is star trek 2009 a prequel or a reboot

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Star Trek' s 2009 Reboot Changed Everything

J.j. abrams and company didn't just revive star trek, they steered the franchise—and hollywood—in a new direction..

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Star Trek has been an important fixture of sci-fi TV for decades, and alongside its continued existence, movies have helped further flesh out the characters. But in both the movies and TV, the early 2000s weren’t kind to the franchise: 2002's Star Trek: Nemesis was a critical and commercial disaster, and Star Trek: Enterprise had a respectable four-season run, but the shortest of the shows since the original series. Change was in order, and it was eventually decided that would take the form of a reboot that took everyone by surprise.

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Star Trek— that is, the reboot film released May 8, 2009—is one of those movies that showed up at just the right moment. At the time, movies based on old TV shows like Starsky & Hutch and Charlie’s Angels had found commercial successes, which gave this reboot some cultural context. It also helped that it was being helmed by a trio of filmmakers who knew how to make hits: J.J. Abrams was still riding the high off directing Mission: Impossible 3 (speaking of movies based on old TV shows) , along with the almost-ended Lost and the still young Fringe . Writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman had written Mission and were further on Paramount’s good side with the first Transformers movie. If there was anyone who could make a new Star Trek flick that’d get anyone’s attention, for better or worse, it’d be these guys.

It really can’t be understated how much Paramount was banking on this new Star Trek being a hit back then. The studio wanted, more than anything, to get audiences to care about Star Trek again, and how best to do that in the 2000s? By hyping up its action scenes and Kirk being quite the ladies man. That didn’t entirely go over well, much like Abrams’ comments that the movie would mainly be for non-Trekkies. Even with that, the movie couldn’t help but look interesting. Those trailers didn’t tell you a dang thing about its actual plot, but they had good vibes, and made you want to see how the Enterprise crew would come to be the adventurers our parents and grandparents had fallen in love with back in their day.

And fall in love, people did: the reboot movie was met with critical acclaim and later four Academy Award nominations, ultimately winning one for Best Makeup and being the only Trek movie to net an Oscar. Despite mixed reactions on the movie splitting off into its own timeline, critics and audiences loved the young cast’s takes on the original characters—especially Zachary Quinto’s Spock and Zoe Saldana’s Uhura—and their chemistry. With a $385.7 million box office, Star Trek succeeded in making people care about the franchise once more. But its high ended up coming down quicker than you’d think, and in the years since, the movies have been marooned in space.

A few years later, 2013's Star Trek Into Darkness left an odd taste in audiences’ mouths. It still made money, but something about it felt off: maybe it was how it did a more convoluted retelling of Wrath of Khan, or maybe it can be owed to its very weird B-plot with 9/11 parallels that feel like they belong in a completely different movie (or another franchise entirely). Star Trek Beyond , conversely, went for a considerably simpler approach and just functioned like a regular episode of the show. That energy, combined with a still- incredible needle drop , was the right move, even if the film wasn’t a smash hit when it dropped in 2016. Paramount’s spent years trying to get a fourth movie off the ground since then, and it’s anyone’s guess as to if it’ll actually happen.

Things have gone much better over in TV land: Star Trek: Discovery and Lower Decks , a pair of well-liked shows, are both ending after their respective fifth seasons—a run that feels like a miracle these days. Star Trek: Picard gave Next Generation fans the legacy sequel they’d been wanting for years, and Star Trek: Prodigy , despite how messily its schedule was handled, brought younger audiences into the fold. It’s Star Trek: Strange New Worlds that’ll be spearheading future TV plans, which currently include a Starfleet Academy show and the Paramount+ film focused on Michelle Yeoh’s Discovery character Phillipa Georgiou .

Image for article titled Star Trek's 2009 Reboot Changed Everything

Star Trek 2009 's biggest aftershock came outside of its franchise with the big reboot and legacy sequel boom of the 2010s. New takes on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, RoboCop , and Evil Dead were born from this movie’s success, even if it was just to revitalize its own series. Abrams, Orci, and Kurtzman went on to become even bigger names in Hollywood: the former famously went on to revive Star Wars for the big screen, and is a producing powerhouse. Orci and Kurtzman went on to be involved with the Amazing Spider-Man movies, and create or executive produce shows like Sleepy Hollow and Fringe . When the duo separated, Kurtzman—following his directorial debut The Mummy , which failed to launch Universal’s Dark Universe—effectively became Star Trek’s equivalent to Kevin Feige. Orci, last we heard, was writing a Spider-Man adjacent movie for Sony that’s gone quiet in the years since its announcement.

All-in-all, Star Trek was a game-changer, and for better or worse, you don’t get our current movie landscape without it. With how big the franchise is right now, it’s understandable why Paramount’s wanted so much to get a fourth film off the ground—but is it possible by this point? That hypothetical (and surprising ) Star Trek 4 has been waylaid by shifting creatives for years, to the point you feel like someone should finally make the call to pull the plug. Not only did Beyond give the Kelvin universe its cleanest end after the passings of Anton Yelchin and Leonard Nimoy, fourth movies can sometimes be dicey, especially when their franchise wasn’t really built with it in mind. And it’s anyone’s guess as to if a Starfleet prequel set in the same timeline will rejuvenate it for more films or just be a small detour before we head back to Prime time.

In 2022, Chris Pine said the best way forward for Star Trek movies may require they be less bombastic, more geared toward fans, and cost less to make. It’s an easy sentiment to get behind, and that may really only be possible by junking Trek 4 and doing it with another movie. The Enterprise of the Kelvinverse had a good run, and after 15 years, it’s more than fine to boldly go in a new direction.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel , Star Wars , and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV , and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who .

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Star Trek 2009 Is Worth Revisiting 15 Years Later

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I grew up seeing a handful of Star Trek: The Original Series episodes randomly on television. They somewhat caught my attention, but my Star Trek journey truly began with The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager. Until I decided to start doing full re-watches in college, my primary interactions with Captain Kirk and his crew were the movies. As much as I enjoyed and respected that original crew, I always felt they were harder to relate to than some of my favorites. Like most fans, I was unsure about a reboot, but something in the back of my mind hoped that this would get me into these characters even more. Although Star Trek 2009 has its flaws, I remember leaving the theater with renewed vigor for the franchise and the possibilities of future adventures.

This, however, was not a universally shared opinion. Many fans didn’t like this new version of their beloved classic Trek, claiming that it wasn’t deserving of the title. A lot of the names behind the camera had set off red flags, but even if that was overreacting, what they saw on screen was flashier, faster-paced, more action-based, and violent, with the younger characters full of drama and at each other’s throats. This incarnation didn’t feel right to some lifelong fans and was hard to accept. Some enjoyed the movie, but saw it as too much of a popcorn flick to be real Trek, designed more for general audiences and less for the devoted, as if the filmmakers took all of the wrong lessons from First Contact and set it in an alternate universe – a decision that seemed to be made primarily due to merchandising rights – gave them carte blanche to completely spin the dial when it came to tone.

There are some valid arguments here, but most of it comes down to preference and what individual fans expect from their Trek. Star Trek 2009 is a reboot that still acknowledges the original timeline, even bringing over Spock from the Prime universe, things are changed, but the project does make an effort to appease everyone. For most, the new ship designs, recrafted sets, and polished visuals take a back seat to the characters and how they’re handled.

I’m a huge fan of the cast, solid choices almost all around. It is amusing to see Thor at the beginning. Zachary Quinto as Spock does an excellent job, and it’s easy to hang on to his words looking for the small bits of emotion that might escape. His relationship with the incredible Zoe Saldana as Uhura enriches them both. She compliments him and stands on her own. The character is strong, assertive, compassionate when needed, and works well under pressure. Not to mention the wonderful Karl Urban’s take on Dr. McCoy, who has some of the best lines in the film and possesses a wonderfully unorthodox demeanor and unruly presence. These are the main performances, but they are assisted by John Cho’s portrayal of Hikaru Sulu, Simon Pegg as Scotty, and Anton Yelchin, who played Pavel Chekov. I also feel like we overlook this universe’s version of Christopher Pike because Bruce Greenwood has a wonderful space dad presence and feels different than Anson Mount’s incarnation but still regal and heroic.

“Space is disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence.” Leonard “Bones” McCoy

We always need a solid villain, though, and Trek has had some great ones, but that is never guaranteed. Captain Nero is one of my absolute favorites, certainly my #1 Romulan. In a way, he’s more Spock’s villain, a darker reflection that plays off the Vulcan vs Romulan connection, and although there should be no one to blame for what happened to his planet, he needs someone to hate. Sure, Nero could have tried to go warn his homeworld or spent that time in this alternate reality building a new life, something constructive, but he was looking for a furious retribution to help make that pain mean something.

I think Eric Bana brought some heat to the role and he looked fantastic with the pirate vibe and a converted mining ship that resembled a savage beast on the outside and a demented clock inside. He’s quiet until the violence erupts, a working-class villain who calls Starfleet captains by their first names condescendingly while he plays with his prey, and the crew wants to ensure he’s dealt with so much that once he refuses help, they make sure there’s no way he could slip through time again, firing everything, risking their safety just to make sure Nero’s dead.

Sometimes it’s good to appreciate raw hatred and the lengths someone can go to out of pettiness. The melodrama is thick in space. We see from that first glorious scene a tragic battle, where this is a darker timeline, and people are going to die and be forced to make sacrifices. The music is also a huge boost here, no, I don’t mean The Beastie Boys, but Michael Giacchino‘s score. The notes we hear are bombastic, creating a bold sound that is also meant to jar us at times, and it succeeds in pushing the tone and giving the heroic moments some extra weight. The original theme playing over the credits also helped.

Captain Kirk isn’t nailed

Right, I’ve put off talking about Chris Pine ’s version of Kirk long enough. I enjoy the character, his new origin, being birthed and christened by such a devastating event, forged in phaser fire and photon torpedoes, tested from breath one. He’s an angry kid with a lot to prove, just like Pike challenges him on, and his bullshit is often called out or catches up to him, the little “cupcake.” Sure, making captain so quick doesn’t make sense, even if they explained how weak the fleet was then, but that’s not my issue. I think it’s Pine. I don’t dislike him, but even after he grew on me, I’m still wondering what’s missing in his performance because it isn’t as wooden as some of his others, and he’s just a dialed-up, younger, more petulant version of the character I know, but I also think he’s the only character that doesn’t sit right with me. In a movie where even the minor characters all have moments that show their personalities and give them quirks that feel right, Kirk is my least favorite part of Star Trek 2009’s ensemble cast.

The constant lens flares, the flashy lights on top of a duller stage, the cluttered battle scenes, those weird monsters on the ice planet, there are several decisions that I understand why fans question this movie. It goes for a unique look but almost makes the film harder to follow. When things are pumping this hard, it can be tough to get into the smaller details. I absolutely love the way the movie looks in some parts, especially on the planets. My favorite moment like this is when Kirk and Sulu fall after disabling the drill and are teleported out of mid-air, landing on the transporter pad and breaking it. Little details make this 2009 movie feel like a legitimate upgrade as a reboot without trying to step on the past.

I was prepared for this movie. A friend loaned me the prequel comic, a story I genuinely enjoyed, but thought that more of the scenes, or at least the information from it, should have made it into the film. Some of the story elements feel like they come out of nowhere without it. But for many new fans, this is the one that finally got them into Star Trek, made them want to go watch and read more about it, and see what else the franchise had to offer. I know I went and watched more TOS episodes after this, I wanted to prepare for the eventual sequels which, admittedly, didn’t work out so well, but before that, this movie had me excited for what was to come. I’ll always appreciate Star Trek 2009, no matter how different it may have been.

The post Star Trek 2009 Is Worth Revisiting 15 Years Later appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More .

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Star Trek (2009)

Star Trek 2009 Is Worth Revisiting 15 Years Later

By Stephen Wilds

I grew up seeing a handful of Star Trek: The Original Series episodes randomly on television. They somewhat caught my attention, but my Star Trek journey truly began with The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager. Until I decided to start doing full re-watches in college, my primary interactions with Captain Kirk and his crew were the movies. As much as I enjoyed and respected that original crew, I always felt they were harder to relate to than some of my favorites. Like most fans, I was unsure about a reboot, but something in the back of my mind hoped that this would get me into these characters even more. Although Star Trek 2009 has its flaws, I remember leaving the theater with renewed vigor for the franchise and the possibilities of future adventures.  

This, however, was not a universally shared opinion. Many fans didn’t like this new version of their beloved classic Trek, claiming that it wasn’t deserving of the title. A lot of the names behind the camera had set off red flags, but even if that was overreacting, what they saw on screen was flashier, faster-paced, more action-based, and violent, with the younger characters full of drama and at each other’s throats. This incarnation didn’t feel right to some lifelong fans and was hard to accept. Some enjoyed the movie, but saw it as too much of a popcorn flick to be real Trek, designed more for general audiences and less for the devoted, as if the filmmakers took all of the wrong lessons from First Contact and set it in an alternate universe – a decision that seemed to be made primarily due to merchandising rights – gave them carte blanche to completely spin the dial when it came to tone.

There are some valid arguments here, but most of it comes down to preference and what individual fans expect from their Trek. Star Trek 2009 is a reboot that still acknowledges the original timeline, even bringing over Spock from the Prime universe, things are changed, but the project does make an effort to appease everyone. For most, the new ship designs, recrafted sets, and polished visuals take a back seat to the characters and how they’re handled.

I’m a huge fan of the cast, solid choices almost all around. It is amusing to see Thor at the beginning. Zachary Quinto as Spock does an excellent job, and it’s easy to hang on to his words looking for the small bits of emotion that might escape. His relationship with the incredible Zoe Saldana as Uhura enriches them both. She compliments him and stands on her own. The character is strong, assertive, compassionate when needed, and works well under pressure. Not to mention the wonderful Karl Urban’s take on Dr. McCoy, who has some of the best lines in the film and possesses a wonderfully unorthodox demeanor and unruly presence. These are the main performances, but they are assisted by John Cho’s portrayal of Hikaru Sulu, Simon Pegg as Scotty, and Anton Yelchin, who played Pavel Chekov. I also feel like we overlook this universe’s version of Christopher Pike because Bruce Greenwood has a wonderful space dad presence and feels different than Anson Mount’s incarnation but still regal and heroic.  

“Space is disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence.” Leonard “Bones” McCoy

We always need a solid villain, though, and Trek has had some great ones, but that is never guaranteed. Captain Nero is one of my absolute favorites, certainly my #1 Romulan. In a way, he’s more Spock’s villain, a darker reflection that plays off the Vulcan vs Romulan connection, and although there should be no one to blame for what happened to his planet, he needs someone to hate. Sure, Nero could have tried to go warn his homeworld or spent that time in this alternate reality building a new life, something constructive, but he was looking for a furious retribution to help make that pain mean something. 

I think Eric Bana brought some heat to the role and he looked fantastic with the pirate vibe and a converted mining ship that resembled a savage beast on the outside and a demented clock inside. He’s quiet until the violence erupts, a working-class villain who calls Starfleet captains by their first names condescendingly while he plays with his prey, and the crew wants to ensure he’s dealt with so much that once he refuses help, they make sure there’s no way he could slip through time again, firing everything, risking their safety just to make sure Nero’s dead.

Sometimes it’s good to appreciate raw hatred and the lengths someone can go to out of pettiness. The melodrama is thick in space. We see from that first glorious scene a tragic battle, where this is a darker timeline, and people are going to die and be forced to make sacrifices. The music is also a huge boost here, no, I don’t mean The Beastie Boys, but Michael Giacchino‘s score. The notes we hear are bombastic, creating a bold sound that is also meant to jar us at times, and it succeeds in pushing the tone and giving the heroic moments some extra weight. The original theme playing over the credits also helped. 

Captain Kirk isn’t nailed

Right, I’ve put off talking about Chris Pine ’s version of Kirk long enough. I enjoy the character, his new origin, being birthed and christened by such a devastating event, forged in phaser fire and photon torpedoes, tested from breath one. He’s an angry kid with a lot to prove, just like Pike challenges him on, and his bullshit is often called out or catches up to him, the little “cupcake.” Sure, making captain so quick doesn’t make sense, even if they explained how weak the fleet was then, but that’s not my issue. I think it’s Pine. I don’t dislike him, but even after he grew on me, I’m still wondering what’s missing in his performance because it isn’t as wooden as some of his others, and he’s just a dialed-up, younger, more petulant version of the character I know, but I also think he’s the only character that doesn’t sit right with me. In a movie where even the minor characters all have moments that show their personalities and give them quirks that feel right, Kirk is my least favorite part of Star Trek 2009’s ensemble cast.

