Korean-American actor John Cho was initially hesitant about being cast as the Japanese-American officer Hikaru Sulu, but George Takei, who played Sulu in the Star Trek (1966) series, encouraged him to take the role, since Sulu is a character who represents all of Asia.
Spock Prime's final line, "thrusters on full," was an improvisation. The scene originally showed Spock walking away thoughtfully and silently. Later, Leonard Nimoy approached J. J. Abrams and said, "If you give me one more take, I have a thought I would like to inject here, and see if you like it." They did it, and he said, "thrusters on full." Abrams later called Nimoy to tell him how well the final scene worked, beginning with Sulu mentioning the thrusters. Nimoy said the inspiration for the line was a way of telling the young cast, "Go ahead. Take the torch and go!"
In the scene where Kirk takes the Kobayashi Maru test, he is also eating an apple, just as he recounts the story of taking the Kobayashi Maru test in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982). (According to director J. J. Abrams in the Blu-ray audio commentary, this was not intended as a reference to The Wrath of Khan. At one point he was simply told that lead actors eating apples look smug.)
Simon Pegg did not audition for the role; he only received an email from J. J. Abrams asking whether he wanted to play Scotty. Pegg said that if he had not been offered a role, he would have done it for free, and would even have paid Abrams to be in the film.
When Chekov manages to save Kirk, Sulu and himself from falling, he shouts, "Yo-moyo!" This is a Russian exclamation of surprise and excitement, roughly equivalent to "Oh man!" in English.
Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and J. J. Abrams went to Leonard Nimoy's home in person to ask him to take part in the film. According to Orci, before being told how important he was to the project, the actor displayed the attitude of "Who are you guys, and what are you up to?" He was quiet, and Nimoy's wife, Susan Bay Nimoy, told the creative team that after their conversation he remained in his chair, emotionally overwhelmed by the decision to return as Spock after turning down many opportunities to revisit the role. He decided to appear in the film because the scope of the script and the way it detailed the characters' backstories excited him: "We dealt with Spock being half human, half Vulcan, but we never got in a script the overall view he has of the character's entire history, the character development, the beginnings and his arrival on the Enterprise crew."
When Chris Pine was cast as Captain James T. Kirk, he sent William Shatner a letter and received a reply containing Shatner's approval.
To help Zachary Quinto perfect Spock's Vulcan salute, his fingers were taped together by J. J. Abrams.
When Zachary Quinto met Leonard Nimoy for the first time at Comic-Con, Nimoy told the young actor, "You have no idea what you're in for."
Majel Barrett, the wife of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, is the voice of the Enterprise computer. She had also provided the computer voice in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) (in which she also played Lwaxana, the mother of Counselor Deanna Troi), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) and Star Trek: Voyager (1995), and had played Pike's first officer in The Cage (1966). She completed her voice work at home two weeks before her death on December 18, 2008.
Wil Wheaton, who played Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), recorded the dialogue (digitally altered) of many of the Romulans on Nero's ship.
In the United States, the sound of the automatic doors opening is the toilet flush of a Russian train.
Leonard McCoy mentions that he joined Starfleet after getting divorced. This refers to the backstory for McCoy that D. C. Fontana (one of the original series' writers) wrote for the third season but that was never filmed. This unused subplot formed the basis of the failed marriage as well as of McCoy's daughter, Joanna.
Simon Pegg was helped with Scotty's accent by his Glasgow-born wife, Maureen Pegg. Later, however, Pegg said that Scotty is from Linlithgow and that he wanted to bring more of an East Coast sound to the accent, so the resulting performance is a mixture of both accents, leaning toward the West Coast sound. He was also helped by the film's Glasgow-born first assistant director, Tommy Gormley.
To prepare for the role of Spock, Zachary Quinto grew out and dyed his hair and shaved off his eyebrows. He claimed the change in his appearance strengthened his performance: "I felt like a geek. I felt like I was twelve years old again, when you look back at those pictures and see the bowl cut. I had that look for four or five years. There's no doubt I was born to play Spock."
In an interview with Edith Bowman on BBC Radio 1 in the UK, Matt Damon said that he called J. J. Abrams when he heard rumors that he was being considered for the role of Captain Kirk. Abrams's response was a very polite "no." He explained that Damon was "too old" for the role.
According to Karl Urban, the film's production and shooting were extremely secretive: "There's a level of security and secrecy that we all had to adopt. It's really a kind of paranoid madness, but in a way it's justified. We're not allowed to walk around in public in our costumes, and we had to be driven everywhere in these golf carts that were completely concealed and covered in black tarps." No precaution was enough: Simon Pegg read the script with a security guard nearby, and supporting actors such as Jennifer Morrison were given scripts containing only their own scenes. During the highly secretive production, the few people granted access to the film were Rod Roddenberry, Ronald D. Moore, Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig, Jonathan Frakes, Ben Stiller, Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg.
The crew of the Kelvin in the United States uses communication devices in the same style as those used in the original series. You can see this when the engineer enters the frame and when George Kirk's wife contacts him during the ship's evacuation. After Nero changes the timeline and starts the alternate universe, the communicators change substantially.
J. J. Abrams claimed that directing Leonard Nimoy as Spock was surreal: "This guy has been doing it for forty years!"
For the space-jump scene, the actors were initially filmed in harnesses and looking downward. However, they kept passing out because of the blood rushing to their heads. J. J. Abrams eventually came up with the idea of shooting the actors while they stood on mirrors. When filmed from a certain angle, the reflection of the sky behind the actors gave the impression that they were really falling from the sky.
The sound made by the motorcycle Kirk rides to the shuttle bound for Starfleet Academy is the same sound used for the flying cars in The Jetsons (1962).
Chris Pine watched the classic episodes and read encyclopedias about the Star Trek universe to prepare for the role of Captain James T. Kirk. However, his research was rudimentary, because he wanted his performance to be original rather than an imitation of William Shatner. He based his performance on Tom Cruise's Maverick (Top Gun (1986)) and Harrison Ford's Han Solo (Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)) and Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)); heroes he felt possessed the archetypal heroic qualities Kirk has (humor, arrogance and determination).
There is an "odd-numbered movie curse" supposedly associated with Star Trek films, according to which odd-numbered films tend to be weaker and even-numbered films tend to be stronger. This curse was proven false by the poor reception of the tenth film, Star Trek: Nemesis (2002). This Star Trek (2009) film is the eleventh film. Several years earlier, Simon Pegg's character in Spaced (1999) had joked that every odd-numbered Star Trek film being "shit" was a fact of life. Pegg noted: "Fate put me in the movie to show me I was talking out of my ass."
This film finally reveals that Uhura's first name in Star Trek canon is Nyota. Gene Roddenberry never came up with a name for her while Star Trek (1966) was in production, and since only the live-action television series and films are considered canon, non-canon materials such as novels invented their own names. The word Nyota, which means star in Swahili, was first used in 1982 and was frequently used in printed Star Trek literature, including the DC Comics publication "Who's Who in Star Trek", although some materials used "Samara" and "Penda".
Chris Pine described his first audition as terrible, mainly because he could not take himself seriously as a leader. He was lucky about J. J. Abrams did not attend the first audition, and Pine's manager immediately accepted another audition after running into Abrams's wife and pressuring his client.
After the scene in the bar, Captain Pike says to Kirk: "You know, your father served as captain of a starship for twelve minutes. He saved eight hundred lives. Including your mother's and yours. I dare you to do better." From the moment Kirk first sits in the chair as Acting Captain of the Enterprise to the point where Spock saves everyone on Earth by destroying the Narada's space drill, twelve minutes have passed.
The Star Trek-loving Carnegie-Mellon computer science professor, who became widely famous as the author of the "Last Lecture", in which he discussed living the life of his dreams in the face of terminal pancreatic cancer, initially appears as a Kelvin officer. Pausch wrote about this experience on his blog: "I have a custom-made Star Trek uniform and my own station on the bridge with lots of buttons and controls. I even have a LINE!" ("I have a Captain, we have visuals.") Pausch died on July 25, 2008. The $217.06 salary he earned from working on the film was donated to charity.
A running joke in the Star Trek universe is the redshirt character, a slang term used for an expendable character whose main purpose in a story's plot is to die shortly after being introduced, thereby demonstrating the dangerous conditions the main characters face. When Kirk and Sulu jump into the space drill, Olsen, wearing a red uniform, joins them and soon meets his death.
Scotty says he tested the transporter on the ice planet Delta Vega on Admiral Archer's prized beagle. This is a reference to Captain Jonathan Archer, who had a beagle named Porthos aboard the Enterprise NX-01 in the prequel series Star Trek: Enterprise (2001).
Simon Pegg described Scotty as a Scottish cliché, but a positive stereotype ("Scots are the first people to laugh at the fact that they drink and fight a bit"), and said Scotty comes from a long line of Scots with technical expertise, such as John Logie Baird and Alexander Graham Bell.
Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman reduced the technical jargon, increased the action and simply titled it "Star Trek" to signal to newcomers that they would not need to watch the other films, all in order to make this film appeal to a general audience. As a prequel, J. J. Abrams wanted the film's tone to be optimistic, unlike revisions such as Batman Begins (2005) ("being realistic and being dark are not the same thing"), and wanted to preserve the humor and sex appeal that made Star Trek (1966) a success.
When Kirk is chased by a predator on Delta Vega, a child was used in place of Chris Pine to make the set look bigger.
Karl Urban has long described himself as a religious fan of Star Trek (1966). He used to watch the series with his father on Saturday mornings in New Zealand. Shortly before news of this film's development broke, he bought the complete series on DVD and watched it with his son.
The U.S.S. Enterprise's engine room was filmed at a Budweiser factory in Van Nuys, California. The U.S.S. Kelvin's engine room was filmed at an old power plant in Long Beach, California.
The energizing sound of the transporters is the same sound used in Star Trek (1966).
According to John Cho, after filming ended, J. J. Abrams gave the actors small boxes containing small telescopes, which allowed them to read the name of the constellation they were pointed at: "I think he just wanted each of us to look at the stars a little differently."
When Cameron Crowe saw the rough cut of the film, he kept asking who played the villain. When he realized it was Eric Bana, he was stunned.
Zoe Saldaña had never watched Star Trek (1966), but she agreed to play Uhura after J. J. Abrams praised her previous performances ("For an actor, that's all you need, that's all you want: to get the acknowledgment and respect from your peers."). However, Saldana's mother was a huge Star Trek fan and sent her voice messages with advice during filming.
Winona Ryder, who plays Spock's mother Amanda, is only six years older than Zachary Quinto, who plays Spock, and twenty-four years younger than Ben Cross, who plays her husband. Ryder was cast for this role (instead of an actress actually old enough to be Quinto's mother) because the film was originally going to open with a scene of Amanda giving birth to Spock, but that scene was deleted.
This film is the first film of Zachary Quinto, best known as Sylar on the television series Heroes (2006), which contains various references to Star Trek and in which George Takei (Hikaru Sulu) appeared in the recurring role of Kaito Nakamura (whose limousine license plates read "NCC-1701").
William Shatner wanted a significant role in this film like Leonard Nimoy, and wanted James T. Kirk to accompany Spock Prime through time even though Kirk had officially died in Star Trek: Generations (1994). He suggested the film be inspired by the novels in which Kirk is resurrected, but J. J. Abrams thinks that after Kirk accompanies Spock, the film would become a film about Kirk's resurrection rather than reintroducing the Star Trek saga. Nimoy had disliked Kirk's death in Star Trek: Generations (1994) but also agreed that resurrecting Kirk would harm this film.
J. J. Abrams's only choices for Nero were Russell Crowe and Eric Bana.
In the scene where students are assigned to starships, Uhura complains to Spock that she has been assigned to the Farragut. In Star Trek lore, the Farragut is the ship Kirk was assigned to after graduating from the Academy and before being promoted to Captain of the Enterprise. It is named after Admiral David G. Farragut, who coined the famous phrase "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"
The sound effects were designed by sound effects technician Ben Burtt, known for his work on Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). To recreate the sounds of the photon torpedoes and the warp drive, Burtt attached a long spring to a contact microphone and mixed in the sound of cannon fire. He used an oscillator from the 1960s to give the impact and transport sounds a musical hum.
Uhura's roommate Gaila is an Orion; a race whose females are depicted as ideal sex symbols in a recurring joke on Star Trek (1966) (and its spin-off series).
This is the first Star Trek film to list its cast alphabetically rather than by who the leads are. This was done to reflect the ensemble nature of the film's cast.
Scotty makes some references to finally understanding that warp travel is not actually the ship moving through space, but space traveling around the ship. This aligns with today's theories about how faster-than-light travel might actually work, if it were possible. The same idea appears in Futurama (1999) when Professor Hubert Farnsworth's young clone Cubert Farnsworth explains how the starship Planet Express works.
Captain Kirk, who reset the historical story of the Star Trek universe, became the Captain of the USS. Entrepreneurship at a younger age. In the original series, Kirk became Captain at thirty, and Spock had previously served aboard the Enterprise under Captain Pike for seventeen years. Now, Pike was confined to a wheelchair at an earlier date, Spock served under him only briefly, and Kirk became Captain of the Enterprise while attending Starfleet Academy or while still a recent graduate in his mid-twenties. Meanwhile, the Enterprise itself was actually built much later than in the original series. According to data from the films and series, the original ship is launched in 2245. In the alternate universe, however, the ship is completed in 2258.
When the film's premiere was held at the Sydney Opera House on April 7, 2009, spontaneous applause rose from the audience when Leonard Nimoy first appeared on screen.
Kirk's inflated hands were created by giving Chris Pine large latex gloves.
The concept of differently colored uniforms indicating crew members' duties was partly inspired by the work uniforms of aircraft carrier flight deck personnel. Differently colored uniforms allow each crew member's area of responsibility to be indicated instantly and visually. This is crucial given the extreme noise and constant danger of flight operations. Additionally, Star Trek (1966) aired at a time when color television was still quite new, so the brightly colored uniforms gave the series a futuristic look.
Zachary Quinto's brother, credited as a stunt performer in the titles, appears as a Romulan in a late scene aboard the Romulan ship. Among those recording the Blu-ray audio commentary, J. J. Abrams says how much Joe resembles Zachary in the scene.
SERIES TRADEMARK: (Sherlock Holmes) Spock (Zachary Quinto) quotes Sherlock Holmes's famous mantra for the second time in a Star Trek film: "If you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." Spock (Leonard Nimoy) uses the same line in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), where, without naming Holmes, he refers to him as "an ancestor of mine." Just as Lieutenant Commander Data (Brent Spiner) does. Several references to Holmes, including the following line about Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987).
In Star Trek (1966), the props used on set (especially McCoy's medical scanner) were actually salt shakers doubling as futuristic equipment. In this film, Kirk (Chris Pine), after picking (and losing) a bar fight on Earth, sits down at a bar table. Licking his wounds, he picks up a small metal model of a starship from the table. As he fiddles with it, you can see that it is actually a salt shaker; the ship's saucer section has an "S" on it, and when Kirk turns it over, salt pours out.
Between scenes, Bruce Greenwood, John Cho and Anton Yelchin played chess against each other.
The son of the late James Doohan (Scotty from Star Trek (1966)) appears as the assistant to the current Scotty (Simon Pegg).
J. J. Abrams's "good luck charm" Greg Grunberg had to turn down a role in this film due to other commitments. However, during post-production, Grunberg worked on the film by voicing James T. Kirk's stepfather.
Captain Pike's whistle (used to end the bar fight) had the pitch of the "boatswain whistle" used for internal communication calls in Star Trek (1966).
Karl Urban was cast at his first audition, two months after his first meeting with J. J. Abrams. He said he was happy to play a role with plenty of comedy, something he had not done since The Price of Milk (2000), because he was tired of action-oriented roles.
The exterior scene on Vulcan, viewed by Spock's mother Amanda (Winona Ryder), is based on multiple repetitions of the iconic profile of Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park just north of Los Angeles along California Highway 14. The rocks have a highly recognizable, weathered peak rising at a 45-degree angle to the horizon. Scenes were shot at this location in nine episodes of the original series, including Shore Leave (1966), Arena (1967), The Alternative Factor (1967) and Friday's Child (1967).
Steven Spielberg persuaded J. J. Abrams to direct this film and advised him on some action scenes. Zoe Saldaña played a big Star Trek fan (who admits she loves going to conventions as Yeoman Rand) in Spielberg's The Terminal (2004).
Kirk, the "black sheep" of the Enterprise crew, wears only his black undershirt until he is officially given command. Everyone else wears a colored jacket reflecting their own area of responsibility.
The Romulans wear Japanese tabi boots; shoes with a separate section for the big toe. Such shoes actually give the wearer more balance than ordinary shoes.
Nichelle Nichols, who played Lieutenant Uhura in Star Trek (1966), was to make a cameo as Uhura's grandmother.
This is the first time in Star Trek that the stardate corresponds to the year in which the story takes place: Nero travels back in time from 2387 to 2233, and most of the events take place in the year 2258.
This marks the seventh time Leonard Nimoy has appeared in a Star Trek film.
Some scenes for Leonard Nimoy and Eric Bana required parts of their bodies to be animated. Nero's teeth were damaged so severely during some shots that Bana's mouth had to be completely replaced. For Spock Prime's first scene with Kirk, Nimoy's mouth also had to be entirely re-animated. The producers filmed Nimoy while he re-recorded his lines so they could rotoscope his mouth into the film and even recreate the lighting conditions, but they found that the flickering light from the campfire meant they had to digitally recreate his lips.
According to the Blu-ray audio commentary, J. J. Abrams met with George Lucas. During the meeting, Abrams asked how he could make the film better, and Lucas told him he should add lightsabers. Abrams understandably did not do so, but he later directed Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015), which features plenty of appropriate lightsaber action.
