Personally, I'm of the opinion that Star Trek is Star Trek because of the history that it has developed over these long decades. Once one begins to mess with that history, the franchise unravels and looses its character. It will stop being Trek.
I dunno; maybe that's the advantage to having watched "Star Trek" from its inception on NBC: I remember that it in many ways was at its greatest
before it was dragging decades of history behind it, when every week was a fresh story containing unexpected elements and really new information about the characters and their histories (and - only parenthetically and in passing - the history and nature of the civilization from which they supposedly sprang).
"Star Trek" was cool before there was such a thing as "Starfleet" or "The Federation," and for many years before there was a name - "trekkie" - for the folks who liked it.
If to get just a little of that back it's necessary for "Star Trek" to "stop being Trek," then as far as I'm concerned it's way past time to get on with that.
I understand what you're saying. However, one cannot escapeTrek history now. Too many fans are too invested in it at this point. Change the show dramatically and you may loose a good portion of those fans.
And whatever JJ and the suits at Paramount like to think, they can't get enough new fans to keep the show going. So, keep it or loose it. You can build on the fanchise, but you simply can't rebuild it.
Trek has become a pop culture institution. You move a few bricks and the building will stand, but if you start messing with its foundation, well then, the whole thing will come tumbling down. Continuity can be adjusted, but we will see how dramatically. I don't think fans will go see a second movie if those changes hit at the core of Trek lore.
At least that's my opinion.
Transformers was a pop culture institution and Orci and Kurtzman wrote a kick ass story which earned them 700 million dollars in the world wide box office. There aren't enough Transformers fans to Justify 700 million dollars.
The same applies to Trek
Here is the gross take
Listed in Date Released, Title, 1st weekend, US gross, World wide gross and the last is budge.
12/7/1979
Star Trek: The Motion Picture $11,926,421 $82,258,456 $139,000,000 $35,000,000
6/4/1982
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan $14,347,221 $79,912,963 $96,800,000 $12,000,000
6/1/1984
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock $16,673,229 $76,471,046 $87,000,000 $18,000,000
11/26/1986
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home $16,881,888 $109,713,132 $133,000,000 $24,000,000
6/9/1989
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier $17,375,648 $52,210,049 $70,200,000 $30,000,000
12/6/1991
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country $18,162,837 $74,888,996 $96,900,000 $27,000,000
11/18/1994
Star Trek: Generations $23,116,394 $75,671,262 $120,000,000 $38,000,000
11/22/1996
Star Trek: First Contact $30,716,131 $92,027,888 $150,000,000 $46,000,000
12/11/1998
Star Trek: Insurrection $22,052,836 $70,187,658 $117,800,000 $70,000,000
12/13/2002
Star Trek: Nemesis $18,513,305 $43,254,409 $67,312,826 $60,000,000
So as you can see the series has soley existed on fan support and the most it could make is 150 million For First Contact.. A NEXT GEN MOVE.
What Abrams wants to do is make Trek more accessible, by going back and re-introducing it to a new and wider audiance... What's wrong with trying to earn more fans?
