The Everloving Roddenberry Bush

CBS All Access STD released this teasing promo @ Grubby Costume Expo San Diego, and then the wailing internet was all "that looks kinda crappy" and then CBS All Access was all "eh, we really didn't spend very much time on it, so sue us"

Yakima Canutt wrote:
THEY'RE BAAAAAAACK
Sisko, Janeway, and Archer return to strip syndication after long hiatus



Starting Sunday July 24 at 8 PM ET, all five live-action Star Trek series will air on Heroes & Icons TV network. (H&I - 1137/137 nationwide on AT&T, check listings for other providers)

“Heroes & Icons will broadcast all five series, beginning with the first episode of each one, all on one network, for the first time in the history of the franchise.”

“if there is one television franchise that fits the Heroes & Icons brand best, it is the five legendary Star Trek series that will be airing together for the first time in our All Star Trek programming block,” said Neal Sabin, Vice Chairman of Weigel Broadcasting Co. “The captains and crews of each series define the term heroic, and over time, each one of them has become truly iconic.”

The shows will air six nights a week.

SUNDAYS starting at 8PET | 5PPT & WEEKNIGHTS starting at 6PET | 3PPT

Voyager pilot - "Caretaker"

There are some fundamental situations about the show that aren't set up nearly as well as they could've been. For example, the Ocampa's introduction is nice, but why is it Janeway sides with them so easily? It's really hard to feel sympathetic toward the Ocampa when we hardly know them, and the writers really give no reason to care, unless we automatically accept what the Caretaker says about the Ocampa and the Kazon. Making the Ocampa look like cute, innocent, elves alone is not enough. It would've been nice to know more about them.

For that matter, why does Janeway decide to destroy the array, sacrificing the only reasonable way home, based solely on the Caretaker's wishes? Tuvok is quick to point out that this is a Prime Directive issue. It's clear, he says, that it is not up to Voyager to see that the Ocampa are safeguarded from the Kazon. So why does Janeway decide to "interpret" the Prime Directive some other way? She says something like, "We didn't ask to be involved, but we are." This line is weak and vague. It really doesn't mean anything if you think about it. Yet Janeway destroys the array and makes enemies with the Kazon because the Ocampa need to be protected. This is very noble, but hard to understand based on everything Star Trek lore says about the Prime Directive. I would have no problem with it if the writers would have found a better way of explaining it. Instead it seems very much like an arbitrary decision.

Most troubling however is Janeway's selection of Chakotay as first officer. I don't disagree with her decision. I just don't understand why the writers don't explain why she decided to make him second in command. There is no real explanation; just a passing reference to it when she names Paris a Lieutenant. The scene where she gives Paris rank and duty is good, but it's bothersome that there isn't a similar scene for Chakotay. When we're going to live with this decision for the entire series, it would be nice to know where it comes from.

well, it's fairly strate-forward to infer that Janeway made Chakotaco her second as a means of integrating the Maquis into her crew. But yes, she might've explained that in a line or two.

Equally rushed is rebel Chokotaco's "she's the captain" line ... we are left to surmise that Chocotaco's political gripes have quickly vanished with his being marooned in the Delta quadrant and the fact that his life was saved twice by Federation personnel.

To be fair, I think the producers felt there was a bit too much to be crammed into one pilot. So as Bajoran independence was explained in DS9's post-pilot episode "Past Prologue", the ins and outs of Maquis crew integration are explored in Voyager's post-pilot episode "Parallax".

what is the status of Kelvin Star Trek 4?

Four days before the release of Star Trek Beyond, Paramount Pictures, Skydance, and Bad Robot announced that “Star Trek 4″ would be made with Chris Hemsworth reprising his role as redoubtable George Kirk. However, J.J. Abrams’s comments on July 20th at the red carpet premiere of Beyond in San Diego cast doubt on the status of the film.

