Star Trek: Beyond (2016)

[Brian G Turner]

Just came across this piece at CNET, claiming that Simon Pegg will co-write the screenplay for the third Star Trek reboot film:
http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/scotty-pegg-will-write-star-trek-3/

Not sure if it's official, or part of the rumour machine, and the story was from last month - and in no way do I mean to denigrate Simon Pegg's brilliance, but it does seem a curious choice. Perhaps I'm simply type-casting him as a dark comic writer, when clearly he understands both the genre and screen writing?

Also, Abrahms will have nothing to do with Trek 3, presumably because he's too busy with the new Star Wars films?

 

[Lenny]

Not sure if it's official, or part of the rumour machine, and the story was from last month - and in no way do I mean to denigrate Simon Pegg's brilliance, but it does seem a curious choice. Perhaps I'm simply type-casting him as a dark comic writer, when clearly he understands both the genre and screen writing?

Pegg's Twitter account (well, it was his account, then he left, and a team from his official website took it over as a news account) confirmed it, so it's pretty much official: https://twitter.com/simonpegg/status/558157870429392897

He's a massive Trekkie, and definitely has all the right credentials to be writing something as SF as Star Trek, so it's not a terrible choice. At least he's someone who gets it, who wasn't part of writing the previous films (they weren't exactly bad, but nor were they exactly Star Trek).

 

[Overread]

Interesting and yet I'm somewhat hopeful - as he's a fan maybe we'll get something that isn't a mindless hollywood action flick

(they weren't exactly bad, but nor were they exactly Star Trek).

Parts of my brain still hurt from the first "reboot film" (such as that wonderful part where the crew of the Enterprise, under Spocks command, decide the best thing to do is to fire Kirk out of an escape pod onto a random ice-world only a stones throw from a world that just got blown apart....

 

[El Capitain]

Yes writing and directing it I have high hopes for this one apart from being a massive trekkie he nails sci-fi right down to the bone. Check out his Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy with Nick Frost.

 

[clovis-man]

Looks like this one will be played for laughs. Abrams on a roll??

 

[Jeremy M. Gottwig]

Am I allowed to have negative thoughts?

I ask this, because, given my disdain for the Abrams Star Trek movies, I'm having negative thoughts.

That said, based solely on this trailer, it doesn't look too bad.

 

[Droflet]

 

[Culhwch]

Am I allowed to have negative thoughts?

Aren't negative thoughts what fuels the internet?

I'm not big on pre-reboot Trek, but (or maybe 'therefore') I really liked the last two movies, and I suspect I will like this one too. Big dumb fun, no doubt, and probably not a lot of thought required. Definitely my wheelhouse!

 

[Brian G Turner]

Isn't this the one that Simon Pegg submitted a script for, only for it to be rejected in some way? I checked IMDB and there are 4 writers on the credits, but Simon Pegg's name is also mentioned. In which case, I wonder how much of his idea is in there - and sincerely hope that the producers writers haven't made a Hollywood hash with the writing on this one...

PS - Also changed the title to that of the film, so that we know exactly which Star Trek we're discussing here.

 

[clovis-man]

Maybe he just wrote the joke punchlines. I'm a Pegg fan anyway, so it's all good. I'm more concerned that they don't do some sort of rehash of previous Trek scenarios as in the last one.

 

[Parson]

It looks interesting. But the trailer makes me think that it is going to lack a certain gravitas which I desire in my entertainment. Playing strictly for laughs, especially in S.F. I find off-putting.

 

[clovis-man]

It looks interesting. But the trailer makes me think that it is going to lack a certain gravitas which I desire in my entertainment. Playing strictly for laughs, especially in S.F. I find off-putting.

There needs to be a balance. For example, I would submit that they got it right with Guardians of the Galaxy.

 

[Parson]

There needs to be a balance. For example, I would submit that they got it right with Guardians of the Galaxy.

Haven't seen it. I watch fewer than 3 full length feature in an average year. Books..... More than 3 a week.

 

[clovis-man]

Haven't seen it. I watch fewer than 3 full length feature in an average year. Books..... More than 3 a week.

Well that explains it. You don't have time left over for movies. I'm just the opposite. My immersion in media gets in the way of my reading.

 

[Heir]

There needs to be a balance. For example, I would submit that they got it right with Guardians of the Galaxy.

Arguably, that's due to the context of the story. Thor 2 had humour, but I found it so jarring that every second a joke was being cracked and I tend to like humour. Guardians did get it right... but it had a talking raccoon and a tree which speaks like a pokemon. Taking itself seriously would have been the completely wrong approach, I think.

 

[Nick B]

The Abrams star trek films have been the first treks I have liked since the original cast. I really havnt liked anything post Kirk at all until now. So I hope this one lives up to that.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Actually, just found this and it might provide an insight into what Simon Pegg was trying to do with the script:
Simon Pegg criticises ‘dumbing down’ of cinema

He said he had been asked to make the new Star Trek film “more inclusive”.

“They had a script for Star Trek that wasn’t really working for them. I think the studio was worried that it might have been a little bit too Star Trek-y,” he said of the original draft.

“Avengers Assemble, which is a pretty nerdy, comic-book, supposedly niche thing, made $1.5bn dollars. Star Trek: Into Darkness made half a billion, which is still brilliant.

“But it means that, according to the studio, there’s still $1bn worth of box office that don’t go and see Star Trek. And they want to know why.”

He added: “People don’t see it being a fun, brightly coloured, Saturday night entertainment like the Avengers,” adding that the solution was to “make a western or a thriller or a heist movie, then populate that with Star Trek characters so it’s more inclusive to an audience that might be a little bit reticent”.

So...something not about Star Trek, but instead a more popular genre that simply includes Star Trek characters?

 

[clovis-man]

So...something not about Star Trek, but instead a more popular genre that simply includes Star Trek characters?

If you read Pegg's biography, Nerd Do Well, you get a pretty clear picture of what a Trek geek he really is. But, perhaps he realizes that there are limits to "space opera" entertainment value. For example, after the soporific original Star Trek movie, The Wrath of Khan was just what the doctor ordered in terms of properly self-contained drama with nicely delineated good guys and bad guys.

 

[Culhwch]

It's really rude of these businesses to try and make money. They really should be pouring their millions of dollars of investment into niche fan service that is guaranteed to lose money, rather than trying to appeal as broadly as possible...

To expect Star Trek feature films to adhere to the aesthetics and general vibe of the older movies and television series is unrealistic. I think the best hope for fans for something 'true' to that era would be via a new television series made by a provider such as Netflix or HBO, and even that would need to be updated somewhat to get greenlit. It's not like the property has had any recent successes in that field to make it terribly tempting.

 

[BAYLOR]

The trailer really didn't wow me.