1989 Star Trek Prequel Script Similar to STXI?

[Swarles Barkley]

I know it's not "canon" and all, but I prefer the explanation in the novel "Federation" that what really makes for a huge improvement in warp travel times is the introduction of inertial dampeners. Prior to that ships had to accelerate and decelerate at very slow rates so as to avoid splattering passengers all over the bulkheads like a new coat of paint. Inertial dampeners made it possible to accelerate/decelerate far more rapidly, and thus made warp travel far more practical. Dilithium in turn allowed for the attainment of higher warp speeds. (I forget where that came from, yet another book I'm sure.)

There are a few nice ideas in that synopsis, but overall it just seems too "StarWarsy" to me.

 

[James Bond]

At the time of the story, warp speed had not been reached by Federation scientists - but would be by the end of the picture.

Sorry but that goes against TEH CANN-ON!!1!!1

 

[maryh]

"It had a romance between Kirk and a cadet named Cassie, who dies bravely in his arms," he says, "which explains how he never came to love that way again."


Haven't we already seen this before...named Edith Keeler, Merimonte or Rayna? They keep explaining the same thing again and again so it becomes meaningless. How many more tragic true loves are going to die in his arms? I'd rather learn a little about Kirk's childhood and family. The background on Marcus would have been better.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

"It had a romance between Kirk and a cadet named Cassie, who dies bravely in his arms," he says, "which explains how he never came to love that way again."


Haven't we already seen this before...named Edith Keeler, Merimonte or Rayna? They keep explaining the same thing again and again so it becomes meaningless. How many more tragic true loves are going to die in his arms? I'd rather learn a little about Kirk's childhood and family. The background on Marcus would have been better.

It was also a trope used in Young Sherlock Holmes. Bennett has always cited that movie when criticized for wanting to explore the early days of Kirk and Spock. So, YSH may have been a model for The First Adventure.

 

[Broccoli]

I've always been interested in this story. From what AICN reported a few years back, I thought the summary was pretty good. It would have at least been a fun film to watch.

As for the warp drive thing. Well, who knows how it would have ultimately worked or explained in the script. And who knows what changes would have been made in further drafts. I think we, as fans, take things in first-draft-then-canceled scripts way too much at face value (another example I point to was the aborted Star Trek: The Beginning first draft).

 

[Carpe Occasio]

Found this article from February 2007 on TrekMovie.com -

1989 Harve Bennet (along with writer David Loughery) wrote a script called Star Trek The Academy Years which, like Star Trek XI, featured younger versions of Kirk and Spock. Bennett seems to feel that if Trek XI is truly an ‘academy movie’ he should be getting a call.

"It’s a complicated issue for me….Right now, no one knows for sure what the next film is going to be. I thought it was interesting that the day after the story came out about them doing a Starfleet Academy movie, J.J. Abrams came out and said, ‘That’s not necessarily true.’ I am assuming that the current regime at Paramount didn’t realise that the studio had already bought that premise and someone went, ‘Hold on a minute!’ "

"It’s possible they might do ‘young Kirk and Spock’ and, depending on what they do with it, it might be something I might not contest. But if they ever decide to do a Starfleet Academy film, my feeling is that they better call us because that was our baby."

It is still unclear if there are any similiarities between the Trek XI script and Bennett’s or how much (if any) prominence Starfleet Academy has in the new script. Trek Today are reporting that as of last weekend, Bennett says he still has not been contacted by Paramount. Cases involving complaints and credit on scripts in Hollywood are not uncommon and generally are matters of arbitration for credit (and of course payments). Months ago when Trek XI co-writer Roberto Orci was asked about the Bennett script directly he said he had never seen any unproduced scripts at Paramount.

http://trekmovie.com/2007/02/26/bennett-may-contest-star-trek-xi-script/

 

[Franklin]

"It had a romance between Kirk and a cadet named Cassie, who dies bravely in his arms," he says, "which explains how he never came to love that way again."


Haven't we already seen this before...named Edith Keeler, Merimonte or Rayna? They keep explaining the same thing again and again so it becomes meaningless. How many more tragic true loves are going to die in his arms? I'd rather learn a little about Kirk's childhood and family. The background on Marcus would have been better.

It was also a trope used in Young Sherlock Holmes. Bennett has always cited that movie when criticized for wanting to explore the early days of Kirk and Spock. So, YSH may have been a model for The First Adventure.