Abrams told Entertainment Weekly that “[the story for the fourth feature] is his favorite Star Trek story that we’ve had.” Abrams added, “So one of the reasons I’m hoping [Star Trek Beyond] does well is so that we can, without question, get that movie made.” The producer continued, “It really is an amazing story. It’s really the reason we made the deal with Chris Hemsworth as soon as we could because we really want the story to be told, fingers crossed.”

Series regulars appear to be in the dark on a fourth film, especially the man named in the press release. When asked what to expect from the next film, lead Chris Pine said “I have no idea. I have no idea. J.J. hasn’t really told me anything. But I’m looking forward to it. I love Chris. I think he’s fantastically talented. We had a great time on the first one…it’ll be a blast.”

What We Know So Far

What remains crucial and largely unknown is the exact monetary figure Paramount, Skydance, and Bad Robot consider a success at the box office. According to Box Office Mojo, Star Trek Into Darkness cost $190 million to make and returned over $467 million at the box office, with over half its total being made in overseas markets. Paramount expected Into Darkness to bring in a $100 million opening weekend, according to Los Moviefones.

As of the writing of this article, Star Trek Beyond brought in $59.2 million during its opening weekend domestically, along with an estimated $30 million international haul as it opened in 37 overseas markets. Beyond’s domestic opening weekend haul was on the high-end of what analysts were predicting it would make, as they estimated a $50-60 million opening weekend before release. As is becoming increasingly common with films, the international market is vitally important. As stated earlier, much of Into Darkness’s success was due to it bringing in $238.6 million internationally. Beyond, while having already opened in 37 countries, still has not opened in France, South Korea, China, Mexico, and Japan. Paramount’s staggered release schedule sees it opening in those countries mainly throughout August, but Brazil will not get it until September 1st, China and Mexico on September 2nd, and Japan on October 21st.

With a budget of $185 million, one has to wonder exactly what figure Beyond will have to bring in for Paramount to consider it a success. Paramount, Skydance, and Bad Robot sought to reduce the cost of the third film by moving production to film industry-friendly locations such as Vancouver and Dubai, yet the budget still swelled far beyond the $150 million needed to make the most successful film in the Star Trek franchise, 2009’s Star Trek.

A lower box office haul need not be a deterrent to making another sequel. Box office revenue from films featuring the original cast oscillated greatly between features, with the actors being told each time to expect the film to be the series’ last. The Next Generation’s features did much of the same. Paramount continued to make more, however, until 2002’s Star Trek Nemesis bombed at the box office.

While Star Trek Beyond is unlikely to top the charts of the pinche Kelvin Timeline series of films, it will likely become the third-highest grossing Trek film, and is unlikely to be viewed as the failure Nemesis was. However, shrinking box office returns could portend a smaller budget for a fourth outing.



The Cast

As we reported last year, stars Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto have options in their contract for a fourth film that would also see them receive hefty raises. Both would certainly be onboard for a Star Trek 4. However, new deals would have to be negotiated with Karl Urban, John Cho, Zoe Saldana, and Simon Pegg. Another complicating factor is Saldana’s commitment to the Avatar series, with filmmaker James Cameron planning to film four sequels in the coming years. Judging by Abrams’s comments, some sort of deal has been worked out with Chris Hemsworth to star in a fourth film if it is made.

With the hefty raises being given to Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto for Beyond, The Hollywood Reporter noted that the rest of the cast received modest raises and performance bonuses for Beyond after representatives for the actors nearly took Paramount to court over their pay not rising since the 2009 film. It is believed that it cost Paramount between $10-15 million in salaries for Beyond, with $6 million going to Pine and an unspecified amount being paid to Quinto.

Given the raises given to Pine and Quinto, it may not be surprising that we could see protracted contract negotiations this time. While Quinto has not risen to the status of leading man in Hollywood, Saldana’s performance in Guardians of the Galaxy and the her starring role in the upcoming Avatar sequels could see her seeking more.

Hemsworth, however, has skyrocketed in Hollywood after his appearance in Star Trek and it is unknown what salary he is expected to receive for a fourth film, but it is likely to be a hefty one. According to CinemaBlend, Hemsworth was paid $5.4 million for Avengers: Age of Ultron, but is likely to make much more as he stars in 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok.

