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J.J. Abrams says his forthcoming Star Trek prequel will appeal to fans of movies, though not necessarily to fans of the long-running television and movie franchise.

In an interview with the Associated Press, the Cloverfield producer said the feasibility of any future Star Trek films may depend on attracting a new generation of fans to the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) was a resounding box office flop, a fate Abrams hopes to avoid when his Star Trek hits theaters in 2009 by returning to the series’ roots. Of course, he'll also toss in a few special effects.

“[Directing Star Trek] was an opportunity to take what I think has been a maligned world—to sound crass, a franchise—and treat it in a way that made it something that I wanted to see," Abrams told the AP. "To take the characters, the thoughtfulness, the personalities, the sense of adventure, the idea of humanity working together, the sense of social commentary and innovation, all that stuff. To take it and apply it in a way that felt genuinely thrilling."

While Abrams said he would also like to retain die-hard fans of the Star Trek universe (and was sure to include a dedicated “Trekker” on his writing staff) he didn’t want the fans’ expectations to influence his vision for the upcoming film. “You can't really make a movie for them,” he said. “As soon as you start to guess what you think they are going to want to see, you're in trouble. You have to make the movie in many ways for what you want to see yourself, make a movie you believe in. Then you're not second-guessing an audience you don't really have an understanding of.”

Abrams’ Star Trek will act as a prequel to the franchise’s later installments, and features a young cast of actors portraying the crew mates in their early days on the Enterprise, including Munich’s Eric Bana as the villain Nero and Shaun of the Dead’s Simon Pegg as Scotty. The Lost creator is also promising ground-breaking special effects, courtesy of another spacey film auteur’s special effects unit, George Lucas’ Industrial Light & Magic.

Leonard Nimoy may be returning for a cameo in Abrams’ film as the iconic Spock, but anyone expecting a re-hash of the television series or past movies may be pleasantly surprised. “I feel like this is so unlike what you expect, so unlike the `Star Trek' you've seen,” Abrams says. “At the same time, it's being true to what's come before, honoring it.”

Thanks to /Film for the tip!

Related links:
StarTrekMovie.com
IMDb: Star Trek (2009)
News: Cloverfield director plans for sequel, Invisible Woman

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Release Date: Jan. 18
Director: Matt Reeves
Writer: Drew Goddard
Cinematographer: Michael Bonvillain
Producer: J.J. Abrams
Starring: Jessica Lucas, T.J. Miller, Michael Stahl-David
Studio/Run Time: Paramount Pictures, 90 mins.

About half an hour into Cloverfield, the low-budget monster movie from Lost producer J.J. Abrams, you will begin praying for a pause button. You'll offer gentle supplications and fiery pleas; you'll wrangle and cajole with the unseen gods of the cinema. Perhaps you'll even bargain away your firstborn for the chance to pause this movie for just five seconds.

But it will be for naught, and in the end, you'll be perched on the edge of your seat, straining for glimpses—a thigh here, a shoulder there—of this thing, this huge beast that's literally tearing New York City apart. What you'll see, amidst the smoke and rubble and screaming, is one of the most innovative movies of the year.

When Cloverfield's teaser trailer made its debut this past summer, it touched off a firestorm of Internet speculation. Abrams, after all, is the mastermind behind one of television's most popular and befuddling shows right now, and it stood to reason that his monster movie's plot would be every bit as convoluted as his TV work. The teaser hinted at a movie based entirely on "found footage" documenting not only the beast's ferocious attack, but also the dramatic personal relationships that the twentysomething survivors juggled. Even the name threw people for a loop. Where is Cloverfield? Who is Cloverfield? What's the big mystery?

Ultimately, it doesn't matter.

Cloverfield has several chances to screw up, to take the wrong path and present a cinematic experience fraught with cliché. It bows to none of these. Instead, the film looks unflinchingly at horror and survival. The characters—hipsters all—spend the entire movie terrified; the most commonly heard sound effect is panting. The camera work is done entirely on handheld camcorders, and the jittery shots, with their infrequent glimpses at the 40-story titan stalking the cityscape, drive home the notion that the footage truly was recovered at the periphery of the disaster site.

It's not, of course. Cloverfield's great strength is in its editing. With relatively poor digital film stock, director Matt Reeves pares each scene down to its essential parts. Judicious use of special effects makes the monster's appearances all the more fantastic.

Cloverfield improves on all the familiar trappings of monster movies, keeping the best bits and discarding the rest. There is no grim warrior toting a huge gun, no scientist racing to find a cure, no military general barking orders. Cloverfield has no heroes—only refugees and the beast.

View the trailer for Cloverfield: