Director JJ. Abrams talks Star Trek DVD & Sequel

Star Trek director, JJ. Abrams, recently spoke to Collider about the upcoming Star Trek DVD/Blu-ray, deleted scenes and the possibility of a sequel.

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Question: You said that you wanted the hardcore fans to still like your take on Star Trek. How did they react to the film? Did they give you a lot of feedback?

Abrams: Luckily, because they didn’t kill us, I think the hardcore fans, for the most part, were okay with the movie. They are a very vocal, passionate people. I was warned time and again, by many people, “You’ve got to be really careful. You must be terrified doing Star Trek.” It was a little nerve-wracking, mostly because people kept warning me about the fans, but they seemed to really embrace it and I give complete credit to the cast that managed to take over these roles that were iconic roles, even for people who didn’t know Star Trek well.

Everyone sort of knew about Kirk and Spock, but Chris Pine, Zachary [Quinto], Simon [Pegg], John [Cho], Anton [Yelchin], Karl [Urban] and the whole group just embodied these people, in a way that made it safe for not just new viewers and new audiences, but also existing fans to embrace those characters. And, finally, because Leonard Nimoy was in the film, in a meaningful way, he really provided the bridge between the existing Star Trek and what is now. We could never have made the movie without him.

When you were making the film, how conscious were you of DVD content?

Abrams: I’m always thinking about the DVD part of it because I’m a fan of DVDs. I want to make sure that we’re doing stuff that is going to be beneficial. It’s about getting video crews in, as early as possible, to document moments that might seem insanely mundane or unimportant, but in a context of how things got made, the crew of a movie like this, and especially this crew, worked so hard and they did such incredible work. They’re usually the invisible person.

If they do a great job, you’re not really thinking about the costume, you’re looking at it. If they’re doing a great job, you’re not really thinking about that visual effect, that prop, or that set. It’s even more reason that they should be celebrating, so what I love about the special features is people like (costume designer) Michael Kaplan, (production designer) Scott Chambliss, (visual effects) Roger Guyett, (composer) Michael Giacchino, or any of these people, get to take the stage, talk about and have documented the amazing work that they do, and often get credit for, but don’t get screen time. So, it’s a really nice thing to see them, front and center.

What is your process for DVD special features? Do you have a special team at Bad Robot that you bring in for all your projects?

Abrams: We have a great group that worked on this DVD, with whom we’ve worked before. There are people at Bad Robot, notably David Baronoff, who does a lot of work with us on the DVD and online materials. Bryan Burk and I obviously watch the cuts, and listen to the ideas, the proposals and the final products, and give our notes.

Since you had to cut them out the first time, is there any chance you’d use the Kligons again?

Abrams: One of the deleted scenes on the DVD and Blu-Ray is a sequence where you actually see Kligons. They were in the movie, and it’s one of those things that I hated to cut, for a number of reasons. One of them was that I loved the design, the world and the story, and that moment was really cool, so I’m very excited for people to see these scenes. And, also, Victor Garber, who is one of my favorite actors, played a Kligon, had a ton of make-up and a very heavy, hot costume, and I had to call him and tell him his scene wasn’t in the film. A huge consolation for me was that it will live forever on the DVD and Blu-Ray, so I’m psyched for people to see that.