“Oscar-Nominated Star Trek Beyond” is now a reality – the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has officially released their nominations for this year’s Academy awards, and Star Trek Beyond joins the party with a nomination for best Makeup and Hairstyling.
Beyond‘s biggest competition in this three-way race for Oscar gold is DC’s Suicide Squad, but the tour de force alien population of Starbase Yorktown – helmed by makeup and prosthetic artists Joel Harlow and Richie Alonzo make Beyond the film to beat this year. Also nominated is Swedish comedy-drama film A Man Called Ove.
Joel Harlow – with his wife Cindy – appear in character as a pair of Vulcan citizens aboard Starbase Yorktown.
Star Trek Beyond is far from the first Star Trek film to be nominated for one of the movie industry’s highest awards; six other Trek movies have also been put up for Oscars, starting all the way back with The Motion Picture. 2009’s Trek reboot, however, is the franchise’s only win to date, for the makeup work in that film.
This year’s Oscar ceremony will be broadcast on Sunday, February 26.
STAR TREK ONLINE will kick off its seventh anniversary with the release of Season 12 – “Reckoning.” The newest chapter releases on PC January 26 and will follow on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 at a later date. Season 12 celebrates Star Trek Online’s upcoming anniversary with giveaways and mini-games, plus two new space queues, a new Research and Development System category and a featured episode titled “Of Signs and Portents.”
This year’s anniversary event for Star Trek Online offers captains the opportunity to complete in-game missions to earn exciting rewards, including the new Tier 6 Lukari Science Vessel, which the community selected the design for last fall.
Players can also participate in two daily missions (‘Omega Molecule Stabilization Daily’ and ‘Party Patrol’) to earn special rewards and play the ‘Omega Molecule Stabilization’ mini-game with Q to earn materials to construct crafting kits. Festivities also include server-wide giveaways for in-game items, which will take place soon on a daily basis leading up to the anniversary event release.
“Reckoning” continues the mission from Star Trek Online’s latest update, “Agents of Yesterday: Artifacts.” Under the leadership of Captain Kuumaarke, the Lukari have set out on a journey to investigate some unusual activity in an unexplored region of the Alpha Quadrant.
Upon further inspection, they discover data that suggests weaponized use of protomatter. Fearing the Tzenkethi are behind this, they put out a call for help to the Alliance, who tasks captains from across the galaxy to help the Lukari prevent a looming cataclysmic attack.
Mission details for “Reckoning” will be revealed in the new featured episode, “Of Signs and Portents,” which will also feature the game’s first appearance of General Rodek, voiced by actor Tony Todd.
The update also unlocks an expansive amount of content for captains to explore, including a new reputation, a new crafting school in the R&D System to create kits and modules, two brand-new space queues (“Gravity Kills” and “The Tzenkethi Front”) and a full space battlezone that has the Alliance pitting itself against the Tzenkethi in a desperate bid to stop the production and deployment of protomatter weapons.
Stay tuned for more Trek gaming news here at TrekCore!
As STAR TREK: DISCOVERY begins rehearsals this week in anticipation of next week’s launch of filming, CBS has confirmed today that the series — rescheduled from January to May 2017 back in September — is now warping off the springtime CBS All Access Schedule.
In a statement released to multiple media outlets today (including Variety), CBS made the following comments regarding this second delay:
Production on ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ begins next week. We love the cast, the scripts and are excited about the world the producers have created. This is an ambitious project; we will be flexible on a launch date if it’s best for the show.
We’ve said from the beginning it’s more important to do this right than to do it fast. There is also added flexibility presenting on CBS All Access, which isn’t beholden to seasonal premieres or launch windows.
While this additional push-out of the DISCOVERY debut will likely be a disappointment to fans, EW’s James Hibberd offered the following commentary which may factor into the reason for a new shift:
This switch has a few reasons behind it, a key one is that recently cast star Sonequa Martin-Green is on AMC’s mega-hit The Walking Dead, which is airing its current season through April. There’s a concern about marketplace confusion if CBS were to ramp up promoting her as the star of a new sci-fi show while her horror hit is currently on the air.
The other reason is there’s still a lot of careful deliberation continuing to go into making Discovery special, from the choice of directors, to set design, to the special effects. While May would have been a strong premiere month for the project since Discovery will launch on the CBS broadcast network before moving to the streaming service (May is a ratings surge month), given that Discovery will normally live on All-Access, there’s no pressure to fill a specific time slot.
That being said, we now do not know when CBS plans to release the series – but with filming just days away, we’re likely to hear another debut projection from CBS before too long.
