Rumor has it that Star Trek XII won’t be focused on a “traditional” villain at all, but will focus on someone familiar to fans nonetheless.

According to an informant, the story will focus on a classic Star Trek character, moreover, one from the original series. “It’s definitely a character that will make fans of TOS excited,” said the source via email. “Think along the lines of Harry Mudd or Trelane or Gary Mitchell or the Talosians or the Horta.”

The source went on to say that “Actually, it’s one of those that I named.”

Bear in mind that this is very much an unconfirmed rumor, but have fun thinking about which of these, if any, it could be!

“I can tell you as we go into it, that our aspirations are for the movie to be even bigger and better than the first one,” Star Trek XII producer Bryan Burk this week told TrekMovie.com. “I don’t mean that just in scope, I mean content and characters and emotionally. We had a lot of conversations about Batman Begins and how that movie kind of re-invented that franchise, and we looked at what The Dark Knight did and how that really ramped it up and they went to a different place with that film, and how those two films keep re-inventing themselves and are not the same thing every time. So we have strong ideas of what we want to do and we are hoping that this one is an even bigger film than the last one.”

Burk explained that making the film bigger does not just mean throwing extra money at the production, but that it would also affect the kind of story the film will be telling: “I feel like, particular with the last film, we brought a lot of people into the Star Trek universe who either hadn’t been there before or hadn’t been there in a while, and now that you know who these characters are, we are hoping to take grander and bigger steps with the characters, emotionally. The stakes will be bigger and people will be more invested.”

The producers still have some time to develop their plans, as they’re not expecting to begin shooting until this time next year, and still have until December before they want to start pre-production.

For more from Burk, head over to the full interview at TrekMovie.com.

As reported by Sci Fi Wire and Comic Book Movie, the writers are being meticulous when it comes to planning for the sequel to the successful Star Trek XI. “We have to comb through everything and make sure that we leave no stone unturned because that was the approach that I think we were looking for on the first movie,” said Alex Kurtzman.
There have been meetings and discussions about the movie, but the script is not as far along as Zoe Saldana (Uhura) reported recently. “She’s so generous,” said Roberto Orci. “She thinks so much and so highly of us. We had about a fifteen, thirty-minute discussion with the whole gang and went our separate ways. We’re still in the re-reading and taking-it-all-in phase before we actually sit down and start designing it.”

“We take nothing for granted at this point,” said Kurtzman. “We’re only going to do it when it’s really right.”

It is not guaranteed that the second and third Star Trek reboot movies will be tied together either, as has been rumored. “”There’s been forty-three years of material, so that’s all that we meant by that,” said Orci. “It has to cross your mind. But we’re not leaning one way or the other yet.”

Heroes star Greg Grunberg, friend of J.J. Abrams, is keen to play Harry Mudd in a Star Trek film and has mentioned the idea to reporters. “It’s a good idea,” said Orci. Another original series character, Khan, has also been mentioned as a possibility in earlier discussions.

One thing that will probably make it into the next Star Trek movie is a famous Dr. McCoy catchphrase. “I was watching cable the other night, watching Star Trek,” said Orci. “It’s been on rotation, the original series. [McCoy] said, ‘He’s dead, Jim.’ I was like, ‘Oh, that has to go [in the script].’”

To read more, head to the articles located here and here.

As reported by io9, although it’s common for a second movie to feature the hero wanting to escape from being heroic, that won’t be the case with Star Trek XII. According to Orci, he sees the Enterprise crew as being committed to both their mission and to doing good, and so the “hero no more” story won’t work for them. “Star Trek is different in that you have a crew that is committed to what they are doing,” explained Orci. “So that’s going to lead you to different kinds of storytelling. These people are not reluctant heroes. They’re hoping to get out there and do what’s right.”

Orci also spoke up about recent rumors that the next two Star Trek movies might be linked; by a cliffhanger needing to be resolved, a storyline that continues from one movie to the next or something similar. “We had one meeting…that’s me, J.J. [Abrams,] Damon [Lindelof,] Bryan Burk and Alex Kurtzman. And in that one fifteen-minute meeting we were talking so generally and somehow the idea maybe came up that maybe, just for a second, we were considering, maybe thinking

As reported by Newsarama, although the script isn’t finished for Star Trek XII, the process of screenwriting for the sequel is under way.

