ST: XI - The Menagerie

Perhaps somebody ought to stand back and look at what made the Trek films popular?

They take a group that are well known and loved by audiences through out the world, fed them with a slightly expanded but familiar story as seen every week and dropped in a little more money for a few additional effects.
That was the formula for Treks 1 to 9

Nemesis, they blew all that by trying to make it too much like all the other Sci/Fi films. Lots of running around, lots of big bangs, but not a whole lot of anything that made Trek popular for 40 years.

Although Season 3 Enterprise tried hard to be bigger and different (in Trek terms). Enterprise has still got a long way to find a character of its own in comparison to TNG or the vaunted TOS. Infact it is decidedly indecisive- Three years, three different styles and a fourth coming up!
I am still far from having any form of sympathy or empathy with Captain Leap or the rest of his ignoble crew, which cuts out the draw of a popular crew.
So I cannot see them risking millions on a film version of Enterprise.

So if they are to make Star Trek XI, it will have to be something totally new and totally different.
Perhaps to introduce us to the next generation Trek?
 
Re: Flux Capacitor & Buckaroo Banzai

Originally posted by Dave
I can't remember which one now, but one Starship even has Wherever You Go, There You Are on it's nameplate.
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It's actually the USS Excelsior NX-2000

Go here: http://www.ridgecrest.ca.us/~curtdan/Excelsior/Plaque.jpg

RE: Captain Leap on the screen.

Now that 'Enterprise' has been cancelled, I would say chances of an 'Enterprise' Film are zero. A 'TNG' film is unlikely since 'Nemesis' was deemed unsuccessful.

Personally, I would like to see a 'DS9' film, but I have to accept that I am in a minority, and that most fans did not like DS9.

That leaves either a 'Voyager' film, a film with a combination of series cast, or with a cast of unknowns.

This could, of course, be the final end of 'Star Trek'. I find that possibility the most unlikely of all. It has made too much money. Even 'Nemesis' made a lot of money, just not as much as they would like.
 
Which leaves a film to introduce a new and improved Star Trek.

Enter stage right a TV film?
 
Originally posted by ray gower
Which leaves a film to introduce a new and improved Star Trek.
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I do hope you are right that it will be 'new and improved' because a cast of new unknowns looks like what we will get...

from Trek Today

A former head of Paramount Television, a producer of Disney's Inspector Gadget movies and a screenwriter new to the franchise are working with longtime Star Trek executive producer Rick Berman to develop the eleventh Star Trek feature film, a trade newspaper has revealed.

"You can only squeeze so many eggs out of a golden goose," Berman told Variety, stating that the concept of Star Trek has been overexposed and needs to be reinvented. Berman told reporter Dave McNary that another Star Trek television series is at least three years away, and that, if the proposal for the eleventh film goes forward, it will not focus on already-established TV characters.

Berman's partners in development are said to be Jordan Kerner, a producer of over 30 films who has not previously worked on Star Trek; former Paramount Television president Kerry McCluggage, who has been cited by many Star Trek actors and producers as a strong supporter of the franchise; and a screenwriter named Eric Genderson.

"Each time we started something else, we were competing against the previous shows so as the number started to accumulate, we started to see franchise fatigue," Berman admitted. "You could see it with the performance of the last film, which was a wonderful movie." Variety noted that the studio is in "a time of uncertainty" with two new execs, Viacom co-president Tom Freston and Paramount head Brad Grey, more focused on developing films for younger audiences than long-time Star Trek fans.

Director Roger Nygard of the Trekkies documentaries noted that he believes a hiatus is logical, "like after you've eaten Thanksgiving dinner, you really don't want any more turkey", but he was confident that, as fans predicted in Trekkies 2, Star Trek would still be around in another 50 years. He added, "It's worth noting that Star Trek didn't really begin toflourish until it had been off the air for awhile the first time."
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Maybe it will be "new and improved" but I don't much like the sound of "developing films for younger audiences [rather] than long-time Star Trek fans".
 
No objection to a cast of unknowns, they won't be carrying baggage from Quantum Freak for instance. Just as long as they have a story to engage the audience. Besides, very few people had heard of Patrick Stewart until he took the helm of Enterprise.

A younger audience?
Hmmm!
It is the younger generation that has always been the market for Science Fiction, not us more mature gentlemen.
If it means they can come up with something that no longer offends the intelligence of a 9 year old?
 
