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Paramount wrote:J.J. ABRAMS TO DIRECT STAR TREK FEATURE FILM FOR
PARAMOUNT PICTURES
IN THEATERS CHRISTMAS DAY 2008


HOLLYWOOD, CA, February 26, 2007 – “Star Trek,” one of the most popular and successful franchises in the history of movies and television, returns to the big screen under the creative vision of J.J. Abrams, the force behind “Lost,” “Alias” and “Mission Impossible III” for Paramount Pictures.

The team behind the film will include Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci (‘Mission Impossible III”) who wrote the screenplay and will executive produce with Bryan Burk. JJ Abrams and “Lost” co-creator Damon Lindelof will produce. The film will begin shooting this fall for a Christmas Day 2008 release.

One of the most popular film and television franchises of all time, “Star Trek” has encompassed 726 total episodes for television in six different series, beginning with the original 1966-1969 series created by Gene Roddenberry. The 10 “Star Trek” films have grossed in excess of $1 billion at the worldwide box office. The original characters have been named among the 50 greatest TV characters of all time and the Enterprise has lent its name to two proposed spacecrafts.

"If there's something I'm dying to see, it's the brilliance and optimism of Roddenberry's world brought back to the big screen,” said Abrams. “Alex and Bob wrote an amazing script that embraces and respects Trek canon, but charts its own course. Our goal is to make a picture for everyone -- life-long fans and the uninitiated. Needless to say, I am honored and excited to be part of this next chapter of Star Trek."

Brad Grey, chairman and CEO, Paramount Pictures, said, “We could not be more thrilled to be back in business with J.J. Abrams. The revival of the ‘Star Trek’ franchise is an important part of Paramount’s turnaround.”


About Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global company that produces and distributes filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), a leading entertainment content company with prominent and respected brands including Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks. The company’s labels include Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, DreamWorks, MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Digital Entertainment, Paramount Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., Paramount Studios, and Worldwide Television Distribution.


Fact Sheet
“Star Trek” is one of the most popular film and television franchises of all time:
- 726 total episodes for television spanning six television series
- Original series, created by Gene Roddenberry, aired on NBC from 1966-1969
- 10 movies, grossing in total over $1 billion at the worldwide box office
- Hundreds of novels
- $3.5 billion in consumer products
- 3 million visitors of Las Vegas’s “Star Trek: The Experience” since 1998
- Over 60 interactive software products since 1991; games in production for current and next generation game platforms

J.J. Abrams is a talent widely admired by audiences and critics alike:
- Winner of two Emmy Awards for “Lost”
- 17 million viewers each week for “Lost”; a top-ten show
- Hailed by the New York Times as “one of the most exhilarating storytellers in television”
- Director of “Mission: Impossible III”
- Creator of “Alias” and “Felicity”

“Star Trek” has influenced the culture:
- NASA’s first test shuttle was named “Enterprise”
- The first commercial passenger carrier into space, Virgin Galactic, has announced that the first spacecraft of the line will be named V. S. S. Enterprise
- An episode of the original “Star Trek” featured television’s first interracial kiss
- Spock, portrayed by Leonard Nimoy, was named one of TV’s “50 Greatest Characters Ever” by TV Guide

Paramount wrote:ACADEMY AWARD WINNING DIRECTOR MARTIN SCORSESE TO TEAM UP WITH ROCK AND ROLL ICON MICK JAGGER TO DIRECT AND PRODUCE ”THE LONG PLAY” FOR PARAMOUNT PICTURES

PROJECT WILL RE-TEAM SCORSESE WITH THE ACADEMY AWARD WINNER BILL MONAHAN WHO WILL WRITE THE SCREENPLAY


Academy Award winning director Martin Scorsese will team up with Rock and Roll icon Mick Jagger to direct “THE LONG PLAY,” a film set in the world of the music business spanning over three decades. Project will re-team Scorsese with Academy Award winning writer for “The Departed,” Bill Monahan.

Martin Scorsese will direct. Scorsese, Mick Jagger and Victoria Pearman will produce. Film is based on an original idea of Mick Jagger’s which he and Pearman’s Jagged Films took to Scorsese several years ago. Together they developed the project and brought it to Paramount.

Scorsese recently entered into a four-year, first-look deal with Paramount Pictures to direct and produce entertainment across all platforms including feature films, made-for-DVD, digital content and television for Paramount Pictures and Paramount Vantage. His latest film, “The Departed,” was nominated for five Academy Awards® and won Best Picture.

