A Brief Guide to Star Trek

place between November 2007 and March 2008, with J. J. Abrams taking up the option to direct as well as produce (
Spider-Man
’s Sam Raimi had been considered by Paramount as a possible alternative director). Designing a new
Enterprise
for the twenty-first century proved a challenge. Abrams appointed Scott Chambliss, his production designer on
Alias
and
Mission: Impossible III
, to envision the new starship. Given that so much modern technology had apparently either been inspired or influenced by that depicted on
The Original Series
– such as mobile phones, computers and iPads – it was going to be difficult to come up with a new idea for the future of the twenty-third century while still staying true to 1960s
Star Trek
. New communicators were designed with the help of mobile phone manufacturer Nokia, while medical tricorders were made smaller and more portable and the phasers were designed with revolving barrels that could switch from ‘stun’ to ‘kill’ settings.
    The biggest challenge was the bridge of the
Enterprise
. While the original layout was retained, the whole space had a brighter, whiter feel, drawing inspiration from the 1968 Stanley Kubrick film
2001: A Space Odyssey
and modern high-tech retail environments, like the Apple stores. This new
Enterprise
bridge was built on gimbals, meaning that when the ship was attacked the actors would not have to try so hard to fake being thrown from side to side, as had often been the case on the
Star Trek
TV shows. The ship’s engine room had a very different feel, being filmed in a real Budweiser factory in Van Nuys rather than built from scratch in a studio. The film was shot on a variety of locations in and around Los Angeles, but one of the main ones was the infamous Vasquez Rocks formation featured in several episodes of
The Original Series
(‘Shore Leave’, ‘Arena’, ‘The Alternative Factor’, ‘Friday’s Child’) as well as episodes of
The Next Generation
,
Voyager
and
Enterprise
, and also
Star Trek VI: The Voyage Home
. The jutting rock formation has become known as ‘Kirk’s Rock’, thanks to this frequent use, and was featured in the movie as Spock’s home planet of Vulcan.
    Wrapping on the film, Abrams told
Empire
, ‘I’ve come to know these characters through working on this movie, and I’ve come to understand what the world of
Star Trek
is. It’s not so much that I feel that I’ve bought into a pre-existing world as much as I’ve come to know and appreciate personalities and history I didn’t even remember. The [TV] series just assumed you cared, but I never felt that until now.’
    Although originally intended for release on Christmas Day 2008, J. J. Abrams’
Star Trek
was delayed until 8 May 2009 as Paramount believed the film would find a larger audience duringthe summer blockbuster season than the Christmas holiday period. It was a reflection of the wider appeal the studio executives believed Abrams and his team had brought to the reinvented
Star Trek
.
    The first public screening was a surprise sneak peek at the Alamo Drafthouse theatre in Austin, Texas on 6 April 2009. Billed as a screening of
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
with a ten-minute preview of the new
Star Trek
movie, the print of the earlier film appeared to melt after a few minutes, followed by an appearance by Leonard Nimoy, who asked the audience if they wouldn’t rather see the new
Star Trek
movie. The official premiere of the film took place at the Sydney Opera House on 7 April. Following a request from astronaut Michael R. Barrett, the movie was uploaded to the International Space Station for a screening on 14 May.
    Star Trek
took $4 million at the US box office on its opening day, clocking up a total opening weekend figure of $79.2 million in the US and another $35.5 million internationally. The film topped
First Contact
as the biggest opening
Star Trek
movie and would go on to become the highest grossing
Star Trek
film to that date, with an overall US box office take of $257.7 million (making it the seventh highest grossing film of 2009 and beating
The Voyage Home
’s $109.7 million). International takings of $127.7 million brought the overall worldwide total to $385.5 million.
    The reviews for the new
Star Trek
movie were hugely positive, with the film having largely succeeded in the tricky task of bringing a new audience to the classic
Star Trek
characters of Kirk, Spock and McCoy, while also pleasing the majority of the franchise’s