There is a very good chance that if you’ve seen a movie at the theater recently, you can be counted in the over $76.5 million dollars that the new Star Trek movie grossed during its opening weekend. The next closest gross of a Star Trek movie was only $30 million, and the latest installment in the big screen series, the 11th thus far, has been universally deemed a crushing success.

In the world of Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek, fans (most would definitely call them fanatics!) fall into 1 of 2 camps. You are either a Trekkie or a Trekker.

 photo credit: John Ong

The difference is this: a Trekkie is one beholden to the original series which aired back in the fall of 1966. That original show ran for three seasons with 79 episodes. While award winning for acting, directing and others, the show was cancelled by NBC after only 3 years. One reason was likely the fact that network executives had always felt the show was “too cerebral” for the average viewer.

A “trekker” tends to refer to fans of post TOS Star Trek series. TOS, standing for “The Original Series” gave way to TNG, or “The Next Generation”. In all, there were 6 series, and 10 movies. 6 TOS films and 4 attributed to the TNG cast and crew.

The latest installment in the franchise, is the 11th film, “Star Trek” directed by J.J. Abrams starring a slew of young, talented stars new to the world of Trekkie and trekkers alike. While nearly going the route of casting the main characters with the familiar faces of actors such as Matt Damon and Adrian Brody, Abrams opted instead to go with newer, less familiar thespians that he felt would add certain sizzle to the reinterpretations of the original character’s roles.

One familiar face, that of Leonard Nimoy did grace the screen with several scenes that was more than enough to tie in the old with the new. It was reported that the director and writers had considered the addition of scenes that would have also included the original Star Trek Captain, James T. Kirk, played by William Shatner. Apparently, in the end, a consensus was not reached on how they would pull it off in a believable and palpable fashion that would not feel contrived to the story and the distort the movie goers opinion of the film.

As earnings records for the film have been reported in the media, logical questions of Abrams and the films producers have been oriented around the chances fans are going to get a sequel at some near star date.

The director had even released prior to the films opening that should the public demonstrate a demand for it, a sequel had already been in the planning. With over $76 million in receipts its first weekend, the writers were asked when they would start writing. Their response was the Monday after opening weekend!

Great news for Star Trek fans. Even greater news is the fact that Abrams has also publicly stated that “There is a deal in place with the writers and actors…” for their involvement with the follow up to this movie. Fans of the new, emerging universe will be glad to know that their continued happiness is nearly insured by these factors being in place. Nothing is more unsettling to the movie goer to see a different actor in place of a major character when they go to see a sequel. This immediately tells the fan the quality of this movie is markedly less than the original.

Perhaps the best sign that this movie is destined to be a classic is the fact that people who would never classify themselves as a fan of Star Trek found great enjoyment and high entertainment from the movie. If you’ve yet to see it, make sure you catch it on the big screen prior to adding it to your DVD collection.