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Brent Spiner Not Happy with Prequel Rumors, Reveals the Star Trek XI That Could Have Been

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By GustavoLeao / 14:52, 29 September 2006 / Feature Films

The latest issue of DreamWatch, just out in the UK, features a brief interview with TNG actor Brent Spiner, in which he talks about the prequel rumors for Star Trek XI and his story idea for a now-shelved new TNG movie. Here are a few excerpts from the article.



Spiner was very complimentary about producer J.J Abrams but when asked about the chosen direction of the movie he expressed his disagreement with the prequel idea. "I don't think it's a great idea to do a prequel to anything." Spiner told journalist Richard Matthews. "When has that ever been interesting? If Enterprise really said anything it was, ‘Don't go back, go forward.' That's part of the whole beauty of Star Trek; it's always been about ‘Go Boldly Where No One Has Gone Before', not ‘Go Back to Where They Once Were That We Never Saw.' I think that before that film gets made they'll have a completely different idea of what it should be."

Spiner again said that writer John Logan, who penned Star Trek Nemesis, had an idea for a movie that would have likely appealed to fans of all generations.

"One of the ideas that John Logan and I had about what the next film would have been was a Justice League of Star Trek. Something would bring all the great Star Trek villains together, from Khan to Shinzon, and Picard is the only person who could stop them and he actually has to go through time and pluck out the people he needs to help him. He goes back to the moment before Data blows up and takes him back to get Kirk and Spock, and go even further back and get Scott Bakula's character Archer. The problem with that more than anything is cost - how do you pay for that?"

More from Spiner, including his opinion on the cancellation of Threshold, can be found at Sci Fi Pulse.

To read the full article, get the new issue of DreamWatch magazine at your local newsstand.



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It's a joke lighten up | Report this post to moderator
By: Keef (Odo's file, contact) @ 01:31:55 on Oct 09, 2006

Brent Spiner is a very funny guy with a very dry sense of humour. HE'S JOKING for God's sake!


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Plenty to do.. | Report this post to moderator
By: cgrest (Odo's file, contact) @ 08:30:40 on Oct 02, 2006

Brent Spiner has plenty to do what with the bombing of Threshold after 14 episodes. Whoops! Sorry Mr Spiner, hope I didn't hit a sore spot.


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Why Is He Crying About It? | Report this post to moderator
By: LastGL (Odo's file, contact) @ 12:47:40 on Oct 01, 2006

Didn't Mr. Spiner want to quit trek? Why is he crying about the new movie? Maybe he dosen't like not having anything to do...

--------

Spock: That unit is a woman.



Nomad: A mass of conflicting impulses.


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Why Is He Crying About It? | Report this post to moderator
By: LastGL (Odo's file, contact) @ 12:47:27 on Oct 01, 2006

Didn't Mr. Spiner want to quit trek? Why is he crying about the new movie? Maybe he dosen't like not having anything to do...

--------

Spock: That unit is a woman.



Nomad: A mass of conflicting impulses.


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By The Way... | Report this post to moderator
By: Lance (Odo's file, contact) @ 09:06:25 on Oct 01, 2006

Why is Spiner bashing Enterprise anyway? I read in article not so long ago that said he was impressed with where it was headed before it was cancelled.


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RE: By The Way... by sb2004 @ 20:12:08 on Oct 04

Title for the Movie | Report this post to moderator
By: Lance (Odo's file, contact) @ 08:59:19 on Oct 01, 2006

Data and Picard's Excellent Adventure


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So... | Report this post to moderator
By: Merlinus Ambrosius (Odo's file, contact) @ 14:00:01 on Sep 30, 2006

Spiner says Star Trek is supposed to be about "going forward". So whats his kickass idea? Bring back all the big villains from the franchise and face them off against all the good guys? How exactly is that moving forward?

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Image

A Government in the position to know everything that you do

is in the position to control everything that you do.


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RE: So... by mustangman289 @ 17:35:59 on Sep 30

Why would Paramount go with an Original Series film? | Report this post to moderator
By: Kang1 (Odo's file, contact) @ 12:58:02 on Sep 30, 2006

Just take a look at the numbers.
All six of the Original series movies made increadable profit(ok except for 5, but it still made pretty good money). TNG has only had one exceptionaly profitable movie, First Contact. If you were the head of a studio, which way would you go! Also I think the biggest problem with Nemisis was the fact that Spiner helped come up with the story line.


