User:DarkHorizon/XI


 * The Future Begins

Star Trek is the eleventh feature film based on Star Trek.

Pre-production
On, the Daily Variety, citing sources at Paramount Pictures, reported that production on an eleventh Star Trek feature film was officially underway. This initial report stated that not only was J.J. Abrams set to produce, co-write, and direct the next Trek film, but the story would involve the iconic characters of James T. Kirk and Spock during their days at Starfleet Academy. 

Several days later, Abrams confirmed some parts of the report while denying others, stating that the announcement was an unofficial leak and was "not entirely accurate." He also stated that, while he was given the option to direct the film, he had not decided to do so at that time. 

Fans got the first official look at the movie's direction when Paramount released a poster for the new film on : the teaser bore the Enterprise crew command division uniform insignia from the original series, against a background half command gold and half science blue. It hinted at a film to be set in the 23rd century which might feature the legendary Enterprise herself. The poster was designed by Abrams. 

Pre-production officially began when the film, still called Star Trek XI, was greenlit in late February 2007. 

Casting
Casting for the film began as early as October 2006. Both William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy had consultation rights when it came to recasting their roles. )

The first actor cast in the new film was Heroes star Zachary Quinto, who will portray a young Spock. Quinto first expressed his desire to portray the famous Vulcan-Human character in December 2006. Quinto first met with the filmmakers on. He was offered the role on, two days after a second meeting with Abrams. An official announcement was made at San Diego's Comic-Con International on. Also at Comic-Con, it was announced that Leonard Nimoy will reprise his role as Spock for the new film. Nimoy had stated previously that he would come out of retirement to play Spock only if he thought "the project had merit." Explaining his reasons for participating in the film, Nimoy praised Abrams, Quinto, and the script, and summed up his decision by stating "it was logical". He later gave three explicit reasons for doing this project: the fact that it is Star Trek, his admiration for Abrams, and an "essential" and "interesting Spock role". Abrams has stated that the casting of Nimoy is "critical if we're going to look at reintroducing these characters", noting that, to make this a "great film", it must "both please the fans and those who have never seen Star Trek... having Leonard in the film shows that this film exists in a continuum of Trek history, as opposed to an absolute, page 1 reinvention." 

In July, The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Russian-born actor Anton Yelchin was in negotiations to play Pavel Chekov in the film. In an August interview with USA Today, Zachary Quinto confirmed that Yelchin had indeed been cast in the role. 

Citing sources close to the film's production, Trek Movie Report announced on that actress and model Zoë Saldaña had been offered the role of Uhura in the film. The following month, Variety reported that Saldaña has signed on for the role. 

On, it was announced that Eric Bana has been cast to play the villain in the film, Nero. Two days later, the casting of Simon Pegg and John Cho was announced. 

On 10 October 2007, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Chris Pine was in negotiations to play the role of James T. Kirk. However, he was also in negotiations to star in Joe Carnahan's White Jazz. The following week, director Joe Carnahan stated on his official blog that Pine had decided to star in Star Trek. He officially signed on to play Kirk on 17 October 2007. 

Also signing onto the film on 17 October was Karl Urban. When Urban's name first surfaced in connection with Star Trek on 28 September 2007, it was stated he had been offered the role of a villainous Romulan. Trekmovie.com later confirmed that Urban had indeed been offered a role in the film, but not as a Romulan. This role was later revealed to be McCoy.

Hollywood Operating System (Hollywood OS) and Headquarters Casting (HQC) were the agencies working in conjunction to hire extras for the film. They held an open casting call for extras on 10 November 2007, an event which hundreds attended. 

Crew
As stated above, J.J. Abrams was given the option to direct the film from the very beginning but he refused to accept that responsibility until the script was complete and he was sure he was the right person for the job. On – after many months of speculation and anticipation and numerous rumors regarding his ultimate decision – it was confirmed that Abrams would indeed be directing the film. 

Besides co-writers and executive producers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, who worked with Abrams on Alias and Mission: Impossible III, producers Damon Lindelof and Bryan Burk have collaborated with Abrams in the past.

In, another frequent Abrams collaborator, Michael Giacchino, was confirmed as being tapped to be the film's composer. The composer promised that the film's score will honor that of the original Star Trek series and will make use of the original series theme. 

