SF Universe » J.J. Abrams

The Folks from Fox Take the TCA Stage

Cynthia — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 23:01:20 +0000

It was Fox’s turn at the TCA’s today and they had a lot to talk about. Glee is at the top of the charts for them, Bones, Fringe and House are still zinging along and they have a couple of exciting new shows coming up mid-season.

Panels at the event included a talk with the cast of Past Life, the new drama that deals with Past Life regression. On hand was (L-R): Ravi Patel, Richard Schiff, Nicholas Bishop and Kelli Giddish.

The Human Target was also unleashed on the crowd and star Mark Valley came with his own mobile shooting gallery.

Battlestar’s Katee Sackhoff was there representing 24 and JJ Abrams arrived in support of Fringe.

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Star Trek the Movie: Behind the Scenes

Cynthia — Tue, 05 May 2009 07:05:37 +0000

Just released, four great behind the scenes stills from the new Star Trek movie. Check out JJ Abrams at work! In addition, there’s also a bunch of new content on the official site including a preview of the new movie soundtrack which will be available in stores today. If you live in the Los Angeles area, composer Michael Giacchino will be at the West Hollywood Best Buy signing copies of the new cd.

All photos courtesy of Paramount

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EW Talks Trek

Cynthia — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 22:54:03 +0000

In case you haven’t heard, there’s a new Star Trek movie coming out and Entertainment Weekly has the whole scoop in their new issue.

“Oh, I feel the pressure,” says JJ Abrams. “In the eyes of a lot of fans, this is sacred material. Every shot, I’m wondering if this is where I’m going to f— it all up.”

Abrams said it was tough to do a full on space opera without turning it into Galaxy Quest (which has been re-released on DVD with lots of new features) but he thinks he got it right. A self-described nonfan of Star Trek Abrams says he thought the show was a little “talkie” and thus had only one idea when Paramount came knocking on his door. “My first reaction was that it should be a story about Kirk and Spock – because I didn’t know anything else about Star Trek,” he says.

Abrams may have started the production not knowing tranya from Tribbles, but he ended up a supernerd. His movie is festooned with enough Easter-egg reference to classic Trek trivia to keep fansites humming for months. “The movie doesn’t shatter everything you know about the show,” says Zachary Quinto, aka young Spock. “It just comes at Star Trek from a different perspective. It straddles a line between giving people what they’ve known about these characters for 40 years and what they’ve wished they knew about them.”

The film has a cast of young, eye-catching unknowns – Chris Pine stars as rowdy Starfleet cadet James T. Kirk, while Zachary Quinto plays a green-behind-the-ears Spock, and Zoe Saldana is feisty Uhura. “You’ve got apocalyptic movies like Watchmen and Dark Knight – movies that explore the darker side of human psychology – and they’re great,” says Pine. “But this is not going to be one of those movies. This is not nihilistic. This is not grim. This is a bright vision of the future, full of hope and optimism.”

You can read the full story at EW.com then pick up the new issue for Star Trek Through Time. From William Shatner’s suave debut to Tribblemania, Ricardo Montalban to Whoopi Goldberg, Entertainment Weekly takes a look at the franchise’s 43-year space odyssey.

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Fringe at the Paley Festival

Cynthia — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 20:05:40 +0000

The Paley Festival rolled to a close last night with their salute to Fringe. J.J. Abrams, Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Jeff Pinkner, Bryan Burk, Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, and John Noble were in attendance and a great time was had by all. Everyone who attended noted that the group was relaxed and fun and they seemed to really enjoy the evening. A few people also noted that Joshua and John had a Peter / Walter vibe going only less intense.

They talked about how the show came to be, Peter’s flirtation with Olivia’s sister, The Observer and the upcoming extra special guest. The Futon Critic has the play by play and I’ve got pictures.

Images: INF

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Star Trek’s Paris Premiere

Cynthia — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:51:59 +0000

We’ll always have Paris. . the cast of the new Star Trek movie stepped out on the red carpet in the city of lights on April 14th. Here’s director J.J. Abrams with Eric Bana (Nero), Zoe Saldana (Uhura), Zachary Quinto (Spock), and Chris Pine (Capt. Kirk).

and here we have Abrams attempting to do the infamous Vulcan hand gesture. . . not quite J.J., but good try.

