Report: Paramount ready to get things going

A new article from our friend Vic Holtreman at Screenrant cites a studio source with a report that Paramount liked the story pitch for the Star Trek sequel and that they are "already willing to spend money on pre-production offices." This report is consistent with TrekMovie reporting, as all indications are that Paramount is bullish on the Star Trek sequel and wants to get things going to ensure they make their June, 29 2012 date.

As previously reported, sequel co-writer/producer Roberto Orci recently said that the writing team (of Orci, Damon Lindelof and Alex Kurtzman) hope to hand in the first draft of the script to the studio by late March, and this week he and fellow co-writer/producer Damon Lindelof spoke about ‘holing up’ in a hotel to the first draft. And on Thursday, actor Simon Pegg said buzz on the script was good, or as he put it "that the "word on the bridge is the new script is AMAZEBALLS", appearing to confirm that insider buzz.

Traditionally films need a script to get a greenlight and budget and to start pre-production, but once Paramount set the June 29, 2012 release date (which they did thirteen months ago) the Star Trek sequel had what one insider called a "soft greenlight" meaning that the studio assumes the film will go ahead even before getting a script. While many aspects of pre-production require an agreed script draft (like casting, designing, location scouting, construction, etc.) there are still things that could be done to lay the groundwork, such as set up offices and possibly lining up the required crew, which is expected to be a close mirror to the team that put together the 2009 Star Trek film.

So things continue to move in the right direction for the 2012 Star Trek sequel, and 2011 looks to be an eventful year for the film moving into to pre-production soon and then production, which is reported to be starting in August.


The 2012 Star Trek sequel could be pulling out of spacedock soon



Flashback: Four Years ago today Paramount announced JJ Abrams Star Trek

It might be hard to believe, but it was February 27, 2007 when Paramount officially announced that were making a new Star Trek movie. In a release titled "J.J. Abrams to direct Star Trek Feature Film For Paramount in Theaters Christmas Day 2008" studio chief Brad Grey stated (in part) "The revival of the ‘Star Trek’ franchise is an important part of Paramount’s turnaround." The release also quoted Abrams, who said:

JJ Abrams (2/27/07): If there’s something I’m dying to see, it’s the brilliance and optimism of Roddenberry’s world brought back to the big screen. Alex and Bob wrote an amazing script that embraces and respects Trek canon, but charts its own course. Our goal is to make a picture for everyone — life-long fans and the uninitiated. Needless to say, I am honored and excited to be part of this next chapter of Star Trek.

Although word about a JJ Abrams-produced Star Trek project was first reported in the spring of 2006 (before TrekMovie.com launched), the only official release from Paramount before Feb. 27, 2007 was the Abrams-designed teaser poster at Comic-Con 2006.


Original Star Trek teaser from Comic Con 2006 – movie "officially " announced Feb. 27 2007 (four years ago today)

The February 2007 official announcement confirmed that Abrams would be directing as well as producing (along with Damon Lindelof), with a shooting start target of Fall 2007 and a release date of Christmas 2008 (which was later changed to May 2009). The release didn’t reveal a title, cast, or any plot details. Even though TrekMovie and others were unofficially reporting that the film would recast Kirk and Spock, it wasn’t until later in spring 2007 that Abrams confirmed this, and not until Comic-Con 2007 that the team announced the casting of Zachary Quinto and Leonard Nimoy, as the two Spocks.

TAKE THAT SECRET!

One of the most closely guarded trade secrets in the history of commerce may be a secret no more: NPR's "This American Life" thinks it has found the exact recipe for the world's most popular soft drink in a 1979 newspaper article.

According to the show's host, Ira Glass, the drink's secret flavoring component, which was created by pharmacist John Pemberton in 1886, is something called "Merchandise 7X." The show's staff recently stumbled across the February 8, 1979 edition of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which published an article on page 28 about a leather-bound notebook that once belonged to Pemberton's best friend, another pharmacist in the Atlanta area named R. R. Evans. The notebook contained a number of pharmacological recipes--but the main entry, for students of commercial history, was what's believed to be the exact recipe for the soft drink: all of the ingredients listed with the exact amounts needed to whip up a batch.

The Journal-Constitution piece also featured a photo of the page in Evans' notebook detailing Coke recipe--essentially revealing the recipe to the world. But since 1979 well antedated the explosion of digital media, the photograph of the recipe didn't travel far beyond the Atlanta area.

Coke's recipe is one of the most closely guarded secrets in American commerce, steeped in cloak-and-dagger lore. After businessman Asa Griggs Candler bought out Pemberton--who also conjured up cough medicines and blood purifiers, among other things--in 1887 for $2,300, the exact recipe for 7X was placed in the vault in an Atlanta bank. It's been reported that only two company employees are privy to its ingredients and how they're mixed at any given time--and that those two aren't allowed to travel together out of fear that a traveling accident might take both of their lives.

According to company historian Mark Pendergrast, Candler was so paranoid about the recipe leaking out of his proprietary control that he would go through the company mail himself to prevent any employees from seeing invoices that might tip off its ingredients.

"It's this carefully passed-on secret ritual," Pendergrast told Glass, "and the formula is kept in a bank vault at Sun Trust, which used to be the Georgia Trust Company."

After Pendergrast reviewed the recipe in the 1979 newspaper photo, he concluded that it could well be the real deal: "I think that it certainly is a version of the formula," he said, adding, "It's very similar to a formula that I found" in one of John Pemberton's notebooks when he was doing research for the book.

So what's the secret to making Coke? Well, here's what was written in the notebook:

The recipe:

Fluid extract of Coca: 3 drams USP
Citric acid: 3 oz
Caffeine: 1 oz
Sugar: 30 (unclear quantity)
Water: 2.5 gal
Lime juice: 2 pints, 1 quart
Vanilla: 1 oz
Caramel: 1.5 oz or more for color

The secret 7X flavor (use 2 oz of flavor to 5 gals syrup):
Alcohol: 8 oz
Orange oil: 20 drops
Lemon oil: 30 drops
Nutmeg oil: 10 drops
Coriander: 5 drops
Neroli: 10 drops
Cinnamon: 10 drops

Pemberton had reportedly hit upon the formula for Coke in an attempt to overcome the addiction to morphine he contracted after the Civil War, so it's perhaps not surprising that, in addition to alcohol, the drink originally contained Coca leaves laced with cocaine. After Atlanta passed a local prohibition ordinance in the 1890s, the company took the booze out of the formula, and the company has used cocaine-free coca leaves since 1904.

When the beverage debuted in Atlanta-area pharmacies owned by friends of Pemberton, marketers pronounced it "a shot in the arm"-- while Pemberton himself hailed it as a cure for cure pain, impotence and headaches. In our more enlightened age, of course, we know that Coke "adds life"--together with a dollop or two of neroli and nutmeg oil.