So lets assume that the next Nu Trek movie is the last one with these actors and film makers. I see two options if the franchise is still profitable:
1) A fresh reboot from the beginning with new actors playing Kirk, Spock and McCoy. And yet another origin story of how they meet again.
Or
2) Stay in this Abrams-verse and jump ahead 100 years to the TNG era.
I think the chances are higher for the former, but just for fun, lets look at what a nuTNG would look like.
Lets start with the ship. As the sets and special effects are the most important things in a "modern" Trek movie. The Enterprise D would look kind of what it looks like in the prime timeline, especially the Saucer Section. But the Engineering Hull would be warped and distorted as if seen with a fun house mirror. And the Warp Nacelles would be much bigger (about 3x larger) in proportion with the rest of the ship. The red Bussard Collectors would be blue, and there would be rocket thrusters at the back, with keeping in line with the NuEnterprise. And the whole ship would be about 2 miles long.
The interior would be a mix of sterile white futuristic and modern day grimy industrial. The Bridge would look somewhat like it did on the TV show, only bigger with a lot of extra standing consoles all over the place, a shinny floor and white walls. Not that we'd ever get a good look at it with the amount of lens flares on the camera.
The corridors would match the Bridge and would be long enough for the characters to run up and down them every time they need to get somewhere.
Engineering would be filmed in an old car factory or warehouse.
Next we have the characters.
Jean Luc Picard: 20 something year old Starfleet cadet. He would start off young and reckless, as in this timeline he hadn't have gotten stabbed in his heart. Basically he would be like Chris Pines Kirk, only with a bald head. Why would he be bald if he was in his 20's? Well it's because everyone knows that Picard is the "bald captain" so in the nuTNG movie he would have to have a shaved head, like Shinzon.
Will Riker: 20 something years old. Wait, how could Riker be in his 20's if Picard is also in his 20's? Because this is nuTrek it doesn't have to make sense anymore. If you can't take it, you goddamn Trekkie, crawl back into your parents basement where you belong. So Riker is 20 years old, also a Starfleet Cadet. Basically Chris Pine Kirk 2.0, except he has dark hair and a beard. But Riker didn't grow a beard until TNG's second season. But this Riker always had a beard because audiences know Riker is the First Officer with a beard, so nuRiker has a beard. Also the audience will need a scene where Picard gives Riker his nickname "Number One", but more on that later.
Dianna Troi: 20 something year old Starfleet cadet, just like nuUhura gets moved up to top billing and increase in screen time. Rikers love intrest. She is half Batazoid, but instead of being merely empathic, she has full Professor Xavier style psychic powers, and able to control peoples minds. Because in the NuTrek Universe all the characters are supercharged versions of their former selves.
Data: Already a pretty supercharged character, he is the most like the original. Except, he is far more robot looking in this time line. Similar looking to C3PO from Star Wars.
Geordi La Forge: 20 something year old Starfleet cadet, Never becomes helmsman, instead becomes the nuEnterprise D's Chief Engineer. He is blind but sees with the help of a VISOR. His VISOR isn't a modified hairband but a complicate high-tech electronic device that looks like an Oculus Rift: http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/11/3867146/oculus-rift
Beverly Crusher: 20 something year old Starfleet cadet/med student. Possible love interest for Picard. Mother of Wesley Crusher, wife of Jack Crusher. So an obvious Jean Luc/Beverly/Jack love triangle can develop. As we all know there's nothing like a good old fashioned love triangle to get good character development.
Tasha Yar: 20 something year old Starfleet cadet. She becomes the nuEnterprise chief of security but gets killed about halfway through the movie.
Worf: 20 something year old Starfleet cadet. He will be mainly used for comic relief. A cross between Chewbacca and NuScotty's alien sidekick from the last two movies. Every line he says in the movie is in Klingon, except there aren't any subtitles for what he says. All the other characters know what he is saying but the audience doesn't. He takes over as chief Tactical/Security after Yar is killed.
Jack Crusher: 20 something year old Starfleet cadet. Picard's best friend. And one third of the Jean Luc/Beverly/Jack love triangle. He performs a noble sacrifice near the end of the movie helping to save the day and leaving Beverly a grieving widow for Picard to consol.
Wesley Crusher: 8 year old son of Jack and Beverly Crusher. Super brilliant genius, he helps save the day at one point in the movie.
Nurse Alyssa Ogawa: Briefly seen in one scene in sickbay, as Beverly Crusher gives her an order.
Chief O'brien: Transporter operator, whose sole purpose in the film is to beam people up and down.
Q: The Villain of the film. He is essentially an amalgamation of all the god like characters ever seen in Star Trek, but mostly Trelane.
