jdenune@ucselx.sdsu.edu (John Michael Denune) (10/02/90)
The following is reprinted without permission from "The San Diego Union", Monday, September 24, 1990, page D-4. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- STAR TREK VI POISED FOR LIFTOFF AFTER SERIES' 25th BIRTHDAY IN '91 by Glenn Lovell Knight-Ridder News Service SAN FRANCISCO-- After "Star Trek V" crashed and burned, it looked as if Capt. Kirk, Mr. Spock, Scotty and the rest would be put in permanent dry dock. Paramount Pictures was so unhappy about the poor business generated by "Star Trek V," directed by star William Shatner, that it seriously considered scrapping the big-screen series. Then, someone came up with a new wrinkle: Why not launch a "prequel"? Flash back to the days when Kirk and his buddies were at the space academy. They would be played by younger actors who resembled Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, etc. Once again, the trekkies rebelled en masse, as they did when the TV show was cancelled. "No Shatner, Nimoy, or Kelley," they said, "no new 'Star Treks.'" George Takei, helmsman Sulu in the series, picks up the story here. Takei was in San Francisco earlier this month at the behest of the Mill Valley Film Festival, showing his latest film, "Blood Oath." "It was a big brouhaha, I don't mind telling you," Takei says. "Paramount decided to recast the characters the fans had grown to know and love. There was such a hue and cry at (Paramount Chief) Frank Mancuso's office. So they dumped the idea. Now they say, 'Yes, we're going to do Star Trek VI properly.'" "Star Trek VI" was originally set to open Sept. 8, 1991, to coincide with the 25th (or silver) anniversary of the first TV episode. That opening has been pushed back because of script problems and Nimoy's refusal to return as director. Nimoy's episode, "Star Trek IV: The Search for Spock," [Yes, that is what it said. -ed.] was the best-recieved and most profitable in the series. Now, according to Takei, Paramount is negotiating with writer director Nicholas Meyer, who directed "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan." Takei says he has talked to Meyer's agent, who said, "It's a done deal, though we haven't signed the contract." Takei is brutally forthright about what went wrong on "Star Trek V." "It didn't make any money because it was not a good movie." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---John jdenune@ucselx.sdsu.edu -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Edited by Jim Griffith - the official scapegoat for r.a.s.i. Email submissions to trek-info@dweeb.fx.com, and questions to trek-info-request@dweeb.fx.com