Greenlighting Sequels Before a Film is Released

It has become common practice in Hollywood to greenlight a sequel even before the first film is released. Some of these decisions are made based on a number of factors, such as favorable pre-release reviews, predicted box office haul, and the desire to create a franchise. However, there are times when a sequel is announced before a first film is released to drum up hype for that first film. In many occasions, the sequel never ends up being made. Greenlighting sequels to Guardians of the Galaxy, Deadpool, The Hunger Games, and 50 Shades of Grey are logical as they either went over well with audiences, scored big at the box office, or both.

However, occasionally studios announce sequels before the first film’s release that never get made. Examples of this are The November Man, Battlefield Earth II, The Green Lantern 2, a follow-up to Superman Returns, The Golden Compass, Fantastic Four (2015) 2, The Amazing Spider-Man 3, and a sequel to Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin.

Conclusion

We are confident ... and hopeful, based on enjoyment of Star Trek Beyond, that a fourth entry in the Kelvin Franchise will be made. We are under no illusion that Beyond will surpass its predecessors at the box office, as it is currently tracking to be the third-most successful Trek film. However, we will likely see a smaller budget, and possibly a different story, due to Beyond’s performance.

Above all, we find it bizarre that Abrams, whilst on a press tour to promote Beyond, would state that his favorite Trek movie is yet to come. As he will not be directing any of the remaining Star Wars sequels or standalone stories, it is possible that Abrams may return to direct as he is not scheduled to direct any other project in 2017.

I am concerned that Simon Pegg and Doug Jung will not be writing Star Trek 4. Their great work with the latest installment surely warrants them having a go at a second film. As Leonard McCoy said, “if you’re gonna ride in the Kentucky Derby, you don’t leave your prize stallion in the stable.” Based on Beyond, it is clear that Pegg and Jung are the prize stallions of the new Trek film franchise, putting together a wonderful film in a short period of time.

http://mashable.com/2016/07/26/nichelle-nichols-joining-young-and-the-restless/

Yakima Canutt wrote:
Congratulations to Paramount, Bad Robot, and Skydance for delivering the most acclaimed blockbuster of the summer season

Star Trek Beyond: Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes website, a whopping 90% approval rating


"'Star Trek Beyond' Is the blockbuster America needs right now ... a paean to unity, teamwork, and the best qualities of humanity."
-David Sims, The Atlantic

"A proud addition to a canon that even the ghost of creator Gene Roddenberry would appreciate ... it gets there at warp speed, and with a full tank of fresh ideas."
-Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post

"What a load of fun."
-Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times

"This movie isn’t just fun; it’s sincere and sweet and downright inspiring."
-Matt Singer, Screen Crush

"'Star Trek Beyond' is much more than a mere refresh. Thanks to Lin's steady directorial hand and knack for visualizing improbable set-pieces, the new film is bold, breathless and propulsive, a distillation of the action movie to its purest elements."
-Barry Hertz, Toronto Globe & Mail

"While this is not your father's 'Star Trek,' it still feels like a fan's - and just the kind of warm, inclusive, feel-good entertainment this summer needs."
-Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger

"The script injects a welcome strain of humor that's true to the original Gene Roddenberry creation, delivering nostalgia without stiff veneration."
-David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

"Lin keeps this tense adventure ... from stumbling over its own excess: he knows that any good 'Star Trek' needs wit as well as spectacle."
-Stephanie Zacharek, Time

"One of the abiding pleasures of 'Star Trek,' in its old and newer iterations, lies in its balance of stubborn consistency and canny inventiveness."
-A.O. Scott, New York Times

"Not since the original crew stepped down have we felt such a vivid sense of adventure and comradeship ... This is all fun all the time, a dizzying carnival of wisecracks, fisticuffs, explosions, chases and truly eye-popping effects."
-Tom Huddleston, Time Out London

