in the new film. Actor-writer-director Kelvin Yu (Felicity, Cloverfield) already has filmed his role as a Starfleet medical technician, while Dutch boxer-turned-actor Lucia Rijker (Million Dollar Baby, The L Word) will shoot her role as a Romulan communications officer during the first two weeks of March.
Saldana on Uhura
Zoe Saldana (left) spoke recently to BlackFilm's WILSON MORALES about Uhura, her character in the new movie. She admitted that she'd not been a Trek fan previously, and that she was attracted to the film because "J.J. Abrams had expressed an interest in working with me and he had liked my work. For an actor, that's all you need."
Once on board, she was able to meet with Nichelle Nichols, who'd originated the role and who, according to Saldana, actually named the character. "It was a special thing and she felt as an artist, she was going to make the part big."
Intriguingly, Saldana mentioned "working with Leonard Nimoy," an experience she described as "fantastic." But she apparently didn't pick up any Trek history from Mister Spock. "There's not a lot I can say when I'm standing next to him. He's a legend."
[Thanks to RYAN PARSONS at CanMag.]