‘Cloverfield’ Director Starry-Eyed Over ‘Trek’ Trailer, Footage

Movies Blog – You could count on one hand the number of people who have watched the top-secret “Star Trek” that will be unveiled next month; even fewer fingers, most likely, would be needed to take stock of those who’ve seen dailies from the December ‘08 release. Writer/director Matt Reeves, however, is one of the chosen few.“Way back, J.J. was like ‘When ‘Cloverfield’ comes out, ‘Star Trek’ will be on it,’” Reeves said of his mysterious monster flick, which will hit theaters on 1.18.08 with the “Trek” trailer attached. “I was like ‘That’s a terrific idea; that’s exciting’. So, I’ve known for a long, long, time that was their plan, and I’ve just recently seen bits of the teaser. I think it’s amazing, and it looks pretty incredible.”

Abrams is a producer on “Cloverfield,” and one of the main driving forces behind its unorthodox advertising campaign. Reeves, meanwhile, has been friends with the pop-culture-icon since they teamed up for “Felicity.” These days, he’s busy at work attaching trailers for his friend’s much-anticipated movie on to the front of his own.

“I think people are going to be very excited,” he said, offering a sneak preview. “It’s a teaser, you know, it’s a teaser trailer. But still, I was like ‘Wow!’ Just the scope of it, the scale of it, you just look at it and it’s so elegantly done.”

Having witnessed Abrams’ mindset as he tries to re-assemble one of film’s greatest franchises, Reeves said: “It’s one of those things where J.J. has a lot of ideas come out of [the fact that] he has a very simple, forceful way to express himself while capturing people’s imaginations. I think what [he and his producers] are doing with the trailer is fantastic; this is a great way to reboot the franchise, and get people excited about something new.”

The teaser trailer is so thrilling, in fact, that Reeves admitted to having some difficulty stifling his inner fanboy. “That’s what excited me about seeing the trailer, was that I thought ‘Well, this does look completely different and new,’” he marveled. “But while having all the stuff that will make fans of ‘Star Trek’ still feel fulfilled.”

As if that doesn’t make us jealous enough, Reeves revealed that he has also seen entire, completed scenes from the assembled dailies. “I’ve seen little bits of the movie too, and I feel that way as well,” the director said. “He’s doing an amazing job; it’s very exciting. It’s not your grandfather’s ‘Star Trek,’ that’s for sure.”

Will you be doing the ol’ “Wing Commander” trick of watching the “Trek” trailer and then sneaking into a different theater’s main program? Or are you looking forward to “Cloverfield” just as much? Weigh in with your plans below!

Looking back at 2007 : part four

SF Universe – As we round into fall, it’s the last of our look back at the SciFi stories that made us go hmmmm.OCTOBER

Fox shuts down Buffy “Once More With Feeling” fan sing along events

Chris Pine wins Kirk role in new Star Trek flick
Kristin Bell joins Heroes

Stargate Atlantis is picked up for a fifth season

Nichelle Nichols joins Star Trek co-star Takei on Heroes

Production wraps on Indy 4

Fox announces production of new X-Files movie

NOVEMBER

NBC puts together Knight Rider remake as back door pilot even as Bionic Woman remakes flounders in the ratings

Joss Whedon and Eliza Dushku team up for Dollhouse

Hollywood writers go on strike and TV production is brought to a virtual standstill

Heroes Origins is shelved due to writers strike and series prepares for an early finale

DECEMBER

Christian Bale confirmed to star in Terminator 4

Peter Jackson signs on to produce The Hobbit, Sam Raimi may direct

CBS Interactive cans entire staff of StarTrek.com

Arthur C. Clarke turns 90 and releases YouTube greetings

USA cancels 4400 and The Dead Zone

Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem opens Christmas Day

There! It’s finally over. Lot of things happened last year when you stop and look back. Hopefully, 2008 will be just as full…

Nichelle Nichols – Know What I Mean?

Star Trek Vs Star Wars

Ever wandered what would it be like if starships from Star Trek world would find themselves in battle with Star Wars starships? In this video from kocevski.com Enterprise is fighting Death star and Executor…how will the battle end up? See for yourself:

New Star Trek details…

SciFi Wire – Roberto Orci, co-writer of director J.J. Abram’s highly anticipated Star Trek movie, told SCI FI Wire that the tightly guarded story for the upcoming franchise reboot depends heavily on the appearance of original series star Leonard Nimoy.

Orci (Transformers) added that the movie will explore Trek history that hasn’t been mined before and confirmed that the story will take place before the events of the original series.

“There were many, many elements of the story that we had talked about just theoretically if ever Star Trek were to come back,” Orci said in an interview in November. “There was lots of stuff we wanted to do, and that was a blessing. Normally you don’t have that much investment and research for a project you get hired to do. If you are a fan of [classic] Star Trek, there is a lot of unexplored history. With the original series, there was so much that could have come before it. It felt like it has been The Next Generation and The Next, Next Generation for so long, it seemed like a fresh thing to go back to the source and to go back to what happened before it.”

