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Simon Pegg- new Trek script started from scratch, features more "Frontierism"

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E

Exterminieren

Banned
Simon Pegg's been doing some interviews, and the subject of his writing of the next Trek movie has come up a few times.

Pegg: new script has no relation to Orci's

He's confirmed that the screenplay that he and Jung are working on bears no relation to the earlier draft by Roberto Orci. "It's completely new. I haven't read Bob's script and they didn't want us to. So we went back to the drawing board", he said.

"We had creative meetings with Justin [Lin, director] and there were things he wanted in there. I haven't written like this before. I've never been a custodian of something, it's usually mine when I'm writing. Whereas with this, you're given a bunch of stuff... so Doug and I go 'okay, right, let's try and get that into it'. So it's an interesting process".
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Pegg promises "Frontierism" and "Optimism" for the next Trek movie.

What got you excited about the opportunity to write the next “Star Trek” movie, and can you talk about the sensibility you want to bring to it?

It just came out of conversations I was having with J.J. [Abrams] and Bryan Burk, and they decided to kind of like restart the process. Because I’d been on the set with Burk-y on “Mission: Impossible,” he said, “Maybe you should come on and write it with Doug and Justin and him and Lindsey Weber. And I was a bit, “No. I don’t want to – it’s too much pressure!”

But I think we just want to take it forward with the spirit of the TV show. And it’s a story about frontierism and adventure and optimism and fun, and that’s where we want to take it, you know. Where no man has gone before – where no one has gone before, sensibly corrected for a slighter more enlightened generation. But yeah, that’s the mood at the moment.
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I have to say, the knowledge that Orci and his script have been removed from the movie entirely makes me far more excited for the next movie than I otherwise would have been. Pegg's making all the noises I wanted to hear, too.

He's also being... diplomatic about Into Darkness.

Specifically on Star Trek Into Darkness, Pegg did clarify that "I really, really am very proud of Into Darkness". But he did add that "I feel like the thing that for me was kind of jolting was that it kind of wanted to embrace itself a little too much, rather than take off and do what Star Trek did, which is to go off into the depths of the galaxy".

"It was about referencing not only a previous film but also kind of hanging onto the coast of Earth a little bit. So for me it's now about the spirit of adventure and exploration and also, in modern terms, just how would that be for people, to be away for that amount of time and that kind of stuff. We're trying to evolve the story at the same time as not letting it go".
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benjipwns

benjipwns

Banned
This deal just keeps better all the time.

EDIT: Wow, they're starting shooting on April 15th. Guess this reboot-reboot was farther along than I thought.
 
R

Regurgitated

Banned
Gambit 1138 said:
Orcis script probably sucked but I'd still like to compare it to the finished product someday
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Orcis script would have been just a war between Klingons and The Federation I bet. I'm really excited for this Star Trek because Pegg knows and loves sci-fi and understands what Star Trek is plus you have a director known for his great stunts and action. That's a damn good combination.
 
J

Jb

Member
benjipwns said:
This deal just keeps better all the time.

EDIT: Wow, they're starting shooting on April 15th. Guess this reboot-reboot was farther along than I thought.
Click to expand...

Really? I thought I read Pegg had to deliver the script for May.
 
benjipwns

benjipwns

Banned
This was always how they should have done the reboot, all the time travel, destroying everything in sight, "dark" themes that weren't actually moral quandaries, are what held back what was some good design and acting. Even the "origin" should have been skipped in my opinion.

One of the better parts of Into Darkness is the start, that was a peek at how the new universe wasn't just endless slaughter of everyone in the Alpha Quadrant but the Enterprise was out having adventures. And then as Pegg notes they're right back to the shores of Earth to face the big evil with a convoluted and irrational plan.

You're never topping original Khan as a villain in a Star Trek film, so you have to go other routes than Enterprise vs. Big Bad as your entire plot.
 
benjipwns

benjipwns

Banned
T

The Boat

Member
I'm optimistic about this now. I actually enjoyed the first two films, they're not Star Trek, but they're entertaining action movies.
 