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Why would Paramount go with an Original Series film? | Report this post to moderator
By: Kang1 (Odo's file, contact) @ 12:57:56 on Sep 30, 2006

Just take a look at the numbers.
All six of the Original series movies made increadable profit(ok except for 5, but it still made pretty good money). TNG has only had one exceptionaly profitable movie, First Contact. If you were the head of a studio, which way would you go! Also I think the biggest problem with Nemisis was the fact that Spiner helped come up with the story line.


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MOVE ON | Report this post to moderator
By: Gprime85 (Odo's file, contact) @ 12:48:24 on Sep 30, 2006 | Edit History (3)

Quote:

Lets move forward already shall we? Bring on the 25th century...



What did Gene do after pumping out 6 TOS movies? Move ahead about 65 years into the future. Maybe we should now too.

Start a new movie or series in 2450 with a new cast on a new ship in a new area of space with new villians and new friends (like how Klingons were the main enemy in TOS but then allies in TNG, make say, the Romulans the new allies which would work, seeing as how Nemesis kinda laid the foundation for that).

But learn from the failures of TNG and the sucesses from DS9 and make the series a little darker, dealing with our imperfections or, like Roddenberry's original concept of social commentary. I'm sure someone can make a story arc about an enemy with completely opposite ideologies than the Federation.

Wanna talk about a "reboot?" Just start the franchise over in the future.


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RE: MOVE ON by psp1 @ 13:17:30 on Sep 30

Payday | Report this post to moderator
By: Norm3 (Odo's file, contact) @ 12:06:46 on Sep 30, 2006

Its funny how TNG cast don’t like Abrams ideas. Its pretty obvious they want another pay day.


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Uh... | Report this post to moderator
By: Sxottlan (Odo's file, contact) @ 10:27:16 on Sep 30, 2006 | Edit History (1)

I never really thought I'd ever say this, especially considering how much I loved his character, but this guy whined for years and years about wanting out and killing his character. Finally he gets a buddy to write his character a pointless death. What do we care what he thinks anymore? These publications have nothing better to do than to keep tracking down these actors and asking them for the same sound bite over and over again?

By the way, that idea for Trek XI is awful.


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RE: Uh... by Mardus @ 00:56:11 on Oct 02

Relevant | Report this post to moderator
By: zafier (Odo's file, contact) @ 09:47:27 on Sep 30, 2006

This idea is just silly. The problem with recent Star Trek is it just wasn't relevant. Producers and excutives tried too hard not to rock the boat and lose either some of the fan base or mainstream appeal (what they determine is mainstream). When you create something based on demographics and allegiance to a fan base, it becomes impersonal, cold, irrelevant and meaningless. When Star Trek is at its best it is either dealing with 1) issues that folks care about deeply or, 2) characters that folks care about deeply in legitimate difficulty. Look to the original series to see how cutting edge it was socially. Look at the run from STII-IV for characters people care about a lot in basically the worst long-term situation of their lives. Look at the character arc of Spock, from enlightened/warm, to literally dead, to a shell of himself, then slowly finding himself again. The battles aren't the centerpiece of the action...simply dramatic elements through which the characters travel to get from one place to another. There has been virtually no consistent character development since DS9...my point is, if the prequel movies are about how Kirk got from some other place to becoming the mature Kirk that we know, and the same for Spock, that will be interesting. And not just a boring hero...we know Kirk is a womanizer, overly emotional...he makes mistakes...he's not perfect...that's interesting. And different...that will bet butts in seats. But it's also a risk. We'll see..


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Been there done that... | Report this post to moderator
By: cgrest (Odo's file, contact) @ 08:47:44 on Sep 30, 2006

I think the biggest challenge facing Trek these days is to come up with something fresh and inventative. I think Spiner is right in that with a prequel movie they are doing nothing more than the ‘Go Back to Where They Once Were That We Never Saw' ideology. But conversely the TNG movies did the same thing, especially with the whole Data "personfication of this and that" we got dragged though.

Although I never favored the whole prequel notions (never watched Enterprise because of it) I am reluctantly optimistic about the Kirk/Spock thing. Esepcially given the choice of that over a Justice League of Star Trek BS. Thats just a stupidly insane idea, and once again shows they aren't looking forward. Just resurrecting old characters instead of making new ones.

