"Original" opening to the film

[The Fatman]

I don't know where this originated from, but I just read this on IMDB:

SPOILER: The original opening for the movie was going to feature the Enterprise NCC-1701 under the command of Robert April, with George Kirk second in command. At the climax of the scene the Enterprise would have been destroyed, and the Enterprise featured through most of the movie would have been its successor, the NCC-1701-A (which didn't debut until Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) in the original timeline). However, Paramount told Kurtzman and Orci that the one thing they absolutely could not do was destroy the Enterprise, even if they were going to replace it with a newer one, and so the "original" Enterprise was rewritten into the USS Kelvin, with Captain April becoming Captain Robau.

While this would have caused it's own set of issues (This would put the 1701 in service years before the accepted date of 2245), I think I would have liked this better. It would be nice to see the original 1701 on screen again, for one...original design and bridge intact. It certainly would give a more solid explanation for the drastic design changes present in the movie ship. Also, I think it would have been an even bigger dramatic kick in the gonads, as no one would expect "our" Enterprise to get blown up in the first 10 minutes of the movie. This could have been just as dramatic an act of "anything can happen now" as the destruction of Vulcan later.

What are everyone else's thoughts?

*my apologies if this has been discussed before, or if this story has already been exposed as gibberish. I went back through old threads as best I could and couldn't see it anywhere.

 

[Rush Limborg]

Wow.

Well...remember that the writers wanted to make sure that they didn't violate canon unless it could be attributed to a change in the timeline.

In other words...while this would have been SUPER dramatic--yes, the Enteprise would have been in service twelve years too early. And there would have been no excuse for that, except for "artistic license"--which would have ticked off the purists even MORE.

In this case, if that rumor is true, kudos to TPTB at Paramount.

 

[Sector 7]

Since any idiot can post to IMDB, I shall be the first to call bullsh*t on this. It sounds more like a fictional addendum by a crazed, April-loving fanboy. It may even be a member of our own TrekBBS. Who knows?

 

[Dukhat]

I don't know where this originated from, but I just read this on IMDB:

SPOILER: The original opening for the movie was going to feature the Enterprise NCC-1701 under the command of Robert April, with George Kirk second in command. At the climax of the scene the Enterprise would have been destroyed, and the Enterprise featured through most of the movie would have been its successor, the NCC-1701-A (which didn't debut until Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) in the original timeline). However, Paramount told Kurtzman and Orci that the one thing they absolutely could not do was destroy the Enterprise, even if they were going to replace it with a newer one, and so the "original" Enterprise was rewritten into the USS Kelvin, with Captain April becoming Captain Robau.

While this would have caused it's own set of issues (This would put the 1701 in service years before the accepted date of 2245), I think I would have liked this better. It would be nice to see the original 1701 on screen again, for one...original design and bridge intact. It certainly would give a more solid explanation for the drastic design changes present in the movie ship. Also, I think it would have been an even bigger dramatic kick in the gonads, as no one would expect "our" Enterprise to get blown up in the first 10 minutes of the movie. This could have been just as dramatic an act of "anything can happen now" as the destruction of Vulcan later.

What are everyone else's thoughts?

*my apologies if this has been discussed before, or if this story has already been exposed as gibberish. I went back through old threads as best I could and couldn't see it anywhere.

This is complete horsesh*t. If that had been the original opening, Orci and Kurtzman would have said so a long time ago. But they've never uttered a single word about the original Enterprise, the Ent-A, or April. I doubt they even knew who April was, because not even most Trek fans know who he is.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I thought the existing opening worked just fine. I highly doubt there was ever any other, filmed or not.

 

[JonnyBoy]

I remember reading this on another site a while back. I don't think it was posted by just "any idiot". This sounds almost crazy enough to have been part of the early story development. Remember, the supreme court has said before that lots of ideas came and went, and they pushed the limits pretty far early on.

 

[The Wormhole]

This does sound like a fanboy's wishlist. If Abrams and Cohorts were seriously thinking of using Robert April in the movie, than they would have had him commanding the Kelvin instead of Robau.

Sorry, I'm calling bullshit on this.