For Rachel Nichols's green skin, an alcohol-based blueberry paint was used and brown freckles were added, so that the green skin would not look like paint.
Costume designer Michael Kaplan wanted worn, frayed and durable clothing for the Romulans because of their mining background, and he found some oily-looking fabrics at a flea market. Kaplan tracked down the makers of these garments, who turned out to be based in Bali, and commissioned them to create their own designs.
The actors playing the Romulans spent two to four hours in makeup. Three prosthetics were made for their ears and foreheads, while Eric Bana had a fourth prosthetic made for the bite mark on his head. The actors also shaved their heads to distinguish them from the Vulcans. Previous series had designed the Romulans with prominent brow ridges.
The film's teaser trailer (cut between welders working on the half-built starship Enterprise, US President John F. Kennedy and narration by Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock) was personally edited by J. J. Abrams. Real welders were brought in to shoot the trailer. The words of Spock and Kennedy were taken from the 1960s (the decade in which Star Trek (1966) began), thus linking past and present and enriching the film (while also implying time travel). According to Roberto Orci, Kennedy's words were also chosen because he was the man who started the "space race" and would therefore suit a space film: "If we're going to have a Federation, it makes sense for Kennedy and his words to be in there."
According to J. J. Abrams, the difficulty of depicting the future in this film was that much of modern technology was inspired by Star Trek (1966), which made it look outdated. The production design therefore had to be consistent with the original series while also feeling more advanced than the real-world technology developed since: "We all have an iPhone that does more than a communicator. I feel like there's something you really can't hold on to, which is a kind of kitsch quality. If it's going to be something you believe is real, that has to go."
Eric Bana improvised Nero's speech patterns.
This film is dedicated to Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and his wife Majel Barrett.
Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, who play the odd couple James T. Kirk and Spock, had met before because they worked out at the same gym.
McCoy mentions his divorce, saying the only thing his wife left him was "his bones", suggesting this is where his nickname comes from. In fact, in the nineteenth century doctors were often called "sawbones" because of the unpleasant task of amputating injured limbs. The term was frequently used throughout much of the twentieth century and was quite familiar to Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, a World War II veteran.
When Hikaru Sulu stabs the Romulan, the sword comes out of the body green. This is because Romulans, like Vulcans, have copper-based blood instead of iron-based blood.
This film contains various similarities or references to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982): Nero uses a parasite to extract information from Captain Pike, just as Khan did to Chekov. The Kobayashi Maru test, which Kirk takes three times and reprograms on the third, is shown. Spock serves as the Starfleet instructor overseeing the test. Some lines from that film appear in this one ("I don't believe in no-win scenarios", "Are you out of your Vulcan mind?" and Spock's closing monologue).
Roberto Orci based the foundation of the relationship between James T. Kirk and Spock on his personal relationship with Alex Kurtzman: "We come from different worlds. I was born and lived in Mexico City until I was nine, and Alex was born in the US. Kirk and Spock are two opposite worlds. In short, they're us. What each of us lacks draws us together. This film is about two men who are ultimately so opposite that they could drown each other. But instead they connect and grow together." Inspiration also came from the friendship between The Beatles members John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
Shortly before his death in 1991, Gene Roddenberry was asked in an interview what would happen to Star Trek in the future. He said he hoped "some bright young thing would come along and do it again, bigger and better". The critical and commercial consensus on this film is that Roddenberry's wish was fulfilled by J. J. Abrams.
Spock Prime and Nero travel back in time from 2387, the year after the events depicted in Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), eight years later. Using the Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)-based Stardate format, this time period would fall between Stardates 64000 and 65000.
Production designer Scott Chambliss used the layout of the Enterprise bridge from Star Trek (1966) but gave it these brighter colors to reflect Star Trek's optimism. (J. J. Abrams said the redesigned bridge "made the Apple Store look uncool"). The iconic viewscreen was turned into a window onto which images could be projected to make the space feel more tangible. At Abrams's instruction, more railings were added to make the bridge look safer, and the set was built on gimbals so that the rocking motions were more realistic when the ship accelerated and came under attack.
In the final shot of the U. S. S. Enterprise's windows, written in Morse code, they spell out "KHAN".
According to Simon Pegg, J. J. Abrams wanted to emphasize the size of the ship and gave the engine room a rather industrial look. He explained to Pegg that he was inspired by Titanic (1997), which depicts "a sleek ship with an incredible gut".
There is a scene in which the students board a shuttlecraft inside a vast, cave-like hangar. This hangar is real; it is one of two giant blimp hangars located at Marine Corps Air Station Tustin in Tustin, California. The base is now operated by the Orange County Sheriff's Academy and consists mostly of student housing.
At the Spike TV 2009 Scream Awards, Star Trek (2009) won the award for best film. William Shatner accepted the award despite having absolutely no involvement with the film. In his acceptance speech, he jokingly accepted it as the director of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) (generally considered the worst Star Trek film).
As Spock (Zachary Quinto) sits down to pilot the ship from the future that Spock Prime (Leonard Nimoy) brought back in time, the back of the pilot's chair is visible. Viewed from behind and combined with the forward view, the arrangement of these elements forms the Vulcan IDIC, the symbol of Vulcan's phrase "Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations", which first appeared in the original series.
As seen in this film, the communicator was designed by Russell Bobbitt in collaboration with the Finnish mobile phone company Nokia.
The Kobayashi Maru simulator is the same set as the U. S. S. Kelvin bridge.
In Star Trek (1966), the transporter beams are normally seen as speckled and sparkling, but in this film the beams swirl and flow like a vortex. J. J. Abrams designed this redesign to emphasize the transporters as beams that can pick people up and move them, rather than a signal of people's mixed atoms that can go anywhere.
Like his predecessor Walter Koenig, who played the Russian Starfleet officer Pavel Chekov, Anton Yelchin is the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants (Koenig's parents were Lithuanian, and Yelchin's parents were from Leningrad, now called Saint Petersburg, Russia).
Zachary Quinto was drawn to the role of Spock because he wanted to explore the character's dual heritage and his position caught between both Earth and Vulcan cultures: "He's constantly exploring the idea of how to evolve responsibly and how to evolve respectfully. I think all of that is something we as a society, and certainly the world, can apply."
NASA scientist Dr. Carolyn Porco was consulted on how to properly present the planetary science, imagery and effects seen in this film.
Despite playing a younger Sulu, John Cho was thirty-six years old when he took on the role. (George Takei was twenty-nine when he first played Sulu in Star Trek (1966)).
Although Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman were huge fans of Star Trek (1966), they were initially very nervous about accepting the job of writing this film. Both felt that the fan base's expectations were very high.
The interior of the Romulan mining ship Narada consisted of six sections that could be rearranged to create different rooms.
The canon-connected comic book "Star Trek: Countdown" establishes various connections to the main Star Trek timeline years after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis (2002); these include details such as Geordi LaForge helping design the Jellyfish, Spock's ship, and the Narada's immense size and formidable weapons technology being the result of the Romulans using stolen Borg technology to arm the Narada after the destruction of Romulus. This small plot point was also intended to explain how the Narada was able to remain in space after the impact and destruction of the Kelvin - Borg technology has the ability to regenerate, albeit very slowly, in the absence of a drone collective.
In the Blu-ray's behind-the-scenes feature, in some scenes J. J. Abrams was physically shaking the camera to give the impression that the scene was shot handheld. The visual effects team also set up a motion capture rig so that the operator could physically shake the camera for CGI shots. Both techniques are most visible in the space jump scene, where the camera shakes to give the impression of turbulence during free fall with the away team.
CONTINUING THE FRANCHISE TRADEMARK: (47) For the new recruits, the tradition of somehow incorporating the number 47 into a Star Trek feature continues as the transport shuttle departs from Shipyard 2-1A (SFC Division: Sector 47). Additionally, Uhura receives a message before the Kobayashi Maru scenario that 47 Klingon ships were destroyed by the Narada.
In the hearing convened over Kirk cheating on the Kobayashi Maru test, when he wants to confront his accuser and Spock stands up, Spock tugs down the hem of his shirt, formally performing what is known as "the Picard maneuver," just like Sir Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987).
John Cho stated that masculinity is an important aspect of the Hikaru Sulu role and trained in martial arts for two weeks.
This film was originally supposed to open with Spock's birth.
According to scientist Hugh Everett, who created the theory of parallel universes in 1957, the original Star Trek timeline would not be lost with the time travel of Spock and Nero (creating a new continuity). It would continue to exist in a parallel dimension unaffected by the new timeline created.
The armed confrontation aboard the Romulan mining ship was actually written as a fistfight until the day those scenes were to be shot.
During the sequence in which Chekov attempts to enter the authorization code for the ship-wide broadcast, the computer rejects Chekov's pronunciation of the ICAO phonetic letter "V," which is "Victor," because he pronounces it as "Wiktor." This serves as a tribute both to Walter Koenig's original performance as Chekov and to Anton Yelchin's father, Viktor Yelchin.