In December, Scott Chambliss was announced as having been selected as the film's production designer. This made Star Trek the first Trek film since Star Trek V without Herman Zimmerman serving as production designer. Chambliss and Abrams, who previously worked together on Felicity, Alias, and Mission: Impossible III, had begun working on designs for the film by 19 December. Chambliss was officially confirmed as the film's production designer on. Dan Mindel, who also worked with Abrams on Mission: Impossible III, was confirmed as the film's director of photography that same day. 

Story and script
The original film treatment (its initial story outline) was completed in August. By 24 August 2006, writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman had begun a first draft of the screenplay, which was completed by. A final draft was finished by, when J.J. Abrams finally agreed to direct the film. 

As late as, the script was undergoing typical budgeting rewrites. A second final draft was complete by 8 October 2007. The script is about 128 pages long and took approximately four months to write. 

Discussing his vision, Abrams said "Star Trek to me was always about infinite possibility and the incredible imagination that Gene Roddenberry brought to that core of characters. It was a show about purpose, about faith versus logic, about science versus emotion, about us versus them. It was its own world, and yet it was our world."

Carol Marcus was included in early drafts, but not in the shooting script. Scenes featuring Kirk serving under Garrovick aboard the USS Farragut (23rd century) were also planned. These elements, which were included in early drafts of the script, were removed in rewrites. 

Kurtzman noted that the script draws inspiration from. He and Roberto Orci were hoping to recapture the spirit of The Wrath of Khan for this particular film. Other inspirations for the film include the novels Prime Directive and Spock's World, the TOS episode,, and the TNG episode,. In addition, the writers commented repeatedly that they wanted the film to appeal not just to Trek fans, but to new audiences as well. 

According to Roberto Orci, the most difficult characters to write for were the film's villain and James T. Kirk. One source which Orci and Kurtzman utilized during the entire writing process was Memory Alpha. The writers also occasionally referenced Memory Alpha during the film's production. 

Production
Paramount's press release on confirmed that production was under way with Abrams directing for a target premiere date of Christmas Day 2008.

Four of the filmmakers, including production designer Scott Chambliss, first assistant director Tommy Gormley, then executive producer Stratton Leopold, and eventual second unit director Roger Guyett, scouted locations in Iceland during early Summer 2007. Despite some reports, J.J. Abrams never actually visited Iceland himself. Companies such as Pegasus-Panarctica Pictures (run by Snorri Þórisson), Sagafilm (Kjartan Thor Thordarson), Labrador (Pétur Hafsteinn Bjarnason), and Truenorth Productions (Leifur B. Dagfinnsson) vied for the opportunity to provide local production services.

This would have been the first time a Star Trek movie was filmed outside of the United States. The plan was that two weeks of filming would take place there during Spring 2008, but, as it turned out, no filming was ever done in Iceland. A location scout was also sent to British Columbia, Canada, but, in the end, the movie was filmed entirely in the United States. 

The film's budget was not yet complete as of. By then, some of the art department – still being filled by production designer Scott Chambliss – were already working, mostly from home; offices on the Paramount lot weren't finished before mid-May. 

Soundstage set construction began in September. Most design work was complete by 12 October 2007. The budget is estimated at from $120 to $150m, higher than any prior Trek film. 

Rehearsals began the week of 19 October 2007, and principal photography began  , wrapping 141 shoot days later on. Second unit and VFX plate shots continued until, under the direction of VFX supervisor Roger Guyett. Since it was principal photography that had been reportedly scheduled to wrap in April, writer and executive producer Roberto Orci stated:


 * "Well, we always add a few weeks for the studio, just in case. This is a lesson we learned from Scotty... this way we can appear like miracle workers."

The first three months of shooting on Star Trek took place during the. None of the filmmakers could make any changes to the film's script during the strike period, meaning the common practice of revising the script during production was not possible. Although Abrams complained about not being able to add new dialog, the strike for the most part did not affect the film's production. Since it was one of the studio's "high priority" films, Paramount strove to help it despite the writing stoppage. 

The first days of shooting occurred on location in a Long Beach building. California's Vasquez Rocks was used for a birthing scene involving a number of Vulcans. )

Some scenes were shot in a large Orange County hangar. Production later returned to Long Beach for scenes at its city hall. Filming there wrapped on, with several city staffers invited to the shoot, all of whom signed nondisclosure pacts. 