The constant lens flares, the flashy lights on top of a duller stage, the cluttered battle scenes, those weird monsters on the ice planet, there are several decisions that I understand why fans question this movie. It goes for a unique look but almost makes the film harder to follow. When things are pumping this hard, it can be tough to get into the smaller details. I absolutely love the way the movie looks in some parts, especially on the planets. My favorite moment like this is when Kirk and Sulu fall after disabling the drill and are teleported out of mid-air, landing on the transporter pad and breaking it. Little details make this 2009 movie feel like a legitimate upgrade as a reboot without trying to step on the past.

I was prepared for this movie. A friend loaned me the prequel comic, a story I genuinely enjoyed, but thought that more of the scenes, or at least the information from it, should have made it into the film. Some of the story elements feel like they come out of nowhere without it. But for many new fans, this is the one that finally got them into Star Trek, made them want to go watch and read more about it, and see what else the franchise had to offer. I know I went and watched more TOS episodes after this, I wanted to prepare for the eventual sequels which, admittedly, didn’t work out so well, but before that, this movie had me excited for what was to come. I’ll always appreciate Star Trek 2009, no matter how different it may have been.

Stephen Wilds

Playing video games and watching old cartoons in the basement of Raccoon City's Police Department, where misplaced commas and lack of pizza are the biggest problems.

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is star trek 2009 a prequel or a reboot

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Geek Culture | Movies, TV, Comic Books & Video Games

J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek at 15: An Action-Centric Reboot with Surprising Heart & Depth

May 9, 2024 by Amie Cranswick

15 years on from the release of the J.J. Abrams-directed reboot, Hasitha Fernando looks at the story behind 2009’s Star Trek…

Star Trek is an IP that requires little introduction. The iconic 1960s television series created by Gene Roddenberry became a pop-culture phenomenon of unparalleled proportions transforming the likes of Williams Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley and George Takei into household names. An entire franchise of feature films and numerous spin-off TV series further expanded the strange new worlds Roddenberry had envisioned. 2009 marked the glorious return of the IP albeit with a younger cast, a radical new story and an ambitious scope. With 15 years already elapsed since its release, we look at what happened during the making of this critically acclaimed sci-fi reboot…

J.J. Abrams wanted to make an optimistic Star Trek movie 

J.J Abrams has been a great many things throughout his career. He started out his career as a writer penning 90s dramas like Regarding Henry (1991) and Forever Young (1992). In the early to mid-2000s Abrams was responsible for co-creating and producing several critically lauded TV shows such as Alias , Lost and Fringe . Afterwards the gifted creative made his feature film debut with Mission: Impossible III (2006), which breathed some much-needed life to the IP and resurrected the franchise.

It was around this time that Abrams was approached by Paramount to direct the reboot, with a script written by his Mission: Impossible III collaborators Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. Being a casual Star Trek fan Abrams was determined to make a broadly appealing optimistic film, since most of the big-budget tent poles of the time – like The Dark Knight – were serious character pieces which lacked the frantic energy and fun factor he was going for.

The writers stripped the movie of too much ‘Trekkiness’ to appeal to a broader audience 

The writer duo Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman started collaborating with each other on projects as early as their schooling days in California. Their fledgling careers first started taking off with small screen efforts such as Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess . After having successful collaborations with J.J. Abrams’ Alias , the pair worked with Michael Bay on The Island (2005), which was followed by the first two installments of the Transformers mega franchise. After co-creating the popular sci-fi TV show Fringe with Abrams, the two of them were hired to pen the script of Mission: Impossible III .

The resounding success of the Tom Cruise headlined actioner convinced Paramount to hire Orci and Kurtzman to develop a new Star Trek movie and from the very outset they were committed to making a film that the general audience would enjoy, as much as, hard-core fans. To accomplish this, they cut down on the overall technical terms, made the story more action centric and gave their effort the simple title of Star Trek – to indicated newcomers they don’t need to watch previous outings in the franchise.

Chris Pine’s first audition didn’t go too well 

You may be surprised to hear that everyone’s favorite heartthrob Chris Pine didn’t quite nail his first audition for the Star Trek reboot when it came to his turn. The reason for this was Pine could not take himself seriously as a leader. But fortunately for the actor Abrams did not see this audition, and it was only after Pine’s agent met Abrams’ wife and gave his client a push that the director decided to give him another audition opposite Zachary Quinto.

Quinto was supportive of Pine’s casting because the pair knew each other well, as they worked out at the same gym. When he was successfully cast as Captain James T. Kirk, Pine sent a letter to William Shatner seeking his advice. Shatner simply replied back giving his “seal of approval” for Pine’s casting. Other candidates who were in the running for Pine’s role of James T. Kirk was future Star Lord Christ Pratt and Justified’s Timothy Olyphant.

Zachary Quinto got J.J. Abrams attention through an interview he made

Star Trek marked the feature film debut of Zachary Quinto, a small-screen actor best known for playing the villainous Sylar on the hit TV series Heroes (2006). The show even made which several references to Star Trek , and featured George Takei – the OG Hikaru Sulu – in the recurring role of Kaito Nakamura. During a behind-the-scenes interview Quinto mentioned he first heard about the Star Trek reboot and revealed his interest in the role in a December 2006 interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and it was this article, which eventually was widely circulated, that attracted Abrams’ interest in casting Quinto in the iconic role. Quinto’s commitment to the part was such that even for the audition, he wore a blue shirt and flattened his hair down to resemble Spock better.

The new James T. Kirk was inspired by the likes of Indiana Jones & Han Solo 

In preparation for the role of Captain James T. Kirk, Chris Pine started watching classic episodes from the series and reading encyclopaedias about the Star Trek universe. But after a while Pine felt that doing these things would hinder him from making the role his own. And the last thing he wanted was to come off as a cheap facsimile of William Shatner, in the eyes of the audience. So, Pine sought inspiration elsewhere basing his performance on Tom Cruise’s Maverick ( Top Gun ) and Harrison Ford’s Han Solo ( Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope ) and Indiana Jones ( Raiders of the Lost Ark ), heroes who Pine felt possessed the archetypal hero qualities Kirk has – humor, arrogance, and decisiveness.

Simon Pegg & Zoe Saldana got involved with the project in the most unconventional way

British comedian Simon Pegg came into prominence in the UK with the highly popular comedy sitcom Spaced . He later went on to star and co-write Edgar Wright’s Three Flavors Cornetto Trilogy and made his Hollywood debut with Mission: Impossible III which J.J. Abrams helmed. So, when it was time to cast a new Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, Abrams knew who exactly he needed to call… and that was precisely what he did. He contacted Pegg via email and offered him the part without an audition.

As of writing Zoe Saldana has starred in four of Hollywood’s highest-grossing films of all time – Avatar , Avatar: The Way of Water , Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame . And the reason she came on board Abrams’ Star Trek reboot was because the filmmaker requested her to join the project, complimenting her acting prowess in past projects. “For an actor, that’s all you need, that’s all you want. To get the acknowledgment and respect from your peers,” she revealed during an interview.

Leonard Nimoy was impressed with the script 

J.J. Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman personally called on Leonard Nimoy’s home to offer him the role. Nimoy, who played the original Spock in the TV series and movies, was initially bemused as to what Abrams & co. were trying to accomplish but when he went through the script he was most impressed by the story’s ambitious scope and its exploration of the character’s histories: “Previously we have dealt with Spock being half-human and half-Vulcan, but never with quite the overview that this script has of the character’s entire history, his character growth, his beginnings, and his arrival into the Enterprise crew.” This was all the convincing that Nimoy needed to join the project despite turning down previous opportunities in the Star Trek franchise.

Cameron Crowe couldn’t recognise Eric Bana underneath all of the makeup 

Eric Bana gained international fame for his utterly transformative performance in Andrew Dominik’s Chopper (2000), where he portrayed the infamous Australian criminal Chopper Read. Interestingly it was Read himself who suggested Bana for the lead role after seeing one of his comedy skits on television. The performer then got his big Hollywood break with Ridley Scott’s visceral war actioner Black Hawk Down (2001) and capitalized on his success with the superhero flick Hulk (2003) and the sword-and-sandals epic Troy (2004).

To play the villainous Nero the Romulan in the Star Trek reboot, Bana fully shaved his head and donned facial tattoos and this radical changed in appearance bugged the hell out of Cameron Crowe who was shown a rough cut of the film prior to its release. The filmmaker kept asking Abrams who played the villain and was staggered when he was told its Eric Bana.

Heavy secrecy surrounded the film’s production 

Primarily being involved in New Zealand based productions like Xena: Warrior Princess , during the early stage of his career Karl Urban eventually got his big break playing Éomer in Peter Jackson’s sprawling fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings . Following the success of his breakout role Urban starred in many sci-fi movies like The Chronicles of Riddick (2004), Doom (2005) and Pathfinder (2007). The actor was also one of several considered for the prestigious role of James Bond, which eventually went to Britisher Daniel Craig.

Urban recalled the ultra-secretive nature of the reboot’s production during an interview: “There is a level of security and secrecy that we have all been forced to adopt. It’s really kind of paranoid crazy, but sort of justified. We’re not allowed to walk around in public in our costumes and we had to be herded around everywhere in these golf carts that are completely concealed and covered in black canvas.” Simon Pegg revealed that he had to read the script in the presence of security to avoid potential leaks and cast members like Jennifer Morrison were handed scripts containing only their specific scenes. In order to throw off potential leakers production even had a fake working title in place – Corporate Headquarters!

Box office success & unexpected awards glory 

Made on a production budget of $150 million, Star Trek went on to rake in a respectable $385.7 million at the worldwide box office. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 355 critics’ reviews still remain positive, with the website’s consensus reading: “ Star Trek reignites a classic franchise with action, humor, a strong story, and brilliant visuals, and will please traditional Trekkies and new fans alike.”

The chemistry between Pine and Quinto was well received by critics the world over. Ty Burr of the Boston Globe gave the film a perfect four star rating, describing it as “ridiculously satisfying”, and hands down the “best prequel ever”. Owen Gleiberman over at Entertainment Weekly gave the film an ‘A−’ grade, commenting that director Abrams “crafts an origin story that avoids any hint of the origin doldrums”. Similar sentiments were echoed by Rolling Stone journalist Peter Travers, who gave the film a 3.5 out of 4 stars. He felt that the acting from the cast was the highlight of the filming, asserting that the performance of Pine radiated star quality.

The reboot went on to be nominated for several awards, including four Academy Awards at the 82nd Academy Awards which were in the categories of Best Sound, Best Sound Editing, Best Make Up and Best Visual Effects. The effort ended up nabbing the Oscar for Best Makeup, making it the first (and to date only) Star Trek film to win an Academy Award.

Sequels & the potential conclusion of the reboot film series? 

In the wake of the reboot’s wild success, commercially and critically, two sequels were produced – Star Trek: Into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond – which were released in 2013 and 2016 respectively. While the former was a box office winner receiving strong reviews for its story and Benedict Cumberbatch’s portrayal of antagonist Khan Noonien Singh, the latter affair had something of a lukewarm reception and a muted box office return.

The fourth and final installment of the reboot film series has been in the works since Star Trek Beyond’s release eight years ago with talents like Quentin Tarantino, Noah Hawley and Matt Shakman attached at one point or another –  the latest update being Steve Yockey, developer and showrunner of HBO’s The Flight Attendant and Dead Boy Detectives , is taking a stab at cracking the story of the potential sequel . ‘Till then… Live long and prosper!

SEE ALSO: To Boldly Go: Ranking Every Star Trek Movie From Worst To Best

What are your thoughts on 2009’s Star Trek ? Are you hoping to see a fourth outing for the reboot crew? Let us know on our social channels @FlickeringMyth …

Hasitha Fernando is a part-time medical practitioner and full-time cinephile. Follow him on Twitter via @DoctorCinephile for regular updates on the world of entertainment.

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About Amie Cranswick

Amie Cranswick has been part of Flickering Myth’s editorial and management team for over a decade. She has a background in publishing and copyediting and has served as Editor-in-Chief of FlickeringMyth.com since 2023.

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Published Aug 26, 2022

Why Star Trek (2009) Remains the Perfect Jumping-On Point for New Fans

13 years ago, J.J. Abrams gave Star Trek the shot in the arm it needed.

Star Trek (2009)

StarTrek.com

" Star Trek ." Just saying the words carries an immense sense of history and legacy. Everyone knows about Star Trek — but not everyone knows Star Trek . To the uninitiated, the franchise can appear to be something daunting and challenging to get into, a near-impossible universe to find an introductory foot in, like the complicated comic book continuity of the DC or Marvel universes. And I should know because, once upon a time, I was one of them.

Growing up, Star Trek was something that I was aware of, but that was it. Like most, I knew about Spock , Kirk , the Enterprise , and Jean-Luc Picard , but I had no idea what any of it was actually about — or why it was so popular. In 2009, in an era before Netflix and other streaming services, you couldn't just find the first season of a show at your fingertips, binge-watch it all in one sitting, and move onto the next. For that reason, Star Trek just always seemed like something out of my reach — not because I didn't want to get into it, but because I literally couldn’t access it.

But lo and behold, all of that changed when Paramount released J.J. Abrams' cinematic reboot, Star Trek (2009) . I was sold on the movie the minute I saw the first trailers — it was epic and emotional, and it seemed like something I could get into without all of the baggage that came before. The perfect entry point for someone who doesn't know anything about anything, just like me. I bought tickets for the premiere, and I first saw the film in a room packed with Star Trek fans. This was my own personal "First Contact" with the franchise, and it was an experience I'll treasure forever.

Star Trek (2009)

As soon as the film began, I realized that while it was a reboot, it was also nourished by all that had come before. In the audience, I heard someone fondly chuckle at the sound of the U.S.S. Kelvin 's familiar radar sensor, and that was when I understood the immensity of what I was embarking on. This sound was followed by plenty of important callbacks to Star Trek: The Original Series that I wasn't yet aware of — the Kirk and Spock relationship, Bones' snarky quips, red alerts, the Vulcan salute, even the theme music. On the screen, names were spoken with a legendary weight, and events appeared to be dictated by fate itself. All of this elicited a thunderous reception from the audience, and I cheered along with them thanks to a film that included a stellar cast, an exciting story and an emotional core grounded in friendship and heroism. Of course, I didn't understand all of it but I thought to myself, "This is something I want to be a part of."

Once the credits rolled, that was that. I was now a Star Trek fan. My first foray into this universe may not have been the same as old school fans, but after the film, I was in it for the long haul. I wanted to learn more about Spock and Kirk, and why their friendship was, essentially, the pillar of the franchise. I wanted to see more of Sulu, Uhura, and Scotty, and all the adventures they went through together to spark a franchise that would get me to hear "Space, the final frontier..." for the first time ever in the theatre more than four decades later. Shortly after this, I bought the first season of Star Trek: The Original Series , sinking my teeth into an era that was far from my own. And I never looked back. Today, I proudly stand as a fan of the franchise, from The Original Series and The Next Generation to Discovery and Lower Decks .

In 2021, Star Trek is growing bigger than ever before, and I'm so glad to be a part of it. And yet, it never would have happened without J.J. Abrams' Star Trek (2009 ). Thanks to this film, I fell in love with a universe that had so much to offer — and that has so much more yet to come. As the franchise continues to fire on all its dilithium-powered engines, more and more people might be exposed to Star Trek — and some may easily find themselves in the same spot I was in in 2009, asking "Where do I possibly begin?" The answer is simple.

Star Trek (2009)

J.J. Abrams' first Star Trek film remains, to this day, the perfect entry point for new fans. It distills everything that is great about the franchise, roping it in an action-packed spectacle that has something fundamental to say about courage, and what it means to boldly venture into the unknown. It's a concise introduction to the franchise that works as both a reboot and a continuation of everything that came before, thanks to a carefully constructed story that involves time travel and an alternate timeline. The film may be a modern reimagining of classic characters and concepts, but they all remain true to who and what they are.

Star Trek (2009) is the first entry in the 'Kelvin Timeline,' and it can be enjoyed on its own, but the film is also an easily accessible gateway to the world Gene Roddenberry created all the way back in 1966. The film delivers a sense of wonder that I can imagine viewers experienced when they first saw William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy step onto the bridge of the U.S.S. Enterprise 55 years ago. Plus, thanks to a promising ending, it leaves viewers wanting more, a curtain call that effortlessly doubles as a springboard to explore everything else the franchise has to offer.

