When deciding whether to accept the task of making a new
Star Trek movie, Director
J.J. Abrams had to figure out what
Star Trek was after so many series and movies and stories had already been told.
As reported by
Little White Lies,
Star Trek's long history and many stories made it tough to figure out what
Star Trek really meant. "My reaction, when they asked me if I wanted to be involved," explained Abrams, "was what had
Star Trek become? It had been so diffused by many iterations, new ships, new characters, it's not a brand-new idea. I didn't even realize there had been ten movies of
Star Trek when I got involved in it."
Abrams narrowed it down to what he felt was the essence of
Star Trek. "So for me, my knee-jerk reaction was to do Kirk and Spock," he said. "Go back to those characters because I don't even know what
Star Trek is anymore. I'm not even sure whether it's
Next Generation or
Voyager,
Deep Space Nine or
Enterprise. I mean there have been so many iterations, it felt like the last thing I wanted to do was do another new ship, new characters and slap the
Star Trek name on it. To me, the only thing that was
Star Trek at the core was Kirk and Spock."
