The AP had an interview with JJ Abrams, creator of Alias, Lost; producer of Cloverfield; and director of MI3, about his relaunch of the Trek franchise.That’s right– relaunch. Though it was billed early on as a prequel that would respect continuity, little by little, details have to come to the surface that this Trek is in fact boldly going in its own direction. Here’s a few tidbits/quotes from Abrams:

• “It was an opportunity to take what I think has been a maligned world — to sound crass, a franchise — and treat it in a way that made it something that I wanted to see,” said Abrams

• In this age of make-or-break opening weekends, the revival of the franchise seven years after the last movie (”Star Trek: Nemesis”) flopped may depend on introducing a new generation to the exploits of the 23rd century explorers rather than just hooking old fans.

“The whole point was to try to make this movie for fans of movies, not fans of `Star Trek,’ necessarily,’” Abrams said. “If you’re a fan, we’ve got one of the writers who’s a devout Trekker, so we were able to make sure we were serving the people who are completely enamored with `Star Trek.’ But we are not making the movie for that contingent alone.

“You can’t really make a movie for them. As soon as you start to guess what you think they are going to want to see, you’re in trouble. You have to make the movie in many ways for what you want to see yourself, make a movie you believe in. Then you’re not second-guessing an audience you don’t really have an understanding of.”

• Abrams’ “Star Trek” takes the franchise back to its beginning, with a young cast re-creating the Enterprise crew: Chris Pine as Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, Karl Urban as Dr. McCoy, Simon Pegg as engineer Scott, John Cho as helmsman Sulu, Zoe Saldana as communications officer Uhura and Anton Yelchin as navigator Chekov.

“It’s a chance to see what Kirk and Spock would look like done now,” Abrams said. “What’s thrilling about it is how great the cast is, how remarkably talented and funny and just spot-on they all are.”

It’s just a fact the Trek fans have to accept– they alone cannot make a hit movie. The original series was so ingrained in pop culture that it was easier for the films to be a cross-over hit. At this stage, Trek has gone on so long, only its fans continue to hold out. It needs an exciting new direction, feel and person in charge to make it relevant again.

That said, I don’t think a prequel in which you re-cast pop culture icons directed by Abrams is the formula to pull that off. I’m optimistic that I will be wrong, and that next summer Trek will be cool again.

For the entire AP article, click HERE

For our ongoing discussion of the film, go HERE

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