The Future Begins
The greatest adventure of all time begins with ‘Star Trek,’ the incredible story of a young crew’s maiden voyage onboard the most advanced starship ever created: the USS Enterprise. In the midst of an incredible journey full of optimism, intrigue, comedy and cosmic peril, the new recruits must find a way to stop an evil being whose mission of vengeance threatens all of mankind.
The fate of the galaxy rests in the hands of bitter rivals born worlds apart. One, James Tiberius Kirk (Chris Pine), a delinquent, thrill-seeking Iowa farm boy, a natural-born leader in search of a cause. The other, Spock (Zachary Quinto), grows up on the planet Vulcan, an outcast due to his half-human background, which makes him susceptible to the volatile emotions that Vulcans have long lived without, and yet an ingenious, determined student, who will become the first of his kind accepted into the Starfleet Academy.
Kirk and Spock could not be more different. Yet, in their quest to figure out who they really are and what they have to give to the world, they soon become competitive cadets-in-training. With their drastically opposite styles, one driven by fiery passion, the other by rigorous logic, they also become defiant, contentious adversaries, each equally unimpressed with the other, each going all out to be among the special few chosen to join the crew of the most advanced starship ever created, the USS Enterprise.
The crew is headed by Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood). Joining him are the ship’s Medical Officer Leonard “Bones” McCoy (Karl Urban); the man who will become the ship’s Chief Engineer, Montgomery “Scotty” Scott (Simon Pegg); Communications Officer Uhura (Zoë Saldana); experienced Helmsman Sulu (John Cho); and the 17-year-old whiz kid Chekov (Anton Yelchin). All will face a harrowing first test that will set in motion the loyalty, camaraderie, daring and good humor that will bind them forever.
In the midst of it all, Kirk and Spock will come face-to-face with an undeniable destiny: a need to forge an unlikely but powerful partnership, enabling them to lead their crew to boldly go where no one has gone before.
Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment Present a Bad Robot Production ‘Star Trek’ starring John Cho, Ben Cross, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Winona Ryder, Zoë Saldana, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin, Eric Bana and Leonard Nimoy. The film is directed by JJ Abrams (“Mission: Impossible III,” “Lost,” “Alias”) and written by Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman (“MI: III,” “Transformers”). Based upon ‘Star Trek’ Created by Gene Roddenberry. The film is produced by JJ Abrams and Damon Lindelof. The executive producers are Bryan Burk, Jeffrey Chernov, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. The director of photography is Dan Mindel, ASC. The production designer is Scott Chambliss. The film is edited by Maryann Brandon ACE and Mary Jo Markey ACE The costume designer is Michael Kaplan. The visual effects & animation are by Industrial Light & Magic. The music is by Michael Giacchino. This film has been rated PG-13 for sci-fi action and violence and brief sexual content.
Back to the Final Frontier
For director/producer JJ Abrams, going back to the beginning of STAR TREK after more than six television series and ten feature films was the only way to forge into the future. His vision was to literally start fresh, beginning with James T Kirk and his one-day First Officer, the Vulcan Spock’s advancement in the Starfleet Academy and their extraordinary first journey together.
Abrams came to the project with great respect for series creator Gene Roddenberry and all that ‘Star Trek’ had achieved as the creator of an archetypal modern myth and cult phenomenon. However, he also wanted to take the story where it had never been before: making a state-of-the-art action epic about two heroic leaders as brash young men in the making.
“I was a fan of the original series, although I was never a Trekker,” says Abrams. “Yet I always felt there was something that had not been done with ‘Star Trek.’ There have been ten movies, but this is the first time that a movie has dealt with the fundamental, primary story Gene Roddenberry originally created in 1966.” Abrams continues: “What I hope with this movie is that you never have to have seen anything about ‘Star Trek’ before to really enjoy a comical, romantic, suspenseful adventure, but that it also does proud the lasting, brilliant world that Gene Roddenberry created. The brilliant thing ‘Star Trek’ brought to the world was a dose of optimism and I hope this movie continues in that tradition.”
