J.J. Abrams Talks ‘Star Trek 2′ – Speaks On Benedict Cumberbatch, Post-Converted 3D & More

Today at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour, the good folks over at Collider caught up with J.J. Abrams to talk on a number subjects, including the director/writer/producer’s hugely anticipated ’Star Trek’ sequel. Commenting on ‘Star Trek 2,’ Abrams opened up about converting the film to 3D, lens flare, casting Benedict Cumberbatch and much more. He also confirmed that the film will start shooting this coming Thursday.

On the topic of the film being post-converted to 3D, Abrams revealed: “we’ve done 3D tests. We actually converted a bunch of the original movie, which looked really good. That was the thing that made me feel like, maybe that would be okay. But, I didn’t want to shoot the movie digitally.” “It will be converted, for those who want to see it in 3D. But, I wanted to match the look of the first one and shoot it anamorphically.”" I did not fight for the 3D. It was something that the studio wanted to do, and I didn’t want to do it. And then, when I saw the first movie converted in sections, I thought that it actually looked really cool. So, I was okay with their doing it, as long as I could shoot the movie the way I wanted to, in anamorphic film, and then let them convert it. So, those who want to see it in 3D, which looked pretty cool, can do it, and those that want to see it in 2D can do that too.”

Speaking on casting Benedict Cumberbatch as the films villain, Abrams had the following to say: “Who said he’s our villain?” “He’s a genius. Honestly, he’s just an incredible actor. If you’ve seen his work in Sherlock, he’s just got incredible skills. He’s an amazing stage actor. He did amazing work (on stage) in Frankenstein. He’s brilliant. You try to cast people who are great. We got lucky.”

Benedict Cumberbatch joins fellow newcomers Nazneen Contractor, Noel Clarke, Alice Eve and Peter Weller to the yet-to-be-titled ‘Star Trek’ sequel. The film also sees the return of Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Anton Yelchin, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban and John Cho. Abrams is back to direct with Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Damon Lindelof penning the script.  ‘Star Trek 2′ has been scheduled for a May 17th, 2013 release date. As the film starts shooting this week, expect more details regarding the story and further casting appointments soon.