Vulcan wins a Star Trek compromise

Paramount Pictures and the Alberta town of Vulcan have reached a logical compromise in the community’s bid to hold the new Star Trek movie premiere that has reportedly appeased Mr. Spock himself.

The studio is expected to announce today that a special screening of the film will be held in Calgary exclusively for the town of Vulcan, a farming community of less than 2,000 people that has spent a year and a half lobbying to get the premiere. “Vulcans” will be selected by lottery to attend the screening. Paramount will bus them to and from Calgary. The screening is tentatively scheduled for May 6.

Earlier this week, town officials were told it would not be getting the premiere. The Calgary Herald story caught the attention of actor Leonard Nimoy, who has played Spock for four decades and has an appearance in the new film. Nimoy, 77, gave the town’s plight a high-profile boost Thursday morning when he called the Herald to say the town should not give up its fight to hold the premiere, which is scheduled to open May 8.

Nimoy also called the Vulcan Tourism and Trek Station to lend his support. Vulcan’s Facebook group “Star Trek: XI — Help bring Spock Home to Vulcan, Alberta” now has more than 1,900 members. Officials at Paramount are standing firm on not having holding the premiere in Vulcan due to “logistics.” The town does not have a movie theatre and would require too much lead time to retrofit it’s high school gymnasium.

Still, Vulcan Tourism Co-ordinator Dayna Dickens said she was happy with the compromise. It is not clear whether Nimoy or any other cast member will attend the Calgary screening, but it is a possibility, she says.

She also said that Nimoy has met with Paramount officials and is happy with the compromise.

“Paramount and CBS have opened up a lot of doors and I don’t think we know how big an impact it could have on the community,” she says. “We are absolutely thrilled Paramount have been so keen and creative in what they want to pull together for us.”

http://www.canada.com/travel/Vulcan+wins+Star+Trek+compromise/1411196/story.html