Initially, many fans expected this film to be a prequel to Star Trek (1966), set a few years before the events of The Cage (1966) and Where No Man Has Gone Before (1966). However, due to the time-travel plot device, the film and its sequels now take place in an alternate timeline separate from the original timeline (depicted in the first five of the six television series and in ten films; the Star Trek: Enterprise timeline remains unaffected). This current timeline and cinematic universe was initially called the "Alternate Timeline," "Abramsverse" (after J. J. Abrams) and "Alternate Original Series," but was officially named the "Kelvin Timeline" in 2016 by Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda, who had long worked with the franchise. "Kelvin" is a clear reference to the destruction of the USS Kelvin, the point at the beginning of the film where the two universes diverge.
The sets for the ice planet Delta Vega and the Romulan drill were located in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California.
Zoe Saldaña met with Nichelle Nichols to learn more about the role of Nyota Uhura.
The final scene serves as a tribute to the opening title sequence of Star Trek (1966) and symbolizes the Enterprise crew finally coming together to realize their destinies.
The time-travel aspect of the story was the hardest part of the story to develop. Time travel had been used several times before in the franchise, but in this case it would create a serious danger for the crew (by upending the history everyone knows), and this serves a good purpose in creating a current adventure series for the original characters. Time travel also made it possible for Leonard Nimoy to appear in the film and help establish the current cast.
The Romulans were chosen as the Enterprise's enemies because they were less prominent than the Klingons in Star Trek (1966). J. J. Abrams felt it was fun for them to meet Kirk before he meets "Star Trek," and Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman noted that having enemy Klingons would be backwards, since they later become heroes in the Star Trek series. The presence of the Romulan also references Spock's earlier appearance in Unification I (1991)/Unification II (1991).
In an interview with the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Zachary Quinto said he heard that Star Trek was being rebooted and was extremely eager to play the role of Spock. The article was widely distributed and caught the attention of J. J. Abrams, who was very interested in talking to the actor. At the audition, Quinto wore a blue shirt and straightened his hair.
Russell Bobbitt found a model of the original tricorder from Star Trek (1966) and brought it to the set, but the actors found it too large to carry while shooting action scenes, so technical consultant Doug Brady redesigned it to be smaller.
In the Starfleet shuttle bay scene, a forklift with very unusual wheels is visible. This is a production forklift, not a film prop. The conical rollers around the wheels allow it to move in any direction at any turning speed.
Alan Dean Foster, referring to Scotty's mention of the transporter experiment with Admiral Archer's beagle, wrote a scene in the novel in which the dog appears on the transporter pad and walks down the corridor.
When Spock Prime encounters James T. Kirk in the cave on Delta Vega, he introduces himself by saying "I am Spock." "I Am Spock" was the title of his second autobiography; his first autobiography was "I Am Not Spock."
The USS Kelvin, the ship on which Kirk's father serves, takes its name from Abrams's grandfather, and its registry number NCC-0514 comes from the man's birthday. It is also a scientific reference to the temperature scale named after the physicist and engineer Lord Kelvin. Abrams frequently uses this name in his works, such as "Kelvin Inman" in Lost (2004) and "Kelvin Gasoline" in Super 8 (2011).
Every existing incarnation of Star Trek (1966) has featured someone from a previous series at the gala: DeForest Kelley as Admiral Leonard McCoy in Encounter at Farpoint (1987); Sir Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Emissary (1993); Armin Shimerman as Quark in The Caretaker (1995); James Cromwell as Zefram Cochrane in Star Trek: First Contact (1996) and Broken Bow, Part 1 (2001); and Leonard Nimoy as Spock in this film.
Originally, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci had written a cameo for the original James T. Kirk, William Shatner: Spock Prime would give his younger self a recorded message from Kirk. According to Orci, "It was a Happy Birthday wish from Kirk, knowing that Spock was going to go to Romulus and Kirk would probably be dead by then." This would then dissolve into Shatner reciting the famous "where no one has gone before" line. However, they were split over the cameo and decided not to waste Shatner's time. Orci expressed his regret that the scene was not included but was very proud of the final film's ending.
In this film's original opening, the Enterprise NCC-1701 under the command of Robert April, with George Kirk as first officer, was to appear. At the climax of the scene, the Enterprise would have been destroyed, and the Enterprise featured throughout most of the film would have been its successor, the NCC-1701-A (which in the original timeline was not launched until Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)). However, Paramount told Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci that the one thing they absolutely could not do, even if they were going to replace it with a newer one, was destroy the Enterprise, and so the original Enterprise was rewritten in the US. Kelvin, with Captain April becoming Captain Robau.
In this film, Spock decides to maroon the uncooperative Kirk on the planet Delta Vega. This mirrors Where No Man Has Gone Before (1966), in which Spock suggests that Kirk's maroon-colored Lieutenant Gary Mitchell be left on the same planet.
The Romulan mining ship Narada is five miles wide and fifteen miles long.
During filming, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman asked Leonard Nimoy to voice the lead character in the next scripted film directed by Nimoy's relative Michael Bay, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009). According to them, Bay was nervous about approaching a high-profile relative to take on a small voice role. However, Nimoy had voiced the robot Galvatron in The Transformers: The Movie (1986) and was eager to do another Transformers film. Unfortunately, Nimoy had other commitments. Nevertheless, in this film he is referred to as "Spock Prime" as a tribute to Transformers (whose artist is Autobot leader Optimus Prime). Nimoy would later voice Sentinel Prime in Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011).
The visual effects team developed a program to realistically depict what an explosion in space would look like (brief explosions are sucked inward and debris remains suspended). For the shots of an exploding planet, the same program was used at a higher level, but the animators had to manually assemble multiple layers of rock and wind being drawn into the planet.
During Chekov's emergency transport, the symbol graphic in the transporter room is the schematic design used on the set of the 1980s Enterprise films.
Nero is a combination of the ancient historical emperor of the same name and Captain Nemo from Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and "The Mysterious Island." He is therefore a selfish commander of the Narada (Nautilus), along with his second-in-command Ayel (Aronnax), from a lost Romulan (Roman) Empire, seeking revenge on the Federation (England) for the destruction of his home and family using extremely advanced technology. Furthermore, a fleet is sent with the starship U.S.S. Farragut before the Federation realizes the source of the distress signals. In Verne's novel, Captain Farragut is the commander of the expedition to hunt the "sea monster" that turns out to be Nemo's submarine. Captain Nemo had also previously been imprisoned in the prison colony Rura Penthe. Nero was held in a Klingon prison, which he boasts Uhura intercepted a transmission from. This prison was also identified as Rura Penthe in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991).
To give Keenser a more alien appearance, Deep Roy's eyes were digitally replaced with eye stalks.
The Beastie Boys, who included the song "Sabotage" in this film, had referenced Star Trek (1966) in their songs "Intergalactic," "Ch-Check It Out" and "Brouhaha." "Sabotage" itself was often a word William Shatner emphasized with a rhythmic beat in the series.
Paul McGillion auditioned for Scotty, and although he did not get the role, he impressed the producers enough that they gave him another role as the barracks leader.
While arguing with Kirk, Spock says, "I'm aware of my responsibilities, Mister." Lieutenant Saavik, under his tutelage, says the same thing to (Mr. Sulu) in the simulator at the beginning of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982).
Leonard Nimoy received numerous invitations over the years to return to the role of Spock, but he always turned them down. However, when he met J. J. Abrams and writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, he was very impressed, and they told him, "we cannot make this film without you and we won't make this film without you."
Near the end of the film, the number "12091" appears next to the shuttle behind Spock Prime. This corresponds to December 1991, the premiere date of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), the last film to feature the entire original cast.
(Present timeline) Spock confronts Spock Prime, saying, "You lied" — (Prime) Spock corrects him with, "I implied." This is consistent with (Prime) Spock, who, when confronted, will not admit to lying but will explain: (A) I exaggerated (to Saavik in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)) (B) A mistake (to Valeris in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)) (C) An omission (again to Valeris in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)). KB351.
In television series, Romulans are usually presented with V-shaped ridges on their foreheads, but in this film they do not have such features. This was because Neville Page wanted Nero's crew to ritually scar themselves, forming keloids resembling V-ridges; however, this idea was unfortunately not followed through enough and was abandoned.
The character played by Bruce Greenwood, Captain Christopher Pike, was the commander of the U.S.S. Enterprise in the unaired original pilot The Cage (1966). In that episode, Pike was played by Jeffrey Hunter. The episode was initially rejected, but when a second pilot was ordered, Hunter withdrew from the series, so the role was rewritten and reworked with William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk. Footage from the unaired pilot was later combined into The Menagerie: Part I (1966) and The Menagerie: Part II (1966), in which Sean Kenney appeared as an older Pike.
The roots of this film date back to the 1968 World Science Fiction Convention, where Gene Roddenberry announced he would make a prequel to Star Trek (1966). The concept would not be heard of again until the late 1980s, between Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991). David Loughery wrote a script titled "Star Trek: The Academy Years," which was shelved due to objections from the original cast and fan base. Finally, in 2005, after the failure of Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) and the cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise (2001), the development process began. Another new approach to the beginning of Kirk's command of the Enterprise was told in the novel "Enterprise: The First Adventure" by Vonda N. McIntyre, based on a Star Trek film script that was to be used after the first set was built but before a contract could be reached with the original cast.
