Filming on the new Star Trek film is expected to begin today.

According to an article on the Trek Movie Report, shooting will begin on location somewhere in Southern California, with the first scenes on the Paramount lot scheduled for next week. These scenes won't yet feature the Enterprise, as the sets for the iconic Starfleet ship are still being constructed -- the parts of the film taking place onboard the ship will be filmed sometime early next year.

Today marks the end of a period of two and a half years during which no new official Star Trek was being produced. Star Trek: Enterprise shut down production in mid-2005 after a run of four seasons, and shortly afterwards the Enterprise sets were taken down on Stages 8 and 9 at Paramount Pictures. Prior to that, the stages had been in use by the Trek franchise almost continuously for a period of 27 years, beginning with the failed Star Trek: Phase II series, running through several feature films, and finally being used by The Next Generation, Voyager and Enterprise. Early word indicates these same stages will now again be used for the new Trek film.

When Enterprise ended in 2005, executive producer Rick Berman said he expected a new Trek film to appear in cinemas about two or three years later (story), a statement for which he was then widely ridiculed. Now, Berman's prediction seems to be coming true, although Trek won't be returning in the way he imagined it.

Recently, Ain't It Cool News published an article looking at the movie Berman proposed: a Trek prequel called Star Trek: The Beginning, written by Erik Jendresen. The film would have featured Jeffrey Combs' Andorian Commander Shran from Enterprise as the only familiar character, with no place in the story for Kirk, Spock, or any of the other familiar Original Series characters that will now be seen with new faces in the upcoming Trek film. Although Star Trek: The Beginning won't get made, the AICN report is still a fascinating insight into what could have been.

Fans will have to wait a bit longer to see how director J.J. Abrams will be bringing back Trek to the screen. Before the film's actual release, Paramount will be showing teasers for the film attached to other major movies. Latino Review recently reported Paramount is already working on a first teaser trailer that will show the Enterprise being built. It's not yet known when the teaser will be released.

The new Trek film itself is still scheduled for Christmas 2008.

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