"That very fidelity to the show’s original values that will keep fans trekking to the box office."
-Dana Stevens, Slate

“Scriptwriters Simon Pegg and Doug Jung made a clever plot move that gives 'Beyond' the most breathing room for its characters in years.”
-Jim Slotek, Toronto Sun

"There’s a wonderful shot of Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), safe in his ejection pod, gazing through the windshield at the flaming corpse of his beloved ship, which plunges down toward the crags of an unwelcoming planet. Even agnostics, unmoved by the remorseless reboots of the 'Star Trek' franchise, may find themselves mourning the loss ... Such is the surprise that is sprung by the latest film: it’s not just a blast but, at moments, a thing of beauty, alive to the comic awesomeness of being lost in space."
-Anthony Lane, The New Yorker

"What's most notable about the new film is how closely it hews to Gene Roddenberry's original TV series, at least in spirit."
-Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic

"It might even feel like you're back in your rec room, circa 1967, drinking Tang and waiting for the Tribbles!"
-Ty Burr, Boston Globe

The critical consensus seems to be that Jaylah is kooler than Krall.

“We Will Find Hope in the Impossible”

As I settled into my comfo recliner chair to see Star Trek Beyond, I found myself remembering 1986. You see, 1986 was an anniversary year for Star Trek that included a movie that everyone was hoping would be better than the last one, and also the announcement of a new Trek TV series that would be distributed in a manner that was unusual and different, though not unprecedented.

Back then it was Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, which celebrated the twentieth anniversary of Star Trek alongside an announcement of Star Trek: The Next Generation, which would debut the following year in first-run syndication, unheard of for a dramatic TV show.

Nothing changes…

This year, we’ve got Star Trek Beyond, which has a lot of people nervous for a lot of reasons, most having to do with some tumultuous behind-the-scenes stuff, starting with Bad Robot guru J.J. Abrams, director of the 2009 film and of Star Trek Into Darkness, meandering over to that other iconic franchise that starts with the word Star and continuing to Roberto Orci being set to write and direct and then, y’know, not.

And then a month before the premiere, Anton Yelchin died in a horrible car accident, casting a pall over the anticipation for the film. (The movie is dedicated to both him and Leonard Nimoy with a couple silent, tasteful captions during the closing credits.)

Now, though, the movie is done and out. And it’s actually pretty darned good.

As with the two previous Bad Robot films, the movie looks good and has superlative acting.

The action sequences are beautifully done, the various aliens look like true aliens, and I particularly like the way director Justin Lin uses the passage of time as part of the story, going from day to night and back to day again. And in Yorktown—which is a space-based city that’s a major port of call—we get quite simply the most amazing science fictional construct in Star Trek history. Yorktown is what Deep Space 9 wanted to be but couldn’t on a weekly TV budget. Lin takes advantage of his massive FX resources to give us a magnificent cityscape that is visually stunning, refreshingly practical, and generally quite awesome—in the truest sense in that I was awed by it.

It’s not just Yorktown, either—the movie has several imaginative bits o’ technology, including the bad guy’s rather unique fleet, and the best demonstration of a universal translator any version of Star Trek has managed.

The acting remains excellent, and while John Cho’s Sulu gets comparatively little to do (his best line was given away in the trailers, sadly), the rest of the cast all gets to shine very nicely, no one more than Zachary Quinto and Karl Urban. The script wisely keeps the two of them together for most of the film, and it’s magnificent. Urban in particular has been poorly served by the Bad Robot films, channeling DeForest Kelley perfectly in every scene he’s in, but never getting the chance to shine. He gets it here, and Quinto matches him point for point. (The “horseshit” exchange is one of the best parts of the movie.)

Chris Pine, though, is the star of the show in every sense. The punk kid of the last two movies who would have made more sense in the brig than the captain’s chair has matured, and we’re finally starting to see the Jim Kirk that William Shatner played five decades ago. Best of all, he only gets beat up once this time!