And now for the Plot, since Generations came out the plot is obviously the least important aspect for a Trek movie, so here goes:
Picard is convinced to join Starfleet, for some reason, words like destiny and fate are used (words better suited to Star Wars than Star Trek). So Picard goes to Starfleet Academy and meets the rest of the characters, who are all conveniently in the same Academy Class together. Picard becomes friends with Jack Crusher. But Picard and Riker don't like each other at first. Picard and Riker see each other as competition, and since it's possible to go straight from Cadet to Captain of the Federation Flag Ship competition is fierce. At one point Riker tells Picard that he always comes in first place, so often in fact, that his friends call him "Number One". Picard however beats Riker and starts calling him "Number One" in a mocking manner. Until the end of the movie when they team up, and become friends, Picard then uses "Number One" as a form of affection. (The "Number One" origin scene will be similar to the "Bones" origin Scene from Star Trek 2009)
So at some point most of the fleet (and all that it stands for) will be detonated, by Q, who for some reason is after revenge against humanity. So Picard and his class mates will have to team up and take command of the brand new Enterprise D. And engage in an epic chess game of life and death with a one man weapon of mass destruction, Q. With a ticking clock on a doomsday device about to destroy Earth.
Tash Yar gets killed. The various crew members use their skills to do stuff. Jack Crusher does the noble sacrifice thing. Q has a Big Bad Space Ship (for some reason) that dwarfs the 2 mile long nuEnterprise D. Q's ship and the Enterprise fight. Picard and Q get in a climactic fist fight. Which Picard wins, and as Q is down and out Picard snaps his neck killing him. While Picard says something like: "Being a god must be hard work, you should take a break" then snap, he breaks his neck. Every one in the theatre will think it's "kewl", and afterwards will be talking about how much of a bad ass this version of Picard is. Q's ship explodes but O'brien beams Picard back.
There is a brief epilogue, with the crew in their customary spots, each get a line of clichéd dialogue. Wesley Crusher, despite being only 8 years old is the ships Helmsman, for his reward for saving the ship. The Enterprise is ready to go off on its next adventure. Picard says his famous "Space the Final Frontier..." and Credits.
The End
I think this is a guaranteed hit right here, as long as it has a budget of about $200 million. And I can't wait to see it in the summer of 2019. Followed by two more sequels. One in 2022 when nuPicard and Crew fight the nuBorg. And another one in 2025 when nuPicard and Crew fight nuCardasians (with a possible nuDS9 spinoff hinted at). Each movie will simply be a variation of the same story, with the same action beats being done over and over again in each movie.
What do you all think?
1) A fresh reboot from the beginning with new actors playing Kirk, Spock and McCoy. And yet another origin story of how they meet again.
Or
2) Stay in this Abrams-verse and jump ahead 100 years to the TNG era.
I think the chances are higher for the former, but just for fun, lets look at what a nuTNG would look like.
Lets start with the ship. As the sets and special effects are the most important things in a "modern" Trek movie. The Enterprise D would look kind of what it looks like in the prime timeline, especially the Saucer Section. But the Engineering Hull would be warped and distorted as if seen with a fun house mirror. And the Warp Nacelles would be much bigger (about 3x larger) in proportion with the rest of the ship. The red Bussard Collectors would be blue, and there would be rocket thrusters at the back, with keeping in line with the NuEnterprise. And the whole ship would be about 2 miles long.
The interior would be a mix of sterile white futuristic and modern day grimy industrial. The Bridge would look somewhat like it did on the TV show, only bigger with a lot of extra standing consoles all over the place, a shinny floor and white walls. Not that we'd ever get a good look at it with the amount of lens flares on the camera.
The corridors would match the Bridge and would be long enough for the characters to run up and down them every time they need to get somewhere.
Engineering would be filmed in an old car factory or warehouse.
Next we have the characters.
Jean Luc Picard: 20 something year old Starfleet cadet. He would start off young and reckless, as in this timeline he hadn't have gotten stabbed in his heart. Basically he would be like Chris Pines Kirk, only with a bald head. Why would he be bald if he was in his 20's? Well it's because everyone knows that Picard is the "bald captain" so in the nuTNG movie he would have to have a shaved head, like Shinzon.
Will Riker: 20 something years old. Wait, how could Riker be in his 20's if Picard is also in his 20's? Because this is nuTrek it doesn't have to make sense anymore. If you can't take it, you goddamn Trekkie, crawl back into your parents basement where you belong. So Riker is 20 years old, also a Starfleet Cadet. Basically Chris Pine Kirk 2.0, except he has dark hair and a beard. But Riker didn't grow a beard until TNG's second season. But this Riker always had a beard because audiences know Riker is the First Officer with a beard, so nuRiker has a beard. Also the audience will need a scene where Picard gives Riker his nickname "Number One", but more on that later.