J

Jigorath

Banned
But I think we just want to take it forward with the spirit of the TV show. And it’s a story about frontierism and adventure and optimism and fun, and that’s where we want to take it, you know. Where no man has gone before – where no one has gone before, sensibly corrected for a slighter more enlightened generation. But yeah, that’s the mood at the moment.
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Oh thank God.
 
benjipwns

benjipwns

Banned
I'm not saying Nemesis is a better movie or anything but it's the same setup basically, Romulan with big ship and crazy absurd weaponry has beef with Enterprise crew and managed to hide out for a few decades without anyone noticing.

Plus, Nemesis has the best intro of any Trek film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwRjc2vH4Uw
 
T

thesoapster

Member
Deadly Cyclone said:
People hated Into Darkness? Huh.
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I know a lot of people got (rightfully) annoyed with it for some of its parts. But overall I enjoyed it a lot. It still has a decent IMDb score, so I don't think I'm alone. I did laugh out loud at Spock yelling at *that* scene. It took away any emotion that had built up immediately.
 
P

pa22word

Member
Into Darkness was one of those "destroyed my childhood" types of movies everyone talks about. I was too young for the pain of the prequel trilogy to sting me too badly when they came out, but I watched the classic star trek, including Wrath of Khan, all the time as a kid and when I was watching this the only thing that could run through my mind was "holy shit, this is just a fucking terrible remake of wrath of khan".

I honestly would have walked out had I not went with my brother. It was easily the worst movie I had seen in theatres since TF2.
 
T

ThoseDeafMutes

Member
The first two were fun, but not particularly deep. The cast is good, the direction was good, the vfx were good. Dialogue wasn't even that bad. Just pretty dumb plots and a very liberal interpretation of the Trek world and canon. Kind of the opposite of what the core fans wanted, I imagine.

Something a little less pure-action and a bit more well thought out and I think they will strike more or less the perfect balance for this series of films. Tossing out Orci is encouraging. I have no idea how good Pegg is as a writer, though.
 
W

WadiumArcadium

Member
The first was great. I enjoyed the second one as well but it wasn't as good. The ending was bad. I'm a big fan of Pegg so I hope it works out.
 
A

Akahige

Member
Into Darkness wasn't bad as something like X-Men Origins: Wolverine but it was as bad as X-Men: The Last Stand. Good thing it's not as bad as The Amazing Spider-Man 2 since that is The Hangover Part II level bad.

If that makes sense then good.
 
V

Vagabundo

Member
If they can keep all the good bits from the other two films and improve on it then yeah, lets do this.

I enjoyed the hell out of them. The cast is excellent. I love the slightly different take on the characters and canon, but keeping them true. They can definitely run a series of films with this cast.

Or even a miniseries of six episodes would be cool too. Get back to the original exploration, weird aliens, moral quandaries of the original series/TNG series.

Just leave Q out please.
 
R

RaGNaRoK 2k5

Banned
Deadly Cyclone said:
People hated Into Darkness? Huh.

All for Pegg writing 3 though.
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It was an ok movie but after the reboot successfully distanced itself from the original timeline, I expected an original Trek movie, not a remake right away. Hopefully Pegg and co. write something that's original for 3 that involves bad ass Klingons.
doing something original?
 
J

jett

D-Member
This is what the second movie should've been about. That thing really put a dent in ST's chances of being a huge blockbuster franchise...than and taking so long to come out.
 
A

aku:jiki

Member
Well, I had no idea Pegg was even doing this and it's encouraging to me. I didn't all-out hate the last two movies, but they were a bit disappointing as they sort of missed the mark on what Trek is. Sounds like Pegg knows what's up from those quotes, but I guess we'll see when the movie comes out.