The Romulan warning Nero: "Sir, if we ignite the red matter…"
Due to the privacy and secrecy of the film's production, various fake working titles were used. The official name chosen by Bad Robot Productions was "Corporate Headquarters," but Key Assistant Location Managers each also chose additional fake titles for paperwork, permits and signage. Kathy McCurdy named the film "Untitled Walter Lace Project" after her grandfather, Steve Woroniecki named it "Untitled Blake Allen Project" after his son, Golden Swenson named it "Christa & Christan's Big Adventure" after her twin stepdaughters, and Scott Trimble named it "The Ernest Castelhun Chronicles" after his great-grandmother, who drowned in beer at the Anheuser-Busch factory in 1937.
The San Francisco skyline seen from the Starfleet Academy grounds includes the distinctive Transamerica Pyramid building. Although at the time it was San Francisco's tallest skyscraper at 253 meters, it was almost lost among future taller buildings. Salesforce Tower (formerly "Transbay Tower"), upon its completion in 2018, is now the tallest building in the San Francisco skyline at 370 meters.
Carol Marcus, Kirk's former love and the mother of his son in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), appeared in the first draft of the script as Kirk's childhood friend in Iowa, but the role was cut from the final draft. She would eventually appear in the next film, Star Trek Into Darkness (2013). Nurse Chapel from the original series is also referenced in the film, and there is a line of dialogue: Dr. McCoy orders her to prepare a medication after Kirk's hands begin to swell, and she responds, "Yes, sir!" However, she does not appear on screen.
At the end of the film, Leonard Nimoy recites the iconic opening lines, from the opening title through to Star Trek (1966), in voice-over. One line, however, was changed from "… where no man has gone before." to "… where no one has gone before." (The Law establishes that the Enterprise's mission statement originates with Zefram Cochrane (Broken Bow, Episode 1 (2001)) and that Captain Kirk changed it in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), in the Captain's log entry "where no man… where no one has gone before," after receiving lessons about racism and xenophobia in this depiction. Accordingly, this version of the mission statement was used by Captain Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) (since Spock was alive at that time, it makes sense that he would adopt the current version.)
Leonard Nimoy had in fact been a longtime friend of J. J. Abrams's parents.
Simon Pegg shot the role of Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in five weeks.
The role of James T. Kirk came down to Mike Vogel and Chris Pine. Vogel was reported to be a frontrunner for the role, but J. J. Abrams ultimately decided to choose Pine. Sebastian Stan came very close to the final round of selection. Joshua Jackson and Chris Prangley also auditioned for the role, and Abrams cast Jackson in Fringe (2008).
Leonard Nimoy, Majel Barrett, William Morgan Sheppard, Greg Ellis, Christopher Doohan and Paul Townsend are the only actors in this film who had previously appeared in Star Trek (1966) or another spin-off.
This film cost $150 million, more than 10 times the total budget of Star Trek (1966), which was $14.5 million.
In a deleted scene, Nero is interrogated by a Klingon on the prison planet Rura Penthe and escapes. This is the planet that played a major role in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991). In this film, Chekov called Rura Penthe "the alien's graveyard" because aliens from all over the galaxy convicted by the Klingons are sent there to work in the dilithium mines, and a prisoner's life expectancy there is at most one year.
The large creature on Delta Vega was named "Big Red" by the producers and has about two hundred and fifty eyes.
J. J. Abrams chose Michael Kaplan because he had not seen any of the Star Trek films and would therefore approach the costumes from a fresh angle.
This is Tyler Perry's first film role outside his own projects. It turned out to be a minor problem, however; at one point Perry delivered a line and called for a cut… forgetting that he was not the director.
This film was shot in 2.35:1 anamorphic Panavision, the format preferred by cinematographer Dan Mindel (J. J. Abrams's previous film, Mission: Impossible III (2006), had also been shot in Panavision). To take full advantage of the format's benefits, Mindel captured as many lens flares as possible in the film (a photographic effect in which light glares everywhere) in order to create a sense of wonder that enriches the film: "There's something about those flares, especially in a movie that could potentially be incredibly sterile and overly controlled by CGI, that is incredibly unpredictable and wonderful." He created flares by holding a flashlight or aiming a mirror at the camera lens, or by using two cameras (and therefore two lighting setups) at the same time.
To develop the female characters, J. J. Abrams consulted Damon Lindelof, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. In fact, Katie Abrams's approval of strong female characters convinced her husband J. J. to direct. Log in to direct.
Before this film, the highest-grossing Star Trek film ever made was Star Trek: First Contact (1996), with a worldwide gross of $146 million. This film surpassed that gross in only its second weekend of release in the US.
The computer used to help with the production of this film is named Gene Roddenberry in the credits.
Chris Hemsworth's first feature film; he had previously acted on television for several years.
Hikaru Sulu says his combat training is fencing. This is a reference to the famous scene in the episode "The Naked Time" (1966), in which Sulu appears shirtless and swings a fencing sword.
In this film, James T. Kirk was born in 2233; in 2243 he wrecks a 1965 model Corvette Stingray, meaning that the 10-year-old Kirk wrecks a 278-year-old car.
The futuristic white road car in the background of some of the exterior shots of Starfleet Academy is a prototype of the Aptera 2 series. Aptera Motors went bankrupt in 2011.
The snow landscapes were to be shot in Iceland, but this was too expensive, so they were shot in Alaska instead.
The shuttles of the USS Kelvin are basically an upgraded version of the Class F shuttles in Star Trek (1966).
James Kyson was interested in the role of Hikaru Sulu, but the producers of Heroes (2006) were not too keen on two of their lead cast members (the other being Zachary Quinto) being away for three months.
When McCoy deliberately makes Kirk sick and then helps him into sickbay, a Dyson Airblade hand dryer is visible on the wall next to the entrance doors.
This is the third film in the series in which Leonard Nimoy delivers the famous "where no man has gone before" speech. The other two are at the end of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) and at the beginning of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984).
Kirk, Sulu and Olson space-jump from Captain Pike's shuttle onto the Romulan energy drill. Kirk's first scene in Star Trek: Generations (1994) was supposed to show him making a similar orbital skydive; the scene was shot but cut from the final film.
While designing the Romulan ship Narada, Scott Chambliss was heavily influenced by Art Nouveau architect Antoni Gaudí, who created buildings that appear inside out. The ship's exposed wires would look like bone or ligament, creating an evil atmosphere.
Much of the film's cast and crew, including Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Karl Urban and Eric Bana, are huge fans of Star Trek (1966).
Chief Engineer Olson is the first red shirt to die during a mission in the reboot.
In the script's early drafts, Delta Vega was originally written as a desert planet rather than a snow planet, which was more consistent with the planet of the same name seen in the second pilot episode Where No Man Has Gone Before (1966).
The aliens' makeup in this film was overseen by makeup artist Barney Burman. His team had to rush the creation of many aliens because most of them were initially going to appear in a single large scene (to express the diversity of life in the universe). However, toward the end of shooting, J. J. Abrams felt the scene was too similar to the cantina scene in Star Wars: Episode IV and decided to dot the designs throughout the film.
There is a deleted scene in which Nero, imprisoned in the prison colony on Rura Penthe, is interrogated by a Klingon guard wearing a metal mask. In the Blu-ray audio commentary, J. J. Abrams identified the Klingon interrogator as Garber from Abrams's series Alias (2001).
J. J. Abrams was born a few months before Star Trek (1966) first aired.
Tyler Perry took a small role because he is a big fan of the series.
One of the drinks Uhura orders in the bar scene is a Cardassian sunrise. In the original timeline, Cardassians were a humanoid species from the Alpha Quadrant, native to the planet Cardassia Prime, who eventually became enemies of the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire in the 24th century. Although the species itself never appeared in Star Trek (1966) or any of the later films related to the original series, first contact with the Cardassians is assumed to have already been made during the original series era, which explains why one of their drinks is available on Earth.
Damon Lindelof likened the Romulans in this film to pirates, with their unique tattoos, ragged costumes and practical ships whose mechanics are visible.
This was the first film in which Industrial Light & Magic used fully digital ships.
According to designer Ryan Church, the U. S. S. Enterprise in this film pays homage to the designs from Star Trek (1966) and Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). Church also applied the Aztec motif from Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987). The overall exterior design resembles a race car with more moving parts (the saucer expands and the fins on the engines separate).
He voiced James T. Kirk's stepfather. Grunberg was considered for the role of the pimp con man Harry Mudd, which was in the script's first draft but was ultimately cut from the script. Grunberg was later considered to play Olson, but had to drop out of the film due to a scheduling conflict.
FRANCHISE TRADEMARK: (Vasquez) Reference was made to the inclusion of Vasquez Rocks in the Vulcan landscape. However, it was not mentioned that a scene passes by a miniature model of Vasquez Rocks inside the cave to Spock's left within the frame of the scene, at the moment Kirk first converses with the original Spock in the cave.
