by Brendon Connelly, Source: Bleeding Cool.com
Though it will be eventually post-converted and released in 3D, JJ Abrams has decided to shoot his Star Trek sequel on film and in 2D. And while it still sounds to be up in the air, he also says that there have been discussions about using IMAX large-format film for the project.
The quotes come from MTV, who spoke to Abrams on the red carpet of the Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol premiere. He said:
We’re shooting on film, 2-D, and then we’ll do a good high-end conversion like the Harry Potter movie and all that. Luckily, with our release date now we have the months needed to do it right because if you rush it, it never looks good. We were talking about [shooting in IMAX] and I would love to do it. IMAX is my favorite format; I’m a huge fan.
Oh. Okay… So… why release in 3D at all, then? If you’re not that interested?
Now, if Abrams does shoot in the IMAX format, it’s very unlikely this will be for the entire duration of the film. Instead, we can probably expect some sequences to open up to the bigger, taller aspect ratio, as with Nolan’s second and third Batmovies and, indeed, Ghost Protocol.
This “Whooooah! It’s gone all big!” play seems like it’s going to hang around – unless, of course, somebody somehow makes an IMAX format camera that’s practical enough for these large-format loving directors to shoot their entire films at that gauge.
Meanwhile, Showbiz 411 say that they’ve “confirmed” with “sources close to the next film” that Abrams isn’t about to repeat the double-Spock idea from the last Trek:
No members of the original cast. No Shatner, no Nimoy. No classic recipe Kirk, Spock, Bones, Scotty, Uhura, Chekhov or Sulu.
Well, it’s as I would have expected. It’s time to fully cut loose of the old continuity and not try to dangle from the time loop conceit just for a little bit of fan service.
Production on It Won’t Be Called Star Trek 2 So This Will Have To Do For Now is set to kick off in the next month or so, with a release set for May 2013. Somebody better be making the IMAX decision pretty soon, I reckon…
UPDATE: And a new story has just now appeared at TrekMovie.com, delivering info directly from one of the film’s screenwriters. Here’s how they put it:
Star Trek sequel co-writer/producer Roberto Orci let a little sequel tidbit out of the bag with this comment:
boborci: Spoiler alert!
We wrote a part for Greenwood. Let us hope he says “Yes!”While Greenwood’s Pike had a major role in the Star Trek movie, he told TrekMovie in 2009 that, unlike other stars, he didn’t have a set option to return for the sequel. However the actor has been clear in interviews over the last few years that he is very interested to return to the role of Pike.
You may recall that Pike was left in a wheelchair at the end of the last film. Greenwood has said he’d rather be up and moving about if he were to return, but I hope that doesn’t turn out to be some kind of dealbreaker.