The crux of the screenplay involves the appearance of Nimoy in his iconic role as Spock. “I think a lot of people were speculating that we must have had multiple ideas [for the script],” Orci said. “The truth is that we took a gigantic gamble in terms of the movie we wanted to do, and it was essential that we had Nimoy. Frankly, I didn’t understand any other way to do it. We didn’t have a Plan B. I think that would have shown that we didn’t have a true, singular vision of what we wanted to do, so it was essential for us to get Nimoy. It was a gigantic gamble, and I can’t even believe that J.J. supported that kind of a gamble, but I think he understood it was the way to do it and a way to get the blessing for Star Trek, to show there is continuity for the spirit of what it was before. So when Nimoy said yes, not only as a fan was it a relief–if that didn’t work, I don’t know where we would be!”

Orci, who previously tackled a beloved franchise with Transformers (which he co-wrote with partner Alex Kurtzman), said that adapting Trek was even harder because of the dedicated fan base watching every move.

“The dangers are that now you are opening up yourself to the fact that the fans know what you know about the characters,” Orci said. “They have their own ideas about what should be done and what is right for the franchise. So the goal with this movie is twofold. One is to make sure that the fans–who have been the stewards of the continuity and who are some of the most savvy and intelligent fans of any franchise ever–that they be satisfied with anything that has the name Star Trek on it. But, more importantly, the goal is really to introduce casual fans and people who don’t know Star Trek at all to this universe and to connect it to today. … The goal of Star Trek … is that if you don’t like sci-fi or know Star Trek, this will bring you into the world.” Star Trek opens on Christmas Day 2008. —Tara DiLullo Bennett

Pixar – SciFi battle

Check out this cool sci-fi battle made by Pixar. It features starships from movies like Star Wars, Star Trek, Babylon 5, Battlestar:Gallactica… looks unpolished but cool 🙂

5 things you didn’t know about… Star Trek

AskMen – AskMen created a list of 5 things you didn’t know about Star Trek. I would just point out that these are all things you probably didn’t know – if you weren’t a Trekkie 🙂 . If you are, this will be old news for you…

During the Civil Rights Era of the 1960s, two men — Gene Roddenberry and Sherwood Schwartz — developed TV shows with a similar, fundamental premise: The characters would be a microcosm of the world, and only through cooperation could they overcome their differences. Shwartz marooned his creativity on Gilligan’s Island with seven imbeciles who deserved each other.

Alternately, Star Trek, Roddenberry’s creation, featured a cast with groundbreaking diversity; it confronted relevant social and intellectual issues, and it was set against the vast expanse of the unknown universe, instead of on a confined island.

This approach struck an unparalleled chord, and four decades later the full Trek franchise is worth billions of dollars. It has been explored through six television series, 10 films, hundreds of novels, scores of video games, a Vegas attraction, and untold merchandising opportunities, from T-shirts and action figures in the millions to a limited-edition golf putter shaped — you guessed it — like the USS Enterprise.

Its devoted fans, Trekkies (some prefer Trekkers), own a fanatic detail-oriented reputation that predates the web and makes a similar phenomenon regarding a four-eyed boy wizard look like the pet rock. They are parodied endlessly and endure heaps of ridicule, all with admirable indifference.

As the franchise prepares for its 11th feature film, scheduled for release in late 2008, we present five things you didn’t know about Star Trek:

Startrek.com eliminated!!!

Slice of SciFi – We were shocked to learn that CBS/Paramount has dropped the ball and will let their official Star Trek Website go by the wayside. Here is the official Press Release from StarTrek.com:Goodbye from the STARTREK.COM Team. Sadly, we must report that CBS Interactive organization is being restructured, and the production team that brings you the STARTREK.COM site has been eliminated. Effective immediately.

We don’t know the ultimate fate of this site, which has served millions of Star Trek fans for the last thirteen years.

If you have comments, please send them to editor @ startrek.com – we hope someone at CBS will read them.

Thank you for your loyal fandom over the years. It has been a pleasure to serve you.

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What is it with corporate heads? Why don’t they get it? Paramount, within just a year, will be releasing the biggest Trek film since “Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan” & “Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country” and they decide to eliminate their main source of online communication with fans across the world.Well, stay tuned to Slice of SciFi as we will endeavor to continue keeping you up-to-date on all that is happening in the Star Trek universe. And, our fondest wishes for the staff at StarTrek.com, hopefully, they will soon find gainful employment elsewhere.

Shatner meets Miss Piggy :)

Out most common visitor here on Scifirama seams to be W. Shatner. But, that’s ok because I really like his videos, maybe even more then Star Trek… (joke) 😉

Cutting with ultrasound waves

Futurismic – Straight out of Star Trek comes a potential new breakthrough in medical surgery – being able to operate inside a person without making an incision. By focusing ultrasound waves – the same used by OB/GYNs in prenatal care – in a way similar to focusing sunlight in magnifying glass, doctors may soon be able to disintegrate tissue several centimeters below the skin. The new technique, called histotripsy (try saying that three times fast), causes cavitation – an effect that makes Sean Connery playing a Russian believable to American audiences. It also creates tiny bubbles that grow and collapse, releasing energy that liquefies the tissue at the desired site. While laser beams can be more powerful, what they cannot do is penetrate the skin without leaving burn marks.