Back in July when the date got bumped, we learned that Abrams was inching closer to making a decision. The hold up was partially due to Trek co-writer Alex Kurtzman's busy schedule, as he was prepping his directorial debut, Welcome to People. Now that it's wrapped up he, Bob Orci, and Abrams should have the script finished by the end of the month.
Pre-production on highly anticipated flick is already underway, with filming set to commence in the winter. Even though Star Trek has arguably the largest and most loyal sci-fi fanbase this side of Star Wars, the film franchise had been languishing for years. So there was no guarantee that Abrams would be able to jumpstart it successfully. By including a young, recognizable cast and jettisoning years of established continuity(without disregarding it), he turned Trek into a box office heavyweight again, raking in nearly $400M worldwide.