During the week of, parts of the film were shot at California State University, Northridge (CSUN), with the university's Oviatt Library standing in as part of Starfleet Academy. Although blue screens were placed on the sides of the lawn, light fixtures were modified, and emblems sporting the Starfleet emblem were hung on streetlights, little else was modified for the film. There was also a "futuristic kiosk" placed in the lawn. 

Abrams had stated that his goal with this film was to make Star Trek "real." As such, he utilized live sets and location shooting, rather than green- and blue-screen sets, wherever possible. Visual Effects Supervisor Roger Guyett anticipated that Star Trek will use about 1,000 visual effects shots, though the number had increased to over 1,300 by August. A source told TrekMovie.com that more ship interiors were created for this film than any other Trek film. There was also a minimal amount of redressing used. 

Approximately four out of the twenty weeks of shooting took place on the bridge of the USS Enterprise. The last day of shooting on the set of the Enterprise bridge was. Scenes filmed included the intended final scene of the movie. During filming on that day, TrekMovie.com hosted a live chat in which J.J. Abrams, other crewmembers, and some of the cast answered fan-submitted questions from the bridge set. A transcript of this chat included a brief glimpse of the set – the first such on-set image – showing Abrams using his laptop at one of the stations. 

TOS stars Nichelle Nichols and Walter Koenig and veteran Trek writer and producer Ronald D. Moore were among the few who were permitted to visit the Star Trek set. Other celebrities who visited the set include, , , , and. Ford dropped by the set during the last week of shooting; Spielberg was on set during filming on the Enterprise and assisted Abrams with the action of one of the scenes. 

The producers are aiming for a PG-13 rating, which would make it the second straight (third overall) Star Trek film with that rating. The others are 1996's and 2002's. 

Industrial Light & Magic provided special visual effects for the film. This was the company's seventh film project for the Star Trek franchise. 

The first cut of the film was completed in July 2008. This cut was screened for studio executives at Paramount Pictures sometime in the last week of July and received a very positive response. 

The film was codenamed "Corporate Headquarters", although various other fake titles were also used throughout the production.

The production used a total of eleven sound stages, specifically on stages 8, 9, 11, 14, 15, and 18.

Abrams' production company, Bad Robot, co-produced the film with Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment. It is the first film in the Star Trek franchise to have a production partner, let alone two.

Release delay
On, Variety magazine reported that the film's release would be put back, from to , in order to take advantage of the summer movie season. 

A Paramount spokesperson stressed that the release date change has nothing to do with the film's production or its script. The spokesman states that the decision "is all about box-office potential" and that Star Trek is in the same league as such past summer blockbusters as Spider-Man, Shrek, Transformers, and the Star Wars prequels. 

Although the filmmakers liked the original Christmas release date and the fans were upset that they would have to wait longer, Damon Lindelof did say it would give them more time to perfect the visual effects. 

J.J. Abrams was especially annoyed at the decision to move the film to summer 2009, as he felt Star Trek would have been the highest grossing movie of the Christmas season. However, he has acknowledged the summer release will attract a wider and much broader audience that has never seen Star Trek before. 

Even Leonard Nimoy called the release delay a disappointment, but he also said it was a "vote of confidence" from Paramount that the film could compete in the summer. 

Posters
During the run up to the film's release, Paramount distributed several teaser posters at various conventions to promote awareness and hype about the film. The first, as stated above, was released on (see early discussion and speculation above). A second teaser poster for the new film was introduced at the Comic-Con International in San Diego, California, on. This poster features a white background with the words Star Trek written in the TOS-style font and comprised of a star field backdrop seen throughout the original television series.

In, a third teaser poster, this one containing the title inside the arrowhead-shaped Starfleet insignia, was created especially for distribution to the attendees at the Las Vegas Star Trek Convention. As with the second teaser poster, the Vegas poster features the film's release date hyped as "Stardate 12.25.08".

A fourth teaser poster was given away to attendees at the San Francisco Wondercon on the weekend of, sporting the new official logo, the tagline "Under Construction", and a date of "Summer 2009".

Four teaser posters, each featuring an image of a cast member from the film (Eric Bana, Zoe Saldana, Chris Pine, and Zachary Quinto), were distributed at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con from 24 through 27 July 2008. When combined, the four posters formed the delta shield emblem of the USS Enterprise (and later of all Starfleet). There was also a single one-sheet version of the poster available via mail order from Comic-Con in conjunction with the Intel Corporation. Four similar posters featuring John Cho, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, and Karl Urban were distributed at the Official Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas the following month. 