Star Trek (2009)

In 2009, J.J. Abrams' film was the shot in the arm Star Trek needed. Since then however, the franchise has evolved and now, the trilogy may no longer be the figurehead it once was. Some fans will even disparage the 'Kelvin Timeline,' claiming that it's too different from what Star Trek is truly about. But take it from this fan — it's all one big universe, and one doesn't take away from the other. Rather, the entire franchise is enriched by its various extensions. Star Trek (2009) and its sequels inform The Original Series , and vice versa. The film is an important cornerstone in the franchise's storied past. Not only is it a great film, it's a celebration of all things Trek , and it will leave you ready to hit warp speed.

And if you don't understand that reference, don't worry, you will soon enough.

A Timeline Through the Star Trek Universe

This article was originally published on May 3, 2021.

Ian Cardona (he/him) is a freelance writer who primarily contributes to CBR by covering various comics, movies, and TV shows. You can find him on Twitter @ianc_1701.

Stay tuned to StarTrek.com for more details! And be sure to follow @StarTrek on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram .

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The Star Trek “Origin” Movie Is Finally Going Into Production

The new Star Trek prequel movie is set to be revealed on the big screen. Probably.

LOS ANGELES - DECEMBER 1: Leonard Nimoy as Commander Spock (Mr. Spock) in the STAR TREK: The Origina...

For 30 years — from 1979 to 2009 — the longest wait between new Star Trek feature films was seven years. And, for most of that period, from the release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) to Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), there was almost always a new Star Trek movie in theaters every two to four years. But after the wildly successful J.J. Abrams-directed reboot film in 2009, the release clip for Trek movies went from maximum warp to impulse power, to glacially slow. And now, by the time the next Star Trek movie hits theaters, it will have been about 10 years since the previous one — Star Trek Beyond — beamed into cinemas in 2016.

Since that time, for Trekkies, updates of a new Star Trek film have been very similar to the game football Lucy plays with Charlie Brown; just when a hypothetical movie sounds real, it gets snatched away. But now, there’s a glimmer of hope. Thanks to reports out of CinemaCon 2024, it looks like, the next Trek film is scheduled for release in either 2025 or 2026. But what’s it about? And will it really happen?

Star Trek 14 is “an untitled origin story”

Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto in 'Star Trek' (2009).

The new “origin story” will be set before the 2009 reboot. But how many decades before?

During CinemaCon 2024, Paramount confirmed several in-development projects including a live-action GI Joe / Transformers crossover (teased in 2023’s Rise of the Beasts ), a hardcore Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live-action movie, a remake of the sci-fi thriller The Running Man (from Edgar Wright), the confirmation of an Avatar trilogy, and the assertion that a new Star Trek feature film will go into production this year, with a release date soon to follow.

Since 2016 to now, there have been at least five different attempts to make a new Star Trek film, either as timey wimey direct sequel to Beyond (“Star Trek 4”) a one-off space mobster movie (Quentin Tarantino’s script) or something else entirely (Noah Hawley and Matt Shakman’s attempts that remain undisclosed). But now, although Paramount is reportedly developing a sequel to Beyond — which would feature the reboot cast from the 2009 film one last time — the next Star Trek movie is not that sequel, but instead, as previously reported , an “origin story” that “takes place decades before the 2009 Star Trek film that rebooted the franchise.” This movie has been confirmed to be directed by Toby Haynes ( Andor, Doctor Who ) with a script from Seth Grahame-Smith ( The Lego Batman Movie , Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter) .

Wait? Wasn’t the 2009 film an “origin story?” While the answer to this question is technically a “yes,” the 2009 film (just titled Star Trek ) was also partially a time-travel sequel to the canon established in The Next Generation , and literally everything else in the Trek franchise up until that point. By saying the new prequel film takes place “decades before” the first reboot, this could hypothetically mean that the movie takes place in both the Prime and Kelvin timelines simultaneously.

TLDR: The Trek timeline diverged in the first reboot movie, beginning in the year 2233, so, a story set even a few decades before that divergence, in the 2210s or 2220s or earlier, would be consistent with all versions of Trek's future history. Presumably, the “origin story” won’t take place in the two decades between the prologue of the 2009 film (2233) and the main story (2258), because honestly, even for hardcore Trekkies that’s a big canon headache. So, sometime in the early 2200s, but before the 2230s is probably the best bet. And, even if the movie was set a bit earlier than that — say in the late 2180s or 2190s — we’d still be dealing with a very early point of Starfleet history that has never been depicted and that we know almost nothing about. Hence, if you squint — and don’t think about the prequel series Enterprise (2151-2161) too much — then yes, we’re looking at an origin story in which pretty much anything could happen.

Star Trek “origin” movie release date

LOS ANGELES - DECEMBER 1: The USS Enterprise during the opening credit for in the STAR TREK: The Ori...

One of the earliest shots of the USS Enterprise — from the 1964 Star Trek pilot episode “The Cage.” The new prequel film will likely be set half a century before this moment.

While some tweets out of CinemaCon seemed to indicate that the new Star Trek movie could hit next year in 2025 , TrekMovie confirmed that the “Untitled Star Trek Origin Story,” is on the Paramount slate for 2025 or 2026. TrekMovie also predicted that 2026 is more likely, writing, “If Paramount can move fast enough they could get the origin movie into theaters by 2026 — in time for Star Trek’s 60th anniversary.” Then again, 2025 is not impossible, it’s just cutting it a little close.

It should also be noted that the entire corporate entity of Paramount is reportedly close to a merger that would see it purchased by Skydance Media, the same production company behind the three existing J.J. Abrams-produced Star Trek reboots. If that deal is finalized soon, then, yes, this Star Trek feature film might actually happen very quickly. And if it doesn’t, there will still be plenty of new Star Trek shows streaming , not to mention the first direct-to-streaming standalone Star Trek movie, Section 31 , starring Michelle Yeoh, which will hit Paramount+ sometime later this year.

All the reboot Star Trek films (2009-2016) are currently streaming on Paramount+. The previous ten films (1979-2002) are all on Max.

Phasers on Stun!: How the Making — and Remaking — of Star Trek Changed the World

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is star trek 2009 a prequel or a reboot

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  • May 14, 2024 | Denise Crosby Returns As Captain Sela From Another Universe For ‘Star Trek Online: Unparalleled’
  • May 14, 2024 | See Captain Sisko Meet A Familiar Face From ‘Picard’ In Preview Of ‘Star Trek’ #20
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Paramount Pictures Officially Confirms Star Trek Origin Movie For Its Upcoming Film Slate

is star trek 2009 a prequel or a reboot

| April 11, 2024 | By: Anthony Pascale 240 comments so far

Today, the road to the next Star Trek feature film took a small but significant step towards becoming reality.

Paramount makes it official

Earlier this year, it was reported that Paramount Pictures was developing a new Star Trek feature film in parallel development to the “Star Trek 4” sequel to 2016’s Star Trek Beyond . Today the studio made the reports official as they announced their slate of films for 2025 and 2026, an official list which includes what Paramount is now calling “Untitled Star Trek Origin Story.” The studio also confirms the previously reported details: The film is “set decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film.” Toby Haynes ( Andor , Black Mirror “USS Callister”) is directing based on a screenplay by Seth Grahame-Smith ( The Lego Batman Movie ), with J.J. Abrams returning as producer.

The Star Trek movie was just one of many the studio confirmed as part of their 2025/2026 slate at their CinemaCon presentation today. Paramount Pictures CEO Brian Robbins led the studio’s presentation at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. This is the first time Star Trek has been part of the studio’s annual CinemaCon event since Robbins took over in 2021.

The “Star Trek 4” sequel to Beyond was not part of today’s CinemaCon presentation, presumably because with the recent hiring of a new screenwriter , that film would not be ready for theaters by 2026. It has also been reported that the origin story movie is set to start filming by the end of the year. There are no details yet on the plot, specific time setting, or cast. If Paramount can move fast enough they could get the origin movie into theaters by 2026—in time for Star Trek’s 60th anniversary.

Find more news and analysis on  upcoming Star Trek feature films .

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Fool me once … ( also I want a movie but until someone gets a set built I’m not holding my breath )

I’m not pre-ordering my tickets…..

You would need a title and a premiere date to order tickets. This film has neither.

I’d wait to believe it until you actually see a movie trailer for it. Noah Hawley was in the casting stage when they cancelled his Trek movie. They might have even started on the sets.

The film is on Noah’s IMDB Credits list…

Yep. I heard ferries exist too!

Car ferries?

Even now, it potentially doesn’t matter. They could pull a Zaslav and shelve the film after it was all but released.

I won’t believe it until my butt is in the theater seat and the film starts playing.

We don’t need the origin story. We have it already. It was called “Enterprise”.

I didn’t realize there was such a large interest in a Star Trek origin movie. It’s their money to burn.

I still believe this is their way of rebooting the “prime” universe from the beginning and remaking it in a new image. I see no other point of doing an origin movie. First Contact and Star trek: Enterprise were origin enough IMO.

I don’t quite get it either. We already got that with First Contact and Enterprise. What else is there that could interest the general public.

Yeah, and for me, the period between First Contact and Enterprise just doesn’t seem that exciting. The period between Enterprise and the Nero incursion would be more interesting, I guess.

They wrote that the origin film would be “set decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film”. That film (in-universe) is set in 2233 (Nero incursion) and 2258 (main plot) respectively. So “decades before” would be after Enterprise, probably after the formation of the Federation, most probably before the Nero incursion, maybe around the turn of the century.

It’s just odd they are calling it an “origin” movie if it happens after Enterprise.

I’m curious what they mean by “origin”. The origin of Starfleet would be before Enterprise and the origin of the Federation would be after.

Also, the origin of Star Trek would have to be before the events of First Contact.

…assuming there is a concern about canon whatsoever, of course.

Many assumptions to be made at this point for sure.

Assuming this announcement doesn’t get added to the pile of previous unmade-movie announcements.

They’re calling it an origin movie to appeal to newcomers and casual fans.

Maybe we’ll see the founding of the Federation?

We already saw that in the infamous final episode of Enterprise. If they revisit that, they’d have to include the NX-01 crew and do a *lot* of deaging. 😉

They could show the first year of the Federation or something.

The obvious way to go is just do the Romulan war which leads into the founding of the Federation and what Enterprise was supposed to do.

That’s really the only thing fans actually want to see in terms of a prequel story.

Which was already scripted for Berman nearly 20 years ago by the band of brothers screenwriter.

Yep. I heard that’s what they were considering doing until the Kelvin movie got greenlit instead.

Overall the Kelvin movie was probably the better choice in terms of box office but I probably would’ve preferred the Romulan war idea because it did sound more original and different.

That’s something, the Romulan War. That’s a big event, it could have action and you probably can just invent your own characters.

Couldn’t they just carry on from the end instead of squeezing more new shows in between what we already have?

For how little Trek lore has fleshed out that imaginary bit of history, do we really need to be putting some detail to how we went from post-apocalyptic hellhole to utopian paradise in fifty years? Maybe some enterprising human stole a replicator off a Vulcan ship and reverse engineered it? Seeing the sausage being made may not be a great on screen adventure…

Eastern Europe isn’t the best example – while they’ve done okay extricating themselves from the communist wasteland, it was (and is) without its setbacks.

that’s what makes me so crazy. Discovery was the chance to reboot the “prime” universe but they have stubbornly stuck to this quisling versio

Not only that, they already did a Star Trek origin movie. Star TRek 2009. But sure lets put more money in it, have it fail, and then blame the box office on why we will never get more trek. Thats a great idea!

That was really a Kirk and Spock origin story. There’s a century of Federation/Starfleet before them that we know almost nothing about. Plenty of room for a good one-off story. Maybe a story 20-ish years before Discovery , with Captain April and Lt. Commander Pike? Could have a young Sarek, too.

First off do we even know what they mean by “origin”?

Could be about the founding of the federation, the Romulan War, or the early days of starfleet pre-Enterprise.

It may have nothing to do with Kirk and Spock, the Enterprise, might not be any kind of reboot or reset.

My gut says it’s set in the Kelvin timeline and it takes place post USS Kelvin but pre-2009 Trek. And I’m fine with that.

They already said it will be based in the prime universe, not the Kelvin. I don’t know why they framed that press release that way but I guess since the Kelvin movies are the current movies they wanted to make clear to people this movie is before all of that I guess.

And obviously will have nothing to do with Kirk and Spock because it will be before they were even born.

I agree. I’m not really interested in a ST origin film either, for the reasons you stated. I think, if they were to do one, it has to have some good hook. Say something like Kirk before Enterprise, or Robert April’s time on the Enterprise as its first captain, but I think that’s been pretty much done with Strange New Worlds.

Maybe Picard on the Stargazer before TNG?

Otherwise, you’ll be getting something with a cast of characters that you’ve never heard off, or, if you have, it’s been a line in an episode.

These announcements feel like Groundhog Day, don’t they? Maybe that’s the story they should tell.

A feature length version of Cause and Effect…

I’m guessing Romulan Star Empire Wars era setting.

Yeah, maybe it’s the concept Rick Berman pitched: a Romulan War film where the NX-01 is off vacationing at Risa.

How about Star Trek: Federation . Founding of the Federation, which is immediately followed by a crisis requiring the urgent launch of USS Federation (NCC-01). Scott Bakula has a cameo appearance as President Archer.

Here we go! :D

Star Trek Origins: The Future Begins

Yeah but it’s not as exciting when we literally have a thousand years of that future now.

This is why prequels bore so many people when we already know so much about the future it’s setting up.

At least with the Kelvin movies they were smart to not make it a traditional prequel and people still hated those too.

I will never understand the obsession of going backwards when you have a fanbase that is constantly begging to go forward and prequels don’t attract new fans at all because they are made for oddly old fans in mind. You only cared about how Anakin became Vader in the prequels if you watched the OT.

We really know almost nothing (in canon) about the entire century that elapses between Enterprise and Discovery , though. I would have preferred Kelvin Movie 4 or even a post-TNG original movie (maybe with Patrick Stewart making a cameo) but I could get behind a canon treatment about the first years of the Federation.

If it’s really something good or interesting fine. If it’s just ‘this is how the Federation was formed” we already got that already.

Now if it’s the Romulan war or something then that’s at least something people can get excited about. But yeah we already know how it ends so maybe that won’t be it either.

I just can’t really get to excited about a prequel movie.

Yeah, I think the Romulan war would be a great premise for a movie, BUT according to TOS the battles were fought with “primitive atomic weapons and in primitive space vessels which allowed no quarter, no captives, nor was there even ship-to-ship visual communication; therefore, no human, Romulan or ally has ever seen the other.”

In other words canon would have to be completely ignored – we all know Enterprise completely disregarded the TOS take of the war as the NX-01 had visual comms, phase cannons and photonic torpedoes. If the story is a good one, I am totally good with ignoring canon, but of course others are not.

Yeah that’s always the issue with the Romulan War thing, it’s really hard to make a compelling story about it when you are fighting it without directly engaging the enemy.

That said I’m 100% convinced they will just ignore that and do what they want or just find an excuse to change ot. Look at SNW, this the show that has shown the Gorn years before they were supposed to be seen and completely changed Khan’s original timeline using TCW as the reason..

Discovery had an entire Klingon War when that didn’t remotely exist in canon.

So yeah it probably won’t matter that much end of the day. They will just make what they want and then will use some excuse to do it. That’s been the case since Enterprise as you said.

Exactly! Very well put!! I just wish someone from TPTB would listen already!

Think about it prequels are easy to make because most of the writing is done for you. You don’t have to come up with where these characters will go.

Only if they are old characters though. But this sounds like Enterprise and not SNW and it will be all new characters.

So, it would be set after Enterprise and before the Kelvin fiasco. Awesome.

Probably the Romulan Wars. And with no Enterprise. Not excited

If only I could insert the Will Farrel “I don’t believe you!” GIF.

Whatever this turns out to be, hopefully it will be interesting. More likely it will turn out to be just another dead Trek movie project.

So many of these stories do seem to go absolutely nowhere! However, I am not as negative about an origin story as some fans are. At this point, I am more neutral on the movie. I can see that under the right circumstances it could be quite interesting. Although prequels can be a tough sell to Star Trek fans. Ultimately the fact that’s a movie could work in its favor though. Less storylines to produce over the years might help keep the story focused! Though I am not sure it would be a box office draw.

I’ll believe it when I’ve seen it in theaters, listened to TrekMovie’s review, and have the blu-ray on my shelf 4 months later.

