As many of you may have heard, on Friday night, JJ Abrams announced at the Star Trek Beyond Fan Event that Paramount was dropping the lawsuit against Axanar. It was a great moment for Axanar and we are very grateful to both JJ and Justin Lin. Please watch the above video.
There are still a lot of things up in the air that need to be worked out before we can provide some kind of production timeline. Here’s a quick run-down …
1. Even though we’re really excited by what JJ Abrams and Justin Lin shared at last night’s Star Trek Beyond event, the lawyers need to do their work (on both sides) before the lawsuit is officially resolved. This means we need to make sure we still meet all of the required filing deadlines for responses, etc. which we will (this takes a great deal of Alec and Winston & Strawn’s time).
2. CBS also tweeted that they are working on guidelines for all fan films – we’re anxious to see what those guidelines say and make sure we have a clear idea of what needs to be done to meet those expectations.
3. Once those two things are done, we have to get our team together to assess our current situation, determine what can be made (e.g. can we go with a current version of the script or do we need to change it), and take an inventory of what resources we have in-place to get it done.
Once that process is done (and it could take a while), then we’ll be able to explain where we’re headed and what we’re going to do.
Sincerely,
Alec Peters
Executive Producer
Thanks to Treknews.net for their video and image!
Well that is very good news. I hope there are not to much strings attached to the deal.
Well that is very good news indeed I hope there are not to much strings attached to the deal.
This is excellent news! Hopefully this will be the last major hurdle for Axanar.
If this suit ends in a settlement, I hope Paramount offers you a chance to be on the big screen as an Axanar Productions & Paramount venture. I feel bad for saying that because it feels like I’m saying “give them credit for your work,” but what I am trying to say is that I think your film should/deserves to be canon, and what better way to do that then by teaming up with Paramount. I know this outcome has been talked over to some degree, and that it is probably not very likely, but a person can dream can’t they?
Good luck Mr. Peters & Crew
Congratulations Alec & Team!
Soon this may all seem like a bad dream – but after that we’ll wake up and realize that we’ve helped re-define modern law & movie making. We fans are all so proud of this accomplishment and ready to help with all the work ahead.
Boldly Go!
OMG!
Dear Alec, that’s the real battle of Axanar and you’ve made it! You are Garth of Izar! 😉
Kidding aside, you should proceed playing the character, if you know switch over to production only, it’ll be slightly irritating to see some other actor, depite being a trained one. Besides, you do resemble the original actor a bit.
Thank you so much. Your words really made me smile.
…thank you, Justin Lin! =D
You are true fan, and a good person!
Thank you for helping Jar-Jar to see the light!
Hip Hip Hurrah and Tally Ho, if true.
Thank you, Alec for taking the time to update us on the current reality. Hopefully, the fact they are dropping it will indicate that the current version of Axanar will be OK. Maybe there will be some kind of cooperative proposal made where everyone can benefit from Axanar, and it can be made as envisioned, so that a good story does not have to be changed.
Bet that was a surprise huh Alec? Sounds like good news but there are also some items to work out it seems. I’ll be anxiously awaiting the “official” release.
Hoping that this is not a case of “The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away.”
Huh.. Starting to wish I’d viewed that “Axed We Are” video you linked to a while back. Also kinda wondering what sort of draconian BS they’re gonna come up with in those upcoming guidelines. Guess we’l see…
Thank goodness. I have to give credit to Abrams and Lin for successfully pressuring CBS/Paramount to finally drop the lawsuit. I might not be a huge fan of the rebooted timeline that their new movies are set in, but I do respect them for standing up for Axanar. Both fan-made films and official movies can co-exist together, without resorting in everyone suing each other over greed and copyright infringement. Also, I would be willing to bet that part of the reason Abrams and Lin used their influence to get the lawsuit dropped was because of the enormously negative reaction fans gave of the first Star Trek Beyond trailer back in December. The second Beyond trailer which just came out a week or so ago is better, though it still doesn’t have that same Star Trek feeling and atmosphere that the older series/movies and Axanar have, but geez… that first trailer in December, which ticked off the fans, combined with the lawsuit against Axanar (which further ticked off the fans)… that must have had some impact on this whole situation.
