Favorite Trek Movie Rumors

[Sir Rhosis]

Looking at the leaked photos of STAR TREK BEYOND's Dubai shoot, and all the guessing as to what might be happening got me to thinking that even though the technology for receiving tidbits about upcoming films has changed, fan curiosity has not.

Was recently glancing through some old issues of Starlog, packed away in my basement, and stumbled upon a late-81/early-82 issue, which had a sidebar containing the latest STAR TREK II movie rumors. By then, it was well known that Montalban would be back as Khan. This piece got things fairly right, but so very wrong in its misheard/game of "telephone" fashion.

We were told the film was subtitled THE UNCHARTED CONTINENT, and concerned Khan and his band of terrorists stealing a Federation weather-controlling machine. Furthermore, the Enterprise would do battle with Khan's ship "inside a cloud." I, of course, assumed it was referring to massive meteorological mayhem -- a storm cloud, thunder and lightning, etc. -- concocted by said weather-controlling machine. I assumed that the "uncharted continent" was on Ceti Alpha Whatever number it was. Khan and his terrorists, I guessed, must have stolen the device from the Enterprise, when Kirk came back to check up on them.

What are some other wild rumors, some false, some true, some somewhere in the middle, that you recall about any of the Trek films.

Sir Rhosis

 

[JonnyQuest037]

There was a lot of speculation that Kirk was going to be killed off in STVI, largely due to a shot in the trailer of Kirk getting hit with a phaser blast and disappearing (the transporter effect hadn't been added in yet).

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Eddie Murphy in STIV.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Recently reading some old IDIC letterzines (http://www.scotpress.co.uk), I came across a rumoured plot for Star Trek VI: Voyage to Infinity. Where Kirk has become a monk, Spock is married and everyone dies at the end.

 

[Greg Cox]

Whenever I'm working on a movie novelization, I'm often amused/appalled at all the ridiculous rumors I see reported as "news." I have to bite my tongue a lot since I know that most of them are utter bullshit--or, as noted the result of a bad game of "telephone."

"Okay, I can guess where that rumor is coming from, but people are jumping to the wrong conclusions . . .."

The internet's inability to distinguish between rumors, facts, and wild speculation drives me nuts sometimes.

 

[martok2112]

I think this was more a niche fan rumor rather than a largely spread one:
Star Trek III.... Spock comes back as a vegetable-humanoid hybrid.

 

[arch101]

I remember a "From The Bridge" section of an issue of Starlog from 80 or 81 headlined "Star Trek returns to TV". The rumor was probably perpetuated by the hiring of Harve Bennett to produce the second film. He was mostly known for TV work back then. A movie rumor about TV.

 

[FormerLurker]

There was a lot of speculation that Kirk was going to be killed off in STVI, largely due to a shot in the trailer of Kirk getting hit with a phaser blast and disappearing (the transporter effect hadn't been added in yet).

Actually, that was the shot of Martia being executed by the Commandant of Rura Penthe.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

There was talk in the 80s about the 'Starfleet Academy' movie Harve Bennett wanted to do with John Cussack as Spock.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

There was a lot of speculation that Kirk was going to be killed off in STVI, largely due to a shot in the trailer of Kirk getting hit with a phaser blast and disappearing (the transporter effect hadn't been added in yet).

Actually, that was the shot of Martia being executed by the Commandant of Rura Penthe.

Yes, but we had no idea of that at the time the trailer hit. You see William Shatner, you think Kirk.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

There was a lot of speculation that Kirk was going to be killed off in STVI, largely due to a shot in the trailer of Kirk getting hit with a phaser blast and disappearing (the transporter effect hadn't been added in yet).

Actually, that was the shot of Martia being executed by the Commandant of Rura Penthe.

Yes, but we had no idea of that at the time the trailer hit. You see William Shatner, you think Kirk.

One of those "out of context" trailers

 

[Firebird]

Eddie Murphy in STIV.

That wasn't actually a rumor though, wasn't it? Harve Bennett was working to try to bring Murphy into ST4, but scheduling issues with The Golden Child forced him to drop out of the film.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Eddie Murphy in STIV.

That wasn't actually a rumor though, wasn't it? Harve Bennett was working to try to bring Murphy into ST4, but scheduling issues with The Golden Child forced him to drop out of the film.

Without the same access to info we have now, it sounded like a rumor then.

Starlog might have mentioned it, it's probably the only reason I heard Eddie mentioned at the time.

 

[ChristopherPike]

Some of my favourites from recent years...

They wanted Jeri Ryan to be in the last TNG film, I guess because Seven of Nine had been the last character to have made it to pop culture. Recognisable to a larger audience, beyond just the fans.

Immediately following Nemesis, talk of a Star Trek movie featuring a multi-series cast. There's Brent Spiner talking about a "Justice League of Trek" and that's usually summed up by saying "Let's have all the Captains work together", presumably with some of their respective fellow cast members along for the ride.

A few years later, Enterprise has just left the airwaves, we're pondering the 40th Anniversary and not having new Star Trek to look forward to. Along comes this rumour about Stewart and Bakula teaming up against a scenery chewing Shatner as evil Mirror Universe despot, Emperor Tiberius. Herc at Ain't It Cool News at the time commenting about how old Bill could still kick ass as much as William Holden did in Peckinpah western, The Wild Bunch. Or so my memory of it goes.

I guess there must've been some impetus for this from somebody, even if it was the actors simply wanting to work together on a project... given we eventually got Bill Shatner's Captains documentary and a kind of world tour of the five series leads.

 

[VOODOOXI]

Shatner's long rumored involvement is the Abrams films

 

[Danlav05]

There was a rumour that Q was going to be the villain of Star Trek IX.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Anyone else remember Nicholas Meyer's early comments about STVI being "a small story about Spock in love"?

 

[WarpFactorZ]

I remember a "From The Bridge" section of an issue of Starlog from 80 or 81 headlined "Star Trek returns to TV". The rumor was probably perpetuated by the hiring of Harve Bennett to produce the second film. He was mostly known for TV work back then. A movie rumor about TV.

This is not really a rumor, since TWOK was originally planned as a TV movie.

 

[Dukhat]

A lot of Star Trek movie rumors came about because the movies' trailers took scenes way out of context. I remember seeing the trailer for TSFS as a kid, and the way the trailer was cut, it looked like the Klingons were the ones who stole the Enterprise out of Spacedock, and Kirk was chasing after it in the green ship that turned out to be the BoP.

And don't even get me started about the trailer for Generations, which made it look like both the Ent-D under Picard and the Ent-B under Kirk were engaged in battle with the other

 

[The Toddler]

After Star Trek V, I seem to remember a magazine showing a picture of Klaa and Vixis with a caption saying, "if there is a Star Trek VI, there will be time for romance."

I think there were also rumors that Insurrection was going to be based on Heart of Darkness.

And with each TNG movie, Rick Berman told us we'd have the best villain since Khan.

Also a rumor that turned out to be true -- I remember being in denial when someone told me Spock's brother would be in Star Trek V. I still am, really.