On 10 November 2008, Paramount released the first teaser posters for the films designed for display in theaters, one featuring Pine as Kirk and the other featuring Quinto as Spock. Both posters were black and white, bearing nothing else save for the release date, the official site address, the production company logos for Paramount and Bad Robot, and the Starfleet delta shield emblem. 

Web sites
A promotional website dedicated to the new film went live at 20:05 EST on. The site introduced the new official logo for the film, which was also seen in the teaser trailer. Paramount has also set up a page for the movie on the social-networking website Facebook where fans may congregate. 

Following the launch of the film's teaser trailer, the official website contained a hidden link to NCC-1701.com, a viral promotional site supposedly containing "surveillance footage" of the Enterprise under construction. The site features four screens, each for a different "surveillance camera", but only three are active at a time. The inactive camera, however, will sometimes come online and, for a brief instant, reveal an image of a dark corridor. 

Originally located on a subdomain of Paramount.com, the official site moved on, its address becoming StarTrekMovie.com. On, the site was updated with wallpapers and icons depicting the images from the Comic-Con Star Trek posters in addition to an overall redesign of the site. 

Following the release of the theatrical trailer, the official website was redesigned and enhanced with CGI-generated images of the Enterprise corridors and a visual display using the film's console designs.

Paramount promoted the film in conjunction with computer processor company Intel Corporation, which created its own Star Trek-related site at boldlygo.intel.com, labeled as "USS Enterprise: Forward Staging Platform". Like the first viral site, the Intel site presented itself as a part of the USS Enterprise's shipyards, and later included detailed information on the USS Kelvin and its crew.

Promotional images
The first official promotional images from the film were released on, at six separate movie websites. The images showed Pine, Quinto, Urban, Pegg, Saldana, Yelchin in costume on the Enterprise bridge; Quinto and Pine; Bana in makeup as Nero, Pine on an icy planet, the USS Kelvin engaged in combat, and a view of the Enterprise bridge. 

On, TrekMovie.com released two new images, another of the Kelvin in action, and one of Cho in his role as Sulu. 

Yet another load of images were released on, when Entertainment Weekly put up more promotional pictures of Pine, Quinto, Cho, Bana, and Pine and Urban. 

Teaser trailer
The film's teaser trailer was completed by 30 November 2007. It debuted in theaters on, attached to Paramount's Cloverfield which, like Star Trek, is produced by J.J. Abrams. 

On, the teaser was made available for viewing at the official site and at [http://movies.yahoo.com/ Yahoo! Movies]. Empire Online uploaded the United Kingdom's version of the teaser that same day. Paramount made the teaser available on a wider basis on 22 January. 

The teaser trailer features a glimpse of the remodeled USS Enterprise as it is being constructed, with the construction taking place in a drydock on Earth. Several sound bites recorded during the space race of the 1960s can be heard in the background leading up to a new recording of Leonard Nimoy reciting the famous line, "Space... the final frontier." The opening notes of the original Star Trek series theme music begin playing during Nimoy's voiceover and the unveiling of the Enterprise's saucer section, followed by the sound effect of the original series transporter as the lines "Under Construction" and "Christmas 2008" appear on-screen.

The teaser was shot in October, prior to the start of principal photography on the film. It was filmed on Paramount Stage 25 and also used a part of the Paramount back lot. Half of the stage was enveloped by greenscreen and greenfloor for the insertion of CGI effects, and a giant green screen was utilized in the back lot. The shoot involved real welding and the handling of actual welding equipment, so experienced welders were required.

The first welder seen in the teaser was played by Anthony Vitale. Vitale's scene was shot by the film's director, J.J. Abrams. This is unusual since scenes for trailers are generally directed by assistant directors. The rest of the teaser was directed by First Assistant Director Tommy Gormley, however. 

