Star Trek's famed Starfleet Academy has been seen many times, but J.J. Abrams' Star Trek (2009) had the most widely seen version. Starfleet Academy is about to become the setting and basis of Star Trek's next TV series on Paramount+. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is in production in Toronto starring Academy Award-winner Holly Hunter and Academy Award nominee Paul Giamatti, with Star Trek executive producer Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau as showrunners and a cast including Star Trek legacy characters.
Starfleet Academy is the breeding ground for future Star Trek Captains and starship crews. Young adults from every member world of the United Federation of Planets study at Starfleet Academy for the chance to live their dream of exploring strange new worlds and seeking out new life and new civilizations. Starfleet Academy is traditionally located in San Francisco, although the school reopened in outer space a century after The Burn in Star Trek: Discovery season 4. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy brings the school back to San Francisco.
J.J. Abrams’ 2009 Movie Had Star Trek’s Most Famous Starfleet Academy
Abrams Showed Starfleet Academy To Mainstream Audiences
Several important scenes in Star Trek (2009) took place at Starfleet Academy, and J.J. Abrams' blockbuster movie is the most widely seen version of the school. Star Trek (2009) is the highest-grossing Star Trek movie of all time. Not only did generations of Star Trek fans watch J.J. Abrams' reboot, but the film was also a hit with mainstream audiences, many of whom enjoyed their first Star Trek experience. Watching James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) cheat to win the Kobayashi Maru no-win scenario and face a trial prosecuted by Spock (Leonard Nimoy) is likely the most famous scene set at Starfleet Academy.
The exteriors of Star Trek (2009)'s Starfleet Academy were filmed at California State University in Northridge. Besides Kirk's Kobayashi Maru test and trial overseen by Admiral Barnett (Tyler Perry), other scenes set at Starfleet Academy include Kirk and Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (Karl Urban) speaking outdoors and Kirk in bed with Gaila (Rachel Nichols), the Orion roommate of Nyota Uhura (Zoe Saldana). Star Trek (2009) conveyed Starfleet Academy as an elite school with a party atmosphere thanks to Jim Kirk's exploits.
Star Trek: TNG Finally Showed Starfleet Academy On Television
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Also Opened At Starfleet Academy
Star Trek: The Original Series made mention of Starfleet Academy and Captain James T. Kirk's (William Shatner) matriculation, but it was Star Trek: The Next Generation that finally showed the Academy and its famous campus. In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 5, episode 19, "The First Duty," Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) returned to the Academy for Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) and Nova Squadron's hearing over the death of a classmate. Starfleet Academy in TNG left an indelible impression on audiences and future Star Trek filmmakers.
The Japanese Garden in Van Nuys, California, is the setting for the exterior campus of Starfleet Academy in Star Trek: The Next Generation .
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan actually opened at Starfleet Academy, depicting Lieutenant Saavik (Kirstie Alley) taking the Kobayashi Maru test. However, Star Trek II's Starfleet Academy scenes were limited to the Kobayashi Maru simulator and hallways. Starfleet Academy has since been seen in Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Lower Decks, and Star Trek: Prodigy. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is the first time an entire series will be set in the school, and the Academy will finally be depicted in its full 32nd-century glory as the series is filming on the largest sets ever built for Star Trek.
Starfleet Academy Almost Became A Movie Before Star Trek VI
Star Trek: The Academy Years Became Star Trek VI
Starfleet Academy was once planned as the basis for the sixth Star Trek movie. After the box office disappointment of William Shatner's Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, producer Harve Bennett had an idea to reboot the Star Trek movies. Bennett conjured a prequel titled Star Trek: The Academy Years (also known as Star Trek: The Beginning), which would have been about the young James Kirk meeting Spock and Leonard McCoy at the Academy, with the trio taking on their first adventure.
However, the pending 25th anniversary of Star Trek in 1991 led Paramount Pictures to greenlight one more movie starring the cast of Star Trek: The Original Series, which became Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Ironically, J.J. Abrams' Star Trek (2009) reboot would depict the young Kirk, Spock, and McCoy meeting in the Starfleet Academy of the alternate Kelvin timeline. By recasting Star Trek's iconic Original Series characters, J.J. Abrams did what Harve Bennett hoped to accomplish and showed moviegoers an unforgettable version of Starfleet Academy.