It's another trite chestnut. The tragic loss of a love that can never be replaced. The fear to commit again for fear of loss. Quite pessimistic, really. And, I never saw Kirk as a pessimist. It also hardly seems appropriate to the character of a starship captain. He could lose Spock at any moment. The transporter may finally get McCoy. Better not get close to anyone, huh?

I think the whole point of Kirk being unable to sustain a relationship with a woman was that he was "married" first to his service, and more specifically his ship as a captain. He could give no woman the attention he had to give his ship. He knew that was unfair to the woman, and often lamented that it was also unfair to him. But it was his choice in life.
After all, conflicting careers is basically why Kirk and Carol Marcus ended their relationship. He tried that one time. It just didn't work out. It was better to stay single or "wed to the service."
I hope that's the type of Kirk we see in Abrams movie.

 

[M'Sharak]

Found this article from February 2007 on TrekMovie.com -

1989 Harve Bennet (along with writer David Loughery) wrote a script called Star Trek The Academy Years which, like Star Trek XI, featured younger versions of Kirk and Spock. Bennett seems to feel that if Trek XI is truly an ‘academy movie’ he should be getting a call.

"It’s a complicated issue for me….Right now, no one knows for sure what the next film is going to be. I thought it was interesting that the day after the story came out about them doing a Starfleet Academy movie, J.J. Abrams came out and said, ‘That’s not necessarily true.’ I am assuming that the current regime at Paramount didn’t realise that the studio had already bought that premise and someone went, ‘Hold on a minute!’ "

"It’s possible they might do ‘young Kirk and Spock’ and, depending on what they do with it, it might be something I might not contest. But if they ever decide to do a Starfleet Academy film, my feeling is that they better call us because that was our baby."

It is still unclear if there are any similiarities between the Trek XI script and Bennett’s or how much (if any) prominence Starfleet Academy has in the new script. Trek Today are reporting that as of last weekend, Bennett says he still has not been contacted by Paramount. Cases involving complaints and credit on scripts in Hollywood are not uncommon and generally are matters of arbitration for credit (and of course payments). Months ago when Trek XI co-writer Roberto Orci was asked about the Bennett script directly he said he had never seen any unproduced scripts at Paramount.

http://trekmovie.com/2007/02/26/bennett-may-contest-star-trek-xi-script/

I hate to say it, but that has an air of "this movie doesn't have anything at all to do with my script, and I know it; my agent tried to get my name attached to the project anyway, but the producers and the studio weren't having any. Having failed to get a(n unearned) slice of the pie for myself via the customary channels, I'm resorting to waving this around in public in hopes that someone will feel sorry for me and (I'm hoping) pressure Paramount into giving me some money/credit to shut the hell up about it."

I could be wrong, but it sounds way too much like that's what Bennett (and/or his agent) was doing there.

 

[Carpe Occasio]

Found this article from February 2007 on TrekMovie.com -

1989 Harve Bennet (along with writer David Loughery) wrote a script called Star Trek The Academy Years which, like Star Trek XI, featured younger versions of Kirk and Spock. Bennett seems to feel that if Trek XI is truly an ‘academy movie’ he should be getting a call.

"It’s a complicated issue for me….Right now, no one knows for sure what the next film is going to be. I thought it was interesting that the day after the story came out about them doing a Starfleet Academy movie, J.J. Abrams came out and said, ‘That’s not necessarily true.’ I am assuming that the current regime at Paramount didn’t realise that the studio had already bought that premise and someone went, ‘Hold on a minute!’ "

"It’s possible they might do ‘young Kirk and Spock’ and, depending on what they do with it, it might be something I might not contest. But if they ever decide to do a Starfleet Academy film, my feeling is that they better call us because that was our baby."

It is still unclear if there are any similiarities between the Trek XI script and Bennett’s or how much (if any) prominence Starfleet Academy has in the new script. Trek Today are reporting that as of last weekend, Bennett says he still has not been contacted by Paramount. Cases involving complaints and credit on scripts in Hollywood are not uncommon and generally are matters of arbitration for credit (and of course payments). Months ago when Trek XI co-writer Roberto Orci was asked about the Bennett script directly he said he had never seen any unproduced scripts at Paramount.

http://trekmovie.com/2007/02/26/bennett-may-contest-star-trek-xi-script/

I hate to say it, but that has an air of "this movie doesn't have anything at all to do with my script, and I know it; my agent tried to get my name attached to the project anyway, but the producers and the studio weren't having any. Having failed to get a(n unearned) slice of the pie for myself via the customary channels, I'm resorting to waving this around in public in hopes that someone will feel sorry for me and (I'm hoping) pressure Paramount into giving me some money/credit to shut the hell up about it."