Originally posted by ray gower
It is the younger generation that has always been the market for Science Fiction, not us more mature gentlemen.
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I'm not sure I agree with that, not totally anyway. The population (in Europe anyhow) is an aging one. The birth rate and death rate have been low for some time, and without immigration the population in the UK would be falling now (as it is in Italy and Spain.) So for a start, the audience is older than it was anyway.

Secondly, I like hot babes, car chases and action fights as much as anyone - that isn't only the perogative of the young '20-something' male - but I also want decent storytelling with the 'science' put back in my science fiction. I'm also sure that the '20-something' male does too. It is only because advertisers perceive these people as having the greatest disposable income, and that ratings show they like that kind of TV and film, that the studios are forced to make it. But, at least in the UK, the home-owning early-retirement 50 and 60-somethings seem to have the most disposable income to me. Saga Holidays doesn't just do coach trips any longer, it does bungee jumping and white water rafting. While 20 year olds cannot afford to rent in London, let alone start saving for a mortgage deposit.

Thirdly, you are forgetting a good half of the science fiction audience. It was fan campaigns driven mostly by Women that got Farscape and Firefly brought back. While women writers once existed on the fringes of science fiction, now they are some of the most prolific and popular writers of science fiction.

Anyway, more on the shape of the next incarnation of Trek...
from Trek Today
Erik Jendresen, who has been commissioned to write the screenplay for the eleventh Star Trek feature film with an all-new set of characters, said that the original series borrowed "in an often elegant way" from mythology and that he would like to return to a grittier type of emotion for the franchise.

"There's an old tradition in space films, if you think about it, where war and conflict are very sterile," Jendresen told SyFy Portal. "Death doesn't hurt, it's not really ugly. You can get killed by a phaser and just...disintegrate."

For the new film, whose story concept he called "pretty damn big," Jendresen said that he wanted to take an audience into an era before Kirk is born, where things aren't tied up comfortably at the end. "By the end of this story, everyone isn't fine," he explained. "I can safely say as a storyteller with certain standards...my intention is literally as a writer, as a storyteller, as a filmmaker, to go boldly where no one has gone before."

An Emmy-award winning writer and producer for HBO's Band of Brothers, Jendresen recently wrote Journey to thte Center of the Earth for 20th Century Fox but had no great desire to be involved with more science fiction. "I was not a diehard Star Trek fan," he said. "When they first approached me, I wasn't really interested. But they said, 'What if we could approach this as a blank slate, and here's a notion.'" He began to develop a story, "and it's a pretty good one."

The eleventh Star Trek film remains in very early stages at Paramount, and no director has been suggested.
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I'm happy for a grittier storyline, but I don't like the constant retconning of Trek history and lore. Star Trek has worked for 37 years because it had a utopian dream of a future which people wanted to aspire to. I like my dystopian future fiction too, but quite frankly it has never quite worked when done in Star Trek because it doesn't fit with Roddenberry's vision.

Also they are working against the odd numbered curse with this film - it would be number 11.
 
I've not forgotten that Oldies like big bangs, car chases and hot babes too!
But, as Dave observed, we want more, vis strong stories, drama, acting etc.- e.g. Something to think about!

While it is possible to write a show to give something to everybody, it is most certainly beyond the wit of any of the current creative committee.
If they give us older Trek fans what we want (and with its history, Trek needs), it will be too much for the majority.
So it is written for a lower standard in the general belief that those who want more will only complain after they have watched.


Less worried by another Retro-Trek than I am about them leaving the concept of Trek behind and becoming just another shootem up Sci Fi film. Nemesis was bad enough for that and ultimately it was not an interesting or popular film
 
So, what do you think -- is it time now to create a new forum here for Star Trek XI?

I've just re-read thread, and it certainly will have had a torturous route to the screen, but with the demise of 'Star Trek: Enterprise' I'm also fairly certain that we will get a new film before we ever see a new TV series. Anyone disagree?
 
Perhaps a Future Trek forum, rather than limit it to ST XI?

Although ST XI is the flavour of the day, I suspect it is more because the lid is still being nailed onto the Enterprise coffin then because of any serious moves towards a new film. Not polite to talk about who gets the nice nic-naks until after the final rites ;)

Fot the next year or two the speculation is going to be rife, it would be nice to disect some of them.
 
But this film is in development, albeit at some very early stage (apparently Rick Berman [in Star Trek Magazine] says that any rumours are "more than I know" and "totally fictious, totally fictious".)

He then goes on to say:
It's going to be a huge, sweeping story dealing with all-new characters and dealing with a very specific incident and period of time. It will entail a big budget and a great sense of scope, and I'm hoping that this project will come to fruition.
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Which exactly fits the rumours of what Erik Jendresen said, though the interview with Rick Berman was probably earlier.
 
