Nerd Rating

Tag: JJ Abrams

  • Star Wars: Episode VII Cast Announced

    star-wars-episode-7-cast

    No more rumors or speculation needed. The cast for Star Wars: Episode VII has been made official in a statement by Disney. The announcement also came with a photo of the cast meeting with director JJ Abrams.

    The Star Wars team is thrilled to announce the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII.

    Actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker in the new film.

    Director J.J. Abrams says, “We are so excited to finally share the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII. It is both thrilling and surreal to watch the beloved original cast and these brilliant new performers come together to bring this world to life, once again. We start shooting in a couple of weeks, and everyone is doing their best to make the fans proud.”

    Star Wars: Episode VII is being directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and Abrams. Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk are producing, and John Williams returns as the composer. The movie opens worldwide on December 18, 2015.

    We already knew Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Peter Mayhew were returning and that Adam Driver had been cast as a villain. The names that people will notice are Andy Serkis and the awesome Max von Sydow as well as Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker returning as C-3P0 and R2-D2.

     Oscar Isaac had been rumored over the past few weeks to be in the cast and that was proven true today. John Boyega is best known from Attack the Block and will be joined by About Time’s Domhnall Gleeson and relative unknown Daisy Ridley to fill out the cast.

     The additions of Serkis and von Sydow especially make me excited about the next trip to a galaxy far, far away.

    Filming is set to begin next month. Star Wars: Episode VII will release on December 18, 2015.

     

  • J.J. Abrams Gets The Trek, Now The Wars

    'Star Trek' Photocall

    We tweeted this out yesterday (follow us @NerdRating) but here is the lowdown on what may be the biggest news of the movie year.

    J.J. Abrams is officially the director of Star Wars Episode VII. The news broke early yesterday afternoon when The Wrap reported that the director had been given the job after a lengthy courtship by the head of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy. Reports are that Steven Spielberg had a hand in getting Abrams to say yes after the legendary director declined the job.

    Let’s face it, Disney needed someone that knows how to handle a franchise as large as Star Wars. Abrams is a huge Star Wars fan and that is one of the reasons he said he did not want to direct the movie last December.

    “There were the very early conversations and I quickly said that because of my loyalty to ‘Star Trek,’ and also just being a fan, I wouldn’t even want to be involved in the next version of those things. I declined any involvement very early on. I’d rather be in the audience not knowing what was coming, rather than being involved in the minutiae of making them.”

    I could make a really corny “force was too strong” joke but you are already thinking that right now, so I won’t.

    Abrams is putting the final touches on Star Trek Into Darkness and then, one would assume, he will begin early work on the galaxy far, far away.

    The future of the Star Trek franchise is certainly in question after this announcement also. If there is to be a third movie (which you would think) will Abrams’ Star Wars involvement mean that another director must be found or does Paramount wait on Abrams to get done with Episode VII before getting back on a third Trek adventure? I am interested to see how this decision affects the Paramount executives feelings towards Abrams. They could go ahead and prep a third Star Trek and leave him out of the equation completely.

    So now we have Michael Arndt writing the screenplay and Captain Reboot in as director. This Star Wars thing might just become a movie yet.

     

  • New Star Trek Into Darkness Trailer (Yes, Another One)

    If you didn’t get a chance to see the nine minute preview of Star Trek Into Darkness over the weekend before viewings of The Hobbit (one word: amazeballs) then here is the brand spanking new trailer for the followup to the 2009 reboot.

    Not to be confused with the trailer shown a couple of weeks back this trailer begins with Bruce Greenwood’s Christopher Pike giving Kirk some harsh advice which then segues into the Benedict Cumberbatch voiceover from the previous trailer. The preview ends with the scene from the Japanese trailer that looks to have a bit of foreshadowing or it could just be JJ Abrams keeping us on the hook.

    Star Trek Into Darkness releases on May 17, 2013.

  • Star Trek Into Darkness Teaser Trailer Is Here

    Get Ready To Boldly Go Again.

    The first teaser trailer for Star Trek Into Darkness has gone up and it does not disappoint even though it only runs a little over a minute.

    Villain Benedict Cumberbatch narrates over the trailer with malice and evil intent. I would like to go ahead and say that if he does not steal the movie I will be shocked. His identity is still a mystery with most leaning towards Gary Mitchell from the original series episode “Where No Man Has Gone Before” but there is still a small inkling that he could still be Khan.

    Don’t forget that the first nine minutes of Star Trek Into Darkness will be screened before IMAX showings of The Hobbit on about 500 screens next week.

    Check out the trailer below and let us know what you think.

  • Star Trek Sequel Gets A Title

    In celebration of Star Trek’s 46th anniversary, JJ Abrams followup to his 2009 reboot of the franchise has officially been given a title. The movie will be titled Star Trek Into Darkness and no I did not forget to place a colon in the middle. While initially it seems a little weird for a movie title I see it as how they used to name episodes for the original series (Where No Man Has Gone Before, Tomorrow Is Yesterday, etc.) so it’s got a good vibe with me right off the bat.

    Star Trek Into Darkness opens May 17, 2013.