Dayna Dickens is used to getting crank calls while working at the Vulcan Tourism and Trek Station erected in her tiny prairie town in southern Alberta, but when Mr. Spock himself phoned home Thursday morning, she couldn't believe her not-so-pointy ears.
Leonard Nimoy, who portrayed Spock the Starship Enterprise's first officer, who hailed from the fictional planet Vulcan in the original Gene Roddenberry series, said he was dismayed to hear about the community's failed bid to host the world premiere of the new Star Trek movie in May.
“It was a very straightforward phone call, but in the back of my mind the whole time I'm thinking, yeah, this is probably a prank call, this is too good to be true,” said Ms. Dickens, the town's tourism co-ordinator.
For the past year, Vulcan (population 1,942), about 120 kilometres southeast of Calgary, has been lobbying Paramount Pictures Canada to give its blessing to roll out the red carpet when the much-anticipated prequel premieres. Mr. Nimoy is the only original cast member to appear in director J.J. Abrams latest addition to science-fiction lore.
Ms. Dickens said the call only lasted a few minutes, but Mr. Nimoy asked how he could help resurrect the bid to bring a slice of Hollywood to Vulcan. He was also curious about the town's Star Trek promotions and its tourism industry.
“If I had known it was real, it would have been longer,” she said.
Mr. Nimoy also took the unusual step of personally calling media outlets Thursday to express his disappointment.
He told Airlock Alpha, a Florida-based science-fiction entertainment website, that Vulcan residents “should mount a campaign and not accept this sitting down. I think they should get emotional about it,” said the actor, who turns 78 next week.
Mr. Nimoy said he plans to lobby personally on behalf of the tiny community.
“I know that Paramount is being very, very careful on who gets to see the movie when and where. Nevertheless, it just seems to me that something should be done, and I'm going to make some phone calls and see what's possible.”
In an interview with the Calgary Herald, he said he first heard about Vulcan's campaign after reading about it on the Internet.
“It's a very sad story. … My people in Vulcan are very disappointed and something needs to be done about it. Paramount has made this gigantic film and it should be in Vulcan, Canada,” he told the newspaper. “They should be able to get it worked out.”
Mr. Nimoy said he would travel to Vulcan if Paramount decides to reverse its decision.
But it will have to happen fast. Vulcan needs to rent a 35-millimetre projector and sound system, as well as order a custom-built screen to turn the local high-school gymnasium into a cinema outfitted well enough to show a big-budget motion picture.
Star Trek fan websites, including Trek Today, were buzzing Thursday after news broke about Mr. Nimoy's comments. Many Trekkies support the actor's push to have the new film premiered in Alberta.
Vulcan lured 16,693 visitors last year and the community sometimes triples in size during its annual VulCON Spock Days and Galaxyfest event.
Patti Rockenwagner, executive vice-president of corporate communications with Paramount Pictures, said the studio has no plans to reverse its decision.
“It's a very big film and we can't do it with the facilities that don't exist in Vulcan,” she said in an interview.
However, the studio still plans to screen the movie to Vulcan residents in Calgary, and possibly another city, before the film is released to the general public in May.