In earlier drafts of the script, the U. S. S. Kelvin was originally named the U. S. S. Iowa, after the state where James T. Kirk was born.
William Morgan Sheppard, who plays the Vulcan Council Member considering whether Spock should go to the Vulcan Science Academy or Starfleet Academy, had previously appeared as a Trek guest star twice, in The Schizoid Man (1989) and Bliss (1999). He also appeared in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) as the warden of the Klingon prison planet Rura Penthe, where Nero and his crew were held for twenty years in a deleted scene.
Kirk's father dies while on duty near the Laurentian system. William Shatner (Kirk from the original series) worked in Canada's Laurentian Mountains as a young adult in real life.
J. J. Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman wrote a film for Leonard Nimoy's cousin, Michael Bay. Kurtzman and Orci wrote Transformers (2007) and The Island (2005), while Abrams co-wrote Armageddon (1998). Transformers has another connection to Star Trek: Leonard Nimoy voiced Megatron and Galvatron in the 1986 animated film; in Transformers (1984), Frank Welker (who voiced Megatron in the original series) and Nimoy were in the role of the reformatted Megatron, now called Galvatron. Welker also provided Spock's screams in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984).
In a panic, McCoy calls Spock a green-blooded goblin, a nod to the original series, in which an exasperated McCoy calls Spock a green-blooded Vulcan many times (and in Bread and Circuses (1968) McCoy said, "I'm trying to thank you, you pointed-eared hobgoblin!").
It is the Star Trek film with the longest gap since the previous theatrical film (seven years).
Star Trek canon states that Vulcan orbits the star 40 Eridani A, about 16.5 light-years from Earth.
Although it was the first Star Trek film to gross over $100 million outside the US, the film continued the franchise's tradition of earning only a third of its worldwide total outside the US. By contrast, the average blockbuster earns about two-thirds of its total gross outside the US. Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) and Star Trek Beyond (2016) broke with this tradition, earning most of their revenue outside the US. US.
The film takes place in 2233, the 2240s, 2255, 2258 and 2387.
Only two cast members are shared between this film and its predecessor, Star Trek: Nemesis (2002): Majel Barrett and Wil Wheaton (both uncredited in this film).
When Kirk (Prime) tells Spock, "You know, coming back in time, changing history, that's cheating," Spock replies, "A trick I learned from an old friend." This is a nod to Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), in which Kirk enables the Klingon Bird-of-Prey to travel back in time to capture humpback whales in order to prevent the destruction of Earth (timelines/futures). KB351.
When Kirk and McCoy set off for Starfleet Academy in a new recruits' shuttle, the starship U.S.S. Enterprise is under construction at the Riverside shipyard. As the shuttle passes the starboard side of the warp engine nacelle, the ship's registry number, NCC-1701, is visible on the thrusters.
Eric Bana shot his scenes toward the end of filming.
As of 2009, this is the highest-grossing film adapted from a live-action television series.
Chris Pine's father, Robert Pine, appeared in The Chute (1996) and worked with Michael Dorn (Worf, Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)) on CHiPs (1977).
J. J. Abrams preferred to use as many practical effects as possible.
IDW published a four-issue comic book prequel titled "Star Trek: Countdown," written by the film's writers, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, with art by David Messina. It detailed Nero's background and the reasons for Spock Prime's involvement in the events. It also featured characters from previous films and television series and served as a link between the two eras. IDW also published a six-issue adaptation of the film, again with art by Messina. It was the first Star Trek film adapted into a comic book since Star Trek: First Contact (1996).
The first Star Trek film to win an Oscar. In total it received four nominations, tying Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) for the most nominations in the franchise. It was also the first film in the franchise to be nominated for Best Visual Effects since Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979).
The Navy and Star Trek share the traditional verbal exchange for a change of command: "I relieve you," answered with "I stand relieved." When Captain Kirk relieves Admiral Pike of command, Admiral Pike replies, "I am relieved." This is probably because he is in a wheelchair and cannot stand.
Gary Sinise, who bears a strong resemblance to DeForest Kelley, was reportedly considered to play Dr. Leonard McCoy.
This is the first Star Trek film created without the involvement of Gene Roddenberry or Rick Berman.
The U.S.S. Enterprise was redesigned by Ryan Church using the original's features, reaching a length of 1,200 feet (370 meters). It was later scaled up by a factor of 1.94 to 2,357 feet (718 meters) to make it look larger.
When Spock and Spock Prime meet face to face for the only time before the end of the film, they do so beside a shuttle that appears to be under repair or construction. The shuttle bears a strong resemblance to the Argo shuttle from Star Trek: Nemesis (2002).
This is the first Star Trek film made since CBS took over ownership of the Star Trek franchise from Paramount Pictures.
The first photo of Uhura and Spock in the Starfleet Academy shuttle bay shows them standing in front of a computer screen. The silver metal knob on its frame is a Griffin PowerMate, a USB device for controlling software functions on Macs and PCs.
When James T. Kirk (Prime) asks Spock how he knew his name, Spock replies, "I have been, and always shall be your friend" — what Spock said to Admiral Kirk just before his death in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), and again when he began to regain his memory after being resurrected in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984). KB351.
One of the buildings near Starfleet Academy in San Francisco resembles the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) in Chicago.
Early in the film, when McCoy takes Kirk to the Enterprise, they board a shuttle named "Gilliam." This may be a nod to the film's script supervisor, Dawn Gilliam. She was responsible for maintaining the film's internal continuity and tracking the production unit's daily progress while shooting the film's script.
In many of the bridge scenes, a blonde woman in black trousers appears in the background. Many fans believe she is Elizabeth Dehner, who appeared in Where No Man Has Gone Before (1966).
Fans were confused about this film and thought it was a prequel to the original series, finding that some of the things in the film did not happen in the original timeline and that Spock Prime's (Leonard Nimoy) presence in the film made no sense. The film is not a prequel or a remake, and this is explained by Spock Prime when he meets Kirk (Chris Pine). This film takes place in an alternate timeline and is in fact a continuation of Spock's appearance in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987).
When the Enterprise first encounters the Narada, the original Enterprise series is displayed on the Narada's viewscreen for a few brief moments.
Sarek's statement that marrying a human woman is only logical echoes his dialogue in Journey to Babel (1967), where he said marrying Amanda was "the logical thing to do at the time." (But this time he also adds that he later came to love her.)
The film mainly references alien races introduced by Star Trek (1966), such as Vulcans, Klingons, Romulans, etc., and avoids referring to races introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) (for example: Betazoids, Bajorans, Ferengi…). However, an exception is Uhura's mention of a Cardassian sunrise, since Cardassians were introduced in the fourth season of TNG.
When a hearing is held to investigate Kirk cheating on the Kobayashi Maru test, an admiral rings a bell (instead of a gavel) to call the room to order. This is consistent with the Star Trek episodes The First Duty (1992) and Rules of Engagement (1996), in which the admiral presiding over the hearing rings a bell. Update: The bell was first used in the first season episodes The Menagerie: Part I (1966), Court Martial (1967) and Space Seed (1967).
Although later Star Trek films (Discovery and Picard) would later make headlines by using the F word, this film quietly gave us the first F word in the Star Trek series in the lyrics of the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage." However, this probably went unnoticed by most viewers, who could not make out the words.
According to an article in Cinefex magazine, one idea for the Narada's appearance stemmed from the notion that being pulled through the black hole's time tunnel caused a mutation, causing the once simple mining ship to grow the long, spiky tips seen when it first appears.
Leonard Nimoy's participation in this film as Spock Prime was intended to connect the film to the original series and feature films; it established that the original timeline Spock comes from is the same timeline as the original series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and the previous films between 1979 and 2002, and that the scene where both incarnations of Spock meet was written for Leonard Nimoy to pass the torch to Zachary Quinto.
This was the first Star Trek film in which Michael Dorn had not appeared since Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989).
The scene in which Spock is bullied by other Vulcan children because of his human heritage was recounted by Spock's mother Amanda in Journey to Babel (1967) and depicted in animated form in Yesteryear (1973).
Chris Pratt read for the role of Captain James T. Kirk.
Johnny. Daniels was originally to play James T. Kirk's older brother Samuel Kirk; he had previously been played by William Shatner in a dual role in Operation -- Annihilate! (1967) (#1.29). However, Samuel did not make it into the final film.
Ricky Gervais was offered a role in this film but turned it down, stating that he was not a big Star Trek fan.
Three members of the Enterprise crew also served as replacement players in other series: * In Comanche Moon (2008), Karl Urban took over the role of Woodrow F. Call from Tommy Lee Jones, Jon Voight, James Garner and Jonny Lee Miller. * In Terminator Salvation (2009), Anton Yelchin played Kyle Reese, replacing Michael Biehn. * In Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014), Chris Pine took over the role of Jack Ryan from Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck.