In addition to the calendar changes, CBS also announced this morning that English actor James Frain has been cast as Sarek (son of Skon, son of Solkar) in the new series, making him the fourth actor to portray the Vulcan Ambassador – and father of Spock – in the Trek franchise.
More notably, however, this casting brings the first previously-known Trek character into the DISCOVERY fold, connecting back to Bryan Fuller’s comments back in August that Amanda Grayson “maybe” will factor into the show (though while there’s been no word on that character’s official appearance, having Sarek around will open that door quite easily).
Frain has been most recently spotted on Gotham, True Detective, and the genre favorite Orphan Black (video above).
As we continue to barrel towards the launch of STAR TREK: DISCOVERYlater this year, there are a few updates on both that series and Trek of days past we have to bring you to look forward to in 2017.
Roddenberry.com, after completing their 2016 “365 Project” highlighting rarely seen photo and documentary releases around the original Star Trek series and film productions, have begun 2017 with the next generation of that project… focusing on thirty years of THE NEXT GENERATION.
STAR TREK: DISCOVERYis just a few days away from the official launch of filming, as International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees union has January 24 slated as the first day of contracted production with the Toronto-based union. DISCOVERY will be filming at Pinewood Studios in Toronto, with sets built on their 45,900-square-foot “mega stage” at the facility.
Announced stars Michelle Yeoh and Chris Obi are already posting from Toronto on social media, with Yeoh already receiving “fan mail” (addressed to her, care of ‘Green Harvest,’ the production title of the series), and Obi showing off some DISCOVERY edibles.
CBS has also released a first ‘virtual reality’ promotion for the series, with the below 360° video highlighting Enterprise starships of days gone by.
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Ongoing Star Trek comic writer Mike Johnsonfirst hinted that we’d get a Jaylah origin story back in October, but has now confirmed that February’s STAR TREK: BOLDLY GO #5 will be an origin story for the STAR TREK BEYOND heroine – with cover art by George Caltsoudas.
We’ll have our review of this upcoming issue when released next month.
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Eaglemoss’ Official Starship Collection is releasing their jumbo-sized, 11-inch version of the original Enterprise next week in the UK (available for order here in the UK, and here in the USA for February arrival), and now have previewed an upcoming Enterprise-D edition as well.
Mike Johnson and Tony Shasteen will always have my unrelenting gratitude for making the Kelvin Timeline something that I can enjoy.
Star Trek: Boldy Go #4 is the final issue in the Borg encounter story arc but four issues isn’t enough for this story. As much as I enjoyed reading it and the resolution, it was over too soon.
It’s like it needed just one more issue to properly display Spock’s assimilation encounter with the Borg or the joint battle with the Romulan Fleet. Johnson had a great story here and like all things enjoyable, this just ended too fast, too soon.
When we last left the intrepid crew of the USS Endeavour (Yeah … it’s weird it’s not the Enterprise but logically it adds a layer of authenticity to the recent events of the Kelvin Timeline), Spock had been taken captive by the Borg, Captain Kirk had taken the ship into the Neutral Zone and a Romulan fleet was prepared to defend their home system against the Borg ship searching for the anomalous Narada – the ship that initiated the Kelvin Timeline in the first place.
Which, of course, is one of the reasons why I think this story works so well. In my opinion, part of the reason why the 2009 film received a negative response from some viewers was that it felt sudden and tried to create a bond with Star Trek fans in a matter of a couple of hours who had a bond with a fifty-year franchise. Yet by recalling an incident that is now six years into Trek history, Mike Johnson has built upon that and generated a sense of greater access for readers in terms of back history and integration into the main universe.
I imagine there was a similar response by Marvel fans when the Ultimates Universe was created back in 2000. However, while the J.J. Abrams film in 2009 might have given fans the impression that it was to supplant the original franchise, the recognition of the Narada incident as a temporal branching now gives it a sense of legitimacy to allow it to co-exist with the original timeline. Johnson’s work is giving it further breadth.
Johnson and Shasteen’s portrayal of the Romulans in this universe was an act of creative initiative. To introduce a race into the comic that Paramount hasn’t in their introduced in their films yet if an act of creative initiative. Not to mention the creation of new crew characters like Valas, who for some reason, I instantly liked and related to strongly.
Maybe it’s because she represents the welcoming attitude that the United Federation of Planets is supposed to represent that long-time Trek fans would appreciate. She is a unique outlier and I sense that we are going to see future stories that are based around her. Also, as I indicated the last time I reviewed this comic, bringing the Borg into the Federation years before the Next Generation era is also a bold story development.