Just like Into Darkness, we’ve got one of the finest Brit actors drawing breath as the bad guy. Idris Elba’s Krall doesn’t blow the doors off as much as Benedict Cumberbatch’s Khan did, but he brings a level of anguish and pain to the role that makes him much more than the cardboard bad guy he’s mostly written as, his actions not explained until late in the film. (More on that Monday.)

There are welcome cameos by Greg Grunberg and Shohreh Aghdashloo as Yorktown crew, nice performances in small but potent roles by Lydia Wilson and Melissa Roxburgh, and a superlative supporting turn by Sofia Boutella as Jaylah. Indeed, Boutella provides a character very much like Saavik in The Wrath of Khan (or Ro Laren in The Next Generation), a new player who challenges and helps our heroes, and provides a nice little outsider zing to the comfortable crew.

However, nice visuals and good acting are old hat for Bad Robot Trek films, but what’s been missing is a script that isn’t dumber than a box of hammers. Well, encased construction tools can take heart in the fact that they get the top dumb spot once again, as the script by Simon Pegg and Doug Jung is actually good!

The character arcs are simple, and really only there for Kirk and Spock (and Krall), and the plot is fairly straightforward. But sometimes straightforward is good. Besides, after some of the logic howlers of the last two (why did Khan go to Kronos? why did Kirk get the captaincy when he was only out of the Academy for five minutes? why did they need Khan’s magic blood when they had 72 other Augments? what the ever-loving hell is red matter, anyhow?) this one was refreshingly free of those. Every action taken followed logically and sensibly from the previous action. Kirk is still the big hero, with Spock, McCoy, and Scotty right behind him, and Sulu, Uhura, and Chekov doing their bit as well (as does Jaylah).

Best of all, though, is that this is a Star Trek story. At its heart, Trek has always been about how humanity can progress. It started with a simple casting decision—having a Scottish man, a black woman, an Asian man, and an alien, and later a Russian man, all working alongside the two white American dudes, was a radical notion in 1966. It proceeded to give us a show where the day wasn’t always saved by having the bigger gun, but by being smart and by being compassionate. Star Trek has always been about hope, first and foremost, starting with that very casting decision showing that humans of different nations had put those hostilities aside, and now were one united Earth.

In this movie, it’s about the unity of the crew, and showing what they can accomplish together.

There are other ways that it’s a Star Trek story, of course, from the (many) nods to Star Trek: Enterprise to the cutesy references to “Tuvix” and “Who Mourns for Adonais?” to several old reliables of the franchise in general and the original series in particular: Spock-McCoy banter, Kirk and McCoy drinking, Scotty being a miracle worker, Uhura being defiant in the face of a nasty bad guy, Kirk being clever and thinking on his feet, Chekov insisting that Scotch was invented in Russia, and so on. Plus, thanks to things like Yorktown, it has the futurism that was a hallmark of Gene Roddenberry’s original vision.

Star Trek hasn’t always been served well by being a film franchise. Even the best of the dozen previous films don’t hold up in comparison to the best episodes of the series. But when considered alongside the others, Beyond is the first of the Bad Robot films that can be spoken of legitimately in the same breath as The Wrath of Khan and The Voyage Home and First Contact. And that’s no small feat.

but is one free to act compassionately if one has a bigger gun pointed at one's head?

erp, i think Star Trek has tried to approach Big Gun Ethics pragmatically, over the years ... wouldn't u say

Darmok's Glossary


“Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra.” This most famous phrase (which appears on T-shirts) means, basically, “working together.”

“Darmok and Jalad on the ocean.” Building on the last one, this is when two strangers, or foes, work together against a threat and succeed.

“The beast at Tanagra.” This is the foe that Darmok and Jalad fought, but has grown to represent any problem that needs to be solved. The lack of communication between Dathon and Picard is a “beast at Tanagra” of its own.

“Temba, his arms open.” This means “take or use this.” A gift.

“Temba, at rest.” When a gift has been rebuffed.

“Zinda, his face black, his eyes red.” Hearing this means bad news. Something one says when in great pain or very angry.