According to co-writer Roberto Orci, the message of the teaser is that the future as presented in Star Trek is not as far off as it once was. He also explained the logic of having the Enterprise being built on Earth rather than in space, noting that components of the ship can be built on Earth and assembled anywhere and that the Enterprise is not "some flimsy yacht that has to be delicately treated and assembled." He also feels that it makes more sense to construct the ship within a natural gravity well rather than an area that will require an artificial gravity field. In addition, Orci states that the term "Under Construction" used in the teaser is to convey both a "literal interpretation" that the movie is currently being put together and to convey the idea that the future of Star Trek may be coming soon. 

Theatrical trailers
The production team was to begin working on the first theatrical trailer in January 2008 with the hopes to have it complete and in theaters by early or mid-summer, however these plans changed once the film's release was pushed back to May 2009.

Editing on the first theatrical trailer was reportedly completed by 4 August 2008, although the visual effects to be seen in the trailer had not yet been finalized. The trailer was enclosed with Quantum of Solace, the latest James Bond film, which opened in the US on. It became available for viewing in high definition on the official movie site on 17 November 2008. 

An alternate version of the first theatrical trailer was made available for view at Ain't It Cool News on 25 November 2008, with the original final shot of Eric Bana's Nero proclaiming "The wait is over" is placed earlier in the trailer and in its place a shot of Leonard Nimoy as the elder Spock, giving the Vulcan salute and proclaiming the famous line "Live long and prosper."

The incidental music used in the trailer was a re-orchestration of Brian Tyler's score from , created by Two Steps from Hell, and titled "Down With the Enterprise". 

Merchandising
The film's merchandising campaign was expected to be the biggest since back in. 

A toy license was awarded to Playmates Toys and at least one other company. Playmates created action figures for the film, as well as prop toys, playsets and ship models. Corgi's current Star Trek license included this film, primarily for its Master Replicas brand of collectibles. The company planned to producing replicas of the USS Enterprise and a hand phaser. 

Pocket Books published a novelization of the film. IDW Publishing released two comic book tie-ins for the movie: an adaptation to coincide with the film's release in May 2009 and a four-issue prequel series entitled Star Trek: Countdown released from January through April 2009. Rittenhouse Archives produced collectible cards for the movie. T-Shirts marketing the film was handled by Junk Food. However, there were no video games based on the film.

Burger King will have a kids meal tie-in for this film. It will be the first time Burger King has promoted the film. It will also be the first time either one of the two major fast food chains (Burger King or McDonald's) have marketed Trek since the first film's release in 1979. Besides the Burger King deal, Paramount has signed up at least one other major food deal that will Star Trek movie-branded products to grocery stores. 

Release
Although the United States release date was set for, the first worldwide release was in France, Belgium and French-speaking Switzerland on. In all, 23 countries released the film before the United States. 

Sequel
All of the major actors in the film – namely, those portraying the core crew members of the USS Enterprise – have signed on for two potential sequels should this film be successful. In addition, Paramount Pictures has expressed the desire to lock down the writers, producers, and director for a sequel. According to Roberto Orci, however, such a move is standard operating procedure for a studio. 

J.J. Abrams had been asked about directing the sequel and he said he'd "be open to it." 

Cast and crew

 * See Credits for Star Trek

Companies

 * Paramount Pictures - Distributor, Production Company
 * Spyglass Entertainment - Production Company
 * Bad Robot Productions - Production Company
 * Industrial Light & Magic - Special Visual Effects
 * Kerner Optical - Models and Miniatures
 * Digital Domain - Additional Visual Effects
 * Svengali Visual Effects - Additional Visual Effects
 * Persistence of Vision Digital Entertainment - Previsualization Effects
 * Vital Distraction - Previsualization Effects
 * The Third Floor - Previsualization Effects
 * Quantum Creation FX - Specialty Costume and Prop Weapons
 * Film Illusions - Special Effects
 * Harlow FX - Make-up Effects and Prosthetics
 * Tinsley Transfers - Special Make-up Effects Tattoos
 * Digital Vortechs - Avid Editing Equipment
 * Chapman / Leonard Studio Equipment - Camera Systems & Cranes
 * Movie Movers - Hair & Makeup Trailers, Production Trailers
 * Chef Robért Catering - Catering
 * Level 1 Entertainment - Former Production Company (uncredited; replaced by Spyglass)

Unconfirmed companies

 * Executive Assurance - Security
 * Filmtools - Expendables
 * Lola Visual Effects - Digital Cosmetic Enhancements
 * On Tour Productions - Transportation Services
 * Star Waggons - Cast Trailers