While many anticipated a total re-boot from Abrams, he was excited to go in an unexpected direction, heading way back, as it were, into the never-seen 23rd century launch of the USS Enterprise. When he brought the idea of a “‘Star Trek’ origin story” to producer Damon Lindelof, with whom Abrams (along with Jeffrey Lieber) created the contemporary television phenomenon “Lost,” the producer was instantly taken by the idea. Explains Lindelof, “For me, the idea that no one has ever told an origin story for Kirk and Spock and all these characters was very cool. We had a great conversation about how this crew of people might have come together and learned to sacrifice certain parts of their personalities to get along. It was really fun and, next thing I knew, Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman were writing a script.”
Executive producer Bryan Burk, who has also collaborated with Abrams on “Lost,” “Alias” and “Cloverfield” explains: “We envisioned this ‘Star Trek’ as a truly grand adventure about two very different men whose destiny is not only to become true friends, but iconic partners, guardians and explorers.”
Executive producer Jeffrey Chernov, who oversaw the line production, concludes: “The film for me became not only a new look at the ‘Star Trek’ universe, but a kind of cross between ‘The Right Stuff’ and the original ‘Star Wars.’ It has that fresh, imaginative, intergalactic storytelling, but is also very grounded in the idea of young men and women with a lot of heart and camaraderie. When you add JJ’s mastery of action and love of scope, you have something very fun and entertaining.”
Inside Trek: The Screenplay
JJ Abrams needed writers who could take the well-established personalities of James T Kirk and First Officer Spock and reverse engineer them to get back what forged their hopes, dreams and motivations in the first place.
To do so, Abrams went straight to a team he knew could attack the story with a high-intensity, suspenseful action style and an authentic allegiance to its legacy, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, whose partnership has produced memorable screenplays for such films as “Transformers,” “Mission: Impossible III” and the current FOX show “Fringe.” Orci, in particular, has had a lifelong passion for all things Trek. “When I met Bob in high school, one of the first things I remember about him is that he had an Enterprise phone and the Bridge would actually ring!” laughs Kurtzman.
And yet, when they were approached about ‘Star Trek,’ the duo admits they did not instantly jump at it. “We paused because we knew it would be such a huge responsibility,” explains Kurtzman. “The whole Trek universe has kind of hit a crossroads at this point and we knew that it would take a lot of thought to really engage the next generation. The challenges were a bit terrifying. But when you’re scared to do something, I think you also get the feeling that there’s a personal challenge there you need to meet. After our initial trepidation, we began talking to JJ about it and then decided to just sit down and dive in.”
They did so with a die-hard commitment to following in the spirit of Gene Roddenberry’s vision of an enlightened future. The pair began with a list of what they believed to be the ‘Star Trek’ universe’s greatest and most universally relatable attributes. Orci explains: “That list included the idea of a family of friends coming together; the way each character seems warm and human and real; the use of genuine humor, not parody or irony, that comes out of real situations; and then a thought-provoking story that is true science fiction, not impossible fantasy, but a vision of a future we hope humans can achieve.”
Continues Kurtzman: “There was also something we wanted to capture that’s always been very specific to ‘Star Trek’: men and women rising to the challenge of who they are as people by confronting what appear to be insoluble problems. Part of the irresistible fun of the original series was watching these incredibly intelligent and intriguing personalities work together and become the best of who they are. We felt that if we could take that spirit and put a fresh spin on it, you could advance the legacy of ‘Star Trek’ in this movie.”
Starting from that base, Orci and Kurtzman were exhilarated by the chance to do two new things: imagine the never-before-seen youth of Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) and their development into friends and leaders; and devise the Enterprise’s very first mission.
Exploring who Kirk and Spock were as adolescents helped the writers to get to the root of what has made them so consistently compelling: the idea of two wholly opposite men coming together like two lost halves and embarking on a perilous mission in a way neither one could have alone.
