http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/...udgets-are-preposterous-and-embarrassing.html Star Trek's budget was estimated at $150 million. The budget for Star Trek Into Darkness is apparently $185 million. Let's hope it's spent wisely.
I think it will be. JJ Abrams did an interview about having that (185m) budget and how sometimes you'd like more, but not having more makes you more creative, or something to that extent. I think a lot of the spending will have to do with what's in the script.
So instead of the Budwiser brewery, we'll be geeting something more expensive, like the Guiness brewery?
Hopefully more creative = fewer lens flares. In all honesty, I can't see him wasting it. One of the best things he managed to do with ST2K9 was make every single cent of their budget show up on screen, which is increasingly rare these days in blockbuster films.
They each got larger increases than their contracts called for. Best to keep everyone happy when things are looking more long term than originally anticipated.
To be honest, while I didn't like the look of the "new" Engineering section, I'd hate to have them change it unless there's a good explanation as to why it now looks different.
Engineering section changes could easily be worked into the script, especially with it being the enterprise's maiden voyage in the first film, changes are often made after something has been tested in the field. Also Scotty could request a more centralised control area so he can keep tabs on things.
Indeed, JJ is fond of filmmaker "tricks", like using children on half-size sets (a shot from the back of Kirk running into the cave on Delta Vega was done like this, as were scenes of Nero being marched to his Klingon interrogation in the deleted scenes) and having the Enterprise being much smaller to fit nicely over the shipyard location (a power plant) then when it appears later on in space.
$185 million is a reasonable budget nowadays. Once you push over $200 million then there is the danger that if you don't have a big opening weekend then the Hollywood press labels you a "flop". Then there would be even LONGER between films.