Dianna Troi: 20 something year old Starfleet cadet, just like nuUhura gets moved up to top billing and increase in screen time. Rikers love intrest. She is half Batazoid, but instead of being merely empathic, she has full Professor Xavier style psychic powers, and able to control peoples minds. Because in the NuTrek Universe all the characters are supercharged versions of their former selves.
Data: Already a pretty supercharged character, he is the most like the original. Except, he is far more robot looking in this time line. Similar looking to C3PO from Star Wars.
Geordi La Forge: 20 something year old Starfleet cadet, Never becomes helmsman, instead becomes the nuEnterprise D's Chief Engineer. He is blind but sees with the help of a VISOR. His VISOR isn't a modified hairband but a complicate high-tech electronic device that looks like an Oculus Rift: http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/11/3867146/oculus-rift
Beverly Crusher: 20 something year old Starfleet cadet/med student. Possible love interest for Picard. Mother of Wesley Crusher, wife of Jack Crusher. So an obvious Jean Luc/Beverly/Jack love triangle can develop. As we all know there's nothing like a good old fashioned love triangle to get good character development.
Tasha Yar: 20 something year old Starfleet cadet. She becomes the nuEnterprise chief of security but gets killed about halfway through the movie.
Worf: 20 something year old Starfleet cadet. He will be mainly used for comic relief. A cross between Chewbacca and NuScotty's alien sidekick from the last two movies. Every line he says in the movie is in Klingon, except there aren't any subtitles for what he says. All the other characters know what he is saying but the audience doesn't. He takes over as chief Tactical/Security after Yar is killed.
Jack Crusher: 20 something year old Starfleet cadet. Picard's best friend. And one third of the Jean Luc/Beverly/Jack love triangle. He performs a noble sacrifice near the end of the movie helping to save the day and leaving Beverly a grieving widow for Picard to consol.
Wesley Crusher: 8 year old son of Jack and Beverly Crusher. Super brilliant genius, he helps save the day at one point in the movie.
Nurse Alyssa Ogawa: Briefly seen in one scene in sickbay, as Beverly Crusher gives her an order.
Chief O'brien: Transporter operator, whose sole purpose in the film is to beam people up and down.
Q: The Villain of the film. He is essentially an amalgamation of all the god like characters ever seen in Star Trek, but mostly Trelane.
And now for the Plot, since Generations came out the plot is obviously the least important aspect for a Trek movie, so here goes:
Picard is convinced to join Starfleet, for some reason, words like destiny and fate are used (words better suited to Star Wars than Star Trek). So Picard goes to Starfleet Academy and meets the rest of the characters, who are all conveniently in the same Academy Class together. Picard becomes friends with Jack Crusher. But Picard and Riker don't like each other at first. Picard and Riker see each other as competition, and since it's possible to go straight from Cadet to Captain of the Federation Flag Ship competition is fierce. At one point Riker tells Picard that he always comes in first place, so often in fact, that his friends call him "Number One". Picard however beats Riker and starts calling him "Number One" in a mocking manner. Until the end of the movie when they team up, and become friends, Picard then uses "Number One" as a form of affection. (The "Number One" origin scene will be similar to the "Bones" origin Scene from Star Trek 2009)
So at some point most of the fleet (and all that it stands for) will be detonated, by Q, who for some reason is after revenge against humanity. So Picard and his class mates will have to team up and take command of the brand new Enterprise D. And engage in an epic chess game of life and death with a one man weapon of mass destruction, Q. With a ticking clock on a doomsday device about to destroy Earth.
Tash Yar gets killed. The various crew members use their skills to do stuff. Jack Crusher does the noble sacrifice thing. Q has a Big Bad Space Ship (for some reason) that dwarfs the 2 mile long nuEnterprise D. Q's ship and the Enterprise fight. Picard and Q get in a climactic fist fight. Which Picard wins, and as Q is down and out Picard snaps his neck killing him. While Picard says something like: "Being a god must be hard work, you should take a break" then snap, he breaks his neck. Every one in the theatre will think it's "kewl", and afterwards will be talking about how much of a bad ass this version of Picard is. Q's ship explodes but O'brien beams Picard back.
There is a brief epilogue, with the crew in their customary spots, each get a line of clichéd dialogue. Wesley Crusher, despite being only 8 years old is the ships Helmsman, for his reward for saving the ship. The Enterprise is ready to go off on its next adventure. Picard says his famous "Space the Final Frontier..." and Credits.
The End
I think this is a guaranteed hit right here, as long as it has a budget of about $200 million. And I can't wait to see it in the summer of 2019. Followed by two more sequels. One in 2022 when nuPicard and Crew fight the nuBorg. And another one in 2025 when nuPicard and Crew fight nuCardasians (with a possible nuDS9 spinoff hinted at). Each movie will simply be a variation of the same story, with the same action beats being done over and over again in each movie.
What do you all think?
