Producer and writer Damon Lindelof is cashing in his winnings from “Lost” in a big way. Earlier this summer, he was brought on to re-write Ridley Scott’s gestating “Alien” prequel, and with more time on his hands now that “Lost” is done, he will be joining Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci in penning the upcoming sequel, “Star Trek 2.”
Obviously, with production not set to begin until the middle of 2011, details are sparse, but speaking with E! (via ScreenRant) Lindelof reveals he’s looking at “The Dark Knight” as an inspiration for the tone the franchise will take. “We’re looking at a movie like The Dark Knight, which went one step beyond Batman Begins… It was really about something, and at the same time it was a superhero movie. We don’t want to abandon all the things that made the first movie work…but we also really want the movie to thematically resonate,” Lindelof said.
We think this is a pretty bad idea. What made “Star Trek” such a refreshing surprise (at least for this writer) was that it aspired to be nothing more than a highly accomplished franchise reboot, and it was. It was breezy, a lot of fun and frankly, was a nice antidote to comic/franchises that have increasingly gotten (not always successfully) “darker” and grittier. Moreover, unlike Christopher Nolan, none of the writers on “Star Trek 2” have proven themselves capable of delivering anything that would approach the moral depth of “The Dark Knight.” Although, maybe “Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen” has some subtext we’re missing.
“Star Trek 2” will hit theaters on June 29, 2012.