There is a scene in which the students board a shuttle inside a massive, cavern-like hangar. This hangar is real: Hangar One, located at Moffet Field about 40 miles south of San Francisco, is one of the largest freestanding structures in the world and originally housed the U. S. S. Macon, the largest airship ever to fly.
Pavel Chekov's surname was inspired by the surname of the late 19th and early 20th century classical Russian writer Anton Chekhov. However, Chekhov can be considered a misspelling or simplified form of the real Chekhov surname, since it has the same sound in English but is not the same in Russian. Of course, in the Russian dubbed version of this film, Chekhov became Chekhov.
The U.S. Enterprise bridge set was built on gimbals so that the actors' swaying movements would look more convincing.
Since Diane Carey's tie-in novel "Best Destiny" (1993), Kirk's mother's first name has been established as "Winona." In this film, Spock's mother is played by Winona Ryder.
Simon Pegg had previously worked with J. J. Abrams on Mission: Impossible III (2006), one of the reruns of the television series Mission: Impossible (1966), in which Leonard Nimoy starred.
Eighteen council members and a stenographer were assembled for the court-martial scene. Only five council members are given visible nameplates. Admiral Richard Barnett, Admiral James Komack, Admiral Gretchen Lui and Lieutenant Alice Pearl Ives are played by Patricia Milano. The fifth is Admiral Neville Chandra, referencing an intergenerational link to the Court Martial (1967) episode that inspired the scene.
John Cho and Jennifer Morrison had previously worked together on Love Hurts (2005). Both worked with Kal Penn, who says his character in Don't Ever Change (2008) is the Dahar Master of the Klingon Empire; that title was first mentioned in Blood Oath (1994). In the Blu-ray audio commentary, J. J. Abrams mentions that there is an extra on the Enterprise bridge playing a crew member whom many viewers mistook for Kal Penn (assuming Penn had a cameo since John Cho is in this film), but Abrams says this man is not Penn.
The first teaser trailer and posters for this film showed its original premiere date of December 25, 2008. On February 13, 2008, Paramount Pictures pushed the film to May 8, 2009, for less competition and to make it a summer blockbuster contender. The promotional trailer was later changed to show summer 2009. This was the first Star Trek film to be released in the summer months since Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989).
In the first Starfleet Academy scene, among the famous buildings hidden within the futuristic San Francisco skyline is Santiago Calatrava's Hemisfèric in Valencia, Spain.
The captain of the USS Kelvin, Richard Robau (Faran Tahir), was named after Roberto Orci's Cuban uncle. According to Orci, Robau was born in Cuba and raised in the Middle East.
The set used for the long dark corridor at the Delta Vega Federation outpost looks the same as (or very similar to) the one used for the Dharma station The Staff on Lost (2004), first seen in the season's second episode, Maternity Leave (2006). J. J. Abrams was, of course, deeply involved in both.
This film was influenced by: Balance of Terror (1966) (Kirk meets the Romulans for the first time); Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) (an enemy from the past returns to confuse the crew); Yesterday's Enterprise (1990) (a black hole causes past and future Enterprise crew members to meet each other); and the Star Trek novels "Prime Directive", "Spock's World" and "Best Destiny" (the latter focusing on Kirk and his maturation into a Starfleet Captain).
The first original series film rated PG-13 in the US and 12 in the United Kingdom. All other films starring the original series cast were rated PG in the US and 12 in the UK respectively, except for Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which were rated G in the US and U in the UK. (1982), which initially received a 15 certificate (it has since been reclassified as 12 by the BBFC).
When Kirk, Sulu and Olsen descend into the Vulcan atmosphere, Kirk is wearing a blue spacesuit. This is a nod to a scene cut from Star Trek: Generations (1994) in which Kirk wears a blue spacesuit and descends into Earth's atmosphere.
The design of the USS Enterprise was influenced by the flamboyant modernist work of 1960s artist Pierre Cardin and the realistic sets of the groundbreaking science fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and J. J. Abrams signed on during the shooting of Mission: Impossible III (2006).
In this film James T. Kirk is twenty-five years old. This is noted when Spock Prime says that Nero and the Romulans waited twenty-five years in the past for the Vulcan ship to arrive.
This film was written before the 2008 writers' strike. J. J. Abrams played a major role in writing the film, but while shooting it under WGA rules he was not allowed to make any changes to his own script on set.
Kirk, Sulu and Olson parachute down, Olson wearing red, and he is killed during the mission. This reflects the original series, in which Security officers wearing red shirts were frequently killed during missions.
Adrien Brody had discussed playing Spock with J. J. Abrams.
A shuttle named Moore is seen (before Starfleet deploys the rescue starships). This may be a nod to Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) writer Ronald D. Moore.
The first theatrical trailer uses Two Steps From Hell's "Down with the Enterprise". This was an adaptation of a piece titled "War Begins" from Brian Tyler's score for Children of Dune (2003).
To add a sense of realism to this film, J. J. Abrams would often follow the camera operator and shake/tap it rapidly. To replicate this in CG shots, ILM used motion capture on a camera point and tapped the table it sat on.
James Marsden was considered for the role of Dr. Leonard McCoy.
The throttle unit used on the Enterprise is the ZF Marine Smart Command 5200 (a throttle unit originally made for motor yachts).
Admiral James Komack, played by Ben Binswagner, is a tribute to James Komack, the director of A Piece of the Action (1968).
Although the scene depicting Spock's birth was cut from the final edit, it still inspired an argument among the characters of The Big Bang Theory (2007) in the episode "The Bat Jar Conjecture", in which they say they would prefer to see a scene depicting Spock's pregnancy.
The song playing on the car radio as young Kirk drives his stepfather's convertible off a cliff is the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage."
Production designer John Eaves, who had worked on various Star Trek series and films, was brought onto this film to assist and mentor his junior partners Ryan Church and Neville Page.
Along with the Star Trek reboot series, J. J. Abrams also directed Mission: Impossible III (2006). Both Star Trek and Mission: Impossible originated as series produced by Desilu Studios (later Paramount Television), which premiered in the fall of 1966. In addition to his Star Trek role as Spock, Leonard Nimoy appeared in the television series Mission: Impossible (1966) for two seasons between 1969 and 1971.
Actor Bruce Greenwood (Captain Christopher Pike) starred in the film Thirteen Days (2000) as John F. Kennedy, the President credited in the 1960s with inviting the United States to go to space (which culminated in man landing on the moon in 1969).
Bruce Greenwood drew heavily on the strength of his performance in Thirteen Days (2000).
The back of Spock's chair on the shuttle, when placed in front of the windshield, forms the IDIC, the symbol of the Vulcan people.
As of 2023, with a 94% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, this is the best-reviewed Star Trek film.
Dominic Keating, who played Malcolm Reed on Star Trek: Enterprise (2001), auditioned for the role of James T. Kirk's uncle.
Sydney Tamiia Poitier auditioned for the role of Nyota Uhura.
Fans of this film were confused about this and believed it was a prequel to the original series. In the original timeline, Captain Kirk's father had not died when Kirk was born, and Vulcan had not been destroyed. This film and all subsequent films take place in an alternate timeline.
An actual Aptera Type-1 car was used.
LeVar Burton later went on record saying he was disappointed with this film.
In this film, Chris Hemsworth plays James T. Kirk's late father, George Kirk. In real life, Chris Hemsworth is three years younger than Chris Pine, who plays James T. Kirk in this film. Hemsworth's character is killed just as Pine's character is born.
This film has over 1,000 special effects shots.
In this film, McCoy says "I may throw up on you," a line later repeated by Kirk. This is also a subtle callback to the pilot episode of Lost (2004), in which Kate says the same thing while stitching up Jack's wound. That episode was directed by J. J. Abrams.
Josh Lucas was considered for the role of Captain Christopher Pike.
While William Shatner and Paramount were stuck in contract negotiations for months over Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), Leonard Nimoy and producer Harve Bennett began developing a Top Gun (1986)-style prequel about a young Enterprise crew at Starfleet Academy, but the idea was shelved when Shatner agreed to return. Bennett admitted, "the franchise wasn't the same without the stars." He and producer Ralph Winter raised the idea of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) once again, and Winter said: "It's a great story, this cocky young character going to flight school on a farm and meeting the first alien from Vulcan, and learning how they meet the other characters. It would have been a great gift for the fans on the 25th anniversary." After negative reactions from the cast and fans, the idea was cancelled again. Ethan Hawke and John Cusack were said to be playing young Kirk and Spock, respectively.
Captain Pike challenges James T. Kirk to join Starfleet and discover his potential. In Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), there was a story in which a mysterious alien entity called the Traveler played a role in Wesley Crusher's destiny, saw his potential in Starfleet, and inspired Captain Picard to get permission from Starfleet Command to make Wesley an acting ensign aboard the USS Enterprise. He was later promoted to the rank of ensign and admitted to Starfleet Academy.
Bruce Greenwood (Captain Pike) is the third Quebec-born actor to be cast as a Starfleet captain, after William Shatner and Geneviève Bujold. (Bujold was cast as Captain Janeway in Star Trek: Voyager (1995), then left the role while filming the pilot episode.)
