Star Trek 2 Updates from Comic-Con; Sequel Could Start Shooting Early Next Year
Posted 07.26.11 by Ryan
After the smash success of the 2009 Star Trek reboot, fans are anxiously awaiting the next installment of adventures for the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Paramount Pictures set a June 29, 2012, release date for Star Trek 2 (working title) last January, which seemed premature since a script for the sequel wasn't written yet.
In the meantime, the creative forces behind the Star Trek reboot have been busy with other projects — director J.J. Abrams was busy shooting this summer's nostalgic sci-fi movie Super 8, while co-screenwriters Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof all worked together to script the upcoming Cowboys and Aliens, with Lindelof also being consumed with the final season of Lost. The trio of writers admitted to writing a 70-page outline for the sequel in May, but were still waiting on Abrams to add his seal of approval.
With their collective side projects coming to a close, Lindelof told On the Red Carpet (via Trek Movie) at the 2011 Comic-Con that his life is currently "consumed by Star Trek 2."
Right now my days and nights are consumed by Star Trek 2. We were supposed to dive in on that as soon as I finished Lost, but J.J. was so busy on Super 8, [and] Alex and Bob had their own sort of empire to manage. Now finally the four creative minds that made the first movie what it was are all back in a room together and that was the only way we wanted to do it. And we have been doing it and I think that the bar is very high. We are not going to be satisfied with "oh this is fine." If an idea isn’t mind-blowing or super-cool or doesn’t present the Star Trek universe in a way you haven’t seen before, but you also have to pay homage to the fans who have stuck with this amazing franchise for 40 years. So it has been very very tricky, but I think we have finally broken through and figured out what the movie is going to be.
In a separate interview with HitFix, Orci agreed with Lindelof that they had "broken through", revealing that the writers "pitched the story at Paramount and they loved it."
I think we really know what the movie is going to be. We are in soft prep. We have designers working on the Enterprise and what could change. We have designers working on the alien planets whatever they may be. I can't tell you exactly. We're really on track. We really do what we believe as an idea for the sequel.
Orci continued, adding that the sequel's "soft prep" could also include a brand new look for the Enterprise.
Yesterday, I was at a meeting with me and Alex with J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof looking at designs for how the Enterprise might change. So, we were with Scott Chambliss, an amazing production designer who we worked with on Alias and who did Cowboys & Aliens and is now back for Star Trek. And yesterday, we were looking at designs for the alien planets we might be looking at. He had actual card board cut outs of the opening sequence with the Enterprise. I can't tell you where it is. Flying over, I can't tell you where, but we are working on it. We are not just laying around.
Orci said the he thought Abrams is "resting as a result of Super 8," but revealed that he thinks they will "announce very soon now when things are going to happen," which doesn't exactly mean that the script has to be finished. "Our process doesn't really define 'the script is completed,'" Lindelof told Cinema Blend. "Because sometimes, even when we start shooting, the script is never completed and I think that's what makes it so cool."
So when will Star Trek 2 finally start production? Could be early next year, Orci and Kurtzman told Cinepremiere (via Trek Movie). "I think probably in January, but every time we say 'we will be shooting any second now,' we are not, but it is going to be soon," said Orci.
Once the Star Trek 2 team does announce the start of production, expect that June 2012 release date to change.
