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Vulcan, Canada aims to premiere next Star Trek movie
2008-03-09
The town of Vulcan, hidden among oil wells, wheat fields and cow pastures of western Canada, is aiming to host the world premiere of the latest Star Trek movie, a spokeswoman said Friday. The film, to be released in May 2009, will be the 11th installment of Gene Roddenberry's fictional Star Trek universe, most featuring the adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and the starship Enterprise crew. This episode, under the working title Star Trek Zero, will take audiences back to Kirk's early days, before what was chronicled in the original 1960s television series. Vulcan spokeswoman Dayna Dickens said the town sent a proposal to the film's executive producers at Paramount in September, and was told last month "they are considering it." "Because the film's storyline is based on a young Mr. Spock and a young Captain Kirk in their early days at Starfleet and because we think of Mr. Spock as our native son, it would be a neat tie-in to bring Spock home for the movie launch," she told AFP. "I mean, Vulcan is his birthplace," she said. Each year, the town hosts a three-day Star Trek convention for hundreds of fans of the television series and films. Trekkies (or Trekkers) are welcomed by a massive Constitution Class starship at the entrance of town, plush Tribbles -- furry Star Trek creatures -- are for sale in every shop, and photographs of a dozen Star Trek actors who have attended the event hanging in the local motel lobby. But contrary to popular belief, the town was not named after Mr. Spock's home world in the television series. Rather, a surveyor with a keen interest in Roman mythology named the railway stop in 1910 after the god of fire, 56 years before the first episode of Star Trek aired on American television. To capitalize on Star Trek tourism, since 1993 town councilors have donned Starfleet uniforms while conducting municipal business, couples have been married here in themed weddings and one man, who never lived in Vulcan, even chose to be buried in the town cemetery with a planetary "Federation" logo for a tombstone. To prepare its proposal to host the Star Trek movie premiere, Dickens said she inquired with fellow small town Springfield, Vermont about their experience hosting "The Simpsons" movie premiere last summer. Riverside, Iowa and Linlithgow, Scotland, the future birthplaces of series characters Captain Kirk and Mr. Scott, were invited to participate in the film launch festivities too. "There are some logistical issues," Dickens noted. The town has no cinema. "But we can definitely work around them," she said, indicating that the local school hosts movie nights for townsfolk in its gymnasium bi-monthly. J.J. Abrams is directing the film, which will feature Chris Pine as Kirk and co-star Zachary Quinto as Mr. Spock, as well as Winona Ryder and cast members of the original 1966-69 television series.
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