Caffeinated Clint
Now this is slightly..worrying.
The reason Simon Pegg was brought in to help write the new “Star Trek” movie (he replaced Roberto Orci) wasn’t because they wanted someone who knew the world of Trek like the back of their blond-haired elbow, but because they assumed he’d come up with something that wasn’t very Trek.
Suggesting Paramount want to reboot the tone of the franchise, Pegg tells The Guardian that his job is to come up with something more “inclusive” and less “Star Trek-y” :
“They had a script for Star Trek that wasn’t really working for them. I think the studio was worried that it might have been a little bit too Star Trek-y”, the “Hot Fuzz” actor tells the outlet.
“Avengers Assemble, which is a pretty nerdy, comic-book, supposedly niche thing, made $1.5bn dollars. Star Trek Into Darkness made half a billion, which is still brilliant. But it means that, according to the studio, there’s still $1bn worth of box office that don’t go and see Star Trek. And they want to know why”, adds Pegg, who’ll be back as ‘Scotty’ for the next instalment. “People don’t see it being a fun, brightly coloured, Saturday night entertainment like the Avengers,” adding that the solution was to “make a western or a thriller or a heist movie, then populate that with Star Trek characters so it’s more inclusive to an audience that might be a little bit reticent”.
While this makes a lot of sense – and it wouldn’t be the first time Paramount’s attempted to branch out in regards to the franchise (hello “Star Trek IV : The Voyage Home”) you’ve got to wonder whether they’ve got the interests of those loyal, die-hard Trekkies in mind? After all, “Star Trek” is still a viable brand because of them not because of irregular filmgoer Pa Joe and his semi-interest in old school heist movies.