Lets move forward already shall we? Bring on the 25th century...


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Been there done that... | Report this post to moderator
By: cgrest (Odo's file, contact) @ 08:47:32 on Sep 30, 2006

I think the biggest challenge facing Trek these days is to come up with something fresh and inventative. I think Spiner is right in that with a prequel movie they are doing nothing more than the ‘Go Back to Where They Once Were That We Never Saw' ideology. But conversely the TNG movies did the same thing, especially with the whole Data "personfication of this and that" we got dragged though.

Although I never favored the whole prequel notions (never watched Enterprise because of it) I am reluctantly optimistic about the Kirk/Spock thing. Esepcially given the choice of that over a Justice League of Star Trek BS. Thats just a stupidly insane idea, and once again shows they aren't looking forward. Just resurrecting old characters instead of making new ones.

Lets move forward already shall we? Bring on the 25th century...


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Hmmmm... | Report this post to moderator
By: Hbasm (Odo's file, contact) @ 06:04:33 on Sep 30, 2006

Well... I'm not sold on this idea... Bringing all the villians together sounds like a hard one to "top"...

And its action for the sake of action. Its not much of a story.

His comment about prequels, I will have to think about.


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RE: Hmmmm... by StillKirok @ 06:13:01 on Sep 30
    RE: Hmmmm... by Hbasm @ 07:48:52 on Sep 30

So... | Report this post to moderator
By: Gprime85 (Odo's file, contact) @ 23:20:17 on Sep 29, 2006

...I guess the cool thing for Trek actors now is to bash their series/movies.


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It's official.... | Report this post to moderator
By: sgtmaco (Odo's file, contact) @ 20:13:19 on Sep 29, 2006 | Edit History (1)

Brent Spiner is infected with the Threshold Virus....You have to be insane or sick to the head to think that was a good idea for STXI. That absolutely sucks! Hey, I liked Nemesis, i thought it was ok...but compared to this idea, Nemesis would've been Oscar bound! Come on!


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RE: It's official.... by zirami @ 21:25:43 on Sep 29

And in one small paragraph.... | Report this post to moderator
By: Dukat (Odo's file, contact, web site) @ 19:34:32 on Sep 29, 2006

....Spiner gives the best justification for Trek XI yet.

Why is it that Spiner even thought that the phrase "the idea that John Logan and I had" should be said again? I liked Nemesis, but it is clear that lots of people here and everywhere despised it.

And the problem with Enterprise was not the prequel idea... it was Berman and Braga making it a prequel to the Berman and Braga Trekuniverse. Once Coto and the Stevenses got in there and they respected and liked TOS, the 4th season really was good.


Lastly-- anyone think like me that having a Data story as part of 3 of the 4 TNG movies was a bad idea? It was one of the weaker aspects of Generations, then we did it again in Insurrection, and then we did a neo-Lore story with B4 in Nemesis. Why did they take what was weak for one movie and make it the weakest aspect of 3 of them?

Killing Data was a relief to me, but in the scene where it is appearant that B4 would be back and the B story for the next 3-4 movies, I am so happy we are bailing on the TNG universe. If you want to talk about "where we have been before"-- it is the TNG movies and all the Data stuff.

--------

Image


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RE: And in one small paragraph.... by Kirks1701-A @ 21:07:04 on Sep 29
RE: And in one small paragraph.... by Dukat @ 21:06:23 on Sep 29

Yellow-eyed bastard | Report this post to moderator
By: MotherFraker (Odo's file, contact, web site) @ 19:06:22 on Sep 29, 2006 | Edit History (2)

Oops. Double post.

--------

'Risk IS our business' - Kirk.

Don't trust a snowman as far as you can throw it. Instead, shoot it in the face with a shotgun.

See new episodes of the ridiculous online comedy series

SNOWMEN HUNTERS every Wednesday at Zanzibar19.


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Yellow-eyed bastard | Report this post to moderator
By: MotherFraker (Odo's file, contact, web site) @ 19:06:18 on Sep 29, 2006 | Edit History (1)

Umm... triple post?

--------

'Risk IS our business' - Kirk.

Don't trust a snowman as far as you can throw it. Instead, shoot it in the face with a shotgun.

