If it had been you...
 

Imagine if you were in JJ's position, what would you do with the Star Trek franchise? Would you do the same?

My 1st idea. If it was me who was given this $150,000,000 Trek film to make, I would have proberly tried to avoid a prequel. I would have explored the 25th Century and bring in new characters and a new ship. Gene Roddenberry always moved foward and I wouldn't change the tradition.

2nd idea. With a budget like that, battle sequences could be huge and spectacular. A movie that would focus on the Dominion War in depth, really show the battles in full and from the perspective of others than the DS9 crew.

The original characters are tested and still popular to this day. Although i don't think Shatner needs to be in this new film there are still calls for him to reprise the Kirk role. I don't think tng fans will ever be begging to see picard returned or data resurected.
My point being that the originals are still the most popular so it makes sense.
Other stuff like the dominion wars would be cool but not so much for a wider audience, even amongst trekkies.
Also the interaction between Kirk, Spock and McCoy has never been equalled so i think that is a huge reason to do a prequal

it's been proven the last couple of years that prequels have the ability to reinvigorate a franchise... we've seen it with batman, superman etc. and i think it will do the same for trek...

the dominion war was some great trek, however that story has been resolved, there is nothing more to tell there... it would've been great for a movie to be made in the DS9 universe, however that ship has sailed...

i think the prequel is a great option, and with nimoy on board i feel it will be a great script...

Gotta agree that this seems the best way to go for a film. Now for a new series..... I wouldn't mind seeing a move forward. Enterprise-J!! LOL

Yup, still pleanty of letters left in the alphabet! lol.

Prequel suck!
 

Personally I disagree I wasn't impressed with Casino Royale(rather had the Tarantino Version) or Superman Returns(Clark Kent just didn't feel right) and or though Batman Begins was good I didn't think it was nearly as good(Too much monk stuff IMO) as the two Tim Burton Movies even the Star Wars Prequels have jar-jar-itus. Actually I can't think of a Prequel that actually worked... ENT series 4 is the closest I can come

Someone mention me? ;)

casino royale was the other one i was trying to think of... i wasn't aware that tarantino wanted to make casino royale, and would've loved to have seen him make it, however i don't think that takes away casino royale was the best bond flick in a long while...

given your response i would still argue my initial point is valid... the franchises mentioned had been stagnant for a long time, their last releases quite poor, and the prequels brought them back to life, and returned them to the level of quality they should be at... they're not necessarily the best films of the franchise, but that doesn't deem them to be failures...

i believe the same will happen with this film, it may not be the best trek film, but it will return the franchise to where it should be...

No, the "moving forward" thing is about exploring the human condition, not moving forward on the calendar. You can tell the most amazing stories with the original crew, and at least everybody knows them. They'll draw people to the cinemas. I love DS9 and the Dominion War, but nobody but DS9 fans would actually get stories set during that time, and with those characters. Wouldn't be too profitable, I suppose.

A "reboot", "prequel" (whatever you want to call it) is the way to go. Something new, fresh, modern and exciting.... something that won't be weighed down by all established Trek canon (which would undoubtedly happen if we went to the 25th century. There is no way you could tell a story that would appeal to Joe Sixpack and Trekkies at the same time if you had to take into consideration every little established fact of Trek).

I trust JJ. He knows what he's doing.

I disagree, Canon isn't something bad, you can easily tell a story in the Post NEM era without overwritting it. Canon is a something that can be embraced and expanded. Telling a prequel story as ENT found out is alot more problematic you already have a detailed back story and alot of the design freedom you'd have with moving forward chronologically is lost. I'm not saying that a genuine canon TOS story is impossible but to do it on screen you need something like "Trials and Tribulations" or photo realistic CGI with exception voice actors and the appeal of such a venture may be limited