ThoseDeafMutes said:
I have no idea how good Pegg is as a writer, though.
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He was a co-writer on all of the stuff he's known for, so you probably do already know.
 
benjipwns

benjipwns

Banned
Vagabundo said:
I enjoyed the hell out of them. The cast is excellent. I love the slightly different take on the characters and canon, but keeping them true. They can definitely run a series of films with this cast.

Or even a miniseries of six episodes would be cool too. Get back to the original exploration, weird aliens, moral quandaries of the original series/TNG series.
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The comics do this, both doing new stories but also different takes on TOS episodes with the differing crew/universe.

Just leave Q out please.
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Um...just don't read four of the issues.
 
M

Mango Positive

Member
I think the exploration aspect of Trek is long overdue. I feel the studio probably forced them into an alternate take on a previous story. I loved Into Darkness myself, but I do get the complaints.

My wife absolutely loved it. In order to help her "get" most of the references, I made her watch Wrath of Khan when we got home. She far preferred Into Darkness and while I still prefer WOK, there's definitely some heavy, heavy use of prescription strength rose-tinted-glasses when people compare the two films.
 
C

Cheebo

Banned
Scullibundo said:
You don't go throwing the film and crew you're supposed to be promoting under the bus.
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Yep. Did we already all forget when our old pal Shia a few years back trashed Indiana Jones 4? And Ford came out to give him a fairly public lashing about how you don't criticize movies you worked on in public.
 
N

NotLiquid

Member
tanooki27 said:
into darkness was so awful it made me wanna cry but didn't you feel the first was a satisfying reboot?
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The first one wasn't really that bad to be honest. It was more painfully average than anything (which about sums up JJ Abrams' entire filmography other than maybe arguably MI:3) but Into Darkness kind of made me just feel like this particular franchise as a whole was wasted.

I'm a lot more excited now though since the creative team feels like it's going through a huge shuffle for the better. I don't think it's going to undo the bad premises of the recent films but I'll happily take a good movie over anything.
 
C

cascardian

Member
The films have always been hit or miss. Star Trek simply functions better as a TV series, preferably (for me at least) in the quasi-serialised, quasi-dark DS9 vein. A new TV series is a big commitment compared to another badly written one-off film, but it could be just what the franchise needs for a revival.

(I just don't think a true Roddenberry-based utopia of optimism and cooperation would be appreciated as much in a post-9/11, post-Game of Thrones world.)
 
V

Vagabundo

Member
benjipwns said:
The comics do this, both doing new stories but also different takes on TOS episodes with the differing crew/universe.


Um...just don't read four of the issues.
Click to expand...

Interesting, time to fire up the IDW app on my iPad then :D

I think my problems with Q started with Voyager. I liked the character up until then. I'll give comic Q a shot.
 
J

Jarmel

Banned
For the most part I'm really happy how this has all shaken out. Orci being gone, completely, is the best thing to happen to the franchise.
 
Y

Yamauchi

Banned
Deadly Cyclone said:
People hated Into Darkness? Huh.

All for Pegg writing 3 though.
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Star Trek Into Darkness was pretty terrible.

That said, I definitely enjoyed the first reboot. Unlike with several other Trek films, however, I do not enjoy re-watching it at all. Maybe this third film will have a bit of meat to it.
 
K

Kai Dracon

Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
I enjoyed both films to be honest, but was bothered by Into Darkness visibly reusing the exact same conceptual framework as the first film: A mysterious villain who has a beef with Earth. A giant super ship that totally outguns our heroes. Kirk sneaks onto the super ship to disrupt things from the inside.

Had Orci stayed on, I wouldn't be surprised if the third film had been about: a blowhard Klingon captain who decides to attack Earth with a new Klingon super ship which Kirk and Spock infiltrate to sabotage.
 
S

Sotha_Sil

Member
There's some hope, then.

As awful of a movie as Final Frontier was in reality, I thought the concept behind it was great. Maybe this can do something similar and get it done right.
 
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