Star Trek (2009) had several conspicuous product placements that confused audiences, but there’s a reason the film depicts Nokia in the 23rd century. Director J.J. Abrams had to jump through quite a few hoops to ensure Star Trek (2009) happened after many people doubted a movie recreating such a beloved story and cast would be successful. In the process of rebooting Star Trek, several advertising deals were struck. However, because the Star Trek universe boasts a post-capitalist utopia that doesn’t rely on money, advertisements seem out of place.
Behind the scenes of Star Trek (2009), a creative team worked through these developmental hiccups and created a film that’s often credited as being one of the best in the complete Star Trek timeline. To make such a monumental movie possible, Star Trek’s artists and creators responsible for the movie’s physical props and sets spared no expense – literally. Creatives for the film had to go to some pretty extreme measures to make even the smallest detail stand out on screen, and those efforts included consulting major companies to help recreate some of Star Trek’s most iconic technology for a modern audience.
The Canon Explanation For Star Trek 2009’s Puzzling Nokia Cameo
Early in Star Trek (2009), Jimmy Bennett lengthened the list of actors who played James T. Kirk. The future Starfleet captain takes his stepdad’s 1965 Corvette Stingray for a joyride, and in the antique car is another notable piece of history: the word “Nokia.” The communicator built into the Corvette is a Nokia, complete with the company’s recognizable ringtone. The young Jim Kirk is quick to silence the call, but the sight and sound of a Nokia brings with it many questions. What is a branded communicator doing in a post-capitalist society?
According to Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) in Star Trek: First Contact, money in the Star Trek universe is more or less unused. While it’s not entirely obsolete, a major corporation like Nokia is unlikely. According to Star Trek (2009) producer Bob Orci, a canon explanation for the Nokia product placement isn’t out of the question if the company had been nationalized in the Star Trek timeline. However, that reasoning doesn’t explain why the product placement made it into the film in the first place. Instead, a classic Star Trek device may be behind the puzzling product placement.
The BTS Story Of Nokia’s Star Trek Movie C ameo
While designing props for the film, Star Trek (2009)property master Russell Bobbitt took inspiration from unlikely places. In a 2009 interview, the man behind Star Trek (2009)’s props told Screen Rant that he consulted Nokia when designing the new communicator: “I connected with Nokia, their engineers, and we asked ourselves, ‘What will it be 400 years in the future?’ We did some conceptual drawings and built a $50,000.00 prototype communicator,” Bobbitt explained. The result was a sleek, modern design for an outdated communicator fit for a younger audience. In return, Nokia landed a cameo in the film.
Product placements in Star Trek projects have often been criticized, with some claiming that they risk taking the fantasy out of a futuristic sci-fi narrative. While Nokia might not make much sense as a capitalist company in an otherwise distinctly post-capitalist society, the behind-the-scenes reasoning for the cameo sheds some light on an otherwise puzzling part of the film. The creative team behind Star Trek (2009) worked with many companies to create the props and technology in the film, and Nokia just so happened to get a cameo in return.