Where to place the Blu-ray tho?

Before ST09 or after Beyond? …or.. Before TOS?

They go in order of release, for me. But could this be the first Trek film I don’t purchase on disc? Time may tell…

It’s an origin story taking place in the prime universe so it will go either before or after Enterprise basically.

I’ll believe it when it actually happens. Also, Seth Grahame-Smith is not a good writer, so that doesn’t bode well.

My thoughts exactly.

I liked the book Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, but not the movie.

I absolutely loved the Lego Batman movie, though. If he is able to incorporate Trek lore with as much care as he did for Batman, it could turn out to be a very good movie after all.

I’ll believe it when I’m sat i theatre turning off my phone with my Star Trek Origins screensaver and eating popcorn out my STO popcorn bucket (the lid in shape of the Starfleet A insignia )

He co wrote The Flash right? I really liked that , I could imagine something similar happening with Nero as happened with Zod in that (going back to 1st film via timetravel)

This is what’s over at Box Office Mojo: Untitled Star Trek: Beyond Sequel (????)

Grain of salt, anyone?

There are apparently two movies planned. Origin and Trek 4…

Actually there are three now including one that we all thought was DOA two minutes after it was announced.

Three movies in development from a studio who has cancelled four of them for 8 years now. And this will be the fourth new script for the next Kelvin movie.

That’s why everyone is very very confident this one is happening for sure. 🙄

The only thing we can take to the bank is we will see Section 31, starring Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh!!

Pretty much.

And a studio that is broke and in debt with junk status. None of these will likely be made or just the super cheapy origin movie if they can keep the budget low.

My thoughts exactly as well.

I’m pretty sure you got your facts wrong.

Sigh. Why do the powers that be always want to go backward in the ST timeline and do origin stories and such?

Lack of confidence in new ideas and to make it as cheaply as possible, are two things that come to mind right away.

It’s simple. They don’t want all that trek nerd baggage. They want a movie anyone would go to see and understand.

How’s that working for them?

You don’t get it.

I don’t get it either? It’s not like the prequel stuff has been huge home runs or big money makers.

The Star Wars prequels made a lot of money. That’s what Paramount still looks at, even though they have yet to duplicate that financial success.

Yes but that’s STAR WARS! It’s going to make a lot of money period. And those prequels came out when it was just the OT and nothing else for literally decades. There was a lot of hype just returning to those stories.

This is not the same thing, especially when we already had so many prequels in Trek now and with mixed results. That said I’m not saying it can’t be successful but I don’t see any huge hype around it either because most fans just seem to want to go forward and not backwards.

All the negativity over this ‘announcement’ is well deserved. Just make a fcking movie already Paramount, Jesus.

But I suspect IF this one is real it’s probably a much cheaper movie being new actors and maybe something with a lot less explosions and FX. I suspect it will probably be around $100 million.

It’s certainly doesn’t sound like something they are pushing to make a billion dollars or anything. Only people who cares about a prequel will be mostly old fans and even they aren’t exactly excited about yet another prequel judging by all the reactions so far. Maybe they will attract an A list star or a well respected one to bring more hype to it.

But same time I been pushing to just do something NEW with new characters and setting forever now. Stop trouting out Kirk and Picard, take a real chance with the franchise for a change. I was hoping it would be Post Nemesis but I should be happy I finally got half of what I wanted lol.

But I’ll believe it when I see it. I have literally been saying this line for six years now and I’m really tired of saying it. 🙄

Yup, exactly. Assuming it even happens, the premise sounds weak. Not surprised.

Yep. Unless it’s something truly mind blowing it’s not going to elicit a lot of excitement. Sure we’ll all go lol but I don’t see this thing having any real pull beyond the true believers.

It probably got the greenlight because its really cheap and it’s becoming embarrassing how long this franchise has languished.

I really only go to movie theaters to see Trek films (much prefer the comforts of home to see movies), so yup I’ll be going, good or bad. And yes, it is really pathetic the way this franchise has been treated on the big screen for the past 20 years. Disgraceful.

Ummm… what premise?? The only thing we know is that it is an origin movie. Nothing else. There IS no premise yet…

I think he means just another origin story itself feels a bit tired. But yes we don’t specifically know what that means yet but anything before TOS at this point just doesn’t really get a lot of fans all that hot and bother.

Whatever it ends up being it’s just filling in to more history we already know.

I get it. But no matter what era they make a movie in, there will be complaints. We have done prequels – some fans hate that. We have done same era as TNGish – fans complained. Likewise, we have had a show set in the future (soon to be another) – fans complained. There aren’t many options left.

Before TOS: Enterprise, JJ movies, Discovery, SNW just after TNG era: Picard, Prodigy, Lower Decks Future: Discovery, Starfleet Academy

Do they just make things in the era of TNG, DS9 and Voyager? No matter what is produced, there will always be a fan base that is unhappy.

Most people seem to really want the Legacy show though. I think for the majority of fans they may not agree with everything but there is definitely a sense they rather go forwards than backwards and why 4 of the 5 shows are post Nemesis shows.

And if you gave the option between a Legacy movie or this prequel idea, it wouldn’t be close.

I just don’t think making a prequel movie is the best idea out there. And I don’t think new audiences will remotely care one way or the other.

I’m going to start reporting you now. One guy got the boot for being an obsessive troll and like you was already banned before anyway.

Leave me alone from this point on. I mean it.

What a total disappointment. I wanted to see the Kelvin crew return. It’s going to be 10 years between films.

Please be Kirk and Spock at least.

Check the first paragraph of the article out again. This one is presumably being developed ‘in parallel’ to the Kelvin crew sequel.

Recast Kirk and Spock, I presume?

I wouldn’t be surprised if the main character is Kirk’s great grandfather, Tiberius something or other.

And not surprised there was no announcement of the next JJ verse movie. I predicted a few weeks ago that one wouldn’t get made by 2026 or the 60th anniversary. Frankly I don’t even know why they are even bothering with it anymore? Whenever it’s supposed to come out it’s already going to be the last one and over 10 years since the last one came out.

What’s even the point? They are clearly moving on from it.

As far as the origin movie why not just make it for the 60th anniversary? Why rush it? It’s already been nearly a decade, what’s one more year at this point and you can Marley it better in an anniversary year.

Its the reverse of ST 6, here we getting the prequel movie instead of the final cast film (for the anniversary)

Someone on another board said we are probably getting the sequel to First Contact so it would make sense to have it for the 6Oth anniversary 30 years apart lol.

“[S]et decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film?”

Gimme Archer & T’Pol, or else…

Neither actor has any interest in returning to Star Trek, so that won’t happen.

I’ve only heard Bakula say that about Quantum Leap , not Enterprise . And this is a feature film, a lot harder for an actor to turn down. I agree with his decision to ignore the QL reboot (that series didn’t capture the heart and soul of the original at all) but if Paramount approached him with “we want you to play President Archer for a few scenes in this movie” I doubt he’d say no.

No, no no. You’ve got it all wrong. It’s a story about a little design firm vying for the chance to design the Enterprise. It’s a story about a plucky band of mechanical engineers and physicists who come together to do the best pitch of their lives in a bidding war with three other firms. So, an origin story…from a certain point of view. ;)

I would watch,THAT!

I would write that!

I would direct that! (If I was Christopher Nolan)

No, I want Nolan doing ThePrisoner! He’s already got a script from the guy who wrote 12 Monkeys and the best stuff in Blade Runner, from over a decade back.

You probably meant it as a joke, but I’m also intrigued by this idea :D

Charlie Kaufmann does star trek.

Sure, you can store anti-matter in a glass jar. What could possibly go wrong?

Y’know, I know this is said partly in jest, but I wouldn’t mind that kind of movie if it was sort of a space race / WWII / Cold War drama, kind of a mix of Oppenheimer and The Right Stuff.

There’s a geo (spatio?) political angle (firm up the borders of the Federation, mitigate threats, and establish new allies while keeping up the exploration / first contact initiatives), the pressure on the engineering team to deliver groundbreaking new tech (and probably the cost of failed experiments, accidents, etc.), and then recruiting and training a new kind of crew – a starship crew (as Captain Merrick described them in ‘Bread and Circuses’.)

In essence, the origin of Starfleet as we know it – the first long-duration missions, the best of the best crewmembers, cross-trained, multidisciplinary, and for the first time, widely multi-species, etc.

Glad you all like. Paramount, you can send the check to: bmar, care of….

I’m thinking there’s going to be peace in the Middle East and nuclear fusion power is going to be a reality before they ever get back to the theaters.

Once upon a time I enjoyed Star Trek. Since the Nu Trek era began. I havent enjoyed any of the story arcs. They are just too aweful. There is a multitude of reasons why throught the web. Strange New Worlds S1 corrected course, however S2 not so. There are forces at work at Paramount. They are hell bent to destroy Star Trek. If Kurtzman and crew are in charge of the new movie. Get ready for more fantasy drama nonsense, and less plausable sci-fi.

Same here. I can’t get into NuTrek much at all. It feels like a shell of the golden era. For me that will always be 1966-2005.

But if others like it and getting new fans I’m very happy for them.

Same here. I’ve found a few gems in SNW S1, PIC S3, and S1 of Prodigy, but otherwise have been very disappointed in “NuTrek.” Of course I wish the franchise the best, but so far it’s been more misses than hits for me.

Yes I truly love Picard season 3! The best thing to come out of NuTrek so far. I don’t hate SNW but it railroads canon too much for my taste but it does feel like Star Trek again.

I haven’t seen Prodigy yet but I plan to watch it when season 2 begins and will watch season 1 before that one. Everyone kept saying it’s for kids and I’m far from a kid these days lol. But others here convinced me it’s a show for adults too so will give it a go

Wow, hell-bent on destroying Trek. Hell-bent, you say!! Just a tough melodramatic, are you?

Really don’t care about prequels and just want to keep going forward. Why not a movie in the 25th or 26th century with new crew and characters?

I may care more if Archer is involved or something. But I suspect this movie will bomb like the last one did. Only fans cares about prequels. New fans won’t care at all.

At least it’s in the prime universe again I guess.

But 25th or 26th century would still be a prequel to Discovery’s 32nd century :D

That doesn’t bother me because we don’t know anything about those time periods. We already know plenty about everything before TOS because it’s all been said or told now

Yeah I said this to another member the other day discussing any post Picard stories and that it will be completely new stories in a period we don’t know so it’s not the same thing. When you’re doing something like a TOS prequel you only have so much room and while it can certainly be interesting and creative it basically just like filling in to more stuff we already know.

That said the Section 31 movie time period is at least more interesting because it covers a much wider time period and they can be a lot more freer with the technology, etc so looking forward to that at least.

Yes I will admit although I’m not a big fan of the Space Nazi the time period of the movie intrigues me more. I always been curious of this period and the lead up to TNG, mostly because we know very little about it.

Discovery (in my view) kind of ruined everything in the Trek timelime. Just my opinion. Anyone who wants to just forget it happened, I’m in. Kidding, not kidding.

Agreed! I also don’t think it will be allegorical science fiction or be anything thought provoking. It will be a fast paced action adventure story that’s empty of depth and soul. Modern Star Trek is more interested in spectacle than compelling stories.

I’d guess that it means “origin of the TOS crew,” but that’s kind of weird, because we saw that in 2009.

Maybe this time they’ll start when they’re toddlers. (I kid, but not really). :)

They are going to re-do ‘A night in Sickbay’ like they did with Wrath of Khan/Into Darkness. It’ll be the same but different…..

Could this be their way of doing a George Kirk movie?

I would want to watch that, colour me intrigued…

“set decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film.”

Original 2009 Sta Trek film Sounds so wrong.

there is only two star trek origin stories i want to see the formation of the federation and it’s first few years if they have to adapt the rise of the federation novels for the movie and the origins of the borg they could adapt the plot ffor thet from the star trek destiny novels for a movie

Spot on, on both points!

2025? I hope it works out…

First we hear we are getting a Star Fleet Space Academy series that no one wants. The idea was mentioned in the 1980’s and shot down by fans. Now a retake on a Star Trek Origins films. Is any one currently running the Star Trek franchise in TV/streaming or film even listening to what the fans both old and new are saying?

It would seem not, sadly. How about establishing the time period between TUC and TNG, there’s a literal ton of stories to tell there? How the possibilities for storytelling within the franchise have been squandered over the years makes me frustrated, and frankly confused. SO many missed opportunities.

The upcoming section 31 movie will be set during that time frame as we know a young Rachel Garrett who later in life will be the captain of the enterprise c and defend the Klingon colony of narendra 3 will be in the movie maybe we will get to see the ent-b also again

Pointless movie as no audience will come see it at best it will make half its budget back. I mean they spent $250M on the 2009 movie and it showed on screen….you already know they are not spending that level otherwise it would be a Kelvin cast sequel!

I believe they spent just under 160 mil on the 09 (not counting the interest payments for holding the finished film for six months to get a summer release, or prints/advertising.) You’re probably thinking of BEYOND with the 250 number.

I still can’t see the money on screen in the 09, shooting in the damn brewery was Corman-level cheap.

The Numbers have the 09 costs 140 and BO Mojo sez 150, so yeah, way under the 250m you mention.

Can the ethos of Trek be distilled by JJ? Bob orci was bad for trek.

Kurtzman seemed to fall into trap w/discovery season 1.

Season 2, Picard, Lower Decks and SNW definitely sealed my thinking that Trek was in right hands.

Is section 31 and Rachel Garrett the right pivot for Trek? I thought 24th/25th century had plenty of stories to still tell.

Enterprise C, and possibly Tasha Yar/Sela after the events of Yesterday’s Enterprise! This should reboot TNG/Picard if ST: Legacy doesn’t happen.

Lower Decks makes me laugh Picard made me cry (good) SNW made me feel like Kurtzman should be trusted 💯

Great. Abrams ruined Star Wars and he’s finishing of Star Trek.

JJ had a planed out story plot for what he wanted to happen in the sequels but rian johnson chose to deviate from what jj had payed out so when jj returned for episode 9 he had to try and make the best of it and make his original story plot work but with the changes Johnson had made altering it so he had to come up with another evil sith mastermind and chose palpatine and he did course correct Rey’s lineage though it was different from who he had initially planned it to be and with Carrie fishers untimely passing he had to rewrite more and he had Luke show up as a force ghost to help rey when she returned to ach-to as apparently he was never going to have Luke die until the the final battle

I hope it has nudity

….and “Invincible” level action. It’ll be a hard R Quinton Tarentino could love.

Yes, we are on the same page.

CinemaCon basically works like a network upfront. You see clips and hear a lot of announcements. When there’s no cast or start date for announced projects, there’s maybe a 50/50 chance that the project will actually move forward (I was with a former employer for over 8 years and we announced a lot of stuff that generated a lot of buzz but then never materialized).

I think Brian Robbins will be gone within the next 12 months and if Robbins is pushed out this film is dead in the water.

This is probably the right answer.

I have next to no faith this will actually happen but they only have themselves to blame lol.

I remember a former poster kept saying ‘well this a new regime ‘ they aren’t the old guys’. Uh huh. It just shows end of the day they might be different but they still answer to the same shareholders and they know another Trek film is risky. Maybe this will finally get beyond a script this time but no one will be convinced until they start shooting the thing.

Rehashing old fandom letter campaign complaints from 40 years ago, don’t equate to the modern sci-fi fan, let alone the majority of Star Trek fans of 2024. The majority of complaints in the article comments are that there isn’t enough new future timeline Star Trek, so why would people NOT want a Star Fleet Academy series – new stories, new characters, new ships, new alien species/planets etc? An Origin movie is a vague enough description that it’s probably likely that the fandom can’t come anywhere close to a correct theory on when in the Trek timeline, this movie could be set.

I agreed with a commenter earlier, a George Kirk prequel movie would satisfy a lot of the fans, and hopefully generate enough interest for new and casual Star Trek moviegoers to warrant their going to a cinema complex. As to want the hardcore Star Trek fandom really want? There is too much dissent and bitter recriminations gone by, for any serious agreement by the fandom of their requirements, to stick for any longer than the next Trek major media article to be issued. And even if a majority agreement could be achieved – then we have the Mount Everest of EP Alex Kurtzman / Secret Hideout control of Trek production, to climb. A movie or series could have a billion-dollar budget, stellar A-list cast and crew, critical media acclaim for the story / screenplay. A favourable release timing and viral marketing, but fall at the last hurdle – the box office, due to the mountain of hate piled up against Paramount, Kurzman and his associates.

