Star Trek (film)

Star Trek is a 2009 American science fiction adventure film directed by J. J. Abrams, written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is the 11th film of the Star Trek film franchise and is also a reboot that features the main characters of the original Star Trek television series, portrayed by a new cast and the first in the reboot series. The film follows James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) aboard the USS Enterprise as they combat Nero (Eric Bana), a Romulan from their future who threatens the United Federation of Planets. The story takes place in an alternate reality because of time travel by both Nero and the original Spock (Leonard Nimoy). The alternate timeline was created in an attempt to free the film and the franchise from established continuity constraints while simultaneously preserving original story elements.

Development for Star Trek originated in 1968, when creator Gene Roddenberry announced plans to produce a prequel modeled after the television series. The concept resurfaced temporarily in the late 1980s, when it was postulated by Harve Bennett as a possible plotline for the movie that would become Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, but was rejected in lieu of other projects by Roddenberry. Following the critical and commercial failure of Star Trek: Nemesis and the cancellation of the television series Star Trek: Enterprise, franchise executive producer Rick Berman and screenwriter Erik Jendresen wrote an unproduced film, titled Star Trek: The Beginning, which would take place after Enterprise. After the separation between Viacom and CBS Corporation, former Paramount president Gail Berman convinced CBS to produce a feature film. Orci and Kurtzman, both fans of the Star Trek series, were approached to write the film and Abrams was approached to direct it. Kurtzman and Orci used inspiration from novels and graduate school dissertations as well as the series itself.