Johnson’s portrayal of characters is completely believable. Zachary Quinto’s voice is very present when I read his verbal engagement with the Borg during the assimilation process; it’s uncanny and highly entertaining.
Tony Shasteen expressed concerns in an interview section in this issue about whether or not he could properly do the Borg due justice in his rendition of them; in my opinion, he can leave those doubts behind about properly illustrating the iconic Borg. He certainly had their number as his illustrations depicted the Borg as a hegemonic race made up of various technological parts. His detail and attention to their structure was excellent.
Look at the covers for this issue. The regular cover by George Caltsoudas certainly has a stark appeal to it that matches the ruthlessness of the Borg. The display of Spock’s assimilation not only fills the reader with a sense of trepidation but also communicates the severity of the situation.
Tony Shasteen’s subscription variation is a straightforward portrayal of Zoe Saldana’s Nyota Uhura with her current assignment record in the background. This is in a series of crew portrayals that I would love complete and all-together. Perhaps IDW will arrange for a special print of all these? I hope so.
The first retailer incentive cover is a photo-cover. Karl Urban’s McCoy graces this cover in a typical heroic pose. I’m not a fan of photo-covers as I think they should be the sole medium of comic artistry but as photos go, it’s acceptable.
The second retailer incentive cover is another of Marc Laming’s paper doll series. This one is of Spock, and it’s the accouterments that I love to see in these covers. After all, the uniforms are just clothes, but the choice of items like Spock’s 3D chessboard or the portrait of the TOS crew are wonderfully personal and communicate a real understanding of the character. Simply because of the nod to Shatner and company, I have to say this one is my favourite.
These creators’ interpretation of events after the third Kelvin film has taken the crew to new heights and they even manage to make the absence of the Enterprise an authentic and workable element in their storytelling. With their ingenuity, action and character interpretation, they manage to bring a sense of dynamism to Kelvin Trek that makes it not only accessible to die-hard prime Star Trek fans like me, but also incredible enjoyment.
Even though this Boldly Go #4seemed hurried, I still love it and I’m eagerly anticipating what the next arc will be.
More talk of a Star Trek Beyond sequel is out this week from actor Chris Hemsworth, who notably played George Kirk – the father of Chris Pine’s James T. Kirk – in the 2009 film which rebooted Star Trek for the big screen – and who is expected to return in a planned TREK 4.
In a brief conversation with MTV News at the Golden Globes this past Sunday, Hemsworth made his first public comments on the sequel announcement – and while he’s not yet sure how George will return to the Trek universe, he’s already spent some time discussing the project with producer J.J. Abrams.
MTV NEWS: “What about ‘Star Trek’ – is that going to happen, do you think?”
HEMSWORTH: “Yeah, yeah. I’m not sure, exactly, of the dates, but I’ve spoken to J.J. [Abrams], and he’s got an amazing sort of pitch on the whole thing… [but] I don’t know [how George Kirk is returning].
But that one’s a little further off than the Marvel stuff [I’m involved in now].”
Hemsworth recently completed filming on Thor: Ragnarok – with fellow Trek actor Karl Urban – and is approaching the upcoming mega-sequel Avengers: Infinity War with Marvel Studios in the coming months.
STAR TREK 4 has been announced by Paramount Pictures, but no filming or release schedule has yet been confirmed by the studio.
In a new interview with IGN released tonight, Star Trek Kelvin Timeline actress Zoe Saldana expressed her hopes that the crew of Chris Pine’s Enterprise will be back for another film, despite the less-than-stellar box office returns of 2016’s Star Trek Beyond.
I really hope there is [going to be another film]. It’d be crazy to limit the longevity of a show that has had a fifty year life – and on – to stop just because they had a bad box office turnout.
Especially when people were talking about how amazing [Beyond] was. I would love… I would always come back, to get an opportunity to be with all my friends until we’re fifty, sixty? I would be so happy.
Back in October, Pine expressed his desire to reunite with Hemsworth again – but for those of you wondering about the fate of the late Anton Yelchin’s Chekov, producer J.J. Abrams confirmed that the character will not be recast after the actor’s death last summer for any follow-up film.
First announced by Paramount Pictures back in July (ahead of the Star Trek Beyond release), the next sequel film is expected to see the return of Chris Hemsworth’s George Kirk, killed in the 2009 Trek debut – but as of yet the fourth Kelvin Timeline film has yet to be placed onto Paramount’s release schedule.
Continuing the milestone 50th anniversary celebration of Star Trek—an epic new trilogy that stretches from the events of The Original Series movie The Search for Spock to The Next Generation!