See new episodes of the ridiculous online comedy series

SNOWMEN HUNTERS every Wednesday at Zanzibar19.


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Yellow-eyed bastard | Report this post to moderator
By: MotherFraker (Odo's file, contact, web site) @ 19:00:29 on Sep 29, 2006 | Edit History (1)

Oh, this is just ridiculous. It's like I've never used a computer at all. Folks, I'm sorry.

--------

'Risk IS our business' - Kirk.

Don't trust a snowman as far as you can throw it. Instead, shoot it in the face with a shotgun.

See new episodes of the ridiculous online comedy series

SNOWMEN HUNTERS every Wednesday at Zanzibar19.


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Yellow-eyed bastard | Report this post to moderator
By: MotherFraker (Odo's file, contact, web site) @ 19:00:20 on Sep 29, 2006

So it turns out years of gold make-up leads to insanity.

I can't remember the last time I've heard an idea this bad. What makes this worse for me (an avowed rebooter) is he's so wrong about his idea being cool, and so right right about the inherent lameness of the prequel idea. Now that we know it's cannon and in the past, there's a certain edge that's gone to TREK 11. I'm sure Abrams can make it as well as it can be made, but since the announcement I'm surpised about how much I'm not interested.

The more I think about Spiner's idea, the more I wonder if the mediocrity of B&B was tolorated because the other powers that were close bye were known my Paramount to be much, much worse. Sorry Data.


--------

'Risk IS our business' - Kirk.

Don't trust a snowman as far as you can throw it. Instead, shoot it in the face with a shotgun.

See new episodes of the ridiculous online comedy series

SNOWMEN HUNTERS every Wednesday at Zanzibar19.


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i like the idea.....very interesting | Report this post to moderator
By: baldmark (Odo's file, contact) @ 17:51:17 on Sep 29, 2006

you have to imagine it (have imagination), plus like he said (the cost) if it had the money im sure it would work amazingly, but then i have a problem how do you get ricardo moltalban back! is he even still alive?, maybe not a good idea after all.


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RE: i like the idea.....very interesting by Mardus @ 01:19:56 on Oct 02

He can't possibly serious???? | Report this post to moderator
By: prometheus 59650 (Odo's file, contact, web site) @ 16:45:45 on Sep 29, 2006

I haven't read anything that fanboy since "Prodigal's Return"

Brent, if you think THAT would have appealed to people I sincerely question your sanity.

--------

"We've been attacked by the intelligent, educated segment of our culture." ---Pastor Ray Mummert speaking of those who favor Darwinian Evolution over Intelligent Design.



"We, in this country, do not want for stupid people. Go outside, touch every third person, and you're gonna find an idiot."--- Judge Judith Sheindlin



"I’m tired of it year after year after year, having to chose between the lesser of who cares? Of trying to get myself excited about a candidate who can speak in complete sentences. Of setting the bar so low I can hardly look at it."--- Leo McGarry, The West Wing








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*snorts* | Report this post to moderator
By: Ro (Odo's file, contact, web site) @ 16:38:12 on Sep 29, 2006

Spiner and Logan's Trek XI = fanwank.

--------

Image

The autumn days swung soft around me, like cotton on

my skin. But as the embers of the summer lost their

breath and disappeared, my heart went cold, and

only hollow rhythms resounded from within.


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RE: *snorts* by Merlinus Ambrosius @ 16:44:35 on Sep 29
    RE: *snorts* by Ro @ 10:16:51 on Oct 01

yuck | Report this post to moderator
By: psp1 (Odo's file, contact) @ 16:20:09 on Sep 29, 2006

What a horrible idea. Talk about reducing Star Trek to comic book level. Much as I dislike the prequel idea, this crappy one makes it look like the spark of genius.

Thank God these two clowns were jettisoned unceremoniously from the Trek universe. Every fan should be breathing a sigh of relief.

--------

psp1


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RE: yuck by lee @ 15:57:36 on Oct 01
    RE: yuck by kman242 @ 11:59:45 on Oct 02

... | Report this post to moderator
By: The Emperor (Odo's file, contact) @ 15:33:08 on Sep 29, 2006 | Edit History (1)

You have got to be shitting me. That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard.


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RE: ... by zirami @ 17:08:25 on Sep 29
Promenade










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