Paramount has launched its first trailer for Star Trek, which opens May 8, 2009:
As someone who actually grew up with the first Star Trek TV series and faithfully watched all of its subsequent incarnations, I confess that this origin story feels a tad young to me. I’m hearing that Chris Pine is terrific as Kirk–you see how he becomes the Captain of the Starship Enterprise–and Simon Pegg got a laugh out of me in this fast-moving trailer. This feels sort of like the new Bond movie Quantum of Solace–at what point do you leave out so much of the original DNA that you’ve gone too far to reinvent something? Of course the point is to create a new movie out of the old so that a younger generation can appreciate it. I get it. I will keep an open mind. (BTW, the excellent opening for Quantum is based on the success of Casino Royale. Next weekend will tell the tale of how it actually plays.)
But I have to say that while I admired the Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman script for Transformers (their rep insists that any claims on the Internet to have read the Star Trek script are bogus) and adore the TV work of J.J. Abrams (his Mission Impossible installment played like an episode of Alias on steroids), if this movie leaves generations of Star Trek fans feeling left out, that could be a problem. UPDATE: Here’s Sci-Fi Wire’s interview with Chris Pine. And EW’s Trek cover story. The trailer played well to younger folks in my office. Wired is worried about early reaction to Trek footage in Europe. New York has seen some material and L.A. has its preview Wednesday.
UPDATE: Star Trek will be a test for Brad Grey’s Paramount. Launched under the aegis of Grey and ousted production chief Gail Berman, the movie is now being shepherded into the marketplace by Grey’s lieutenants Rob Moore, John Lesher, and Brad Weston. 2009 will be a year when Paramount will live or die on its own slate, with tentpoles Star Trek, Transformers 2 and G.I. Joe, plus fall films from Peter Jackson (The Lovely Bones, developed and produced by DreamWorks), and Martin Scorsese (Ashecliffe, based on Dennis Lehane’s Shutter Island, stars Leonardo DiCaprio). There’s only one 2009 DreamWorks Animation movie (Monsters and Aliens) and no Marvel films until 2010. Paramount will start shooting Nickelodeon’s M. Night Shyamalan family adventure The Last Airbender in March, but the pic isn’t scheduled for release until 2010.
[Originally appeared on Variety.com]
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