Thanks to Comingsoon.net, J.J. Abrams revealed some rather enticing information about his future projects..."Star Trek 2" as well as "Mission Impossible 4."
On the possibility of shooting the "Star Trek" sequel in 3-D:
Abrams: Paramount talked to me about doing the first one in 3-D and, having it only be my second film, I was petrified just at the addition of it. I thought it would be another dimension of pain-in-the-ass. I was just like, "I want to make a decent 2-D movie." I was so worried that instead of being a decent 2-D movie it would have been a bad 3-D one. I'm open to looking at it because now I feel a little bit more comfortable. And, if I, in fact, direct the "Star Trek" sequel, 3-D could be really fun, so I'm open to it. What I've seen of "Avatar" makes me want to do it because it's so crazy-cool looking.
On revisiting the notion of including William Shatner in the sequel:
Abrams: The Shatner thing comes up quite a bit. As someone who was a William Shatner fan, in a huge way, just because of "The Twilight Zone" episodes he did, and then completely appreciating what he did in "Star Trek," but not really becoming a fan until I started working on this movie, it was a foregone conclusion that we wanted Shatner in the movie. The problem was that his character died on screen in one of the "Trek" films, and because we decided very early on, that we wanted to adhere to "Trek" canon as best we could - which was a huge challenge, because even the original series in many ways didn't always adhere to "Trek" canon - the required machinations to get Shatner into the movie would have been very difficult to do, given the story we wanted to tell, and also to give him the kind of part that he would be happy with. It was this thing where it would have felt like a gimmick, in order to get Shatner in the movie, which would have honestly, to me, been distracting. Having said that, would it have been fun to have him in the movie? Of course. Would it be great to work with him? No doubt. I was as excited to work with him as I was Mr. Nimoy, who we luckily did have in the film… In terms of moving forward, I am open to anything. I would love to figure out something, given the challenge of introducing these new characters and given the burden of having to cast these people. I feel like the first movie did some of the heavy lifting that needed to be done, in order to free us to continue, going forward. Maybe there's less of a burden and there's going to be more opportunity to work with him again. I would love to work with him. We speak. We actually have a lunch date planned. I'm a fan. I'm a friend of his. Or, he's at least a friend of mine. He may say otherwise on his blog today. I have no idea. But, I really couldn't like him more and would love to work with him.
On Leonard Nimoy's recent suggestion that future "Star Trek" films just might not need him anymore:
Abrams: I can't imagine a "Star Trek" movie not needing him. I'm sure that what he's saying is a combination of modesty and honesty. He may actually feel that way. But, the truth is, we could never have made this movie without him, and working with him again would be a joy. It is clearly too early, given that we are just now talking story, to conclude whether or not Spock Prime is in the film or not. Do I want to work with him again? Of course, one hundred percent. I'd love to.
On the notion of having Nimoy reprise his '60s TV role of Paris in a fourth "Mission: Impossible" film – and possibly other original cast members as well:
Abrams: How cool would that be? I just got a call that Peter Graves is in great shape, which would be a very bizarre bend in the space-time continuum, for obvious reasons. I almost feel like you could make him serious again and bring him back. Whether it's Nimoy, who I have an incredible affinity for, or Graves or anyone, we'll see. I actually tried to get Martin Landau in "Mission 3," in a very small little moment just for fun, and was told that he had no interest in doing it. But then, when I met him, after the movie came out, it was the greatest thing. We were at this restaurant in New York for one of the TV Upfront parties, and someone introduced me to Landau. They took me over and Martin Landau came over to me, extended his hand, and [pretended to lift a false face off]. That was the greatest thing I'd ever seen!
Whispers68: I don't know about other fans of "Star Trek," but there's no reason for Paramount to even suggest three dimensional rendering. Why does everything have to be 3D today? The movie can survive without having the rendering involved but apparently it will enhance the effects. I hope he doesn't follow suit with the trend but I'll keep an open mind to it.