Starship Enterprise crewmembers Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg and Anton Yelchin and the rest of their Star Trek co-stars blocked out their schedule to begin work on the Star Trek sequel in January 2012. With the start of production so close, more details about the movie slowly became public.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Paramount Pictures confirmed May 17, 2013 as the opening date for STAR TREK 2. Paramount also verified director J.J. Abrams shooting Star Trek 2 in 3D.
Its May 17, 2013 release date was just the latest news item for the high-profile sequel. At a promotional event for the Blu-ray and DVD release of his invading alien movie Super 8, Abrams confirmed continuing discussions with veteran actor Benicio del Toro about taking a role in the movie.
Of course, Abrams refused to be specific about Del Toro’s part in the movie but fans remained convinced that De Toro was considering a role as a villainous Klingon.
Paramount clearly showed their confidence in Abrams and writers Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Damon Lindelof delivering a dynamite Star Trek sequel. They scheduled Star Trek 2 - 3D directly after the tent pole pictures Iron Man 3 and Guillermo del Toro’s giant robot battling aliens adventure Pacific Rim.