Sci-Fi Storm

Zachary Quinto apparently set about a Trekkie-wide panic when a Wired Magazine interview came out when he said he’d be “stepping away from Star Trek for at least two years—no movies, no conventions, no anything for awhile.” Which concerned everyone because the next Star Trek movie is due out in a little more than two years – June 29th, 2012. So what did he mean? Apparently he didn’t mean not doing the actual movie. He clarified his statements on Twitter to say that he is indeed doing the next movie, but no Trek-related side projects while he works on other things.

The Producer’s Guild Of America named 10 nominees for their top award, the Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award, and it includes three SF films: Avatar, District 9 and Star Trek. Also, the remake of The Prisoner was nominated for long-form television.

News about fake memorabilia isn’t new, but this one seemed a bit different. A Trekkie collector purchased three items in 2006 on auction from well known auction house Christie’s – a poker visor supposedly worn by Data (Brent Spiner) ($6,000), a table from the set ($6,600), and a uniform ($11,400). When he met actor Spiner in 2007 and showed him the visor, the actor pointed out it was not authentic. The collector said that he later found that the table was also fake, and the uniform was not unique (he claims it was represented as being unique). So he filed a $7 million lawsuit. Well, a New York court has ruled against him saying is is not entitled to “the massive recovery he now demands,” and is at best entitled for refunds on the visor and table. The uniform was apparently not represented as unique by Christie’s and therefore he is not entitled to anything. Seems like his eyes got a little too large – $7m?

Remember that story about Harlan Ellison possibly working with J.J. Abrams on future Trek? Well, apparently Ellison wasn’t too happy about the way it was worded on SCI FI Wire, so he contact them to set the record straight – and threaten the correspondent (tongue-in-cheek, I think…)

Patrick Stewart is about to be addressed as “Sir” for real – he is to be knighted during this year’s New Years honors.

“Billionaire Richard Branson’s spaceship was unveiled today. Imagine the delight of Star Trek fans to see that it was named the VSS Enterprise.

Please check out my blog entry on the subject at: http://dailyspace.blogspot.com/2009/12/star-trek-legacy-continues-this.html“ — Yes, this one at least is likely to actually reach space…

Author Harlan Ellison – well known partly for his prolific writing, partly for his litigiousness, and partly for his vocality – and writer of one of the best known Star Trek episodes “City On The Edge Of Forever”, has said on his web site (you have to go back to a post on November 21st, but word is only getting out now) that he’d be open to working with “the inordinately-talented J.J. Abrams” on more Star Trek. It probably would never happen, but it could be interesting. Whether Paramount would let him anywhere near the project is another matter, since he sued Paramount earlier this year over revenues from derivative works from his original script.

I remember being told that there were in fact three pilots for the original Star Trek – “The Cage”, with Jeffery Hunter, and “Where No Man Has Gone Before”, that we are all familiar with. But I never really heard what the missing third pilot was. Apparently it has been found, and will be included in the upcoming Blu-ray release of Season 3, due out on December 15th. Apparently this third pilot was merely an alternate version of “Where No Man Has Gone Before”, with a different opening and music, and edited differently. This more than likely is the actual pilot, which was later re-edited into an episode (interestingly, the third aired episode) which was then called a “pilot” as well. Read More for some clips – the video is not great (the film was 40 years old after all) and the audio level is unstable…

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Robin Fischer writes to let us know about two events at Blockbuster locations in the Chicago and Orlando areas for the release of Star Trek on Blu-ray and DVD. Read More for all the details.

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Next Tuesday, July 28th, sees the release on DVD of a whole lot of things people I’m sure are waiting for – so please use our links and buy!!! Surprisingly, Torchwood: Children Of Earth, hot off of airing in the U.S., is out on Blu-ray and DVD (review coming soon). Also, Torchwood: Season 2 on Blu-ray;
Doctor Who: Planet Of The Dead (Blu-ray/DVD);
Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.5 (Blu-ray/DVD) and the complete series (Blu-ray/DVD); and Dollhouse: Season 1 (Blu-ray/DVD). In addition, pre-orders are now open for the reboot of Star Trek to be release on November 17th on both Blu-ray and DVD.