The Klingon Empire stands on the precipice. In the wake of violence from the cult known as the Unsung, paranoia threatens to break Chancellor Martok’s regime. Klingons increasingly call for a stronger hand to take control…one that Lord Korgh, master manipulator, is only too willing to offer.
But other forces are now in motion. Assisted by a wily agent, the Empire’s enemies secretly conspire to take full advantage of the situation.
Aboard the USS Titan, Admiral William T. Riker realizes far more than the Federation’s alliance with the Klingons is in danger. With the Empire a wounded animal, it could either become an attacker—or a target.
Yet even as hostilities increase, Commander Worf returns to the USS Enterprise and Captain Jean-Luc Picard with a daring plan of his own. The preservation of both the Empire and the Federation alliance may hinge on an improbable savior leading a most unlikely force….
An Empire in disarray, relations between the Klingons and the Federation on a knife’s edge, and a usurper who vows to make the Klingon Empire great again is attempting to seize power. And now, even foreign powers such as the Breen and the Kinshaya are getting involved!
After an amazing set-up in books one and two, it all comes down to this. How does the final book in the Prey trilogy compare?
John Jackson Miller has set a difficult task before himself. Up to now, the Prey trilogy has been wonderfully fresh and intriguing, with plot twists and turns that haven’t failed to surprise. Thankfully, in The Hall of Heroes, Miller sticks the landing, and even gets full marks from the judges, if you will indulge my tortured metaphor. Continuing the strong character work and tight plotting of books one and two, book three was an incredibly satisfying conclusion to the trilogy.
The alliance between the Federation and the Klingon Empire is once again put at risk thanks to the machinations of Korgh.
One character who is especially intriguing is Shift, seen in the first two books as the Orion assistant to Buxtus Cross. She would often be seen to adopt a guise along with Cross in order to lead the Unsung in their attacks on Klingons and other targets. However, with the death of Cross at the end of The Jackal’s Trick, Shift’s true allegiances are revealed.
Working for the Breen, Shift has been deep undercover in Cross’s “Truthcrafter” group, biding her time. I really loved this character. Shift’s motivations for joining the Breen and their true egalitarian society make a lot of sense for an Orion woman who has spent her entire life being valued mainly for her appearance. With their full-body suits, all Breen look alike, and that sort of anonymity would be very tempting to someone like Shift.
As with many Klingon tales, redemption is a motif that plays out in Prey. The crimes of the Unsung are at least partially redeemed by their actions in The Hall of Heroes, and by their continued service after the end of the story. Also, Kahless himself experiences a form of redemption, after having languished in isolation for many years. He once again has a purpose to serve, and his role as Emperor is once again valued by him.
A great lesson imparted in this story is the idea that history should be remembered. The Unsung became such a huge problem partly because they were forgotten by the Empire. Being discommendated made them less than nothing in the eyes of the Empire, and therefore beneath their notice, allowing them to be corrupted by Korgh and his confederates. If the Klingons had felt it necessary to keep track of them, it’s likely that these events would not have happened.
The Breen, with their philosophy of conformity and egalitarianism, are very alluring to someone like Shift, who comes from a society where looks are all that matters.
In the end, rather than seeing the end of the alliance between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, Prey becomes a celebration of it. While the Federation and the Empire are both very different, it is in those differences that they find strength.
A beautiful cameo appearance by a character who had a direct hand in originally bringing the two powers together ties the story up nicely, and cements it as a perfect celebration of a half-century of Star Trek.
The end of the Prey trilogy, and the final part of The Hall of Heroesin particular, are supremely satisfying. I feel like it would be difficult to craft an ending that sufficiently matches the high notes of the previous two books, but John Jackson Miller has accomplished that and more.
Filming is set to begin later this month on STAR TREK: DISCOVERY, and today IGN released a new interview with recently-cast actor Doug Jones, who takes on the role of alien Lieutenant Saru – a member of a brand new Trek species, debuting in the new series.
In addition to a pronunciation guide to the new character name, Jones also told IGN’s Jim Vejvoda about his preference to create a new alien species, rather than don the makeup of an already-established Trek race.
JONES: I am a new breed of alien that you’ve never seen on the series before, or in any of the movies, which I’m ticked pink about – that I get to, from the ground up, get to find and develop this character and his species, and what we’re all about from the getgo… instead of taking folklore that’s already existing in the franchise and trying to appease the fans in playing a new one of those [alien species].
This is a whole new thing that we get to discover together, which I’m really excited about – and I will be the science officer [Saru].
IGN: How do you say his name, ‘Saow-ru’?
JONES: ‘Suh-ROO.’ Lieutenant Saru, is what they’ve said so far. Now rank, of course, can change over the years; I don’t know where I’ll be heading from here. Let’s hope up!