Now, as to the overall custodianship of the Trek franchise and its operation as a business, in general by Paramount, and its contracted creatives? Well, that’s a whole Hollywood chapter in itself. And is any of that even relevant in the long term, with the behind-the-scenes Harry Potter Wizard chess moves that are going on at the studio ownership, and network controlling interest levels? Apologies for the extended and extensive reply.

The first thing to do in order make a successful Star Trek movie is to ignore Star Trek fans.

God, please, no origin stories.

Star Trek: The Beginning, Part 1 — A Final Frontier Origin Story

Star Trek has always been a production dealing with many human issues pushing open the veils of awkwardness, embarrassment, and unaddressed behaviors that represent our culture planet wide. Thank You Star Trek. The one thing Paramount+ did that was just totally in bad taste was cancel Prodigy, bunch of morons.

Every fan’s preferences are different, but over the years I’ve ended up streamlining various ‘franchises’ I enjoy to my own liking when it comes to a re-watch – and these days my own limited Star Trek ‘canon’ purely consists of kicking things off with ‘The Cage’ pilot storyline….followed by my specific favourite TOS episodes in ‘production order’ (starting with ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before’, and skipping ‘The Menagerie’ two-part storyline)….followed by all the TOS movie storylines….and ending the Kirk crew’s adventures with ‘The Undiscovered Country’ as my preferred send-off for them all….then skip the antics of the ‘Generations’ movie, and instead continue on with my specific favourite TNG episodes (starting with the ‘Encounter At Farpoint’ introduction to Picard and his crew)….and then conclude the entire thing with the ‘First Contact’ movie’s storyline – which covers the development of ‘warp drive’, bringing everything full circle, and giving me all the ‘origin’ specifics I need..

All other ‘Trek-related shows and movies since then remain firmly on my ‘one-watch-only’ list, but I’m more than content with what I’ve outlined above.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get a ‘Star Trek’ movie which goes much deeper than glossy ‘pew-pew’ action and explosions in the future, but I remain hopeful.there might be a storyline that I really like again.

In the meantime, for my latest ‘alien contact’ fix, I’ve just finished up enjoying the excellent ‘Three-Body’ show’s inventive storyline and characters – the subtitled, 30-episode one produced by Tencent, which is currently available on YouTube and Amazon Prime (not the muddled 8-episode ‘3 Body Problem’ version by Netflix) – So much so, that I’m intending to buy the actual trilogy of books by the Chinese author, as I can’t wait for the next season to be made to find out what happens next. Some big ideas to come by all accounts, and I’m there for a bit more of that. .

The Netflix series is Superior

You’re welcome to your own preference of course.

But I far preferred the slow burn of the mystery and character build-ups in the Tencent version compared to the condensed and altered Netflix adaption. I just happen to find it a more satisfying and riveting version overall – and I will always prefer the way the ‘Judgment Day’ tanker got ‘nano-spliced’ in the Tencent version. Such an awesome sequence from start to finish!

Anyway, if the Netflix version actually gets a second season, I’ll certainly check it out too….but I am definitely looking forward to the next season of the Tencent show, which has been greenlit already.

The Tencent version is just boring to me and you can feel the Party’s hands all over it. Glad you liked it though.

I did indeed like it. A lot. I hadn’t read the books as I said, so didn’t know what to expect. Having read up on a few things since watching both shows, it seems that that there’s plenty of others that much prefer the slower build-up of the Tencent version too.

While it doesn’t include the likes of the brutal Netflix show’s opening, the hardship that the main female character endured was covered sufficiently for me throughout the show, and I’m just glad that I got to know her story by watching this version first.

And I sure didn’t miss the amount of unnecessary swearing that the Netflix version included either, which gave the Tencent version additional points. I don’t appreciate it my ‘Star Trek’ viewing, and I didn’t need it in the telling of this memorable sci-fi tale either.

And just to add, that even better for me is the fact that there’s now been a 26-episode ‘Anniversary Edition’ version of the Tencent show released, which has been re-edited by the director.

It seemingly cuts down on some ‘filler’ run-time that was added for the sake of the show’s producers initially, so that things will follow the original book’s contents even more closely now, and improve on the pacing of the show overall. I’m very pleased about that.

Whats so bad about swearing? The human race has been swearing since language was invented and we’ll be swearing 10,000 years from now.

Again, it’s just a personal preference thing.

There’s plenty of hard-edged movies and shows that contain wall-to-wall swearing which I can watch if I’m in the mood for them. But other times I’m equally inclined to watch something with less harsh language throughout.

I really disliked the F-bombs which the ‘Picard’ show included for instance, and didn’t think the ‘Star Trek’ franchise was the better for it. And I doubt that I would have enjoyed the Tencent ‘Three-Body’ adaption any better if it had contained bad language too.

Anyway, back to this supposed ‘Star Trek origin movie. I’d like to think it won’t be littered with F-bombs either.

PG13 are allowed 1 f bomb (like Guardians 3 I finally saw other night). And Trek is very comfortable to f bombs in Picard etc so safe to say we’ll be getting Treks first movie f bomb next film :)

Data said “Oh $hit” in Generations.

Which was very mild compared to what we heard in ‘Picard” Not that I would wish to show my younger family members the ‘Picard’ show anyway, considering it turned out to be so dire overall.

However, Data’s reaction was hilarious in that scene’s context I recall. Just a pity the rest of the movie was such a dud, and not part of my own ‘Star Trek’ canon anymore.

I’ll always wonder what the Tarantino script would have given us….

we don’t need origin stories for everything! in media res is the way to go – almost always – TOS just dumps you right in the middle of events without even the clunky intros of TNG Encounter at Farpoint.

If this movie does well will IT get an origin story? We’re going to end up at the pool of goo at the dawn of humankind waiting for Picard and Q to show up…

im happy with any good trek news… even if they made a direct sequel to the final frontier… but how many origin stories do we need? i’d be happy if someone forged a path forward and created new things…

So this one is set in the five-minute period between Enterprise and Discovery? Or the as-yet unexplored time between April 5th 2063 and Enterprise where it’s “stone knives and bear skins” and no Trek tech to speak of? Enterprise was the prequel! How’d that one work out?

If the movie is made ,I will judge it then.

I wanted the 4th Kelvin, do they know who their audience is? Nobody i know, Star Trek fan or general audience bothered to go see Beyond. It was like Nemesis all over again. The trailer was terrible, the movie was kind of meh to be honest. So in the intervening years since the 2009 somewhere they lost the audience. Star Trek 2009 was an event movie, and 2015 Force Awakens was as well. Good job letting JJ go to Disney so Star Trek died as a film series.

I’m guessing the fourth movie is still too costly to risk making another one at least right now.

Someone threw out an an interesting theory on the last thread discussing this for the 47th time that they suggested Paramount have no plans to actually make another Kelvin movie but just as a rouse for the next company that buys the studio.

It really makes sense at this point, they can dangle the idea the movie is in ‘development’ and then when someone actually buys it they can just decide to make it or cancel it.

I mean it doesn’t sound crazy considering where we are. It’s a movie that is working with their fourth new writer but there is still no director or even a starting date of any kind within the the next two years.

Them you have this origin movie that was just announced a few months ago and that’s already scheduled to come out next year. My guess is it will probably cost half of what another Kelvin movie would be. But yeah who knows if that will get made either, but it has a better chance than a Kelvin movie.

Ikr, Beyond totally killed interest the series , the Fast Furious teaser trailer was bad, the second trailer gave away the twist, the audience (who cared about that stuff) knew JJ had crossed over to SW (which gave the behemoth of SW7 even more publicity, making ST feel less an event), there was no hook for fans or even general moviegoers like there was for ST09/ID (like if Shatner had returned or the Borg being the villain again) and nothing ‘big’ happening in the canon like the previous ones (Orcis ST3 had the timeline under threat of being wiped out, which would’ve been a huge deal) the eventual movie was kind of meh as you say and was just abit nerdy and Insurrection looking (like it was for hard core fans only).

At the time i had some friends (some who were casual Trek fans, and some even disliked Trek) who thought 09/ID were awesome and they didn’t even bother to see Beyond bc of the trailers and the general vibe (its like it felt like abit of a turkey, like other big sequels/remakes that summer, Ghostbusters, Independence Day 2 etc, )

I actually agree with all of this and I personally think Beyond was the best of the three.

But you’re right, there was really no hook for the movie and that first trailer was just awful. It almost kept me away from watching it.

But the biggest problem is the new fans just lost interest by then. I always bring up the fact I had three friends who had never seen Star Trek before went to go see the first film and generally loved it. I thought it was truly bad but fine for a brainless action movie.

But by the time Beyond showed up all three had zero interest in the franchise by that point. They just stopped caring. I remember asking one of them that saw the first two movies in the theater if he planned to watch Beyond and his response was no because now Star Wars was back and he rather just watch that. And he thought it looked boring.

That’s the entire problem trying to get new fans onboard and a lot of them were like my friends who just saw these movies as another summer action movie but nothing beyond that. They never cared about the franchise itself and so it was very easy to move on when the next shiny toy showed up.

That’s exactly why I don’t see another one doing all that well because to newbies it’s still Star Trek and it’s not cool enough to fully get into and will probably bomb again unless the budget is just super low.

I watched Guardians Vol 3 the other night on dvd and it (and previous 2) kind of felt the same as Beyond abit , the look, the vibe, the action, set pieces, the humour, the rock songs etc . so really with Guardians (that Beyond tried to ape), along with the return of SW, Trek 3 had no chance with casual movie goers who would just consider it Guardians/SW lite , (between the generational event of SW7 and the next GOTG vol 2) .. Even more reason to have gone with Orci’s more ‘star trek’ version of ST3 featuring Shatner

I can’t name anyone who actually wants an origin movie. By the way, didn’t we get that one with First Contact already anyway?

It’s not up to you or anyone you pretend to know.

Another prequel? This is getting ridiculous now. Remember when Star Trek used to go forwards? Enough already!

Kurtzman said he didn’t have the authority to greenlight legacy. I wonder if that will be like Bennet’s academy years and never happen.

18 months is not enough time for a movie of this size unless this is ready to shoot in july.

The JJ-verse is an aberration no one is particularly a fan of. There is no one who wants to how that mess started. It’s done nothing but foul everything that went before, leaving ST-ENT, of all things, as the only remaining official classic canon. Bugger that.

I need Star Trek that is hopeful, aspirational, and inspirational. 15 yrs later neither Bad Robot or Secret Hideout has done anything close to that. Sec 31 and Starfleet Academy aren’t anything viewers want. I wish they’d just stop.

lol,if you say so…

EXCLUSIVE: Former Anonymous writer of Trek 4 shares his experience

Interviewer: Hello, we are here today to talk to a former writer for the very very very (like really very) long delayed fourth Kelvin movie. With the announcement of a prequel movie being released instead and yet ANOTHER new set of writers for the next Kelvin movie, we reached out to the only person who returned our calls; a former writer from the 2023 project.

To give us an honest insight into his experience he wishes to remain anonymous. For the sake of this interview he will be simply referred to as ‘GotohellParamount’. Thank you for meeting with me today.”

GotohellParamount’: “You’re welcome.”

Interviewer: “It sounds like your experience working on the last movie didn’t end too well. How is your relationship with the studio today?”

GotohellParamount: “Bleep them in their bleeping bleepholes. I hope they all die from bleeping Ebola.”

Interviewer: ‘That’s some pretty colorful metaphors. Can I ask what happened?”

GotohellParamount: “Their bleeps that’s what. We spent a year working on that movie. We lost the director to go work for Marvel because these bleepholes kept bleeping us around. I got so frustrated I finally texted the Head Studio Guy and said ‘will you people stop bleeping around!? Get off your bleeps and let’s make a movie already!!’

Three weeks went by and I finally got a response from them. It simply read ‘K’. Bleepholes!!! By the way you’re not going to ‘bleep’ any of these words out are you?”

Interviewer: “Um…of course not. Can you tell us a little about what the movie was about?”

GotohellParamount: “The gist was a huge black ship comes from the 25th century to the 23rd century wiping out solar systems in the Federation. It was a new villain who wanted…wait for it…vengeance. That bleep was going to be bleeping awesome!!”

Interviewer: “So who was going to be the villain?”

GotohellParamount: “That’s the greatest part of it all. He was going to call himself…you ready: Kaos. JJ Abrams himself came up with that name. But then the true reveal was that he was indeed Kirk’s great great great great great great great great great great grandson from the future and came to stop Kirk from destroying his planet so he had to destroy the Federation first. We were even thinking Chris Pine can play both parts but Paramount was worried he would demand twice the salary.”

Interviewer: “I interviewed Chris Pine a few months ago and he was hoping there would be more scenes of him riding another motorcycle. Did you include that in the script?”

GotohellParamount: “Do you remember the ending of Mission Impossible 2 with the motorcycle duel? Pretty much the same ending with our movie with Kirk versus his evil grandson; except it was going to take place either on Romulus or in San Francisco. We were still figuring it out. There was even talk of it happening on a lava planet… but that would’ve ballooned the budget.

Interviewer: “Sounds very exciting. How was he going to wipe out the solar systems?”

GotohellParamount: “The ship he was on had the power to destroy stars by breaking down their fusion reactions. The FX was going to be bleeping sick.”

Interviewer: “Wait so the ship was a…Star destroyer?”

GotohellParamount: “Yep but to get around copyright issues JJ wanted to call it a Destroyer of Stars. The man is a bleeping genius I tell you.”

Interviewer: “It’s definitely a name.”

GotohellParamount: “We were so proud of the script. We gave it to JJ to read it. After he put it down, he took off his glasses put his hand on my shoulders and said ‘this is the most original Star Trek story I’ve ever read and I’ve read three of them.’ You have no idea how much that meant coming from such a visionary like him.”

Interviewer: “I’m sure you were. Was there any casting possibilities before it was shut down?”

GotohellParamount: “Was there?? We reached out to some incredible actors! Robert Downey Jr, Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy and Matt Damon. We wanted him to actually play Kirk’s evil grandson.

Interviewer: “Wait… weren’t all of them in Oppenheimer?’

GotohellParamount: “(Hard shrug)! I don’t know I haven’t seen it yet. Unfortunately Matt Damon’s agent was the only one who bothered to call us back. Apparently he always wanted to work with John Cho. Go figure? Too late now unfortunately.”

Interviewer: “Well that’s all the time we have. Thank you for your incredible and honest insight. Any thoughts on the new movie announcement or the chances either one will actually get made?”

GotohellParamount: (Laughs for three minutes). That’s it.”

Interviewer: “Thank you.’

I laugh every.single.time! 😂

Well done per usual.

Nice. Don’t forget to throw the Beastie Boys in there someplace…wouldn’t be a Kelvin film without them…

Haha correct. How I let that one slide you got me. Having an off day I guess!

This was indeed hilarious! 😂

I love how you parody JJ Abrams. He doesn’t seem to have an original bone in his body looking at both his Star Trek and Star Wars movies.

Lol nope! I still remember watching Honest Trailer for Star Trek Into Dumbness and they even showed how much that movie copied the first one lol.

The fact both movies ended back at San Francisco when your series takes place in the freaking galaxy should tell you everything wrong with these movies.

that actually sounds like a legit potential Kelvin ST4 – Kirks evil great great grandson Kaos (Matt Damon) comes back to 23rd century to kill Kirk in his big star destroyer (sorry ‘destroyer of stars’) ship! Brilliant!!

That’s the insane part, this idea could actually pass for a Kelvin movie lol.

Thank you! 😁

Coming out of my lurker mode to say this is brilliant. I laughed my bleep off!

So glad you enjoyed it my friend! 😄

I bleeping love making them lol.

Another prequel? Why can’t they come up with new material?

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is star trek 2009 a prequel or a reboot

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20 facts you might not know about 'Star Trek' (2009)

Since the 1960s, Star Trek has been part of the pop-culture filament. That show sparked a series of movies, and then more series were on TV after that. Eventually, with William Shatner and Co. no longer holding onto the roads, time for a Star Trek reboot came around. In 2009, Kirk, Spock, and Co. were introduced to a new generation of sci-fi fans. We’ve beamed up 20 facts you might not know about this particular iteration of Star Trek .

The idea of a prequel came early

Star Trek takes place, storyline-wise, before the events of the original TV show. The idea of a prequel originated with Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek . Oh, and he had that idea in 1968. However, his plan never came to fruition.

A prequel resurfaced in the 1980s

With the development of  Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , Ralph Winter and Harve Bennett pitched a prequel film. It laid fallow for a while, but in 1991, Roddenberry got around to nixing the idea. Instead, they made Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country . 

