Well it looks like the dead franchise is still moving. I guess that makes it a zombie franchise. Star Trek XI is moving ahead, and at Comic-Con this week revealed an initial poster that looks old school Star Trek.
On top of that, the whole "Matt Damon as Captain Kirk" thing just won't go away. The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) now has Matt listed as playing James T. Kirk. But then again... we all know how unreliable the IMDB is for movies that aren't actually out yet. Remember, they also had Paul Betany listed as The Joker for the next Batman flick.
Personally, and for the record, I still don't believe Matt Damon will do this project. There doesn't seem to be any upside for him in it. But who knows right? Strangers things have happened.
So what does all this mean?
I've said it before... Star Trek is a dead franchise. I've also said that the only way they're going to breath new life into it is if they do a radical departure from the existing formula. Do one of the following:
1) Restart the franchise with a whole new vision much like what Battlestar Galactica did. Get a blonde Scotty or a female Kirk even.
2) Focus on something OTHER than the damn Federation. As Doug suggested, do a whole film just on the Klingon Empire or something.
3) We're all sick to death of the moral 100% purity of everyone on a damn starship. Get real. Have the captain nailing the first officers wife, have an engineer with a drug problem, have a security chief who hates his job, have a helmsman who dislikes the captain and struggles with depression. Everyone on Star Trek is so squealing sanitized that it makes it unwatchable.
4) Screw the Trekkies. Don't make a new Star Trek trying to please those hard core Trekkie fans. They are a dying breed and haven't helped with any of the other projects in over a decade. Where were they when Enterprise couldn't stay on the air because of the bad ratings? Where were they when all the Star Trek movies have bombed at the box office? Screw them. Make the best movie you can without one lick of thought to the Trekkies. Don't box yourselves in.
If a new Star Trek project doesn't embrace at least 2 of the above... then Star Trek XI is just going to be a zombie. A dead thing that's still walking around.
John Campea July 2006