Composer Michael Giacchino was commissioned to write a completely original new theme. That same year, he also won the Oscar for the animated film Up (2009).
Nyota Uhura (Zoe Saldaña), a human, falls in love with Spock (Zachary Quinto), a half-human, half-alien being. In Avatar (2009), released the same year, Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), an alien being, falls in love with Jake Scully (Sam Worthington), a human.
This is the first film of Scottie Thompson, who plays Nero's wife.
In Star Trek history, the atmosphere on Vulcan was supposed to be thinner than Earth's atmosphere, but they perform a parachute jump that involves opening the parachute at a high altitude, where the atmosphere would be even thinner. This would not create enough friction to slow down safely and land without injury. However, the equipment they used was calibrated for the difference in the planets' atmospheres.
Uhura orders a Budweiser Classic. This is a nod to the Enterprise's engine room being filmed at the Budweiser factory.
Eric Bana, Karl Urban, Chris Hemsworth and Zoe Saldaña all appeared in films featuring the Incredible Hulk as a character. Bana played the character in Hulk (2003). Hemsworth appeared in The Avengers (2012), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Thor: Ragnarok (2017). Karl Urban also appeared in the second film. Saldaña also appeared in Avengers: Infinity War (2018). The last two films also featured Trek villains Benedict Cumberbatch and Idris Elba.
Chris Hemsworth (George Kirk) and Chris Pine (James T. Kirk) later played lead characters in films directed by Sir Kenneth Branagh: Hemsworth in Thor (2011) and Pine in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014).
Keri Russell was considered for a role in this film.
This is the fourth consecutive Star Trek film in which the main villain (Nero) is bald, after the Borg Queen (in First Contact), Ru'afo (in Insurrection) and Shinzon (in Nemesis). It is also the second consecutive film after Nemesis in which the Romulans are the main enemy; something that had not happened before and has not happened since.
Bright spotlights shining directly into the camera on the Enterprise bridge is not a first. The first shots on the Enterprise bridge in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) show bright white spotlights with far fewer lens flares.
When Kirk first boards the ship to leave Iowa for Starfleet, he hits his head on a beam, just as Scotty did in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989).
J. J. Abrams said: "Our first 'Star Trek' film was, above all, a great exercise in casting. April Webster and Alyssa Weisberg helped us find absolutely perfect actors. I'm proud of the storytelling and the humor, but of course I only see what's wrong. Among other things, I wish we had given Eric Bana something more to do than be full of rage, given what a good actor he is."
Ben Cross's best-known role before this film was in Chariots of Fire (1981), which was also the first film of Alice Krige, who played the Borg Queen in Star Trek: First Contact (1996).
It is possible and likely that Spock's half-brother Sybok had been exiled from Vulcan before Nero destroyed the planet. (See: Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)).
Derek Mears was the first choice to play the long-faced alien vomit in the Shipyard Bar. He could not take the role due to his schedule and recommended his friend Douglas Tait.
The fourth Star Trek film to involve time travel, after Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), Star Trek: Generations (1994) and Star Trek: First Contact (1996).
Zachary Quinto and John Cho appeared in Charmed (1998).
Rachel Nichols's first big-screen appearance as Gaila, Uhura's Orion roommate, in the reboot. Rachel Nichols would later play the female lead Tamara in the Conan the Barbarian remake (2011). In both films, Nichols's characters are seduced by lead male characters James T. Kirk and Conan, whose mothers or fathers were killed by the film's main villain when they were born.
Michael Giacchino is the fourth Oscar winner to score a Star Trek film, after: * Jerry Goldsmith - Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) * James Horner - Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) * Leonard Rosenman - Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986).
Before Simon Pegg was cast, it was said that James McAvoy would play Scotty. McAvoy confirmed that he was offered a role in the film but did not specify which character it would be. Despite being a Trekkie, he turned down the offer because he felt he was not right for the role.
Eric Bana plays Captain Nero, an inhabitant of the planet Romulus. Bana had previously played a character named Romulus in the film Romulus, My Father (2007).
The only nominee that year for Best Cinematography that was not also nominated for Best Sound Editing.
Simon Pegg, Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and J. J. Abrams had previously worked together on Mission: Impossible III (2006), a sequel to Mission: Impossible (1966), in which Leonard Nimoy also appeared.
Ben Cross, who plays Sarek, tells Spock that he will always be a child of two worlds. In The Far Pavilions (1984), Ben Cross played an Englishman raised as an Indian who believes himself to be Indian. After discovering the truth, he would always be of both worlds (cultures).
Before becoming a successful actor, Leonard Nimoy held many odd jobs, including driving a taxi. One of his passengers was then-President John F. Kennedy. Bruce Greenwood played President Kennedy in the film Thirteen Days (2000).
Eric Bana had previously played the lead character in Hulk (2003), which made him one of four veterans of that role who would also appear in Star Trek. Ted Cassidy initially provided the character's voice in The Incredible Hulk (1977), and after his death he was replaced by another Star Trek veteran, Charles Napier. Lou Ferrigno, who played the role on the big screen and appeared in Lolani (2014), also voiced the role in the animated series The Incredible Hulk (1996) and provided some grunts for The Avengers (2012), in which the role of Thanos was played by Chris Hemsworth and Damion Poitier. Several more actors from the reboot series later appeared in the MCU: Karl Urban in Thor: Ragnarok (2017), and Zoe Saldaña, Benedict Cumberbatch and Idris Elba in Avengers: Infinity War (2018).
Keenser was not a character in Star Trek (1966), nor was he a member of the Starfleet engineering crew in the US. The Enterprise appears in the original timeline, and he was created for the film by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman.
Eric Bana had previously appeared in Hulk (2003), in which his father was played by Nick Nolte. Nolte appeared in Mulholland Falls (1996) and Gangster Squad (2013); both included a fictional depiction of the L. A. P. D. In the first, Chief Bill Parker was played by Bruce Dern, and in the second, by Nolte himself. Star Trek's creator Gene Roddenberry was an officer in the police department and modelled the character of Spock on Parker.
Chris Prangley and Sebastian Stan auditioned for the role of James T. Kirk.
The roles of Kirk and McCoy had been played by William Shatner and DeForest Kelley, who had previously appeared as guest actors in The Fugitive (1963). Chris Pine and Karl Urban shared the same roles as the film's leads. Pine and Harrison Ford played Jack Ryan in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014) and Patriot Games (1992); Urban and Tommy Lee Jones played Woodrow Call in Comanche Moon (2008) and Lonesome Dove (1989).
Anton Yelchin died in an accident on 19 June 2016 at the age of 27: he was crushed on his property when his own car rolled at the gate of his garage entrance.
Majel Barrett Roddenberry's last film. She died on 18 December 2008.
J. J. Abrams said he decided to direct the film after reading the script, which Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci described as "full of character, passion, emotion, comedy and suspense", and that it made him feel "everything I love about movies." Abrams also admitted that although he had not been a longtime fan of the series, he loved the film immediately after reading the script.
Kirk's mother (played by Jennifer Morrison) is named Winona. Spock's mother Amanda is played by Winona Ryder.
The first Star Trek film without subtitles.
Martin Compston auditioned for the role of Scotty but tried to memorise the difficult, jargon-heavy text instead of reading it, and fumbled his lines.
Jennifer Morrison and John Cho appeared in the episode Love Hurts (2005).
Listed in the thanks: LA County Sanitation Department.
Kirk tells Spock, "The Enemy of my enemy is my friend": Spock says the same things to Kirk in Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow (2023).
The novelisation was written by Alan Dean Foster. He had previously written the script for Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) and novelisations of various episodes of Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973).
The last Star Trek film to carry the Paramount Pictures logo from 2002 to 2011.
Mark Wahlberg turned down the role of George Kirk.
J. J. Abrams wanted a member of the Japanese girl group AKB48 to appear in the film after seeing her perform live in Akihabara.
Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) fell behind in its opening weekend.
Zoe Saldaña is the fourth Oscar winner to star in a Star Trek film (though she did not win until years later): * Christopher Plummer - Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) * Whoopi Goldberg - Star Trek: Generations (1994) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) * F. Murray Abraham - Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) Seven nominees also appeared in the series: * Paul Winfield - Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) * Dame Judith Anderson - Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) * Alfre Woodard and James Cromwell - Star Trek: First Contact (1996) * Tom Hardy - Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) * Winona Ryder - Star Trek (2009) * Benedict Cumberbatch - Star Trek Into Darkness (2013).
The first Star Trek film released in May.
Zoe Saldaña, J. J. Abrams called her to offer her the role of Uhura.
Steven Spielberg taught Zoe Saldaña how to give the Vulcan salute while they worked together on The Terminal (2004).
Christian Bale cited The Twilight Zone (1959) as an influence for its unexpected twists and its ability to tell emotional stories before introducing something chilling and almost impossible.
Zachary Quinto spoke of the opportunity to work with director J. J. Abrams, which he sees as the main reason we joined the film.
This film is Chris Hemsworth's first feature film. Before that he had only worked on television; one of these was a four-year stint on an Australian soap opera.