-The original opening for the movie was going to feature the Enterprise NCC-1701 under the command of Robert April, with George Kirk second in command. At the climax of the scene the Enterprise would have been destroyed, and the Enterprise featured through most of the movie would have been its successor, the NCC-1701-A (which didn't debut until Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) in the original timeline). However, Paramount told Kurtzman and Orci that the one thing they absolutely could not do was destroy the Enterprise, even if they were going to replace it with a newer one, and so the "original" Enterprise was rewritten into the USS Kelvin, with Captain April becoming Captain Robau.

-The engine room of the Enterprise was filmed in a Budweiser factory in Van Nuys, California. The engine room of the Kelvin was shot in an old power plant in Long Beach, California.

-As the elder and younger Spocks talk near the end of the film, the shuttle behind the elder has the number "12091" on the side. This corresponds to the release date of the last film to feature the entire original cast, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), which was released in December 1991 and was in fact Leonard Nimoy's first live-action film role since Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

-J.J. Abrams' only two choices for Nero were Russell Crowe and Eric Bana.

-The role of James T. Kirk came down between Mike Vogel and Chris Pine. Vogel was reported as being the front runner for the part but J.J. Abrams decided to cast Pine in the end. Joshua Jackson also auditioned for the role.

-There is a supposed "odd-numbered movie curse" associated with the Star Trek films in which the odd-numbered films tend to be weaker and the even-numbered ones tend to be stronger. This curse was supposedly proved false with the poor reception of film ten, Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) This new Star Trek (2009) is the eleventh film. Years before, Simon Pegg's character in "Spaced" (1999) joked that every odd-numbered Star Trek film being "$%^&" was a fact of life. Pegg noted: "Fate put me in the movie to show me I was talking out of my ***."

-To prepare for his role as Captain James Kirk, Chris Pine watched classic episodes and read encyclopedias about the Star Trek universe. However, his research was rudimentary, as he wanted his performance to be original and not an imitation of William Shatner. He based his performance on Tom Cruise's Maverick and Harrison Ford's Han Solo and Indiana Jones, heroes who Pine felt possessed the archetypal hero qualities Kirk has (humour, arrogance, decisiveness).

-Carol Marcus, Kirk's old love interest and mother of his son from Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982), featured in an early draft of the script as a childhood friend of Kirk's in Iowa but the role was cut by the final draft. Nurse Chapel from the original series also is also referenced in the film and has a line of dialogue: Dr. McCoy calls orders her to prepare a medication after Kirk's hands begin to swell, and she responds, "Yes, sir!" However, she does not appear on-screen.

-The outdoor scene on Vulcan viewed by Spock's mother, Amanda (Winona Ryder), is based on multiple repetitions of the iconic profile of the Vasquez Rocks Natural Park Area just north of Los Angeles along State Highway 14. The rocks have a highly recognizable weathered peak that rises at a 45 degree angle to the horizon. Nine episodes of the original series, including "Star Trek: Shore Leave (#1.15)" (1966), "Star Trek: Arena (#1.18)" (1967), "Star Trek: The Alternative Factor (#1.27)" (1967), and "Star Trek: Friday's Child (#2.11)" (1967), had scenes filmed in this area.

-During Chekov's emergency beam-out, the transporter room symbol graphic is the same scheme design used from the Enterprise set of the 1980s films.

-The planet Delta Vega that Kirk is marooned on is a homage to the second pilot of the original series: "Star Trek: Where No Man Has Gone Before (#1.3)" (1966). It is the location of the Lithium cracking Station where navigator Lee Kelso was murdered and where Jim Kirk defeats his radiation-mutated friend helmsman Lt. Commander Gary Mitchell and his companion, Dr. Elizabeth Dehner.

-The crew on the U.S.S Kelvin use communicators that were of the same style used on the original series; you can see this when the engineer comes into frame and when Kirk's wife is contacting him during the evacuation of the Kelvin. After Nero changes the time line and starts the alternate universe the communicators change drastically.

-Marks the first time in Star Trek that the Stardate corresponds to the year in which the story takes place: Nero travels back in time from 2387 to 2233 and most of the proceedings take place in the year 2258.

-Gary Sinise, who bears a strong resemblance to 'DeForest Kelly', was rumored to have been in consideration to portray Dr. McCoy.

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"All civilizations become either spacefaring or extinct." -- Carl Sagan