You can see more pics from the premiere over at Film Gecko, but before you go-go, answer me this; what’s the connection between Spock, Paris and Leonard Nimoy?

Pixplanete / PR Photos

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New Star Trek Movie Photo

Cynthia — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 21:47:32 +0000

Every photo I see, I get more and more excited about the new Star Trek movie. Zachary Quinto was born to play Spock and I’m liking what I’m seeing so far from Chris Pine (which makes me think of Captain Christopher Pike) who is donning Kirk’s uniform. I certainly don’t envy any of them the task of taking on these much beloved characters but it sure must have been a cool experience for them and everyone who got to step foot on the new / old Enterprise bridge!

Star Trek hits theaters on May 8. In the meantime, visit the website for all kinds of great trailers, photos, downloads and more.

Photo credit: Industrial Light & Magic.

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Star Trek Film Leads Summer of Revamp

brian — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 03:56:03 +0000

You know, I’ve railed against remakes and rehashes until I’m blue in the keyboard. But curse you, J.J. Abrams, you may be about to make me eat my words.

The Star Trek movie is one of the most high profile reboots but far from the only one. There’s a sequel to the hit Transformers movie and their old glorified toy commercial buddies G.I. Joe are coming to the party too. Friday the 13th lives again on, well, Friday the 13th of this month.

And as much as I give the industry grief for the redos, the two movies I came away from the Super Bowl ads wanting to see the most were Star Trek and Land of the Lost. My wife is only a couple of years younger than me and she had no idea what Land of the Lost is. I sighed heavily at that revelation. Now here’s the snazzy Trek trailer:

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Mark Valley on Flying with JJ Abrams

Cynthia — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 01:11:26 +0000

Here’s my favorite quote of the week. It’s from a recent conference call with Mark Valley, John Scott of Fringe.

“Can you imagine being on an airplane with J.J. Abrams, just kind of sitting there, what’s going through his head? He’s probably thinking about people screaming and luggage flying everywhere.”

Same reason I never wanted to travel with Irwin Allen, Mark, especially not on a ship!

Cr: George Holz/FOX

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Say Hello to Star Trek’s New Uhura

brian — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 14:43:25 +0000

This is the very lovely Zoe Saldana, seen in the first Pirates of the Caribbean flick and on TV shows including Law and Order:Special Victims Unit.

Zoe will also be in the James Cameron blockbuster Avatar, which reportedly caused some scheduling problems for the Star Trek film. In an ironic bit of trivia, Zoe also played a Trekkie in the Tom Hanks film Terminal.

Oh, and did we mention she’s stunning? Just thought it warranted bringing up again. I love the black and white motif of these Star Trek posters, very classy and classic.

I can’t wait until May 09.

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EW Talks Trek

Cynthia — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 20:50:37 +0000

“I don’t think people even understand what Star Trek means anymore,” says JJ Abrams, who saw the first Star Trek film in 1979 with his father at a theater on the Paramount lot. But he feels no warm-fuzzy nostalgia about it. In fact, Abrams can sum up his regard for Trek in two words: Galaxy Quest, the 1999 hit starring Tim Allen that satirized Trek with painful precision.

“It’s so ridiculous, so accurate, so sophisticated, it spoils the Star Trek universe,” he says. Plus, at heart, Abrams is still more of a Star Wars guy.

“All my smart friends liked Star Trek,” he says. “I preferred a more visceral experience.” Which is exactly why he accepted Paramount’s offer in 2005 to develop a new Trek flick; creatively, he was engaged by the possibility of a Star Trek movie “that grabbed me the way Star Wars did.”

Entertainment Weekly talks Trek with J.J. Abrams, Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto in this week’s issue which hits news stands tomorrow.

They discuss politics and Trek, the return to an “optimistic” future and Abrams gives his thoughts on the YouTube Shatner snub. It’s a great feature, so don’t miss it.

Photo courtesy of Entertainment Weekly

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