I could be wrong, but it sounds way too much like that's what Bennett (and/or his agent) was doing there.

The fact that Bennett was quoted almost a year and a half ago saying this, and we haven't heard about any legal issues or script overhauls as a result, makes me believe it's a none issue.

 

[M'Sharak]

The fact that Bennett was quoted almost a year and a half ago saying this, and we haven't heard about any legal issues or script overhauls as a result, makes me believe it's a none issue.

I'd be inclined to agree. It sounded like a last gasp then, and the complete lack of follow-up suggests it went nowhere.

 

[maryh]

It's another trite chestnut. The tragic loss of a love that can never be replaced. The fear to commit again for fear of loss. Quite pessimistic, really. And, I never saw Kirk as a pessimist. It also hardly seems appropriate to the character of a starship captain. He could lose Spock at any moment. The transporter may finally get McCoy. Better not get close to anyone, huh?

I think the whole point of Kirk being unable to sustain a relationship with a woman was that he was "married" first to his service, and more specifically his ship as a captain. He could give no woman the attention he had to give his ship. He knew that was unfair to the woman, and often lamented that it was also unfair to him. But it was his choice in life.
After all, conflicting careers is basically why Kirk and Carol Marcus ended their relationship. He tried that one time. It just didn't work out. It was better to stay single or "wed to the service."
I hope that's the type of Kirk we see in Abrams movie.

I agree that Kirk has to be optimistic. I always considered that part of the dynamic trio and, in part, why it worked. Kirk was an optimist, Spock a realist and McCoy was the pessimist. The three complimented eachother. I worry about Chris Pine's interpretation of Kirk as "the unlikely hero". IMO the unlikely hero is not necessarily optimistic, rather he finds himself in a position that he never asked for and may not have the confidence to do. Hopefully Pine will realize the necessity of making Kirk an idealistic optimist.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I could be wrong, but it sounds way too much like that's what Bennett (and/or his agent) was doing there.

Welcome to Hollywood.

I recall Susan Sackett saying how she had to get her agent to threaten to sue just to get the royalty checks for TNG episodes she wrote, and had her name on. It wasn't just a script where she contributed to the story, but also the scripts she and her partner had written: the final, filmed drafts.

The studios are notorious for sitting on other people's money for as long as they can. If Bennett's script had inspired JJ's ST, no one would be falling over themselves to offer Bennett money - until his agent made those initial "What's up?" queries. Once the film goes to arbitration, sure, they have to notify the board of all contributors. Better for Bennett's agent to do it early, than after the fact - when it's too late to add names to the screen credits.

But JJ and the writers have already said that Bennett's script has not been an influence. Had the whole film been set in the Academy, and used original characters created by Bennett for his film idea, then Paramount would have had to acknowledge his contribution. It's not as if Harve Bennett came up with the idea that Kirk and Spock once went to Starfleet Academy.

 

[M'Sharak]

I could be wrong, but it sounds way too much like that's what Bennett (and/or his agent) was doing there.

Welcome to Hollywood.

I recall Susan Sackett saying how she had to get her agent to threaten to sue just to get the royalty checks for TNG episodes she wrote, and had her name on. It wasn't just a script where she contributed to the story, but also the scripts she and her partner had written: the final, filmed drafts.

The studios are notorious for sitting on other people's money for as long as they can. If Bennett's script had inspired JJ's ST, no one would be falling over themselves to offer Bennett money - until his agent made those initial "What's up?" queries. Once the film goes to arbitration, sure, they have to notify the board of all contributors. Better for Bennett's agent to do it early, than after the fact - when it's too late to add names to the screen credits.

Having spent a number of years around the entertainment biz generally, and around Hollywood geographically and socially, the studio ploys to hold onto money and the hoops through which talent are forced to jump to get what they're owed are known well enough to me.

Also true, though, is that there are those who try, often on pretty tenuous justification, to grab money they haven't earned, which activity is just as much a part of the whole Hollywood game, and if you can get away with it, great! However, if the studio calls your bluff, sees your empty hand and tells you to go away, that's it. You go away, maybe try another day and you shut up about it, because you played a game and you lost -- game over. Bennett lost. Trying to play the game over again in the media, which is what he appears to have been doing there, is usually considered bad form.

That is what I meant.

But JJ and the writers have already said that Bennett's script has not been an influence. Had the whole film been set in the Academy, and used original characters created by Bennett for his film idea, then Paramount would have had to acknowledge his contribution. It's not as if Harve Bennett came up with the idea that Kirk and Spock once went to Starfleet Academy.