 

[Broccoli]

While I am in agreement with others here that this was, at most, probably just an idea that was quickly thrown away (if it is real at all), there is nothing specifically stated in canon that says when the Enterprise was launched. 2245 is just fan theory.

 

[The Wormhole]

there is nothing specifically stated in canon that says when the Enterprise was launched. 2245 is just fan theory.

Actually, if you count the information in the Constitution class Defiant's database from Enterprise's In A Mirror Darkly as canon, than yes 2245 has been established as the 1701's launch date.

 

[pookha]

problem is there has been other contradictory info out there about how old enterprise was..

 

[Broccoli]

there is nothing specifically stated in canon that says when the Enterprise was launched. 2245 is just fan theory.

Actually, if you count the information in the Constitution class Defiant's database from Enterprise's In A Mirror Darkly as canon, than yes 2245 has been established as the 1701's launch date.

I don't. And neither does Paramount.

However, if you want to get technical, the part that mentioned the launch was never actually seen on screen. Therefore, not canon.

 

[LeadHead]

This isn't the first time i've heard this theory, it sounds interesting, but I'm glad they went with the Kelvin instead. It had a similar enough look to classic ships. (at least on the outside)

I tend to think if they had destroyed the NCC-1701, in the first few minutes, it wouldn't have struck the right note. The way the scene turned out was fantastic, so I'm glad it turned out that way.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I doubt they even knew who April was, because not even most Trek fans know who he is.

And most who do, don't care.

 

[Starbreaker]

There is absolutely an interview online where Orci & Kurtzman said they were told that they could not blow up the Enterprise, but they didn't say anything to this extent.

 

[Yug]

I actually think it would have been really cool to destroy the original Enterprise in this way. Not only do I suspect that the original Enterprise in the film would have looked a lot like the TOS Enterprise which would have been nice to see on film. But it would have been a classic symbolic image that the old Star Trek is being replaced. Destroying the classic Enterprise in such a heroic, but final act and changing history, erasing a timeline (for all intents and purposes) would have been such a direct and explicit message to the viewers that this film would be a true rebirth and a new image of Trek... but holy shit, would the Trekkers have gone ballistic. It would be seen as a slap in their faces, but I would've fuckin' loved that !!

 

[F. King Daniel]

I read this ages ago.

I'm glad they didn't do it, simply because I want Kirk in charge of the 1701 Enterprise (albiet bigger and shinier), not the -A. Plus Captain Robau is way cooler than Robert April.

Imagine the whining if the 1701 showed up with Kelvin-style hull detail! And then got blown up! "Certain people" would never shut up.

 

[Franklin]

This does sound like a fanboy's wishlist. If Abrams and Cohorts were seriously thinking of using Robert April in the movie, than they would have had him commanding the Kelvin instead of Robau.

Sorry, I'm calling bullshit on this.

In a twisted way, that would've been cool. Captain Robert April of the USS Kelvin. Finally on screen. Finally canon. Yet the twisted thing would be that no questions would really answered about April and the Enterprise.

We fans would now be arguing back and forth about how had he not been killed by Nero, he obviously would've gone on to be the first captain of the Enterprise. And, in the prime timeline, he must've gone from the Kelvin to the Enterprise (or why would they bother to make the captain of the Kelvin Robert April?). Boy, Orci and Kurtzman really missed a chance to stir things up.

 

[Rush Limborg]

Besides, April's not His Supreme Awesomeness. Robau is.

Can I get an "amen"?

 

[The Fatman]

Good to know I'm not the only one who sees the potential in the idea, even if it is a little fanboyish.

That said, I've been looking around online, and all I can find is the interview Starbreaker referenced where they talked about not being allowed to destroy Enterprise. It looks like if this isn't made up entirely, then it was just an idea that was talked about once or twice, and never even made it to script form.

 

[The Wormhole]

problem is there has been other contradictory info out there about how old enterprise was..

The only other direct referance on screen to the Enterprise's age was Admiral Morrow calling the ship "20 years old" in TSFS. But that line is a clear mistake anyway, since The Cage takes place 30 years prior.