STAR TREK: DISCOVERY debuts this May on CBS All Access and Netflix.
Continuing the milestone 50th anniversary celebration of Star Trek—an epic new trilogy that stretches from the events of The Original Series movie The Search for Spock to The Next Generation!
The Klingon-Federation alliance is in peril as never before. Lord Korgh has seized control of the House of Kruge, executing a plot one hundred years in the making.
The Klingon cult known as the Unsung rampages across the stars, striking from the shadows in their cloaked Birds-of-Prey. And the mysterious figure known as Buxtus Cross launches a scheme that will transform the Klingon Empire forever.
Into danger flies Admiral William T. Riker and the USS Titan, charged with protecting the peace forged nearly a century before during the Khitomer Accords.
Aided by Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the USS Enterprise, Riker and his officers scour the stars, seeking to find the Unsung and uncover the truth behind the conspiracy before time runs out.
Yet even as Commander Worf departs on a deeply personal mission of honor, hidden sinister forces seek to turn the crisis to their advantage. And the conspirators’ plans threaten to spiral out of control, jeopardizing the very empire they aspire to rule.
The Prey trilogy continues in book two, The Jackal’s Trick! In this installment, Galdor (recently revealed to be the treacherous Korgh) has seized the House of Kruge through dishonorable means. His troops, The Unsung, believe they are being led by the legendary Kruge himself.
However, “Kruge” is actually a Betazoid con artist by the name of Buxtus Cross. Book one, Hell’s Heart, was an examination of the history of Galdor/Korgh, while this book takes a look at what led Buxtus Cross to where he is now.
Cross was a former Starfleet officer who had murdered a fellow officer. Escaping from prison thanks to some skilled “truthcrafters,” Cross now leads the troupe as they ply their schemes across the galaxy. “Truthcrafters” are basically con artists who use tricks and illusion to hoodwink unsuspecting victims — think Ardra from the TNG episode “Devil’s Due,” who used cloaking technology, transporters, and holography to convince the people of Ventax that she was their version of Satan, returned to collect on an ancient debt.
Cross, in his guise as Lord Kruge, has taken control of the Unsung in order to carry out Korgh’s scheme. However, he has his own goals in mind as well.
The people manipulating the Unsung have created a cult of personality around their fake version of Lord Kruge.
One thing that stood out to me in The Jackal’s Trick is the way in which the Unsung are manipulated. It has a very familiar feel to it. They have an unwavering belief in and support of Kruge, to an extent that is downright scary. It does, however, make a lot of sense. The Unsung are discommendated Klingons, which makes them among the most vulnerable in that society.
People who have had everything taken from them can be very easily manipulated. Weakened or oppressed people have always been easy targets of a charismatic leader. Germany’s disillusioned population after World War I fell under Hitler’s sway, and cults will often target new arrivals to a city because they are cut off from family and may feel lonely and vulnerable. In fact, the Unsung feels very much like a cult. One Klingon in this book says to Worf that it “doesn’t matter” that their leader may not truly be Kruge; he is nonetheless “saying the right things.” This all seems eerily familiar, which makes it all the more terrifying.
One thing that John Jackson Miller excels at is writing exciting, beautifully visual scenes. There are a few in this book that certainly jump out. At one point, the Unsung are attacking a conference being held at H’Atoria. During the battle, just when you think the Starfleet forces are completely outmatched, Riker issues a coded order and Starfleet troops emerge from beneath the water in a brilliant counterattack. Not only is the sequence amazing to imagine, but it is reflective of part of the story being crafted in this trilogy.
Throughout the narrative, Korgh and his schemes makes some headway, seeming to embarrass Starfleet and harm their standing in the Klingon Empire. However, at no point are they completely defeated, and the result is a sort of cat-and-mouse game in which both sides score their own victories from time to time. This makes for an exciting story in which you are never really sure what will happen next.
Admiral Riker and his flagship, the Titan, put in an appearance in the ‘Prey’ trilogy.
Also fun to see is Riker and the Titan getting some more “screen time.” The crossover aspect of these event trilogies are always a highlight, and it’s great to see the various crews working together to solve a problem. With the Aventine set to show up in book three, Prey is looking like a more epic story all the time. While maybe not on the level of Destiny, it’s still good to see these larger stories being undertaken by the novels.
As with Hell’s Heart – the first Prey novel – The Jackal’s Trick ends on a completely unexpected note. In this second book, we learned a lot about Buxtus Cross and what makes him tick, but in book three, it seems as though there is yet another mastermind behind what has been happening.