Exactly. Harve didn't really have a leg to stand on; he undoubtedly knew it and Abrams & Co. told him so. That would have been the time for him to call the business concluded and quietly move on to the next project.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Harve didn't really have a leg to stand on; he undoubtedly knew it and Abrams & Co. told him so. That would have been the time for him to call the business concluded and quietly move on to the next project.

But has he raised it again? It was raised again here, by us, several times, but not by Harve Bennett.

I thought he raised it only once: to say his agent was making a challenge.

If he says something to the media, he's money-grubbing. If he tells the media, "No comment", people say, "What's he hiding?"

As far as I recall, Harve Bennett was asked a fair question about his old script proposal, he answered it, and then JJ's people commented in turn. End of story? Or are you saying that Harve Bennett keeps raising the issue even after he was told "No contest"?

What's he to say the next time some reporter or fan asks him? Surely he's allowed to say, "Yeah, I once wrote a script set in a similar time period once, and my agent had to check to see if I was owed anything."

 

[M'Sharak]

I could be misreading it, and I did say that it was an impression I was getting. It may be no more than that the article was written by someone enthusiastic to raise the subject of the old, unfinished script and that Bennett was accommodating enough to talk about it with the interviewer at length.

Of course, he'll respond if he's asked about it, but that's a short-answer question -- "Yes, I did write a script about that." However, the timing of an article discussing in great detail a script which ostensibly has nothing to do with the production then getting underway, well... doesn't that make you wonder even a little bit about how innocent it may have been?

As you said: Welcome to Hollywood. Once you've got a glimpse of how it really works, nothing ever looks quite so simple and direct as you used to think it was.

 

[Carpe Occasio]

Here's some interesting tidbits from Bennett that predate the articles already quoted in this thread -

"It was something originally developed by producer Harve Bennett, who in the late 1980s, actually had a greenlight from Paramount to develop it into a film that he would direct, featuring new actors playing younger versions of Kirk and Spock. Now that the idea has surfaced once again, Bennett says the only way such a movie would happen is if it came through him."

"If Abrams does move forward with the academy idea, Bennett said he wouldn't mind consulting. But his days of directing or becoming heavily involved in a Star Trek feature are long over."

http://www.syfyportal.com/news423009.html

 

[RobertScorpio]

Here's some interesting tidbits from Bennett that predate the articles already quoted in this thread -

"It was something originally developed by producer Harve Bennett, who in the late 1980s, actually had a greenlight from Paramount to develop it into a film that he would direct, featuring new actors playing younger versions of Kirk and Spock. Now that the idea has surfaced once again, Bennett says the only way such a movie would happen is if it came through him."

"If Abrams does move forward with the academy idea, Bennett said he wouldn't mind consulting. But his days of directing or becoming heavily involved in a Star Trek feature are long over."

http://www.syfyportal.com/news423009.html

Actually his script would have followed canon more so than Enterprise did. In the Cage it seems to be a BIG deal that they had finally broken the 'time barrier'. That to me means warp speed, or some speed of importance...

Rob
Scorpio

 

[gastrof]

...At the time of the story, warp speed had not been reached by Federation scientists - but would be by the end of the picture...

Poppycock.

If there'd been no warp drive yet, there'd have been no Starfleet.

So why an academy?

Mindless. Totally mindless.

Besides, Cochrane's age was shown in the series to be such that he'd have to have invented warp drive long before Kirk was in the academy.

 

[Zeppster]

The time barrier thing is based on Einstein's theory isn't it? Einstein surmised that if you go faster than the speed of light you end up doing time travel. That was the basis for the time barrier.

But as far as this being like the 89 idea, I doubt it. That one seemed to be all academy based. This one has some of the TOS guys and it seems to be around maybe the first mission with the new crew. There may be something with the academy days and how Kirk/Spock met and have the story start there.

 

[M'Sharak]

Here's some interesting tidbits from Bennett that predate the articles already quoted in this thread -

[...]

http://www.syfyportal.com/news423009.html

Actually his script would have followed canon more so than Enterprise did. In the Cage it seems to be a BIG deal that they had finally broken the 'time barrier'. That to me means warp speed, or some speed of importance...

Actually, you don't know what it means, because it isn't stated, and it clearly cannot be warp speed, because TOS' "Metamorphosis" makes clear that Cochrane, human discoverer of warp propulsion, had at that point been believed to be dead for more than 150 years. How you'd propose to get from that to Kirk's academy days taking place in pre-warp times would be an amusing exercise to watch, no doubt, but one ultimately doomed to failure.