The prequel concept finally got its footing after 'Star Trek' hit a wall

The 10th film based on the franchise, Star Trek: Nemesis , was a flop. The TV series Star Trek: Enterprise was canceled. This led longtime Star Trek producer Rick Berman and screenwriter Erik Jendresen to write a script for Star Trek: The Beginning , which was going to introduce entirely new characters to the Star Trek universe.

There was a ticking clock on the project

Paramount had a reason to want to get a Star Trek  movie into production. It had to do with business stuff involving Viacom, CBS, and Paramount and who owned what rights. What you need to know is that Paramount had to make a Star Trek movie, or they would lose the rights to the franchise. Gail Berman, the President of Paramount (and no relation to Rick), reached out to screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman to tackle the script and got J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof on board as well.

Abrams wasn’t always going to direct

At first, Abrams was just going to produce the film. Eventually, he was talked into directing. Abrams admitted to being more of a Star Wars guy than a Star Trek guy, but he did like the dynamic of Kirk and Spock. He also wanted to make an “optimistic” movie in the wake of the success of The Dark Knight .

Chris Pine almost blew his opportunity

Pine has admitted to totally flubbing his first audition to play the role of James T. Kirk. Apparently, it was so bad that Abrams wasn’t even shown his audition. Then, Pine’s agent met Abrams’ wife, and one thing led to another. Pine got to audition opposite Zachary Quinto , who ended up playing Spock. Quinto threw his backing behind Pine, and he got the role.

Pine had inspiration beyond William Shatner

Pine watched a little Star Trek but eventually stopped, not wanting his performance to end up being an imitation of Shatner. Instead, he turned to Maverick from Top Gun , Han Solo, and Indiana Jones for inspiration.

Another actor could have played Spock

Quinto was riding high when he was cast as Spock, thanks to Heroes . However, a bigger name was also in the mix — an Oscar winner. Abrams had talked to Adrien Brody about playing Spock before casting Quinto.

Something new about Uhura was unveiled

Uhura, played legendarily by Nichelle Nichols, has been around as a character for years. And yet, there was still something new and fundamental to learn about her. In this movie, we learn Uhura’s first name for the first time. It’s Nyota.

Simon Pegg got a bit of a comeuppance

Pegg, who had been in Abrams’ Mission: Impossible III , took on the role of Scotty. Before his rise to movie stardom, Pegg had co-created and co-starred in the cult British sitcom Spaced . In said show, his character said that all odd-numbered Star Trek movies are “sh-t.” This was the 11th Star Trek movie. On this matter, Pegg quipped, “Fate put me in the movie to show me I was talking out of my a--" (h/t Wired ).

Eric Bana created a lot of his character

Bana said he was a huge fan of the original Star Trek TV series, though he said he never saw any of the films. His character Nero has a distinct look, which was the work of the makeup artists, but he also had a different way of talking. That was all Bana, who improvised the way that Nero speaks.

Two more original cast members could have been in it

One of the triumphs of Star Trek is the return of Leonard Nimoy as Spock, or Spock Prime as he is called. William Shatner was offered a cameo as Kirk, but he wanted a bigger role, one on par with Nimoy. Abrams declined. Nichols also wanted to play Uhura’s grandmother, but this came during the Writer’s Guild strike, so Abrams could not write that scene without crossing the picket line, so it didn’t come to fruition.

Orci and Kurtzman got academic

People are, shall we say, passionate about Star Trek . When writing the screenplay, Orci and Kurtzman read several graduate school dissertations on the original Star Trek series for inspiration. They were also inspired, funnily enough, by Star Wars .

They shot the ice planet in…a parking lot

California served as different locations for the movie. Kirk’s hometown in Iowa? Bakersfield, California. The Starfleet Academy? CSU Northridge. The Enterprise’s engine room? A Budweiser plant in Van Nuys, of all things. Perhaps strangest, the ice planet of Delta Vega scenes was shot in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium. Thank god for digital effects.

The WGA strike made things awkward

We mentioned the WGA strike earlier, which caused problems throughout the film's shooting. Abrams, Lindelof, Orci, and Kurtzman could all be on set because they were producers, but they couldn’t write anything. They also couldn’t alter lines or throw out alternate pitches on set, which counts as writing. Orci and Kurtzman’s efforts on set primarily consisted of being able to “make funny eyes and faces at the actors whenever they had a problem with the line and sort of nod when they had something better.”

They delayed the movie for half a year

Originally, Star Trek  was going to be released on Christmas 2008. However, Paramount decided to delay it. For a positive reason, though! They wanted to make it a summer release, thinking more people would see it then. The release date was moved from Christmas to May 8, 2009.

The move probably paid off

Star Trek had the biggest opening weekend of any film in the franchise, even adjusted for inflation. Made for a budget of $150 million, Star Trek  made $385.7 million worldwide. Domestically, it was the seventh-highest-grossing movie of the year.

It won an Oscar

Star Trek  was nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Sound, Best Sound Editing, Best Makeup, and Best Visual Effects. It won for Best Makeup, making this the first Star Trek movie to win an Oscar.

There have been two sequels

In 2013, Star Trek Into Darkness  was released. While there was a weird attempt to keep people from knowing Benedict Cumberbatch was playing Khan, the movie still made $467.4 million worldwide. Then, in 2016, Star Trek Beyond was dropped. Justin Lin replaced Abrams as director, but the movie dropped to a box office of $343.5 million from a budget of $185 million.

We might get a fourth movie

Around the release of Star Trek Beyond , Abrams said there would be a fourth film in the series. He even said Chris Hemsworth , much more famous than when he shot his part in Star Trek , would return as Kirk’s father. Additionally, Abrams said that the role of Chekov would not be recast after the untimely death of Anton Yelchin. However, there has been no movement on this front in years, so perhaps it has been nixed.

Chris Morgan is a sports and pop culture writer and the author of the books  The Comic Galaxy of Mystery Science Theater 3000  and  The Ash Heap of History . You can follow him on Twitter @ChrisXMorgan .

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is star trek 2009 a prequel or a reboot

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Star Trek (2009): Reboot or Multiverse?

Thoughts on the continuity and the canon status of the upcoming movie

is star trek 2009 a prequel or a reboot

Without too many spoilers, the premise of the film is as follows:

  • "Star Trek (2009)" depicts a different history of the characters and of the Federation on the whole than the one known from TOS.
  • The differing histories are the result of a time travel of the Romulan villain Nero back to the 23rd century.

is star trek 2009 a prequel or a reboot

  • The events of the movie are not a "What if?" scenario (such as in a dream or on the holodeck) but really take place.
  • It has not been ultimately confirmed, but we can take for granted that the changes to the timeline will not be repaired but will remain permanent at the end of "Star Trek (2009)".

It has long been debated among the fans whether a prequel movie with many visual "updates" and certain liberties in the historical facts and the character development would still qualify as being in the same continuity, or whether it would have to be classified as a "reboot". Could it still be canon? After the release of the first photo of the redesigned Enterprise and the movie trailer in November 2008, Roberto Orci, executive producer and screenwriter, gave this question a new twist in an interview with Trekmovie.com . All quotes in my essay are from this interview.

The following considerations predate the release of the movie. I have not updated them with more recent facts, but they are mostly still valid. For an up-to-date take on the continuity issues in "Star Trek (2009)", please refer to Dealing with Continuity Issues of the Abramsverse .

Continuity Issues

Orci's multiverse.

Explaining that "Star Trek (2009)" takes place in an altered timeline, Bob Orci reasons that this would not be a first time in Star Trek. Also, as multiple universes (more precisely the many-worlds interpretation ) are a seriously considered concept of quantum mechanics, it would be scientifically correct as well.

Roberto Orci: "If you look at quantum mechanics and you learn about the fact that our most successful theory of science is quantum mechanics, and the fact that it deals with probabilities of events happening. And that the most probable events tend to happen more often and that one of the subsets of that theory is the many universe theory. Data said this [in "Parallels"], he summed up quantum mechanics as the theory that 'all possibilities that can happen do happen' in a parallel universe."

Well, in almost all other movie or TV franchises the idea of a multiverse as a conscious way to justify the reboot of the existing continuity would be totally absurd. That way we might explain away why James Bond is played by different actors, claiming that each of them dwells in a different universe. Certainly neither the people making the movies nor the fans would ever resort to such far-fetched theories. Even most science fiction series have not dealt with parallel universes so far. Although they may not explicitly deny their possible existence, it would be an extreme stretch if they suddenly departed to a parallel timeline to make a reboot plausible.

Star Trek, in contrast, has shown parallel timelines or universes on various occasions. We may discount the very first occurrence in TOS: "The Alternative Factor" because it never made any sense and because we didn't really see the other universe (which consisted of antimatter or something). The most notable example of a parallel universe is the Mirror Universe of TOS: "Mirror, Mirror" that would reappear in a couple of DS9 episodes and ultimately in ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly". We also have some time travel episodes such as TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise", where Tasha Yar emerges in a parallel timeline in which she did not die and lives on in the past of our own timeline - although the two timelines do not have to be simultaneous. Finally, there are the multiple quantum universes of TNG: "Parallels" that Orci correctly referred to.

The future of the existing history

It is absolutely plausible that the alteration of the timeline remains persistent and all Trek from now takes place in this new timeline. A very important question, however, is whether the old timeline, the one we are familiar with from TOS, may still exist or whether it is extinguished. All the "multiple universes" episodes mentioned above featured two or more universes that must have existed simultaneously, as opposed to one timeline replacing another one after a time travel event. But the idea of multiple universes, which conforms with my "doubling theory", is just one logical explanation out of six that may explain what happens in case of a pending temporal paradox. Likewise, it is not the only underlying theory of quantum mechanics. And there are contradictory examples of time travel logic in previous episodes or movies. We should certainly not blame the new movie for the somewhat inconsistent depiction of time travel paradoxes or of their avoidance in Star Trek. Roberto Orci is aware of this problem too.

Roberto Orci: "We have to deal with it, with the fact that Star Trek episodes that don't conform to our theory of it, also do not conform to the latest greatest, most highly tested scientific theory in human history."

But unless we are given a cue in the movie that the old timeline still continues in some fashion, which is doubtful, it is the much more obvious assumption that it has been erased and will never come back (well, unless someone traveled back ever further into the past and restored everything exactly as it should have been at that point...). Orci, on the other hand, seems to have no doubt that it will persist.

Roberto Orci: "It [the original timeline] continues. According to the most successful, most tested scientific theory ever, quantum mechanics, it continues."

This is a recurring mistake in Orci's statements, actually an association fallacy. It is not the proven theory of quantum mechanics that would ensure the further existence of an "old" universe. It is the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics that would make it possible. While the latter has been accepted by a (perhaps growing) number of scientists, it is not sufficiently tested at all. So in one version of physics as shown in TNG: "Parallels" the original timeline would still continue in some fashion, but in real-life quantum mechanics it may just as well cease to exist.

The entropy dilemma

is star trek 2009 a prequel or a reboot

Roberto Orci: "It [the time travel] is the reason why some things are different, but not everything is different. Not everything is inconsistent with what might have actually happened, in canon."

What Orci says may apply to a certain limited period following the time travel incident. The 24th century, however, can only diverge to a still greater extent than the time of TOS, owing to the second law of thermodynamics (in more popular terms, the "butterfly effect"). In other words, while Kirk and Spock "only" have different personalities than they used to have because they grew up in different milieus, Picard or Sisko may never be born in the Abramsverse! The writers of a future movie or series may or may not care about it if they should decide to let a familiar guest character from the future appear. But unless otherwise stated, we have to assume that from now the 24th century, comprising some 75% of all Star Trek live action, is totally different than we used to know it.

Roberto Orci: "According to theory, there are going to be a much larger number of universes in which events are very closely related, because those are the most probable configurations of things. Inherent in quantum mechanics there is sort of reverse entropy, which is what you were trying to say, in which the universe does tend to want to order itself in a certain way. This is not something we are making up; this is something we researched, in terms of the physical theory. So yes, there is an element of the universe trying to hold itself together."

Regarding the "reverse entropy" I wonder if Orci really knows that much about quantum mechanics that I'm not aware of, or if he, as an avid fan, rather refers to some Trek episodes that seem to insinuate that there are certain ties between different universes (most obviously between "our" universe and the Mirror Universe where the people that exist are largely the same at any time). Common sense is sufficient to disprove his idea of "reverse entropy", knowing that Nero's interference will likely kill thousands of people and change the lives of millions in a way that history will never lead to the 24th century we know. Well, the same could be said about time travel events such as in "First Contact" that did some damage as well, but even if it could not be completely repaired, the 24th century was still shown as being much the same in the aftermath. It is a stretch to expect the audience to believe that, after the extremely different events of "Star Trek (2009)", history would gradually be repaired in some sort of "reverse entropy" as it can't possibly exist in real science.

The principle of equivalence

is star trek 2009 a prequel or a reboot

The parallel universes shown in Star Trek never appeared on par with our own universe, and not just because they had far less screen time. Most notably the Mirror Universe of TOS: "Mirror, Mirror" gained an increasingly clownish reputation in the course of DS9, when the Mirror characters were turned into caricatures of their counterparts in our universe. The necessary equivalence of the universes was missing, and in many cases we could be glad that "our" universe was not such a crazy place seemingly devoid of rules how characters should behave. Considering that the "Abramsverse" will replace the existing Star Trek continuity in a narrative sense, this sort of puts "our" universe on par with the many parallel universes that are out of reach and better remain forgotten.

There is yet another inequality and therefore another flaw in the superimposed multiverse concept of "Star Trek (2009)". Even if the "old" TOS/TNG/DS9/VOY universe still exists in some way, there will be no ties any longer between this one and the "new" on created by Abrams. There will be no interchangeability. Irrespective of a possible scientific loophole to cross over we wouldn't honestly expect a quite probable movie "Star Trek XII" or a possible spin-off TV series set in the new universe to ever depart to the old universe, at least not on a regular basis.

Actually, the most-often cited (and most tiresome) argument of fervent defenders of the visual update of Star Trek has always been that there is no going back to the look of the 1960s. But it is exactly the reason why we will probably never see anything set in the old continuity of Star Trek on a TV or movie screen again. Perhaps in a retro fun episode such as DS9: "Trials and Tribble-ations". Perhaps in Star Trek books, but I'm talking of canon Trek only. And on a still different note, all books from now on will have to indicate whether they belong into the old or the new continuity, and this is just another sign that the multiverse concept will be hard to deal with and will ultimately split up the franchise.

Not a reboot?

is star trek 2009 a prequel or a reboot

  • In TOS: "The Menagerie" Kirk hardly knew Pike. In the new movie Pike is much like a father figure to him.
  • Kirk is shown as irresponsible instead of ambitious, Spock as enraged where he should be composed.
  • In TOS: "Balance of Terror" the look of the Romulans was a huge surprise to the crew. In the new movie they will see them face to face before the Neutral Zone incident takes place (and it is very doubtful that it will take place at all).
  • The ship and pretty much everything else looks much more modern far beyond the point of being a new, more realistic depiction of the very same sets and props.
  • The Enterprise is being built on the ground, contrary to anything we know of starship construction.

This clearly indicates the new movie is a reboot. Not quite as radical as in the new Battlestar Galactica with its gender-switching but close enough. Certainly the many-worlds interpretation works as a scientific explanation and it may appease some fans who were opposed to the movie. But unless there are certain cues that the general audience wouldn't be expected to understand, it may have no bearing at all on the story of "Star Trek (2009)". In fact, it is well possible that Orci, as the film's resident Trekkie, made up his long-winded and admittedly profound rationale after the movie had been finished, much in the same fashion as fans try to make sense of inconsistencies in "fanon".

Canon Status

Star Trek's canon has always been based on formal criteria, rather than on qualities such as inter-series continuity, compliance with real science or even popularity. The very worst live-action episodes or movies, are still regarded as canon, while the best novels are not.

So is the new movie canon in spite of everything? The simple answer is that Abrams was given the power to make creative decisions, and if he says that it is canon we must accept that. Partial non-compliance with the existing continuity would not invalidate the new movie's canon status. Only in case of a total reboot the movie may question its own canon status or it would have to be declared an independent new canon. This is one more reason why Orci emphasizes the movie's ties to the existing Trek, rather than admitting that nearly everything has been allowed to be different.

Roberto Orci: "...much of what you will see could conform to classic canon, and thus we were not relying it as an excuse to change everything."