Scorsese has directed more than 40 films, including current box office hit “THE DEPARTED,” “THE AVIATOR,” “GANGS OF NEW YORK,” “RAGING BULL,” “TAXI DRIVER,” and “GOODFELLAS.” He is one of the most honored filmmakers in Hollywood, with six each Academy Award nominations and Directors Guild of America nominations.

In 2005, he directed and produced the Emmy and Grammy Award-winning documentary “NO DIRECTION HOME: BOB DYLAN.”

A music legend for over 30 years, Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones, whose albums have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide, formed his production company with Victoria Pearman and are currently prepping the remake of The Women; written and to be directed by Diane English, and teamed with Luc Besson’s Europa to produce an animated feature called RUBY TUESDAY. Jagged Films produced the award-winning ENIGMA and recently completed a documentary on President Clinton’s Global Initiative and they are Executive Producers on ABC’s Knights of Prosperity.

Jagger and Scorsese recently collaborated on a Rolling Stones feature length concert documentary shot at The Beacon Theater in New York to be released in the Fall.


Scorsese is represented by Endeavor, Rick Yorn of The Firm and Jake Bloom of Bloom Hergott Diemer Rosenthal & LaViolette LLP. Jagger and Pearman are repped by ICM’s Jeff Berg and Ken Kleinberg. Monahan is also repped by Endeavor and David Fox.


About Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global company that produces and distributes filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), a leading entertainment content company with prominent and respected brands including Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks. The company’s labels include Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, DreamWorks, MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Digital Entertainment, Paramount Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., Paramount Studios, and Worldwide Television Distribution.

Star Trek XI Casting Scoop!
IGN has heard who may play the Big Three.
by Stax
February 26, 2007 - IGN Movies has learned from studio sources which actors may play the Big Three in Paramount's Star Trek XI. By the "Big Three," we mean, of course, Captain James T. Kirk, Mr. Spock and Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy.

Confirming rumors that have been making the rounds for some months now, IGN has learned that Oscar winner Matt Damon is indeed in talks with Paramount about playing the role of Jim Kirk, previously immortalized onscreen by Emmy winner William Shatner.

Damon brings star power and an acting pedigree to the role that should convince audiences that this is a serious reboot of the beloved franchise.

For the part of Kirk's Vulcan first officer Mr. Spock, IGN has been told that none other than Oscar winner Adrien Brody (King Kong, The Pianist) is in talks with Paramount to play the role. If cast, Brody would succeed Leonard Nimoy in a role that forever marked Nimoy's career. But with a Best Actor award already under his belt and an eclectic mix of films on his resume, Brody wouldn't have as much to lose by taking on the iconic role as Nimoy had.

IGN has also been told that Oscar nominee Gary Sinise -- currently seen on the small screen in CSI: NY -- is in talks for the role of Dr. McCoy, the ornery and politically incorrect ship's physician aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise. McCoy's prickly relationship with Spock was the basis of much of the humor and humanity of the original 1960s series. The late DeForrest Kelley played "Bones" on TV.

Golden Globe and Emmy winner Sinise is no stranger to films about space flight, having previously appeared in Apollo 13 and Mission to Mars.

Those are the three actors that our studio insider advised us were the closest to being cast, with Damon's talks said to be further along than the rest. We have also heard of an actor being eyed for the role of Enterprise helmsman Lt. Sulu: Daniel Dae Kim ("Jin Kwon" on Lost). Sulu was played on the classic TV series by George Takei, who can now be seen on Heroes. We should stress, however, that Kim's possible casting is at a far earlier stage than that of the aforementioned three.

Lost, of course, was created and is executive produced by J.J. Abrams, who has just signed on to direct and produce Star Trek XI.

Sources also advised IGN that Scottish thesp James McAvoy may indeed be in the mix to play chief engineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the film.

Neither Damon's reps at Endeavor nor Brody and Sinise's respective reps at CAA had responded to our inquiries for comment at time of publish.

Roadbuster wrote:I just can't see this doing well. Star Trek doesn't need to go back in time. You already know what's going to happen by doing that. Star Trek needs to progress forward to flesh out the galaxy further as Rodenberry wanted. The trekkies know this, the various cast members know this, but it seems Paramount are the only ones who don't get it.