TOS book cover art after the new movie...

[Timofnine]

When Star Trek is released next year, we are going to have a whole new cast officially playing the roles of their 60's counterparts. When future TOS novels are released, will the cover art of characters be changed to reflect the new actors?

I think that it will happen, for the following reasons:

1) To cash in on the movie and character recognition if it is a success, maybe helping to raise book sales.

2) The new characters are official/canon from a production perspective at least.

3) It would be a good point to start a TOS 'relaunch' for a new generation of readers.

If (when) this change does occur, how will you feel about it?

End of an era?

 

[J47]

I imagine it will depend on when the novels are set. If it's around the time of the film, I'm sure they'll use the new cast. But stuff around TOS and afterwords, I can't imagine why the wouldn't continue to use Shatner and all.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Tiny Timofnine said:
When future TOS novels are released, will the cover art of characters be changed to reflect the new actors?

It won't be all or nothing. Each book is always considered on its own merits and marketing needs.

When Pocket first started doing ST novels, several novels set squarely in the 5YM ended up with TMP- and ST II-inspired covers, because those movies were the "current" face of ST, and it was a way for the novels to ride the coat tails of the media frenzy that parallelled these movies. But others came out with TOS uniforms.

 

[Steve Roby]

Tiny Timofnine said:
When future TOS novels are released, will the cover art of characters be changed to reflect the new actors?

I suspect that depends on the answers to a lot of questions no on can answer yet. Will the movie be a hit or a bomb? Is this a one-off or the beginning of a series? Does the movie actually fit in the same continuity as the rest of the original series stories? Does anyone at Paramount and/or Pocket have any marketing plans that include the books?

Even if the movie's a huge hit and everyone wants the books to follow its lead, the length of time it takes to write a novel, get approvals, and publish it means that it might be a year or more after the movie's release before we get the first novel for which any of this is an issue.

 

[Tino]

They'll probably use the new faces for books that are prior to the regular series-adventures. And I'm pretty sure more of such books will surface if the movie is a hit. There are surely some topics in the new film that can be dealt with in a small six-book-series or something. ;-)

 

[JD]

Like others have said, I really think it will probably the popularity of the movie, and when the books take place. For instance if they release a book during the (I-IV) movie era, I doubt they very much that would use Chris Pine, Sachary Quinto, Karl Urban, ect

 

[Stevil2001]

I think that Mike Collins should start drawing an aged Simon Pegg on the covers of all S.C.E. books.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Steve Mollmann said:
I think that Mike Collins should start drawing an aged Simon Pegg on the covers of all S.C.E. books.

I'm not protecting you when the lynch mob shows up.

 

[KeepOnTrekking]

My gut feeling is that they're trying to relaunch and revitalize the Trek franchise. It would be smart to use the new actors faces on any new TOS novels during the original 5-year mission in order to ride the success of the new movie. Any TOS novels set during the movie era (STI - STVII) could use the original actors images (Shatner, Nimoy,etc) and thereby saving them a spot in Trek history to pay them homage along with the other casts of the 4 spinoff series.

 

[captcalhoun]

it's Zachary Quinto with a Z not an S.

 

[JD]

^I wrote Sachary? Ooops, I guess I did, must have hit the S instead of the Z.

 

[Therin of Andor]

^ Yeah, but he's playing Zpock.

 

[Tino]

captcalhoun said:
it's Zachary Quinto with a Z not an S.

Is this a discussion board or correction board?

 

[captcalhoun]

both. you left the 'g' off King in your sig while we're at it.

 

[Therin of Andor]

^^Just wait till the movie reviews, when Quinto gets accused of portraying Young Spock with too much artificial sweetness!

 

[captcalhoun]

^

 

[Scott Pearson]

They're going to go in an entirely different direction. Mickey Rooney as Kirk, Dick Van Dyke as Spock, and Ben Stiller as McCoy.

 

[C.E. Evans]

J47 said:
I imagine it will depend on when the novels are set. If it's around the time of the film, I'm sure they'll use the new cast. But stuff around TOS and afterwords, I can't imagine why the wouldn't continue to use Shatner and all.

That's really how I look at it. I think the only instance where there might be some confusion--either use the likeness of Chris Pine or young William Shatner--might be a story set after the movie but within the timeframe of "Where No Man Has Gone Before."

Of course, if the movie overlaps WNMHGB, then all bets are off, IMO...

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Scott Pearson said:
They're going to go in an entirely different direction. Mickey Rooney as Kirk, Dick Van Dyke as Spock, and Ben Stiller as McCoy.

Shouldn't that be Jerry Stiller?

 

[JD]

I keep wondering if we're ever gonna see a book with William Shatner and Zachary Quinto on the cover .