“It’s definitely happening,” said Zachary Quinto. “I know that Bob [Orci] and Alex [Kurtzman] and Damon [Lindelof] and J.J. [Abrams] have been working and talking and developing stories. I don’t think there’s a script yet. I know there’s not a script yet. But they’re working on it and they’re talking about it.” Lessons have been learned from Star Trek XI, said Quinto. “I think the great thing about the experience with the first film is that it really was an organic evolution,” he explained. “And I think that it was rooted in a real sense of creative collaboration and excitement and enthusiasm and support. And I think they want to make sure any subsequent film is rooted in that same territory, in that same landscape,” he said. “So I don’t think anybody’s rushing anything. And I think that’s actually really smart. And I have implicit trust in all those guys creatively and professionally.”

Although working on other projects, Quinto and the rest of the cast will be ready when the call comes to shoot Star Trek XII. “I know when the time is right and everything falls into the place, the crew shall reassemble for the missions,” said Quinto. “But until then, we’re all exploring different landscapes and figuring out the best way for us to go creatively as individuals.”

To read more, including Quinto’s comments on his role of Sylar in Heroes, head to the article located here.

As reported by MTV, Saldana spoke briefly about Star Trek XII while she was at Comic-Con over the weekend. Saldana admitted that she has been contacted by the producers regarding her schedule availability. “What are you doing in March?” she was asked. “What are you doing in June? What are you doing in September?” She answered that she was “free for you guys whenever you come calling.” But before Saldana begins shooting, she intends to go back to the gym to get back into shape.

As reported by io9, a little information regarding the sequels to Star Trek XI came out at a Wrath of Con party at Comic-Con on Friday.
“Nothing was decided,” said Orci, referring to the last meeting held regarding a future Star Trek movie. “It was really about, hmmm…You know what? I’ll give you a tidbit. [They said to us] ‘We thought maybe you could do that as like 2 and 3.’ [Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek: The Search for Spock.]

Meanwhile, Zoe Saldana (Uhura) believes that the next movie is already half-written. “I do know that they [Orci and Kurtzman] are germinating a script,” she said. “That’s what they told us a month and a half ago, which actually means, in that kind of talk, it means that they’re probably halfway done with a script. They just can’t present it to anybody. But they’re very excited, and there is a lot of pressure, because now it’s like, ‘Oh, do you do The Wrath of Khan or do you do this or whatever.”

To read more, head to the articles located here and here.

As reported by Collider.com, discussions have only begun for Abrams regarding the sequel to Star Trek XI. “We just started talking about ideas,” he said. “We’ve just begun this process so it’s so early that it’s insane to, you know, I have no idea; but I would say that it’s that kind of feeling that as we’re talking about stories you start to salivate, like ‘oh my God I can’t wait to do that!’ and so that feels good and my guess is that as we continue it will become clearer how we will plan out what will happen.

As reported by Sci Fi Wire, Abrams is keeping an open mind when it concerns potential storylines for Star Trek XII. “The great thing is we’re all open to anything,” he said. “I think the fun of where we are with Trek is that it can and should just be fully explored.” This means not just new storylines, but the possibility of looking to past Star Trek stories for inspiration. “I think to limit ourselves to only new adventures would be a mistake,” said Abrams. “But I also think we want to take advantage of this moment and figure out what’s the most exciting version for the new audience as well.”

To read more, head to the article located here.

As reported by Collider.com, now that they know that Star Trek XI is a success, co-writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci feel the pressure of trying to duplicate the success of Star Trek XI. “We’re trying to do exactly what we did on the first one,” said Orci, “and really find it from a place of passion and love and fun.” According to Orci, preparation for Star Trek XII includes gauging fan reaction. “Another thing we are doing is reading what all the fans are saying online,” he said. “We are kind of checking out their reactions.”

The duo hope to have a script by Christmas, but first a director for Star Trek XII has to be signed. “If J.J. [Abrams] directs the movie, then it’ll happen on a certain time period,” said Kurtzman. “If it’s somebody else it’ll happen on a different time period. So right now everyone is trying to figure that out. We’d love to have a script by Christmas but a lot of that is going to be dependent upon a lot of factors…If we can make it by Christmas, great. And if we feel like, you know what, we just need more time, then we’ll need to take more time. Because I think we all feel that we, this is a very precious baby to us, Star Trek, and we don’t want to drop it.”

Kurtzman spoke about the possibility of J.J. Abrams returning to direct Star Trek XII. “I think the only pressure that he [Abrams] is feeling and that we’re all feeling is that the studio would like the movie to come out as soon as possible. So the question just becomes…do you want to do that or not, and he’s right as a director to wait until he feels that we either have broken the right idea or he sees the script.”

The writers must also decide who the potential villain will be or what the heroes must overcome in Star Trek XII. “Two things,” said Orci. “One is, we have had questions about the debate sort of between the exploration sci-fi plot where the unknown and nature itself is somehow an adversary, or the villain model. So that’s an active discussion we’re having right now.”

To see the video, head to the link located here.