Bakula: No Leaping Back
2 min readThe odds are slim for a Quantum Leap movie, says Scott Bakula, who played Sam Beckett for five seasons on the time-jumping show.
As reported by Sci Fi Wire, speaking to Quantum Leap fans at “Leap Back,” a convention held in North Hollywood, California last week, Bakula explained why a Quantum Leap movie is probably not in the cards. “I think each day it becomes slimmer and slimmer, certainly for Dean [Stockwell] and I to be a part of [a Quantum Leap movie,] said Bakula. “But I think [Series Creator Don Bellisario] simplified the situation. There are all kinds of rights issues that are looming and problematic. It’s not as simple as Don wants to get some money together and make the movie. …[But] you never know.”Bakula, who captained the Enterprise as Jonathan Archer on Star Trek: Enterprise for four years, spoke about his feelings about the new Star Trek movie. “I’m dying to see it,” he said. “It looks like they’ve found a way to modernize it, and hopefully in a way that will [work.]”
Making it works means making it relevant for today’s audiences. “I was talking to my eighteen-year-old son,” said Bakula, “and we were looking at the billboard, and I asked him, ‘What do you think of that?’ He said, ‘When I first saw it, I was like, ‘Oh, another Star Trek movie. Those movies are so … ” And he didn’t have the word. I said, you know, ‘Dated?’ And he said, ‘Yeah.’ It feels dated to an 18-year-old.”
In addition to updating the look and feel to attract modern audiences, keeping the die-hard fans is important too if Star Trek XI is to be successful. According to Bakula, that is difficult if the fan base is resistant to change. “We were trying to make that bridge with our series, and we had resistance,” he explained. “There was no question that some of the Star Trek fan base was not ready to go there. They just didn’t want to do it. … They’re not willing to give it any slack. If they don’t like it, they’re vocal about it. But if they like it, then you’re made.”
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