New Captain On Deck

There is a very good chance that if you watch weeknight TV, you will have seen some of the works that have made J.J. Abrams worth $55 million to Warner and Paramount. He has created, written, produced and, in some cases, directed "Alias" and, more importantly, "Lost."

Some of his big-screen credits are perhaps not quite so widely lauded, with "Armageddon" winning a Razzie nomination for "Worst Screenplay" (it lost out to "Burn Hollywood Burn," a movie which made less money than "Plan 9 from Outer Space"); though his directorial debut ("Mission: Impossible III") got a warm welcome.

As was mentioned earlier, Abrams is such a big Star Trek fan that being offered the role of executive producer of the franchise was the carrot that sealed the deal between him and Paramount. Being a fan of Star Trek moves Abrams up in our estimation of his ability to bring success back to the series. Remember that Star Trek: "Nemesis" director Stuart Baird, quite sadly, couldn't even properly pronounce the names of the characters in his DVD director's commentary!

If Star Trek XI is to be a prequel, as is now the most likely outcome, then one of the biggest worries for fans will be whether the movie will respect "canon" - the established "facts" of the Star Trek universe. A lesson learned by fans after the "rule bending" four series of Enterprise - which basically took a swathe of Star Trek canon, lit it on fire and then pissed all over it - is that if you don't have a respectful and knowledgeable creative crew behind it, a prequel can ruin quite a lot of the magic.

Abrams has categorically stated that he will respect Star Trek and its fans' demands. Speaking to The Irish Times in May, he said, "being involved with a series that has a passionate and vocal following makes me incredibly sympathetic. They [fans] have put up with so many incarnations along the way. These fans, they are a smart bunch. They are an intelligent group. We are very respectful and we have no intention of subverting the material."

There is a worry surrounding Abrams, in that he may be a victim of his own success and stretched too far. Many television and motion picture projects want his name on the bill, and he is currently credited as producer on three TV series, with a deal to produce many more; in movies he has Star Trek XI plus some smaller projects. His most recent project, "Six Degrees", premiered to some mixed reviews.

The Crew

Abrams brings with him some of the top talent behind the works that have made him famous as a producer. Abrams is co-writing the script with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, who have had a long-running professional partnership since meeting in high school.

Between them, working together and separately, they have writing and producing credits for the upcoming "Transformers" movie, "Mission: Impossible III", "The Legend of Zorro", "The Island", many episodes of "Alias", and more. The two are also reported to be Star Trek "megafans", with Orci said to have "encyclopedic knowledge" of all things Star Trek.

Damon Lindelof and Bryan Burk bring up the current crew as producers. Lindelof co-created "Lost" and has a background in comic books as well, while Burk has worked on both "Alias" and "Lost" as an associate and executive producer respectively.

To say that it's an old boys network - well, more a young, cool-looking Hollywood network - might not be unfair, but these guys are creative, successful, and in many cases Star Trek savvy. Besides which, they're only the beginning. At the moment nobody is working on Star Trek XI full time, other than maybe script writers Kurtzman and Orci. It's simply too early, and the movie doesn't actually "exist" yet, remember.

According to Orci the "treatment", or story outline, is done. He and Kurtzman are currently working on the first draft of the actual script (the next stage in a film's early development), which they hope to have completed by Halloween. Abrams is probably dipping in and out while he also works on other projects.

Apart from this select band of troopers, nobody else is working on Star Trek XI. Abrams collaborator Michael Giacchino is slated to do the soundtrack, but obviously this won't swing into action until much later in the film's production. Gamers will probably know his work, as for the longest time Giacchino worked almost exclusively on scoring games, such as those in the Medal of Honor and Call of Duty series. His film credits include Alias (see a pattern?) and movies such as "The Incredibles" and "Mission Impossible III."

Despite the turnover of high-end personnel, we can possibly expect to see some of Star Trek's old hands rejoin the fray. After all, there's nothing wrong with the sets, props and costume design, and Abrams is said to be open to the idea of bringing back old Star Trek people. Accordingly, he might recall folks like Herman Zimmerman, the production designer behind much of Star Trek's modern design since The Next Generation and "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier." It is still too early to tell who will be getting what job on the movie, however.