Boldy Going?

I write a lot about movies, television, and pop culture in general, mostly because I’m a product of growing up in the 80’s and 90’s. Now, people my age are in charge of the pop-culture machine so there are a lot of things in development that I’m interested in. I also blame it on a lack of proper education (as my wife points out, what the heck are you actually supposed to do with a degree in Asian-American Studies?) and proper media coverage of actually important events. Regardless, I continue on, for my own enjoyment and possibly yours.

You may have heard that J.J. Abrams (see above), creator of Felicity, Alias, and Lost, is working on a new Star Trek movie for release Christmas 2008. So far, all anybody really knows about it is that it will feature a young James T. Kirk, Spock, and Bones McCoy, and that the principal actors are Leonard Nimoy (reprising his role as Spock), Zachary Quinto (Sylar from Heroes, as a young Spock), and Anton Yelchin (from mostly small TV roles, as a young Pavel Chekov). Other actors rumored to be wanted by Abrams are Tom Cruise (as Captain Christopher Pike, the original captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise) and Russell Crowe (as the unspecified bad guy). Matt Damon was the fans’ choice for a young Kirk, and Ray Liotta the choice for a young Bones McCoy, but those look doubtful. And although people are clamoring for William Shatner to reprise his role as Kirk, even in a cameo, that does not seem to be happening either.

The big mystery is what the story is going to be. In a recently posted article on Ain’t It Cool News, the new rumor is that there will be some sort of time-travel twist to the movie, in which Romulans from the future find themselves transported into the past. This leaves them with the ability to alter history, by eliminating a key historical figure. What historical figure? James T. Kirk, of course. But if an older Spock were to know about this possibility, he would then be put in place as protector of the timeline… Very Back to the Future: Part II, as the article states.

Regardless, I think that whatever Abrams does, it’ll be pretty good. I’m not sure of the whole divided-timeline idea, but it might actually better serve the “reimagining” of the Star Trek universe. The fans are excited to see Quinto as a young Spock, and he certainly looks the part, but it’s definitely going to be difficult to fill the shoes of a man who was Spock, much more so to me than William Shatner is Kirk.

Hmm… it seems to be difficult to convey the sense of interest I have in the story without writing a lot about the Star Trek mythos and history. Just thought I’d keep those of you on the outside informed.

Geek... out.

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Quick update: the role of Uhura has supposedly been offered to actress Zoe Saldana, who has appeared in Abrams' short-lived ABC creation Six Degrees and Pirates of the Carribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. She also has a role in James Cameron's upcoming sci-fi epic, Avatar.