“Kiazi's children, their faces wet.” This also means pain, but also sadness or frustration. It may also mean “oh, leave me alone!”

“Shaka, when the walls fell.” Failure. I've decided to start saying this when anything doesn't go my way. Works just as well as “oy vey.”

“Mirab, with sails unfurled.” This means travel or departure.

“Uzani, his army with fists open.” A tactical move to lure your enemy closer by spreading out.

“Uzani, his army with fists closed.” A tactical move to close-in on an enemy after luring him in.

“The river Temarc, in winter.” Be quiet or still. Possibly based on “freeze.”

“Sokath, his eyes open.” To translate this to TOS, this means “We Reach!”

I've left a few out. Frankly, I'm not sure I've nailed them all yet. However, Paco's favorite is “Picard and Dathon at El-Adrel.” It doesn't just mean two strangers come and make a connection. That's what “Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra” and “Darmok and Jalad on the ocean” mean. No, this one is something totally new. This one means “first contact.”

Imzadi wrote:
THEY'RE BAAAAAAACK
Sisko, Janeway, and Archer return to strip syndication after long hiatus



Starting Sunday July 24 at 8 PM ET, all five live-action Star Trek series will air on Heroes & Icons TV network. (H&I - 1137/137 nationwide on AT&T, check listings for other providers)

“Heroes & Icons will broadcast all five series, beginning with the first episode of each one, all on one network, for the first time in the history of the franchise.”

“if there is one television franchise that fits the Heroes & Icons brand best, it is the five legendary Star Trek series that will be airing together for the first time in our All Star Trek programming block,” said Neal Sabin, Vice Chairman of Weigel Broadcasting Co. “The captains and crews of each series define the term heroic, and over time, each one of them has become truly iconic.”

The shows will air six nights a week.

SUNDAYS starting at 8PET | 5PPT & WEEKNIGHTS starting at 6PET | 3PPT

Voyager, Season 1 - Episode 5
"Phage"

On an away mission, Neelix's lungs are stolen.

Bill Shatner, recently said that Star Wars "created" Star Trek, because the post-1960s versions of Star Trek wouldn't exist without the success of Star Wars.

Not quite true.

Star Trek: The Original Series was cancelled in 1969 following three seasons on NBC. Afterward it saw success in broadcast syndication, resulting in conventions being held for the strange fans of the show. Influenced by this success, Paramount Pictures soon sought to create a new film from the series. By March 1972, series creator Gene Roddenberry hinted that there was interest in a Star Trek feature film, and that the series could return to air, back on NBC. Barry Diller, the Chief Executive Officer of Paramount Pictures between 1974 and 1984, later explained that Arthur Barron, the Chief Financial Officer at the time, was pushing for renewing Star Trek as a low budget film and that any suggestions that Paramount's owner, Charles Bluhdorn, had some involvement were untrue.

In May 1975, Roddenberry signed a contract with Paramount for Star Trek: The God Thing, with a budget of $5 million. But Roddenberry's contract was terminated in August of the same year after inviting several writers to pitch story ideas for the film. Paramount instead placed Jerry Isenberg in charge of the project as executive producer in July 1976. Chris Bryant and Allan Scott were hired to write a script, which they entitled Star Trek: Planet of the Titans. Bryant and Scott turned in their script on March 1, 1977, which was rejected by Paramount. The duo left the project citing conflicts in the film's scope between Roddenberry and director Philip Kaufman (The Right Stuff). Following the release of Star Wars, the film was cancelled on May 9. Kaufman claimed that Paramount attributed this to the idea that science fiction fans would not go see two films released so close together.

The Paramount Television Service was announced on June 10, 1977. Seven days later, Roddenberry announced that Star Trek would be returning to television. He stated that he had a verbal agreement with Paramount to have it incorporated into the new channel. He said that "Hopefully it will be even superior" to The Original Series and that casting would include "as many of the old faces as possible, as well as an infusion of new ones". At the time, The Original Series was being broadcast on 137 stations in the United States in syndication, and it was expected that the new television service would provide a single evening package which could be broadcast by these independent stations as well as Paramount's recently acquired Hughes Television Network. It was hoped that this station could become the fourth national network in the United States; Diller and his assistant Michael Eisner had hired Jeffrey Katzenberg to manage Star Trek into production with a television film due to launch the new series at a cost of $3.2 million – which would have been the most expensive television movie ever made.