I have tried to illustrate the status of the Star Trek canon and its future development in the following map-like graphic. We can see that the Star Trek canon (as generally accepted by the producers and most fans) currently comprises all five live-action series, including the associated movies, and perhaps a little bit of TAS . The three 24th century series TNG, DS9 and Voyager are so closely related that it isn't even useful to separate them, while ENT and TOS differ at least in their "sophistication level" . In a practical definition, something that I have called the "tech manual fringe" wraps around the five canon series and holds them together. This fringe is non-canon in a strict definition. However, it contains useful factoids such as "Miranda class" and very obvious conclusions that have not been explicitly stated on screen though. It does not contain any speculation about events that may have taken place ("fanon") or any information from novels or games. We can also see two exemplary incidents where episodes or movies leave the established continuity but still remain canon.

is star trek 2009 a prequel or a reboot

It is undeniable that the sometimes disastrous results of temporal incursions such as in TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise" are canonical, just as well as the Mirror Universe with its increasing silliness. In "Star Trek (2009)" the new timeline not only persists, which is the case with the Mirror Universe and perhaps with "Yesterday's Enterprise" just as well. But the latter two remain "elsewhere" in the narrative perspective, whereas, if there should ever be a new Trek series set after the events of the new movie, we can take for granted that it will take place in the new "Star Trek (2009)" universe. (Yes, I know that what I have sketched up as a continuum may be composed of 57 different universes since the beginning of Trek, but who was really aware of that before Orci postulated it?)

Even if the transition to "Star Trek (2009)" doesn't erase the old Star Trek as already discussed above, it largely removes the necessity to care about the existing canon any longer. Suppose that a future Star Trek series were set entirely or only partially in the 24th century or later. Even though Orci suggests something like "reverse entropy" that could save the future in much the way we know it, this is just an option, not something that writers would be bound to. While past writers definitely didn't stick to established facts on many occasions, in a new universe the events of TNG/DS9/VOY would be only a loose guideline in the first place.

Update notice Note that in order to reflect more recent developments, I have updated the above diagram in this otherwise old article. "Kelvin Timeline" now denotes the new timeline in a narrow sense, while "Abramsverse" stands for everything related to the new style and stories of the Abrams films, no matter if they may have been a consequence of Nero's manipulation or not.

I must concede that Roberto Orci has done his homework. Probably even more thoroughly than any writers who have penned time travel stories before. He may have been aware of my take on time travel in Star Trek, which has been around for ten years now and which cites the "doubling" or many-worlds interpretation as one possibility, although it is not my favorite. Anyway, the idea to relate the premise of the movie to the episode "Parallels" and thus to the many-worlds interpretation clearly makes sense.

However, unless we are given canon proof that the old Trek lives on in some fashion and that, in the new timeline, some sort of "reverse entropy" gradually corrects history after the movie, Orci's statements may remain a mere lip service to concerned fans. Even worse, the whole idea to travel back in time to redo parts of Star Trek's history must appear as a pretext to keep only the very basics of the franchise intact and change everything that Abrams may not have liked. In other words, if we leave aside the idea of multiple universes for a moment, which is exactly the part that the average theater audience is not supposed to care about, "Star Trek (2009)" is as much a reboot as any other franchise whose continuity was abandoned. It is only explained by a genre-specific twist that the audience is expected to put up with although it is a stretch, not unlike Dallas had "Bobby in the shower".

There is one more reason why I feel let down by the premise of the movie. We have seen so many time travel stories before, and most of them with an incursion that changed history for the worse, and that had to be fixed in some fashion. The crews of Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway and Archer were struggling hard to correct history, up to the point of self-sacrifice ( "Let's make sure that history never forgets the name... Enterprise" ). And they always succeeded. In "Star Trek (2009)" they don't seem to try hard enough. The damaged timeline, the bad universe will persist. Is this a great twist, just for a change? I don't think so. On the contrary, it is depressing. The whole of Star Trek will take place in a universe that has lost its "innocence", that has been contaminated with future technology, that may not be up to the bright future we know especially from the TNG age. Star Trek has frequently brought in "dark" elements as a conscious antithesis to Roddenberry's idea of a better humanity, most obviously the Dominion War on DS9. But now something similar is done retroactively to the Star Trek Universe. Depending on how it is depicted, it may not show up immediately in the new movie, but the basic setting of Star Trek is being changed for the worse.

Anyway, while I may not be going to like what Robert Orci, together with co-writer Alex Kurtzman, with Damon Lindelof, J.J. Abrams and the rest of the creative staff have done in "Star Trek (2009)", his efforts to make the most possible sense of the new story are laudable.

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is star trek 2009 a prequel or a reboot

J.J. Abrams Star Trek Reboot Was Better Than A Rejected Starfleet War Movie Idea

  • The Kelvin timeline by J.J. Abrams was a better Star Trek reboot option than Erik Jendresen's war movie, appealing to wider audiences.
  • Jendresen's darker and grittier take on Star Trek in "The Beginning" may not have resonated well with fans of the franchise.
  • J.J. Abrams' vibrant and adventurous reboot in 2009 brought back the fun needed for the revitalization of the Star Trek franchise in theaters.

Of the two Star Trek reboot options, J.J. Abrams' Kelvin timeline was a better option than Erik Jendresen's Starfleet war movie. In 2006, following the cancelation of Star Trek: Enterprise , and the poor box office performance of Star Trek: Nemesis , Paramount were keen to revive the franchise's fortunes in movie theaters. The studio commissioned a script, provisionally titled Star Trek: The Beginning , from Erik Jendresen, who had been a writer on Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks' acclaimed World War 2 miniseries, Band of Brothers . Jendresen's proposed reboot focused on a little known period in the Star Trek timeline .

Set between Enterprise and Star Trek: The Original Series , The Beginning would have depicted the events leading up to the Earth-Romulan War . Star Trek: The Beginning 's lead character was Tiberius Chase, a reckless young graduate with a chip on his shoulder and something to prove. Chase was intended to be an ancestor of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), who played a key role in the war against the Romulans. While an interesting premise for dyed-in-the-wool Star Trek fans, it's hard to see how The Beginning would have appealed to a wider audience .

Every Star Trek Movie Ranked (From Worst To Best)

There have been thirteen Star Trek movies over the last 40 years, but which is the boldest big-screen adventure to go where no man has gone before?

Star Trek: The Beginning Was A Gritty Reboot Like Batman Begins

Erik Jendresen submitted the first draft of Star Trek: The Beginning in August 2006 , so it's interesting to look at the script in terms of the wider pop culture context. A year previously, Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins had been released in theaters to widespread acclaim. Nolan's grittier Batman movies led to a raft of similarly gritty reboots of old franchises that had previously become too outlandish. The trend would gain further traction later in 2006, when Daniel Craig's debut as James Bond, Casino Royale , rebooted the franchise with a harder-edged spy movie well removed from the camp excess of Die Another Day .

The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "In the Pale Moonlight" got its name from dialog in Tim Burton's Batman movie.

As a writer working in Hollywood at this time, Erik Jendresen wouldn't have been able to escape the industry discussions about these gritty reboots and their commercial value. Even the provisional title of Star Trek: The Beginning is an echo of Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins . The evidence of how gritty The Beginning would have been is there in Jendresen's first draft, dated August 8, 2006. There's arguably too much cursing for Star Trek , with five son-of-a-bitches, four bastards, and six shits in the dialog.

The violence in The Beginning is also more gruesome than audiences would probably expect from a Star Trek movie. For example, one of the lead characters, Jaxx sustains serious injuries in the movie's climax, with the directions explaining that " his left arm and leg gone (the wounds cauterized by fire) ". While coarse language and violence are expected in a war movie, it's interesting to ponder how audiences would react to it in a Star Trek movie. Perhaps it would be deemed too "try-hard" and seen as a hollow attempt by Star Trek to cash in on the recent successes of the gritty Batman and Bond reboots.

J.J. Abrams Star Trek Was A Bold, Colorful Reboot

In stark contrast to Star Trek: The Beginning , J.J. Abrams' reboot was bold, colorful, and stayed true to the spirit of the franchise. While there was a harder edge to J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movie, particularly in the scenes with Nero (Eric Bana), it was still a broadly family-friendly action movie. Crucially, J.J. Abrams' pitch had recognizable characters, something that was absent from Erik Jendresen's Star Trek: The Beginning script. The only returning character was Jeffrey Combs' Shran, from Star Trek: Enterprise , while Spock's grandfather , Skon, would also have debuted in the movie.

Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) and the Enterprise NX-01 are mentioned in Star Trek: The Beginning , aiding the planet Risa.

Star Trek 2009 Ending & Movies Future Explained

J.J. Abrams' Star Trek 2009 saw the young Kirk and Spock join forces to save Earth. A deep dive into how Star Trek 2009 ended and what it all means.

For a theatrical audience, a recurring character from a canceled Star Trek show is hardly a major draw, despite how great Jeffrey Combs is. The bigger draw, and J.J. Abrams' boldest move, was a complete recast of the iconic Star Trek: The Original Series cast. No matter how little a general audience knows about Star Trek , they know exactly who Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock are . With a cast of recognizable characters, coupled with a dynamic approach to sci-fi action and adventure, it's no wonder that incoming Paramount Pictures President Gail Berman opted for Abrams over Jendresen's Romulan War epic.

Star Trek 2009 Was The Franchises Best Reboot Option

Although a fascinating idea for a movie, Star Trek: The Beginning was the wrong pitch at the wrong time. With Paramount keen to revitalize the box office performance of the Star Trek franchise, there was just no place for a movie so deeply embedded in Romulan War lore. Given how relentlessly grim Star Trek: Nemesis was, the franchise desperately needed to have fun again, something that wouldn't have happened with The Beginning . While it certainly has its flaws, J.J. Abrams' 2009 Star Trek movie was the best reboot option for the franchise , and the proof is in the box office takings.

Interestingly, however, Star Trek into Darkness excised much of the fun of its predecessor, feeling more heavily influenced by Casino Royale and Batman Begins , and is one of the highest grossing Star Trek movies . While that's perhaps an indicator that Star Trek: The Beginning could have succeeded with its similar approach in 2009, those audiences were returning for Into Darkness because of how fun its predecessor was. Ultimately, J.J. Abrams' reboot launched Star Trek into an exciting new era of blockbuster movies, keeping the franchise alive for years to come.

Star Trek (2009) is available to stream on Paramount+.

J.J. Abrams Star Trek Reboot Was Better Than A Rejected Starfleet War Movie Idea

Reese Witherspoon Developing 'Legally Blonde' Prequel Series 'Elle'

‘legally blonde’ turns 21 what's happening with part 3, 'sports illustrated swimsuit’ cover reveal gayle king reacts to her 'hot mama' moment (exclusive), kelly clarkson reveals she used weight-loss shots after weighing over 200 pounds, steve carell weighs in on if he would return to 'the office' reboot (exclusive), 'selling the oc's sean palmieri breaks silence on austin victoria & tyler stanaland saga (exclusive), 'bridgerton's nicola coughlan on 'really strong partnership' with co-star luke newton (exclusive), kevin costner says he's 'taken a beating' amid yellowstone drama, reba mcentire responds to melissa peterman's tearful words about their friendship (exclusive), why pink thinks she’s ‘not set up’ for taking over katy perry's 'american idol' seat (exclusive), jonathan bailey confirms he'll be part of the 'jurassic world' franchise (exclusive), cher will have ‘some words to say’ when she accepts rock & roll hall of fame honor (exclusive), 'bridgerton's luke newton reacts to having off-screen chemistry with nicola coughlan, john legend shares chrissy teigen neck injury update after 'daring' gymnastics accident (exclusive), chilli reacts to matthew lawrence annoying his brothers with tlc lyrics, 'the strangers' creepily crash madelaine petsch & froy gutierrez’s interview (exclusive), what ryan reynolds and blake lively are calling 4th kid as they 'wait' for taylor swift to name them, 'the office' reboot: john krasinski on if there's a chance he could return as jim (exclusive), corinne foxx 'in the thick' of wedding planning with 'very excited' dad jamie (exclusive), why leslie bibb is terrified to talk 'the white lotus' season 3 (exclusive), 'if': emily blunt 'immensely' proud of husband john krasinski's love letter to their kids, angelina jolie's daughter vivienne makes surprise appearance on 'today' show, prime video announced on tuesday that it has ordered 'elle,' a prequel series from witherspoon's production company..

Reese Witherspoon developing yet another Legally Blonde TV show? What, like it's hard?

Prime Video announced on Tuesday that it has ordered Elle , a prequel series from the actress and producer and her Hello Sunshine production company.

Insecure creator Laura Kittrell will serve as showrunner, on Elle , which will follow a younger version of Witherspoon's iconic Legally Blonde character, Elle Woods. The series will focus on her high school life, as viewers explore the people and moments who helped shape her into the woman who decides to follow an ex across the country to Harvard Law School.

Witherspoon celebrated the news by recreating the opening scene of the beloved 2001 comedy in a TikTok, with details down to the "top secret script," which was, of course, printed on pink paper and scented.

"Before she became the most famous Gemini vegetarian to graduate from Harvard Law, she was just a regular ‘90s high school girl. And all of you are going to get to know her, next year on @Prime Video ✨ I’M SO EXCITED! 🩷💫🎀💅🏻🤩," she captioned the clip.

"I truly couldn't be more excited about this series!" Witherspoon added in a statement. "Fans will get to know how Elle Woods navigated her world as a teenager with her distinct personality and ingenuity, in ways that only our beloved Elle could do. What could be better than that?! I'm extremely grateful to the incredible teams at Prime Video and Hello Sunshine – along with our amazing writer Laura Kittrell – for making this dream of mine come true. Legally Blonde is back!"

Elle isn't the only Legally Blonde project in the works. ET confirmed last month that Witherspoon and Hello Sunshine are also in development on a TV spinoff series.  Deadline  was first to report that Witherspoon, along with  Gossip Girl  executive producers Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, are looking to keep the franchise going on TV and/or streaming, though details of the project are being kept under wraps for now.

The original film, which became an enduring hit when it was released, has already spawned two follow-up movies -- 2003's  Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde,  in which Witherspoon reprised her titular role as Elle Woods, and 2009's direct-to-DVD  Legally Blondes  -- as well as a popular Broadway show, in which Laura Bell Bundy originated the role of Elle.

A third film starring Witherspoon has long been in the works as well, with the latest iteration being developed by  Mindy Kaling  and Dan Goor -- however, Kaling  said last fall  that the project, like many others, had been delayed by the Writers Guild strike.

She also  told ET in April 2022  that she and the  Legally Blonde 3  creative team were taking their time writing, adamant about doing justice to the legacy of the beloved franchise.

"I love this project. I am so excited about it. We are working on it," Kaling said at the time. "It is going, you know, a little more slowly than we like but [it's] just because we really want it to be good. I think of it as like, Reese's  Avengers . Elle Woods is like her Captain America, so you don't want to be the person that messes up that story. So for me, we are just taking our time because we want it to be really good."

Witherspoon has  previously teased that  her next version of  Legally Blonde  will be heavily focused on Elle's relationship with  Jennifer Coolidge 's iconic manicurist, Paulette Bonafonté.

"I'm beyond myself about Jennifer Coolidge,"  Witherspoon gushed . "She deserves every one of those flowers she is receiving right now. And she's just one of those people who is so naturally gifted and funny and that you can just tell people love her, 'cause she gets up there and everybody's like, 'I love her,' but she's just done a lot of good work in our business for so long, that it's really nice to see her getting this incredible moment."

"There is no  Legally Blonde 3  without Jennifer Coolidge," Witherspoon maintained.

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Chris Pine Was Surprised by New ‘Star Trek 4’ Writer Hire Because ‘I Thought There Was Already a Script…I Was Wrong or They Decided to Pivot’

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STAR TREK BEYOND, Chris Pine as Captain Kirk, 2016. ph: Kimberley French / © Paramount Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection

Chris Pine was taken by surprise when news hit that Steve Yockey, creator of the Max series “The Flight Attendant,” had signed on to write the script for “ Star Trek 4.” Why? “I thought there was already a script,” the actor recently told Business Insider during an interview on his “Poolman” press tour.

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“I honestly don’t know,” Pine told Business Insider when asked about “Star Trek 4” updates. “There was something in the news of a new writer coming on board. I thought there was already a script, but I guess I was wrong, or they decided to pivot. As it’s always been with ‘Trek,’ I just wait and see.”

