20 Things You Didn't Know About Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan (1982)
11. The Shooting Schedule Used Humorous Scene Descriptions To Avoid Leaks
Leaks are a recurring problem on just about any Star Trek movie. On Star Trek II, there were a variety of attempts to put a stop to them. On November 18, 1981, only a few days into principal photography, Robert Sallin sent out a memo restricting dailies to “members of the cast, crew and production staff.” On the same date, he sent out detailed instructions regarding set visitors for the duration of the shoot.
No one could visit without a pass, and on ten days where “story-sensitive” scenes were scheduled to be filmed, no visitors, pass or otherwise, would be admitted. Harve Bennett even had his secretary insert unique typos into each copy of the script, so they could trace down the culprit if a copy of it leaked. (When a copy did, the perpetrator was quickly identified as none other than Gene Roddenberry.)
One of the more humorous ways the production kept a lid on certain plot developments can be found by looking at the film’s shooting schedule. For the work covering January 26-29, 1982, which was the end of principal photography (although the crew would reassemble for some reshoots in March), the paperwork omits accurate scene descriptions. Instead, only ludicrous and obviously untrue scene descriptions were used. Some examples:
INT. ENTERPRISE BRIDGE-DAY: Honeycombs explode. Cast & crew scatter for cover.
INT. REACTOR ROOM-DAY: Spock comes back to life, really pissed-off. Swears revenge on Kirk.
INT. REACTOR ROOM-DAY: Spock kills Kirk. Takes command of Enterprise. Sends Sulu for Sushi.