Roddenberry said that the show would continue to cover modern themes in a science fiction way as had the first series, saying that these could include hijacking, nationalism and radicalization of both individuals and groups. He also wanted to show 23rd century Earth for the first time, and said that this had been the answer to Paramount executives asking him if there had been anything he wanted to do on The Original Series but could not. A further change was to be the number of female cast members, as NBC had a requirement of a maximum of one-third, and Roddenberry wanted to have them appear in sexy authority positions.

Alan Dean Foster created a premise entitled "In Thy Image", the basis of which was to see Earth threatened for the first time in Star Trek. Goodwin proposed that this story should be the pilot of Phase II at a meeting with Eisner on August 3. He would later recall that this specific meeting changed the direction of the franchise, as Eisner declared that Foster's story was the one that had been looking for to make a feature, not a television, film. At the same time, Paramount had come to realise that the expected advertising revenues for the Paramount Television Service could not support a fourth network, and so there was no possibility of creating Phase II. By this point, the series had already spent $500,000, and the studio was looking to recoup those expenses in some manner. The initial idea was to continue with the pilot, and then attempt to sell the series to NBC, CBS or ABC. But the Paramount executives were concerned about losing control of a potential franchise, and by moving the pilot into a feature film, it gave them the ability to keep it in-house.

However, because of the number of times that a Star Trek film was announced in the 1970s, the Paramount executives decided that they could not lose face once more by making an announcement, only to potentially reverse the decision in several months time. Because of this, production continued on Phase II for a further five months after the decision was made that it would not go into production. By November, Livingston and Roddenberry were no longer working well together. They had each re-drafted "In Thy Image" themselves, and presented these versions to Eisner. The Paramount executive's response was that Roddenberry's version was suited for television, and Livingston was better for a motion picture – and better overall. Collins was assigned to combine certain elements of Roddenberry's version into Livingston's and complete that draft by the end of the month.

The first public announcement of the cancellation of the Paramount Television Series and Phase II came at the hands of the gossip columnist Rona Barrett at the start of December. In response, Paramount released a statement that said the new network had been pushed back to the fall of 1978, and that Phase II had its episode order increased from 13 to between 15 and 22. Despite this, behind the scenes, production continued on Star Trek as a film, not as a series. One of the changes around the same time as Barrett's reports was the realization that all the model work completed thus far had to be restarted from scratch as it was not detailed enough to be blown up on a motion picture sized screen. Two further changes took place in December; Collins was dropped as director, since Paramount wanted a motion picture director and not one with experience only in television, and Livingston allowed his contract to run out and left the production due to the poor relationship he had with Roddenberry. By January, Paramount no longer pretended that Star Trek was to be anything other than a feature film. Livingston was brought back, but only in a writing capacity, and Robert Wise was hired as director on the film to replace Collins.

it looks like pinhedz' theory about the USS Franklin - that it was an old ship given to the former M.A.C.O., Balthazar Edison - isn't quite true.

Beyond editor, Dylan Highsmith:

"If you want the official explanation on the Franklin and its warp factor: it was a M.A.C.O. ship (or a United Earth Starfleet ship that housed M.A.C.O. personnel at times) that predates the NX-01.

When the UFP Starfleet is formed, M.A.C.O. was disbanded and the ship was reclassified as a Starfleet ship [with the USS identifier]. The ship is then 'lost' in the early 2160’s.

It was important to everyone that the ship, like Edison, predate the Federation; that thematically, the ship mirrored an earlier time in history and served as a bridge in design between then and the NX-01.

Doug [Jung] and Simon [Pegg] may have worked up something [on an official launch date], but if they did it never made it to script or screen.