I have a question for you, how about CBS asking for a nominal licensing fee for fan films with the caveat that if they use fan film material in their stories, CBS refunds the licensing fee and pays you a portion of whatever profits they make.
Ever since I heard this fight break out, I thought it might be an equitable solution to this dispute. This is coming from someone who knows nothing of Copyright law and I haven’t had the luck of having a copyright lawyer ride my cab in the past few weeks.
Gee, fan film guidelines for a “sci-fi” genre film series that preserves studio rights while allowing insane amounts of fan creativity and devotion?
Steal it from Star Wars: whatever they are doing seems to have worked just fine.
Don’t reinvent the wheel, steal someone else’s.
Thats so great news! You did it and defended yourself against these coporate bullying tactics. Let’s hope because of this a lot of people can make their dream of doing a Star Trek Fan Film be true.
Great work to all involved!
I just took a look at Prelude to Axanar, and I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. Clearly Paramount was afraid that the movie Axanar would be too good, and make their current Star Trek offerings look really bad in comparison. Instead of suing you they should be working with you. It amazes me that they were trying to prevent something that could actually help them. Look at Star Trek. We will see a feature film every year for many years to come, and its for the fans. This is what Star Trek should be doing. In-between the movies showing the USS Enterprise they could be releasing movies like Axanar and featuring other characters and events from Star Trek’s history. I’m shocked that no one thought of making a movie about a young Khan and his rise to power. Stuff like that would actually interest me. I’m looking forward to seeing Axanar released and I hope they show it in theaters!
I’m looking forward to Axanar much more than the Beyond movie. It just interests me much more and is more in the spirit of true Star Trek.
Glad to hear that this legal mess will be coming to some sort of conclusion (hopefully soon). Please keep us updated on the progress (of both the film Axanar and the court drama). Just starting seeing promo’s for Paramonts newest Star Trek film. Probably won’t see it in the theaters but I’ll least rent it when it comes out on DVD – doubt very much I’ll be adding it to my DVD collection and I have Star Trek 1 thru 7(?). Have TWO copies of Star Trek II: The Wraith of Khan and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (very badly need to go thru and organize my DVDs, CDs, etc.)! But that’s a story for another day. Just glad that you’re seeing daylight at the end of the tunnel. Look forward to seeing Axanar. Best of luck to you and your fine crew.
Congrats Alec,
I think we all owe Justin Lin and JJ some thanks.
From the sound of it both of these guys put some pressure on Paramount.
It is the fans who made Star Trek last 50 years, so it seems appropriate to let the fans do what they do.
I’m more than happy that the lawsuit will be dropped, hopefully with as few or no hurdles in your way whatsoever. You have to reprise your role though, you look and sound the part and it wouldn’t be the same without you on screen. Good luck.
Count me stoked! Surprised, but stoked!
This is such fantastic news! Thank you to Justin Lin and JJ Abrams for going to bat with Paramount and speaking on behalf of the fans. And thank you Alec, and everyone with Axanar for hanging there. We all look forward to seeing Axanar go forward, and I am sure it will be amazing no matter what you do! LLAP!
I am ecstatic that this seems to have ended well for the fans, and extremely grateful to Justin Lin and JJ Abrams. If the Paramount brass has any collective brains between them, they will go talk to Disney, see how they set up their fan film licensing, and do something similar. Star wars fan films have clearly not hurt prospects for “The Force Awakens.”
I watched the axanar trailer a while back I would have to say I was really excited and could not wait to watch it . Since the lawsuit I was going to boycott the movie, thankfully I won’t have to as I watched watched most of the movies in the big screen since I was young and did not want to break a long standing tradition.
Carry on the great work, without you guys pushing the bigger guys we would never get shows deemed not profitable to make.
Steven