It won't come as too much of a surprise to learn that it was the studio who were most interested in Star Trek 2 being released in 3D (Ka-Ching!) but thankfully director J.J. Abrams has assured fans that it will not affect how he shoots the movie and reveals that seeing converted footage from the first instalment was what actually convinced him of the benefits. As for whether or not Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy star Benedict Cumberbatch is indeed playing a villain, Abrams refuses to confirm or deny anything.
On Converting Star Trek 2 To 3D And How He Plans On Shooting The Movie: Yeah, we’ve done some tests. Not only lens flare tests, but we’ve done 3D tests. We actually converted a bunch of the original movie, which looked really good. That was the thing that made me feel like, maybe that would be okay. But, I didn’t want to shoot the movie digitally. We’re shooting on film, and the reason for that is I wanted to shoot with anamorphic, and you can’t shoot 3D in anamorphic. It will be converted, for those who want to see it in 3D. But, I wanted to match the look of the first one and shoot it anamorphically.
On The Pressure From The Studio To Convert The Movie To 3D: I did not fight for the 3D. It was something that the studio wanted to do, and I didn’t want to do it. And then, when I saw the first movie converted in sections, I thought that it actually looked really cool. So, I was okay with their doing it, as long as I could shoot the movie the way I wanted to, in anamorphic film, and then let them convert it. So, those who want to see it in 3D, which looked pretty cool, can do it, and those that want to see it in 2D can do that too.
On Casting Benedict Cumberbatch As The Film's Mysterious Villain: Who said he’s our villain? He’s a genius. Honestly, he’s just an incredible actor. If you’ve seen his work in Sherlock, he’s just got incredible skills. He’s an amazing stage actor. He did amazing work (on stage) in Frankenstein. He’s brilliant. You try to cast people who are great. We got lucky. I just loved his work and thought that he was perfect for what we needed. We were just very lucky.
On Not Bringing Anyone Back From The Original Cast: It was just what the story of the movie required. With everything, you respond to what you’re trying to do and what story you’re trying to tell.
To read the interview in full be sure to click on the link below for more details on the length of the shoot, the benefits of setting the movie entirely in its own universe and a ton of details on his new TV show
Alcatraz.
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