The stakes for Kirk and Spock become unimaginably high as the Enterprise comes under attack and they begin to understand the agenda of Nero (Eric Bana), the fuming, merciless Romulan. As a newly introduced character, the writers spent an equal amount of time developing Nero into a worthy adversary for the Enterprise crew, one who is full of tricks, savvy and unpredictability. “In the best tradition of complex villains, Nero is someone who legitimately feels he has been wronged and believes he has a genuine bone to pick with Starfleet,” says Orci. “His drive to destroy goes beyond intergalactic politics to something deeply personal. He’s frightening, yet there’s something in him to which you can relate.”
The Maiden Crew of the USS Enterprise
Chris Pine is James Tiberius Kirk
Although James T Kirk is destined to become the kind of starship captain that legends are made of, as ‘Star Trek’ begins, he is a brooding Iowa teenager full of smarts, charm and a mile-wide rebellious streak that can lead him astray. Kirk must first overcome what one character describes as “an instinct to leap before looking.”
“We had the idea that Kirk would be almost a rebel without a cause when we first meet him. He’s a renegade, a nonconformist, a go-by-the-gut kind of guy, but he’s basically lost. It’s only when he sees the Enterprise that he’s inspired by a sense of purpose that alters his path,” says Abrams.
To find a young actor who could play the role that William Shatner made so unforgettable, yet establish his own take on the character, the filmmakers embarked on their own epic quest. It was only when they were nearing the end of their search that Chris Pine auditioned for them, and took them by surprise. Said JJ Abrams: “Chris has the wit, sharpness and athleticism of Kirk, but, equally important, he can be a complete goof and very vulnerable. Most of all, he was game for anything, always engaged and present in the role. He made Kirk very real, which was everything we wanted.”
Pine undertook intensive physical training in boxing and martial arts to learn to fend off space creatures with Kirk’s inimitable savvy and street toughness. “I trained with our incredible stunt team and what made it so much fun is that the action is so real. Kirk’s not a guy who wins all the time. He takes plenty of blows, but he always gives you the fight of his life.”
For Pine, perhaps the greatest challenge lay in getting Kirk’s uncomfortable and sublimely comedic rapport with Spock just right. “Zach [Quinto] and I wanted the audience to see Kirk and Spock as these two very bright, very obstinate young men who are destined to butt heads throughout their lives, but will grow to love one another for that very reason,” he explains.
In the end, Pine notes, the chemistry between the entire young cast began to reflect that of the Enterprise crew. “All together it was just a great group. We never took ourselves too seriously, but really came together as a team.”
It all gelled for Pine, he says, the minute he walked onto the set of the Bridge, knowing that Kirk would one day soon be in command of the Enterprise. “Walking onto the set of the Enterprise for the first time was one of those moments when it suddenly hits you how special what you’re doing is,” he reflects. “Then came another big moment, which is the first time I sat in the Captain’s chair. I got chills. It’s a moment I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”
Zachary Quinto is Spock
When the USS Enterprise leaves the dock for the first time headed for the stars, one officer aboard stands worlds apart from the rest: the man known simply as Spock. Spock was born on the planet Vulcan, a world where emotions became so out-of-control that they were done away with forever in favor of pure logic. However, Spock’s mother is human, leaving Spock to grow up fighting an internal battle between the rational and the instinctual. As Spock’s father, Sarek, tells him: “You are fully capable of choosing your own destiny... this is something only you can decide.”
‘Star Trek’ gives audiences a chance to experience Spock in his formative years facing the choice between his human side and his Vulcan side. “Spock has to decide if he should control his emotions or embrace his humanity and struggles with the duality of who he is throughout the story,” says Abrams. “I loved the idea of this character trying to figure out his place in the world.”
Zachary Quinto wanted the role badly. “I was very drawn to the character of Spock,” he says, “and I loved the idea of revitalizing the entire crew of the Enterprise. Spock was always fascinating to me because of the conflict between his mind and his emotions and by his ability to maintain equanimity no matter what is going on around him. In this new version, you get to see him figuring out how to find the balance that will allow him to achieve greatness. The common ground he shares with Kirk and the rest of the crew is that he wants to make the universe a better place.”