Star Trek 2 has begun filming in Los Angeles this week and is scheduled for release on May 17, 2013.

Much to the surprise of many, myself included, the 2009 reboot of Star Trek was highly enjoyable, and a sequel seemed assured.  Due to the busy schedules of just about everyone involved, it took longer to get started than more assumed it would, but another entry is finally on its way. All of the original cast (Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Anton Yelchin, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban) is returning along with a few new actors such as Benedict Cumberbatch as the-yet-to-be-named villain.

There’s no word as of yet to what we may be seeing for a plot in this one, as in if it’s something new or based on an episode of the original series.

As I said earlier, I was surprised by how much I liked the first one, and I am actually looking forward to another film in this timeline of the series, but can we not totally forget the original?  I’m not saying we should be given a new TV series or anything, but for those of us who followed it for years would at least something done there once in a while so we don’t feel like all of that invested time wasn’t a total waste.

(… okay, yeah, it still was)

After what seems like an eternity, J.J. Abrams has finally signed on to direct Star Trek 2.

After the surprise success of the first film in a new Star Trek series, people have been waiting for word that J.J. Abrams would return to direct the follow-up.  Reportedly the script is due to be turned in this month, and filming could begin as early as this winter with a release for next December or early summer 2013.

There has been absolutely no clue as to what this second film will be about, and considering the radical departure from the original story lines in the last film, there really isn’t anywhere they can’t go with this follow-up.

Considering all of the actors signed for multiple films we can expect to see all of the same faces back from the last film such as Christopher Pine as Capt. Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Mr. Spock.

Considering my surprise at how much I enjoyed the 2009 film, I’m all set for a sequel, but lets get this going as soon as possible!

It seems that Viacom has decided it’s a great idea to just make sequels to everything they’ve done no matter how it performed at the box office. Great idea, guys.

During an earnings call this week, Viacom announced a slate of upcoming movies that was entirely composed of sequels or extensions of existing titles.

G.I. Joe 2

G.I. Joe – The Rise of Cobra did a total gross of $302,139,942 ($150,201,498 domestic, $151,938,444 foreign) off of a $175 million budget, which in Hollywood terms means it didn’t even break even.  It might have helped if it hadn’t been horrible.

All that said, a sequel is moving forward.  Really makes you wonder how Viacom approves some of these things.

Jack Ryan

Jack Ryan has already been played by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck, so I guess it makes perfect sense to relaunch the series again with a yes as unnamed actor in the lead role.

Star Trek 2

Big surprise on this one. The first one had a worldwide gross of $385,494,555 ($257,730,019 domestic, $127,764,536 foreign) off of a $150 million budget.  There is absolutely no surprise that this is getting a sequel, but they are obviously going to need to trim the budget some.

Oddly this has an announced release date of June 29, 2012 even hough the script isn’t finished yet, and JJ Abrams has not signed on to direct as of yet.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

No word on if this will be a new live action film or another CGI driven film.

Zoolander 2

Comedy sequels hardly ever work as well as the original, but $60,780,981 ( $45,172,250 domestic, $15,608,731 foreign) off of a $28 million budget.True this is in 2001 dollars, but still not huge in its time. Where this movie has done well is on DVD, but does it really need a sequel? No.

While the original is cute, it is pretty much a one trick pony, and we’ve all seen it now.  How much more do we really need to know about “the really, really ridiculously good-looking model”?  We don’t.

Originality

Has Viacom just totally given up?  Why bother doing anything original?  No, no, you can just go back to a ten year old movie to make sequels to.  Does Jack Ryan matter any more?  This is an odd slate of films to say the least, but it also just goes to show the industry as a whole has run out of ideas, and that is just sad.