menuBarBack
Beam Up News | Join | Your Account
Home
Advanced Search
boxBottom
News Tribblets
boxBottom
Stardates Calendar
News Story

Features

Rick Berman Asserts STAR TREK Needs Re-Invention, TREK XI Scribe Announced

Features

By TRexx / 16:56, 22 February 2005 / Enterprise

For the past 19 years Paramount has launched STAR TREK films and series amid continued syndication and massive video sales. "Each time we started something else, we were competing against the previous shows, so as the number started to accumulate, we started to see franchise fatigue," glums Rick Berman. "You could see it with the performance of the last film, which was a wonderful movie. You can only squeeze so many eggs out of a golden goose." Downbeat results for STAR TREK: NEMESIS have curbed the studio's appetite to move quickly on more features. Dismal ratings prompted UPN to pull the plug on ENTERPRISE.

Berman tells Variety that the whole TREK concept has been so exposed that it needs to be re-invented. Another series would be at least three years away; and if a film goes forward, it will be the first that won't be based on already established TV characters.

Roger Nygard, who put together the TREKKIES and TREKKIES 2 documentaries, believes that taking a break is the sensible course. "It's a little like after you've eaten Thanksgiving dinner, you really don't want any more turkey," he notes. "There's been so much, for so long, that the feeling is that it's OK to take a pause."

"I think we're unique in Hollywood in people working here for 12, 15 even the full 18 years, so that's the sad part -- the family we've had here splitting up," frets Berman, who has teamed with Jordan Kerner and Kerry McCluggage to create an 11th feature now at the early stages of development; Erik Jendresen has signed on as writer.

"I don't think it's going away," attests Paramount Network Television president David Stapf. "We look at this as a hiatus."

Nygard's not worried. "We asked the question in TREKKIES 2 whether STAR TREK would be around in another 50 years and it was unanimous that it would be, in some incarnation. It's worth noting that STAR TREK didn't really begin to flourish until it had been off the air for awhile the first time."

Walter Koenig, a.k.a. "Chekov" in the original series, also believes it will be back eventually. "I really don't think that the series cancellation is its ultimate demise, although that may be just a reflex on my part," he says. "At some point, everything loses a little bit of its glow but STAR TREK has shown an uncanny ability to survive."

You can read the complete article at Variety.

UPDATE: Via Paramount Studios, Variety confirmed TrekWeb staff speculation that Erik Jendresen, not "Eric Genderson," is the scribe for TREK XI (story). Variety has now changed the name on their web site.



More Top StoriesComments
Nov 24Harlan Ellison Wants to Work with J.J. Abrams in Star Trek XII0
Nov 24Cover and Info for Star Trek Movie Adaptation Comic Book3
Nov 24Scott Bakula on Why He Played the Role of Captain Archer in Enterprise10
Nov 24Leonard Nimoy Talks About Star Trek XII and (Not) Watching New Movie with Shatner0
Nov 23J.J. Abrams and Chris Pine Talk How Gratifying That Star Trek was Well Received, Working with Leonard Nimoy and Star Trek XII4
Story Archives...Browse:   
ENTERPRISE Mission Schedule | Logs by Season: 1 2 3 4
Episode Number Title Airdate

Talkback

60 comments Post New | Help
View:

RE: Franchise Fatigue | Report this post to moderator
By: c.p. (Odo's file, contact) @ 13:29:14 on Feb 24, 2005

I agree with you. Subject matter is less important than means. Independent films prove that all the time. The fact that Star Trek is familiar sci-fi doesn't mean the writers can throw anything together and expect it to sell. That's soooo Hollywood. They need to think like independent film makers. Think outside the box. It has to be well written and uniquely realized on film. The modern audience is savy and cynical. You have to exceed their expectations.

Reply
Reply
Quote
Quote
Parent
Parent
Talkback Top
Top
Promenade










TrekWeb Merchants
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.ca
Amazon.de
Barnes & Noble

Get Firefox!
Privacy Policy | About Us | Legal Notice | Contact Us | | Get Firefox!
© 1996-2009 TrekWeb.com and Steve Krutzler. All rights reserved.