1-18-08 Project Cloverfield - Warning! Spoilers

We recently caught up with the busy J.J. Abrams to talk about his new television series Fringe, which he co-created with his frequent collaborators Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Alias, Mission Impossible III and the upcoming Star Trek).

Fringe centers on three characters – FBI agent Olivia Dunham (newcomer Anna Torv), scientist Dr. Walter Bishop (Lord of the Rings' John Noble) and Bishop's son Peter (Dawson's Creek's Joshua Jackson), as they investigate some very strange occurrences.

Abrams, who of course co-created Lost, is an executive producer on Fringe, and during our conversation we talked about what his ongoing involvement will be with the new series, the inevitable comparisons Fringe already is getting to The X-Files, and how he came to cast Torv – the latest in Abrams' successful run of casting then-unknowns as the female leads on his series, which has previously included Keri Russell (Felicity), Jennifer Garner (Alias) and Evangeline Lilly (Lost)

Question: How did Fringe come about? What was the inspiration for it?

J.J. Abrams: It was really just Alex Kurtzman, Bob Orci and myself just hanging out and talking about the kind of show we'd love to see on the air. For better or worse, like most of the things I do, it just comes from stuff that I'd love to watch. It's sort of a boring answer, but that's kind of what the truth is!

Question: What will we see on the show on a weekly basis? What's the core of the show?

Abrams: At the core of the show are three very distinct characters – this young woman, who's an FBI agent; this really eccentric, nutty and until recently institutionalized scientist; and his somewhat troubled and estranged son. [It's] this trio going up against this very shadowy network of [what are] essentially researchers, who are playing with science and pushing it in ways that are increasingly terrifying. And these three are basically the good guys who try to police them.

(...continue J.J. Abrams "Fringe" interview)

Fox just made it official: It's a go for J.J. Abrams' "Fringe."

Two-hour pilot produced by Abrams' Bad Robot and Warner Bros. TV, stars Aussie thesp Anna Torv as a femme FBI agent who tackles cases involving spooky unexplained phenonena with the aid of an out-there scientist and his neer-do-well genius son. Yes, it does sound like "X-Files Redux" but because "Lost" is perhaps the Greatest Show Ever we'll give Team Abrams (whose fearless leader is pictured at left) the benefit of the doubt that they can put a fresh spin on the genre.

J.J. Abrams "Fringe" looks like a lock after an enthusiastic response from the network's brass during the weekend. Fox already has given its blessing for staffing to begin on the Warner Bros. TV-produced sci-fi drama.

The man behind it all. Gene Roddenberry

"J.J. is such a regular guy, and seems so much like a fan because he gets it," Roddenberry said. "While he has to work the way you have to work in Hollywood and balance what the studio wants, he's really on the side of the fans. He really tries to stay true of the continuity and stay true to canon."

Starship Enterprise

Screenrant has a report from a Star Trek panel this past weeknd at Creation Entertainment’s 16th Annual Grand Slam: The Sci-Fi Summitin Burbank, CA. Here are some highlights:

* The movie will be rated PG-13 and have a budget “far below” $200 million. A $160 million price-tag has been floating around the web for months now.

* The most interesting tidbit revealed a story (I had yet to hear) about of how JJ Abrams came onto the project. Apparently Steven Spielberg read the script and helped convince J.J. Abrams to sign on to the project. TrekMovie reports that Spielberg also visited the set during shooting scenes on the Enterprise and helped JJ Abrams work out a scene to help ‘with the action’

* Leonard Nimoy also admitted that “it would have been damaging to the story to put Shatner in the film.” As much as I want to see William Shatner in the film, an attemp to erase Captain Kirk’s death from Star Trek: Generations would waste valuable screen time, and just serve to sidetrack the story.

* The USS Enterprise will be assembled in space, although parts of it will be assembled on Earth.

* Screenwriter Roberto Orci claims that the film was pushed back because “Paramount really wants it to be a summer blockbuster.”

"Moving Star Trek XI from December 2008 to May 2009 will have positive benefits, says Star Trek XI producer Damon Lindelof.

As reported by Trekmovie.com, according to Lindelof, based on Paramount's growing understanding of the movie, Star Trek XI was more appropriate for a summer release.

"It was being presented to J.J. [Abrams]," said Lindelof, "and I have been hearing the same thing from the studio, that based on the dailies they have been seeing and hanging out on the set and seeing and beginning to understand what the movie is, I think that they are starting to look at it as a big summer crowd-pleaser as opposed to a very sci-fi, not-as-accessible-to a-wider-audience Christmas release. So the reason that they have moved the release date is for their ability to market the film and sort of position it as the Pirates of the Caribbean for next summer."

There are other benefits to the later release. "On a budgetary level probably the most significant effect it will have is that we will not have to rush our post [production]," explained Lindelof. "As you might imagine there are a gazillion effects shots. I have seen some of the early work being done by ILM and [visual effects supervisor] Roger Guyett and it is nothing short of astonishing. So they’ll basically have more time to render those effects than they would have if we had to release it by Christmas. So that will probably make the movie a little less expensive to produce."

Lindelof also talked about how the move would affect the release of a full movie trailer. "Obviously the schedule is now going to change to accommodate the new release date," he said. "My guess is that the strategy will turn more into a slow burn. But at this point we also have to be cognizant of once the film is done, and the more we shoot the more likely it is to invite spoilers if we are holding everything back. So we still want to release those images. As far as for the first trailer trailer, I heard we were still on for the summer to have a full trailer for the movie. But I would not be surprised if they decide to hold that back."

Those working on Star Trek XI wanted to make the movie appealing both to long-term fans and yet attract a new audience. "When we all sat down and started to talk about whether or not we wanted to take on Trek, the question was very simple and that question has remained the same: do we think we can make it good?" said Lindelof. "And there is a way to make that movie where the fans will feel that literally four decades of storytelling and canon is not being ignored, but you make the movie so there is an access point for people who want to come in and hear the band for the first time, as it were. We talked about that and kicked some story ideas around and became totally infected with it." (source)

"TrekMovie.com has talked to sources and Mr. Takei himself to get to the truth. The answer is NO"

"The report on AICN states that Takei "recently had lunch with J.J. Abrams," however Mr. Takei tells TrekMovie.com that it was actually a breakfast last fall before filming began on the project. Takei would not go into details about his talk with Abrams because "the whole conversation is privileged," however the actor did express concern over how not commenting has been "turned into an affirmation" that he will appear in the new Star Trek movie.

"According to multiple sources connected to the film, George Takei will not appear in the new Star Trek. The film makers are fans of Takei's, but he just doesn't fit into the story they are telling." (source)