George Lucas and his Industrial Light & Magic are no strangers to the Star Trek universe. It was ILM that provided the special effects for six out of the 10 Trek films including “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” considered by the majority of Trek fandom as the finest film of the entire franchise and one of the best SF films ever made.

Now Anthony Pascale has filed a story over at Trek Movie Report that ILM has been called to duty by J.J. Abrams to do its thing for his version of “Star Trek,” the 11th film in the 40-plus year old franchise.

In related Trek news, screenwriter Roberto Orci recently told Latino Review that this 11th Trek film, which he and writing partner Alex Kurtzman have penned is more of an “introduction to the [Star Trek] world, but not necessarily exactly a prequel.”

We have learned that, despite what fans may have heard otherwise from news sources, both he and Kurtzman want William Shatner in this next film along with Leonard Nimoy, and that the NCC-1701 U.S.S. Enterprise will be an integral part of the movie.

Orci revealed that the script is finished and shooting is definitely set for this November. Various locations are being sought and sets are being built, and they are right in the middle of casting many of the major roles. As we reported earlier here on Slice, some of those casting choices will be revealed at this year’s Comic Con.

The Latino Review covers a lot of ground with Orci including his work on “Transformers,” the possibilities for “G.I. Joe,” “Amazon,” and Whitley Striber’s “2012.” Be sure to listen to Slice of SciFi Show #116 this Saturday, July 7 as we will be discussing the film “Amazon.”

You can read the entire Latino Review interview HERE