Star Trek Into Darkness: Three Day Weekend

For the UK it's a slightly longer weekend so I took the chance to combine three days into one and save you some page clicks. Yep, there's been a lot of happenings and I've tried to cram as many links, thoughts and pictures into just one ultimate new experience (hope it's worked)!

The weekend kicked off with the addition of Run into the teaser/snippet clan and aside from a few lines of dialogue it's not added much to the overall picture now forming around Star Trek Into Darkness. Not to say that it's poor as there is the suggestion of a Spock vs Harrison one-on-one similar to the one we saw of Kirk in April. Of course this this could also be an amazing bit of editing slipping two different scenes together in a few seconds therefore I won't be quoting any dialogue together purely based on that possibility.

The better videos released this weekend were two Behind the Scenes featurettes which, while not narrated and in some places are without any audio, let us get a sneak peek at some new scenes, some scenes from a different angle and even some general larking around. I've included the links to the video here as well as some stills (below) accompanied by captions. On the whole it seems to focus around bridge scenes as well as the first ten minutes of the film and Spock's mission within the volcano which opens the movie. Clip from Aramas Taralom.

Spock on the shuttlecraft during the movie's opening sequence

Chris Poine directed by Abrams on the bridge of the Enterprise

McCoy, Chekov and Kirk discuss how to rescue Spock from the volcano

The second half of the vid trends towards sequences on Qo'nos in the Klingon ship, McCoy and Kirk evading the natives, more Spock vs the Volcano as well as some snips of Kirk, Carol and Spock in various preparations for takes (including one close to that odd piece of equipment inscribed with CVN-65). My favourite though has to be JJ Abrams creating the undersea effect on the Enterprise bridge with the use of a heavy-duty torch. 

There's little new insight (cleverly because the newer bits don't have any sound) and where there is extensive narrative or long shots of scenes we've seen them already either in the trailers, those 9 minutes (if you were lucky) or within the plethora of trailers we've experienced.

Kirk and Spock hunting for Harrison on Qo'nos (note greenscreens)

McCoy gets frantic in sickbay

Marcus and Kirk head out into Engineering/Budweiser factory

JJ creates the sea aboard the Enterprise

But hold on there, that's not all that's been moving, shaking and downright happening in the Star Trek universe this weekend.

First of all, Chris Pine and Benedict Cumberbatch dropped in on the UK's Graham Norton Show to discuss the new movie. Not only was it an opportunity for some witty banter but also it meant a bit of a Star Trek meet-up as the third guest on the night was Kim Cattrall who made her own appearance as Valeris in The Undiscovered Country back in 1991. Cumberbatch also narrated an intro section for Graham in his most menacing voice. Portents of things to come this week in the cinema no doubt! The interview can be viewed here

If that's not satisfied your Star Trek appetite and you live in the UK, check out Channel 5 (remember it?!) at 8pm on Thursday for True Stories: Star Trek. Having read some of the preambles for it I'm not greatly thrilled and for more "hardcore" fans it won't be providing too many surprises seeing as it's tag line in a couple of newspapers including the Daily Express is about the fact that it got nearly got cancelled and never got off the ground. Hardly earth-shattering news...However, if you're in need of a fix and can't get to the flicks before the weekend then this may be your best chance at getting new Star Trek. Otherwise, rewatch Trek Nation off your SKY planner. 

Still from dailymail.co.uk

The UK's Jonathan Ross Show hosted Zachary Quinto and Zoe Saldana to talk about the summer blockbuster in the making. Again it was a less than formal affair especially as their host is renowned in the UK as a massive fan of the Star Trek franchise. At least they look like they're enjoying themselves backstage (left). You can read more about it on the Daily Mail website. Clip from UKTvHD.

Anyway, before we've even seen the opening weekend and how BIG this film could possibly be (after all it does seem to be on every advertising hoarding and bus stop I pass), there's already talk about Star Trek 3 and what it might encompass. Suggestions indicate it could well be a Klingon movie and that JJ will be involved to some degree, most likely producer. Writers Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman got cornered by trekmovie.com at the UK premiere and even discussed how fans influenced the film as well as where the next movie might head. Orci has also revealed that he would definitely want the next movie to be ready for 2016 (50 years). I expected this to be the case. Whether it's going to be full of Klingons, Borg or even MAYBE a return for the sinister character of John Harrison is yet to be confirmed although I would suspect the next few weeks takings will set that process into motion or - totally unlikely - send it crashing to the ground in flames. 

Also in the malestrom of the promo world there's not only been movement from Budweiser (posters - no surprise really) and Burger King (Malaysia) but also (and this is the weirdest thing EVER) Fisherman's Friends...I just had to include the direct link. It's just damn odd. Seriously. Courtesy of ScholzundFriends

Live now and certainly more logical to comprehend is the Uhura profile. It's the third in the series following entries for Kirk and Scotty, (all of the crew getting these perhaps?) allowing the actor behind the character a chance to talk about their motivations, what they thought of the role, how difficult it was.... It's only a minute and a fraction so enjoy. New footage-wise there's some discourse between Uhura and Sulu during Spock's volcanic encounter as well as some behind the scenes footage of Saldana training for the more physical aspects of the movie. There's also a nice one-pager on Alice Eve's arrival into the Star Trek franchise on startrek.com. When you get material on Carol you realise exactly how little you might have seen of her in the run up to the movie release (but a lot of her at the premieres actually!). I'm hoping she'll get a featurette similar to the three now released before it's too late.

Of the three I'm still a fan of the Scotty clip - I like Simon Pegg and was the first decent bit of promotional material he got for Star Trek Into Darkness! Below I've included a few screenshots from the Uhura featurette from selected points. Clip above from trekmovie.com

Zoe Saldana talks about the character of Uhura in Star Trek Into Darkness

In the shuttle with Sulu as Spock battles a volcano

Training for the physical demands of the new movie

Just to round off and something that got my goat a bit this week. My thoughts about the reboot are in a state of flux and probably will be until Thursday morning around 3am but there's always someone out there passing an opinion. I suspect that while a recent tweet by FORMER Star Trek exec producer Rick Berman betrayed his thoughts that the franchise should be on TV and was specifically designed for that 45 minute story-telling format I have a sense that its place on the big screen is firmly secured until the 2020's in the very least. Will JJ encourage a TV series in the next decade? I'd like to think it's a possibility at the least and with this new reinvigorated parallel universe what about the possibility of reimagining The Next Generation in the same universe and on the smaller screen?  Would we be more realistically looking at 13 episode seasons than 26 due to financial constraints? I'll send the email now...

Keep in touch with the latest news, views and air your opinions here - don't forget you can go back over any of the stories we've covered by clicking on the Countdown to Star Trek Into Darkness label below.

All screenshots taken by SKoST