After months of waiting, news of the sequel’s progress of Abrams’ ‘Star Trek’ has now emerged and it looks like it is moving quickly. According to TrekMovie, a production start date, location scouting, set design and special effects are already in the works.

If you recall, the original release date of ‘Star Trek 2’ was given to ‘GI Joe: Retailiation’ as J.J. Abrams, David Lindelof, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman were all busy with their own projects to get started working on the sequel and Abrams hadn’t even decided if he wanted to direct the film yet.  This set production back until all the loose ends were tied up. Now word has it that filming will begin on January 15, 2012 and according to Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman, the movie has a potential release date sometime in 2013.

Although nothing of the plot is known, the script has been written and Orci, Kurtzman and Lindelof are currently working on the 3rd draft in order to make sure that the film can fit into the budget that Paramount has set for them. Regarding the rewrites, Orci comments, “rewriting is a good thing which normally makes the script better. We like to keep pushing the script, even if no one gives us notes.”

The film is described as bigger in scope than the original and word has it that Abrams himself has travelled to Hawaii to scout a location to double as part of a “jungle planet.” Location shooting is also said to occur at a Los Angeles museum for what is supposed to be a “famous Star Trek location.” Most of the filming, however take place on the Paramount lot.

Interesting to note is that a lot of the design work for the film has already been completed and some of the special/computer effects have already begun. ILM is currently working on the space effects shots that can be done without any film footage.

Currently, the main cast are the only actors known to be in the movie so far. Benicio Del Toro is said to have met with Abrams to play a villain in the film but nothing is known yet if an official offer has been made to him or who exactly would the villain be. Other than this, no other new roles have been cast.

So what Los Angeles museum do you think they will use as their “famous location” and what is the “jungle planet” the Enterprise team may be visiting? Hopefully some of you Trekkies out there can shed some light below!