The Rebirth of Star Trek
Could it be true? It looks as though the unthinkable has happened- a new Star Trek movie that will bring the franchise back from the edge of oblivion. After Star Trek: Insurrection and Star Trek: Nemesis failed to set the box office alight, Star Trek: Voyager coming under fire from fans during its final years and the prequel series Enterprise being canned after four seasons, it looked as though the Star Trek franchise was about ready to fade away. After being one of the most respected and long running genre franchises in history (only outdone by Doctor Who), it was losing fans, ratings and attention in huge quantities. With the cast if the Next generation movies now out of their contracts and the studio seemingly out of ideas for the series, the only way to go was to start over again.
Star Trek – The Journey Never Ends
The notion of a prequel movie started to circulate as soon as the Enterprise series left the air. The main idea was a Starfleet Academy film featuring the early years of Kirk and Spock and the other original Star trek characters. This rumour proved to be closer to the mark than fans could imagine. JJ Abrams, of Alias, LOST and Cloverfield fame (amongst everything else he’s been involved with), was chosen to bring back Star Trek for the modern era. The original series was to become a brand new feature film from paramount, with an all new cast playing those iconic 1960s roles. This sent something of a stir through the fan communities. How could these roles be played by anyone other than their original stars? The characters of Kirk, Spock, McCoy and everyone else in the original crew have become such cultural mainstays that this was seen as nothing short of sacrilege.
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