Great news for fans of "Star Trek." You won't have to wait for the next J.J. Abrams film to come out to get your Starfleet fix. Fan film "Axanar" will come first after successfully being funded via Kickstarter, earning more than twice of what the project originally requested.
"Axanar" tells the story of the Battle of Axanar between the Klingons and the Federation, which was only briefly mentioned in an original series "Star Trek" episode that featured Starfleet captain Garth of Izar. The battle took place 21 years before the original series' first episode, making it a piece of "Star Trek" history that hasn't yet been told.
"Axanar" executive producer Alex Peters became interested with Garth's story and went to CBS, asking permission to make a film based on the battle. CBS agreed, as long as no profit goes to the filmmakers.
"We can't sell DVDs, but we can give them away if you make a donation. That's the full basis of Kickstarter," says Peters.
Peters began by asking for $10,000 on Kickstarter to create a fake documentary based on the events of the battle. That film, "Prelude to Axanar," took in over $100,000 and premiered on July 26th at San Diego Comic Con.
The new Kickstarter for the "Axanar" film itself is just as successful. Although Peters requested $100,000, the current funding is nearly at $300,000 and growing. Peters thinks the success is due to people wanting more traditional "Star Trek" stories.
We're in a time period where there isn't any 'Star Trek' on TV, and people are looking for opportunities," says Peters, "For a lot of 'Star Trek' fans, the J.J. Abrams films are not the 'Star Trek' they grew up with."
"Axanar" features an all-star cast that took pay cuts to participate in the project. Richard Hatch, from the original "Battlestar Galactica," leads the group as Commander Kharn, the Klingon Warlord who leads his fellow Klingons into the battle.
Tony Todd and J.G. Hertzler, who are known for roles on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," are also on-board for "Axanar." Most impressively, though, Gary Graham is reprising his role as Soval from "Star Trek: Enterprise."
Finally, science fiction fans know Kate Vernon as Ellen Tighe from the newer version of "Battlestar Galactica," but now she is a Starfleet Commander in "Axanar."
Although no release date is set for "Axanar," the team behind the production plan to start filming later this year.
There is also still time to donate to the Kickstarter project, which includes perks like digital downloads of the film, visits to the set and autographs from the cast.