Either way it predates the NX-01, and was reclassified after the UFP is formed."

Another timeline comparison of note: Montgomery Scotty says that the Franklin‘s “old transporter systems were only ever used for cargo,” while we learn in “Broken Bow” that the NX-01’s transporter pad was recently “approved for biomatter – meaning armory officers and helmsmen.”

In an interview with USS Franklin designer Sean Hergreaves, the artist specified that the vessel originally “transported freight more than people.”

The film also took the time to differentiate how these “old vessels” – compared to the Kelvin Timeline’s Enterprise – “were built in space, never meant to take off from atmosphere.” We see Columbia NX-02 under construction in “The Expanse,” compared to the KT’s Enterprise being built on Earth in the 2009 Trek film. Chekov and Sulu must “jump start” the Franklin by tricking it into activating atmospheric compensators to escape Altamid’s gravity.

Paco's gotten confirmation from the BEYOND production team that the Franklin registry number (NX-326) is in fact a reference to Leonard Nimoy’s birthday (March 26).

‘Star Trek Beyond’ Beams Into China With $31.3M Bow
Hollywould Importer

UPDATE, WRITETHRU: Paramount/Skydance’s The Star Trek Beyond got a boost this weekend, landing at the top of the international box office chart thanks to a $31.3M debut in China. The full frame was worth $37M across 40 markets for an offshore cume to date of $131.1M.

China’s strong FSS take is 107% above Star Trek Into Darkness’ 2013 bow. That film went on to $57M in the PROC. The China debut is also bigger than the $30M STB launched to in 37 offshore markets in late July.

Beyond comes with Chinese investment from Alibaba and Huahua Media which mounted a targeted promo campaign. Popular variety show Happy Camp devoted an episode to the film with participation from stars Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana and Zachary Quinto.

Also upping the Chinese profile, Happy Camp co-host Xie Na and her husband Zhang Jie have a combined 120M followers on Weibo, the local equivalent of Twitter. Zhang acted as the film’s Chinese ambassador and sang its local theme song. He also made a special appearance at Comic-Con in San Diego in July.

China has been in a well-documented slump this summer, although it showed a rise in August receipts. While both Jason Bourne and Ice Age: Collision Course provided a big bump there last week, they have dropped by 92% and 86%, respectively, in the 2nd frames (worth noting, though, that both opened on a Tuesday so had much longer first sessions). It will be interesting to see how STB fares in its sophomore Middle Kingdom frame, especially with that local muscle behind it. A number of homegrown pics along with Sony’s The Shallows roll in next weekend.

Yakima Canutt wrote:
Bill Shatner comes clean on debacle of '89

"I got the chance to direct a several-million-dollar movie, Star Trek V, and I did not get the help I needed in allocating my budget, so when it came to shooting the ending — needing a good villain and lots of special effects — I had run out of money. Sorry about that. I had to use footage that I had already shot — and spit on it a lot. I wanted to give the audience earth-breaking granite monsters spewing rocks and fire. Instead, I had a few pebbles in my hand that I threw at the camera."

Shat wrote:"I did not get the help I needed in allocating my budget, ..."

Making excuses and blaming other people is not my definition of "comes clean."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony

pinhedz wrote:was vainglorious Shat taking a Shat-shot at the dead Harve Bennett?

Probably. Harve didn't want to work on The Final Frontier, but did so to stop Shat's pleading. Harve may have phoned it in a bit. Certainly the special effects of Episode V are the worst in the Trek film canon.

Yakima Canutt wrote:

pinhedz wrote:was vainglorious Shat taking a Shat-shot at the dead Harve Bennett?

Probably.  Harve didn't want to work on The Final Frontier, but did so to stop Shat's pleading.  Harve may have phoned it in a bit.  Certainly the special effects of Episode V are the worst in the Trek film canon.

pinhedz wrote:That is no excuse to pass the buck and blame the dead.

Hear, hear, Moral Orel, hear, hear!