We have had series after series of all new characters and vessels and it is time for Trek to revisit one of its popular roots- a series based around the adventures and missions of Captain Hikaru Sulu and the Starship Excelsior.
There is a strong enough fan base already built in and there would no risk, which is not the case with this prequel film, which I feel is an absurd idea and doomed to fail.
We dont need any more new crews and starships, we need to get back to basics and this is the best way as I see it.
Well, thats my two cents anyway.
 
There has always been a strong fan support for the Captain Sulu series. There was a huge fan call for it to be the last series, but they made Enterprise instead.

I love the idea, especially after seeing him again in Voyager 'Flashback', but I think he is getting too old now. Ten years ago it would have worked, but not now.

The other idea I've read is that they could re-imagine the original series - recast Kirk, Spock, and Bones with new young actors. This IMHO is a huge mistake, I just don't think it would work.

But I do think that the tired old formula of a new starfleet ship with a new crew needs to be ejected. Personally, I'd like to see space police boats, orion pirate ships, a Klingon battleship, and MACO attack cruisers.
 
No, I must disagree with at least one aspect of your well thought out post.

The need and interest for an Exclesior series is still as viable as ten years ago or even four years ago, when Voyager was wrapping up. They could have done it then but went with Enterprise instead, as you refer to in your post, which shows the series could have worked much later than 1995, as you implied, if it had been given the green light.

I really dont think it is too late and George Takei is definitely not too old to do it, and, as I said before, there is enough interest -in the fans if not Paramount.

They really have nowhere left to go, so why waste a grand oppurtunity to resurrect Star Trek from what it has sadly become under Berman's rule?

A series with Captain Sulu is the logical solutuion if the franchise contnues.
 
You (and I) might not think George Takei is too old, and with William Shatner's corset and Leonard Nimoy's zimmer frame he probably could make a few more films; but I can never see studio executives ever picking him to front a new seven year TV series.

This is some real news on Star Trek XI though from 'Star Trek Magazine'.

They claim that during a meeting between the Premier of South Australia, Mike Rann, and Paramount Pictures executives to discuss Paramount's upcoming film of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Princess of Mars Star Trek was also mentioned.

They are considering filming it in Australia. It will be set in the very near future; 2010 to be exact. A time when Earth has been almost destroyed by nuclear war, which is when our saviours from the future arrive. The story will be set over two movies. Nothing was said about who would star but it was inferred that Spock was a must. It could be open to any and all of the Star Trek casts from all the shows. So, Hikru Sulu is still a possibility too.
 
I might be missing something, but haven't they rather covered the "Our Saviours from out of space" with First Contact?

2010 is also too close to our future. We can pretty well guess where we will be in five years.

With regard to launching a series based on Captain Sulu. I don't think it matters greatly.
There has been very little change to the general format of Star Trek since TOS. What they have lacked is character.

It can be seen in Enterprise, the whole sheebang pretty well ground to a halt by the end of season 2.
The arc of season 3 was an improvement, but not a outstanding one, certainly not enough to rescue the series.
Then all of a sudden it came alive again, or at least the cast woke up for season 4 under when new management.

Which rather brings us back to the debate we had a while ago as to why TOS was better than TNG http://64.46.119.37/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19152
 
The rumourmongershop continues with this. According to Hailing Frequencies Scifiheaven.net has a rumor up that Tom Hanks might star in the 11th Star Trek movie, Star Trek: The Beginning, written by Erik Jendresen (Band of Brothers).

I've stopped buying 'Star Trek Magazine' now, so no idea what Rick Berman says on this. I mentioned before the rumour of Erik Jendresen and 'The Beginning' as a title. Tom Hanks is a new development though.

I think I agree with Mighty Captain that I'd much rather see a film with an established series cast - if not TNG then why not DS9, VOY or ENT - or a mixture. I just don't think a new cast with 'Hollywood Stars' is really what most fans are looking for.
 
Originally posted by Dave
I just don't think a new cast with 'Hollywood Stars' is really what most fans are looking for.
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Unless it's the extended pilot for a new, awesome series...?
 
Re: New Star Trek Film

Sounds interesting. I wonder if whoever ends up playing Kirk will try to channel Shatner's theatrical performance style?
 
Re: New Star Trek Film

Rock and Roll! Go with the adventure, I always say! If the movie had the budget and the STORY to match the concept we may have a hit here.

I'd cast some unknowns, they always add to the ability to suspend disbelief. (And the opposite is true too, See: Tom Cruise in "War of the Worlds."
 
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