This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the iconicStar Trekfranchise, which was celebrated this weekend during a fan event on the Paramount Pictures lot, where thenew trailerforStar Trek Beyonddebuted. The event also featured a tribute to the late greatLeonard Nimoy, where a street was named in his honor on the lot. ProducerJ.J. Abrams, directorJustin Linand cast members such asChris Pine,Zachary QuintoandKarl Urbanwere also on hand for the event, whereJ.J. Abramsdelivered some news that will make many fans happy.
Back in late December, Paramount Pictures and CBS filed a lawsuit against the producers of theStar Trekfan filmAxanar, which had raised over $638,000 through its Kickstarter campaign. The film had been set to start shooting late last year, withKate Vernon,Richard Hatch,Gary Graham,J.G. Hertzler,Kim FitzgeraldandAlec Petersset to star.Robert Meyer Burnettis directing from a script byBill Hunt, based on a story byAlex Peters, but the lawsuit threw the production into limbo, claiming the movie infringes on “innumerable copyrighted elements ofStar Trek, including its settings, characters, species, and themes.” During thisfan eventat the Paramount lot,J.J. Abramsrevealed that, thanks to directorJustin Lin, the lawsuit is being dropped by Paramount Pictures. Here’s what the producer had to say during the fan event, courtesy ofio9.
“A few months back there was a fan film,Axanar, that was getting made and there was this lawsuit that happened between the studio and these fans andJustin, I’ll tell the story because he probably wouldn’t, was sort of outraged by this as a long time fan. We started talking about it and realized this was not an appropriate way to deal with the fans. The fans should be celebrating this thing. Fans ofStar Trekare part of this world. So he went to the studio and pushed them to stop this lawsuit and now, within the next few weeks, it will be announced this is going away, and that fans would be able to continue working on their project.”
Axanartakes place 21 years before the events of “Where no Man Has Gone Before”, the first Kirk episode of the originalStar Trek.Axanaris the story of Garth of Izar, the legendaryStarfleetcaptain who is Captain Kirk’s hero. Kirk himself called Garth the model for all future Starfleet Officers. Garth charted more planets than any other Captain and was the hero of the Battle of Axanar, the story of which is required reading at the academy. This is that story. Here’s what theAxanarproducers had to say in a statement about the news.
“While we’re grateful to receive the public support of JJ Abrams and Justin Lin, as the lawsuit remains pending, we want to verify we go through all the proper steps to make sure all matters are settled with CBS and Paramount. Our goal from the beginning of this legal matter has been to address the concerns of the plaintiffs in a way that still allows us to tell the story ofAxanarand meets the expectations of the over 10,000 fans who financially supported our project. There is still a lot of work to do, but receiving this kind of public support helps immensely.”
Axanartells the story of Garth and his crew during the Four Years War, the war with the Klingon Empire that almost tore the Federation apart. Garth’s victory at Axanar solidified the Federation and allowed it to become the entity we know in Kirk’s time. It is the year 2245 and the war with the Klingons ends here. The producers ofAxanaralso revealed that they didn’t know that announcement would be made at theStar Trek Beyondfan event, but added they’d be working with their lawyers throughout the weekend, “proceeding with cautious optimism.” We’ll be sure to keep you posted with the latest updates on theStar Treklawsuit over the fan filmAxanar.