Steve Yockey is the latest screenwriter to get a chance to pen the script for “Star Trek 4.” Attempts over the years to get the sequel off the ground have included an R-rated idea from none other then Quentin Tarantino. Another version of the project was to be directed by Matt Shakman (“WandaVision”) and written by Lindsey Beer (“Sierra Burgess Is a Loser”) and Geneva Robertson-Dworet (“Captain Marvel”). Shakman left the project to direct Marvel’s “The Fantastic Four” instead, and it fell apart soon afterwards.

In his Business Insider interview , Pine also said that it wasn’t until the third movie that he finally felt comfortable on set playing Kirk. The character was made famous by William Shatner.

“It’s interesting. Karl Urban decided to go head first into McCoy because Karl loved ‘Star Trek,'” Pine said. “With Spock, you have to do Spock-like things, plus Zach [Quinto] kind of looked like Leonard [Nimoy]. And then Kirk is a tricky one. You are the lead of the band of characters, so you don’t want to occupy too much space. It’s fine if they are doing a thing, but you don’t want to. And J.J. [Abrams] never asked me to do a thing, though I did do little nods to Shatner because it was fun.”

“But I would say I felt most in his shoes in the third movie. By that point, I think I mellowed into it and didn’t feel like I was trying too hard,” Pine added.

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Paramount shares dip on report sony is “rethinking” $26 billion bid, ‘legally blonde’ prequel series ‘elle’ ordered by amazon from reese witherspoon’s hello sunshine.

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is star trek 2009 a prequel or a reboot

Legally Blonde has become the first big MGM title to spawn a TV series for Prime Video. The Amazon streamer has ordered Elle , a Legally Blonde prequel series. It hails from the film franchise’s star Reese Witherspoon and her Hello Sunshine banner, part of Candle Media. The project is being unveiled at Prime Video’s inaugural upfront presentation today.

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is star trek 2009 a prequel or a reboot

'Legally Blonde' Spinoff Series In Works At Amazon From Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine, Josh Schwartz & Stephanie Savage

As Deadline reported exclusively last month, there have been two Legally Blonde series in the works at Amazon MGM Studios from Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine. The other is a spinoff written and executive produced by the Gossip Girl duo of Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage.

“I truly couldn’t be more excited about this series! Fans will get to know how Elle Woods navigated her world as a teenager with her distinct personality and ingenuity, in ways that only our beloved Elle could do,” Witherspoon said. “What could be better than that?! I’m extremely grateful to the incredible teams at Prime Video and Hello Sunshine – along with our amazing writer Laura Kittrell – for making this dream of mine come true. Legally Blonde is back!”

Kittrell executive produces with Hello Sunshine’s Witherspoon, Lauren Neustadter and Lauren Kisilevsky as well the Legally Blonde movie franchise producer Marc Platt. Elle is produced by Hello Sunshine and Amazon MGM Studios.

“One of the most quotable, iconic, and beloved characters that is ingrained in the fabric of Hollywood history has to be Elle Woods, and we are honored to bring her origin story to our global Prime Video customers,” said Vernon Sanders, head of television, Amazon MGM Studios. “Reese and Hello Sunshine’s vision for this series, coupled with Laura Kittrell’s winning voice, made this show completely undeniable.”

The first Legally Blonde movie, written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith based on the novel by Amanda Brown, debuted in 2001. It became a pop culture phenomenon and propelled Witherspoon to superstardom. Sequel Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde followed in 2003 as well as 2009 direct-to-video spinoff Legally Blondes , which originated as a pilot for a potential series. Legally Blonde 3, co-written by Mindy Kaling and Dan Goor, has been in the works for several years.

At Amazon MGM Studios, Hello Sunshine previously produced the praised Prime Video limited series Daisy Jones & the Six . Witherspoon and the company are repped by CAA and attorney Gretchen Rush. Witherspoon is also with LBI Entertainment. Kittrell is repped by UTA and Mosaic.

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"You Are So Not Ready For This": Spartacus Sequel Show Hyped By Creator In New Script Update

"romans appear to be spearmen all of a sudden": spartacus' battle scene brutally assessed by expert, 10 a song of ice & fire characters that game of thrones was actually right to cut.

  • Spartacus: House of Ashur will revive Starz's beloved sword-and-sandal historical drama.
  • The new season follows a "what if...?" scenario that retcons the entire third season of Spartacus .
  • The new show will follow Nick Tarabay's Ashur as he leads his own ludus.

Starz's hit historical action drama Spartacus is getting a revival titled Spartacus: House of Ashur , although it will unfold in an unusual fashion from the typical reboot or sequel series. The highly stylized and ultra-violent action series was based very loosely on the real Thracian gladiator who escaped servitude and became a major leader in the Third Servile War, an uprising against the might of Rome beginning in 73 BC. The series follows Spartacus and his fellow gladiators through their trials in the arena, their escape, their rebellion against Rome, and their ultimate demise.

Given that the story of Spartacus came full circle by the end of the original four seasons of the show, there has been some question as to how a Spartacus revival would work . Original showrunner Steven S. DeKnight will return for the revival, ensuring that the style and quality of the first four seasons of the action drama is represented in the new show. Spartacus: House of Ashur has a clever solution for how to not only revisit the world of Spartacus, but to explore a story never even hinted at in the original series.

Spartacus creator Steven S. DeKnight confirms the progress of the forthcoming revival, while also adding that fans are not ready for what’s to come.

Spartacus: House Of Ashur Is A "What If...?" Scenario

It follows an alternate timeline from the original show.

The fifth installment of Starz's Spartacus will chronicle a story that might have occurred in an alternate timeline. Nick Tarabay, who portrayed the conniving ex-gladiator Ashur, will return to star in a season that follows what would have happened if Ashur had not met his demise on Mount Vesuvius at the end of season 2, titled Spartacus: Vengeance . The new season will essentially ignore everything that played out in season 3 ( Spartacus: War of the Damned ) and instead pivot away from the climactic conclusion of season 2.

All episodes of the first four seasons of Spartacus are currently streaming on Starz.

Tarabay's Ashur was one of the more well-fleshed-out characters in the show's original run, as his cloak-and-dagger style of conducting business made for an intriguing villain. While there are no details yet concerning whether Ashur will remain a primary villain in the new season, it's safe to assume that Tarabay will bring his charismatic flair to the treacherous former gladiator. As of now, there has been no information released about whether Tarabay will be joined by any other former Spartacus cast members, but the projected plot hints that Tarabay will be leading an entirely new cast of characters .

How Spartacus: House Of Ashur Changes The Original Show's Timeline

It takes the plot in a completely different direction.

At the end of Spartacus season 2, Ashur was working with the Romans under Gaius Claudius Glaber, and was sent to the camp of Spartacus on a mission to negotiate their surrender. He was never permitted to leave, and was ultimately decapitated by Naevia, who sought vengeance for Ashur's past violations against her. Spartacus: House of Ashur will chronicle what would have happened if Ashur had survived the showdown at Mount Vesuvius between Spartacus' forces and those of Gaius Claudius Glaber.

A battle scene from Spartacus gets brutally assessed by historian Dr. Roel Konijnendijk, who judges the fight scene for its historical accuracy.

The show will follow Ashur after Spartacus is defeated; for his service in bringing Spartacus' rebellion to an end, he is gifted the ludus of Batiatus in Capua. Little else is known about the plot, but in theory the show will return to the dynamic seen in Spartacus: Blood and Sand , in which a majority of the action takes place in the gladiators' training and actual fighting in the arena. Tarabay's Ashur will undoubtedly continue to deal in secrets and double-crossing, which should make Spartacus: House of Ashur a worthy revival of the cult classic show.

Spartacus is a Starz original series that ran for three seasons between 2010 and 2013. The TV show focused on the historical figure Spartacus, who was originally played by Andy Whitfield before his untimely passing in 2011. Liam McIntyre took over the role for the next two seasons, Spartacus: Vengeance and Spartacus: War of the Damned.

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  1. Star Trek's 2009 Reboot Changed Everything

    Star Trek 2009 's biggest aftershock came outside of its franchise with the big reboot and legacy sequel boom of the 2010s. New takes on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, RoboCop, and ...

  2. Star Trek 2009 Is Worth Revisiting 15 Years Later

    Star Trek 2009 is a reboot that still acknowledges the original timeline, even bringing over Spock from the Prime universe, things are changed, but the project does make an effort to appease everyone.

  3. Star Trek 2009 Is Worth Revisiting 15 Years Later

    Star Trek 2009 is a reboot that still acknowledges the original timeline, even bringing over Spock from the Prime universe, things are changed, but the project does make an effort to appease everyone.

  4. Star Trek (film)

    Star Trek is a 2009 American science fiction action film directed by J. J. Abrams and written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. It is the 11th film in the Star Trek franchise, and is also a reboot that features the main characters of the original Star Trek television ... A Star Trek prequel film to the 2009 film was announced to be ...

  5. Star Trek (2009)

    Star Trek: Directed by J.J. Abrams. With Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy, Eric Bana. The brash James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father's legacy with Mr. Spock keeping him in check as a vengeful Romulan from the future creates black holes to destroy the Federation one planet at a time.

  6. J.J. Abrams' Star Trek at 15: An Action-Centric Reboot with Surprising

    15 years on from the release of the J.J. Abrams-directed reboot, Hasitha Fernando looks at the story behind 2009's Star Trek… Star Trek is an IP that requires little introduction. The iconic ...

  7. Why Star Trek (2009) Remains the Perfect Jumping-On Point for New Fans

    The answer is simple. J.J. Abrams' first Star Trek film remains, to this day, the perfect entry point for new fans. It distills everything that is great about the franchise, roping it in an action-packed spectacle that has something fundamental to say about courage, and what it means to boldly venture into the unknown.

  8. Star Trek (film)

    Star Trek is a 2009 American science fiction action film directed by J. J. Abrams and written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. It is the 11th film in the Star Trek franchise, and is also a reboot that features the main characters of the original Star Trek television series portrayed by a new cast, as the first in the rebooted film series. The film follows James T. Kirk and Spock aboard the ...

  9. Why is the Star Trek 2009 reboot called a reboot?

    9. Doctor Who (2005) isn't called a reboot. It is called a continuation of the old series. This was made possible by that regeneration ju-ju and stuff. On the other hand, Star Trek 2009 reincarnation is often called a reboot. Nobody dared call it continuation. I don't think I need to do citation because it's common.

  10. 16 Crazy Things You Didn't Know About Star Trek (2009)

    Here's 16 Crazy Things You Didn't Know About The Star Trek 2009 Reboot Movie. NSA-Level Security (unless you're Tom Cruise or Ben Stiller) ... The Star Trek prequel idea had been around since 1968, when Gene Roddenberry hinted at one at the World Science Fiction Convention that year. Nothing came to fruition until the 1980s, when two men ...

  11. J.J. Abrams' Star Trek Reboot "Starting Over Was Brilliant," Says

    J.J. Abrams' 2009 movie reboot of Star Trek had an early ... and he is an executive producer of Apple TV+'s For All Mankind, which can be seen as a pseudo-prequel and origin story of Star Trek. ...

  12. Star Trek prequel movie in the works

    A prequel to the 2009 movie Star Trek is in the works. ... The 2009 film served as a reboot of the sci-fi franchise and spawned the sequels Star Trek Into Darkness in 2013 and Star Trek Beyond in ...

  13. Star Trek (2009): Sequel, Prequel, or Reboot : r/movies

    Yet, on the Wikipedia page for prequels, it makes an argument that Star Trek (2009) could be a prequel. Or, as the 11th Star Trek film, is it a sequel? Since Spock Prime is a character, I don't think it could be a reboot. How do multiple timelines come into play with regarding if a film is a prequel or a sequel or a reboot.

  14. 20 facts you might not know about 'Star Trek' (2009)

    Eventually, with William Shatner and Co. no longer holding onto the roads, time for a Star Trek reboot came around. In 2009, Kirk, Spock, and Co. were introduced to a new generation of sci-fi fans ...

  15. Star Trek's Most Mysterious Movie Is Coming Sooner Than You Think

    The new Star Trek prequel movie is set to be revealed on the big screen. Probably. by Ryan Britt. ... All the reboot Star Trek films (2009-2016) are currently streaming on Paramount+. The previous ...

  16. Paramount Pictures Officially Confirms Star Trek Origin Movie For Its

    They wrote that the origin film would be "set decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film". That film (in-universe) is set in 2233 (Nero incursion) and 2258 (main plot) respectively.

  17. 20 facts you might not know about 'Star Trek' (2009)

    Eventually, with William Shatner and Co. no longer holding onto the roads, time for a Star Trek reboot came around. In 2009, Kirk, Spock, and Co. were introduced to a new generation of sci-fi fans.

  18. List of Star Trek films

    Star Trek (2009) introduces a new cast as younger versions of the Original Series characters, and was widely considered to be a reboot of the franchise. However, it is actually a continuation set in an alternate timeline that is created after the events of the previous films by Spock, with Nimoy reprising his role. The writers chose this ...

  19. Ex Astris Scientia

    Star Trek (2009): Reboot or Multiverse? Thoughts on the continuity and the canon status of the upcoming movie. Unlike what I expected some time ago, it has been confirmed that the new Star Trek movie by J.J. Abrams, which is simply named "Star Trek", is not just a prequel to or a reissue of The Original Series (TOS) with new actors in familiar roles.. In fact, "Star Trek (2009)" will tell a ...

  20. Star Trek (2009)

    Justin Stafford. ... special contact lens painter. Susan Stepanian. ... makeup artist. Miho Suzuki. ... makeup effects lab technician: Proteus Make-up FX.

  21. Battlestar Galactica Theory Explains How The 2004 Reboot Is Actually A

    Summary. A theory proposes that the 1978 Battlestar Galactica is a sequel to the reboot, sharing a universe. Characters like Adama and Starbuck are seen as recurring figures in every cycle of the never-ending war. The reboot's ending takes on a new meaning if humanity is trapped in a cosmic cycle of life, death, and rebirth.

  22. Star Wars' Upcoming TV Show Sounds Like A Star Trek Ripoff

    It wouldn't be the first time these franchises copied each other, as J.J. Abrams was heavily inspired by Star Wars when he directed the 2009 Star Trek reboot. All that matters is whether Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is a good show and a meaningful addition to the franchise, but fans will have to wait until later this year to find out.

  23. J.J. Abrams Star Trek Reboot Was Better Than A Rejected Starfleet War

    Ultimately, J.J. Abrams' reboot launched Star Trek into an exciting new era of blockbuster movies, keeping the franchise alive for years to come. Star Trek (2009) is available to stream on Paramount+.

  24. Legally Blonde Prequel Series Ordered to Series at Amazon

    It earned a 2003 sequel, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, as well as a 2009 direct-to-DVD spinoff Legally Blondes, and a Broadway musical titled Legally Blonde: The Musical.

  25. 'Friday the 13th' Prequel Series Loses Showrunner, Bryan ...

    The " Friday the 13th " prequel series in the works at Peacock from A24 is in search of a new showrunner. Bryan Fuller — who was announced as the show's writer, executive producer, and ...

  26. Reese Witherspoon Developing 'Legally Blonde' Prequel Series 'Elle

    Prime Video announced on Tuesday that it has ordered Elle, a prequel series from the actress and producer and her Hello Sunshine production company. Insecure creator Laura Kittrell will serve as ...

  27. The Office Spinoff Show Sounds More Like A Reboot Of Another Popular

    Daniels and executive producer Ricky Gervais, who created the original U.K. version of The Office, should make the reboot series a success based on their track record.Instead of trying to capture the timely brilliance of the celebrated U.S. version, The Office reboot should aim to have a similar structure and tone but ultimately be an entirely new thing that is a product of the times it takes ...

  28. Chris Pine Surprised by 'Star Trek 4' Writer, Thought Script Existed

    Pine took on the role of Captain Kirk in J.J. Abrams' 2009 franchise reboot "Star Trek," and reprised the character in 2013's "Star Trek Into Darkness" and 2016's "Beyond."

  29. 'Legally Blonde' Prequel Series 'Elle' At Amazon; Reese ...

    The Amazon streamer has ordered Elle, a Legally Blonde prequel series. It hails from the film franchise's star Reese Witherspoon and her Hello Sunshine banner, part of Candle Media. The project ...

  30. Is Spartacus: House Of Ashur A Sequel, Reboot, Or Prequel?

    Starz's hit historical action drama Spartacus is getting a revival titled Spartacus: House of Ashur, although it will unfold in an unusual fashion from the typical reboot or sequel series.The highly stylized and ultra-violent action series was based very loosely on the real Thracian gladiator who escaped servitude and became a major leader in the Third Servile War, an uprising against the ...