George Takei, the actor who has portrayed Sulu for the past 40 years, and whom fans have watched rise through the ranks from Ensign to Captain had his own take about the recent development over at the Paramount/CBS Studios. Here is what George had to say:
“This is a startling new development for the “Star Trek” franchise and I am very excited about the news.
When we filmed the pilot in 1965, we were praying it would sell, to think that in 2006 Paramount would be revving up to make the 11th ‘Star Trek’ feature film would have been beyond the most fantastical of thoughts back in 1965.
I wonder what Sulu would have been up to in those early days at Starfleet Academy?
We’ve lived much longer than we ever thought, and will continue to prosper in so many unimagined ways in the future.”
The current film concept being led by “LOST”‘s J.J. Abrams (see related Slice of SciFi story) involves Kirk and Spock in both their Star Fleet Academy days and their earliest missions as Ensigns.
This idea had its germination in the minds of director/producer Harve Bennett and the original Captain James T. Kirk – William Shatner, several years ago but never came to fruition. Neither Bennett, Shatner or Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock) have been contacted or approached by Paramount to either comment or contribute to this new project. However, a spokesperson for the studio, Nancy Kirkpatrick has been quoted as saying, “We certainly are hoping to bring Star Trek back to its former glory.” If that is the case, then without some kind of contribution by its two most notworthy legends that would be hard to accomplish in the minds of many hardcore TOS Trek fans.
Submitted by: ST47 (Slice of SciFi Reporter)
I remember oh so long ago, 1998 or so, George was on an early video-stream interview and I got to ask him about a future movie featuring the Excelsior. He was quite keen on this as it had been bandied about. Now it is true that retirement has come to the original crew, but the idea of seeing a Sulu in the early days would be great. Just imagine a cadet sulu on an early small ship saving the day through his skills. That would be great.
I am looking forward to the new film.
BTW, love the show; have you ever thought of a button “Send slice of sci-fi to a friend” ?
Take care.
BTW I recently visited Nasa and there is a veritable hub of activity going on. Kim Stanley Robinson was there for the contact conference. Would love to hear you interview him (apologies if you have )
-Khal.