Making sure a movie is a huge box office hit involves a lot of pre-planning. Its not just a case of spending $200 million and keeping your fingers crossed that the audience flocks in on the opening weekend. Like launching a new toy or gadget, modern blockbusters are a product produced by committee; a product designed to appeal to the masses and maximise profits. Not everyone who goes to the cinema wants to be intellectually stimulated. They want to be entertained and have a good time while they eat their overpriced popcorn and drink combos. While there is nothing wrong with that, it can leave some feeling cold and frustrated as each movie appears to be paint-by-numbers hollow experience. Never offensive, overloaded with CGI action and set at a breakneck pace; everything is designed to stimulate the senses like a Big Mac or a music video. Film studios use this style to make sure there is a decent chance of a healthy profit on their investment. Artistic vision takes a secondary position as the focus is firmly on ticking boxes to satisfy the average Joe. Many directors are happy to make movies like this and the kings of the current crop are Michael Bay and JJ Abrams. Where Michael Bay is blatant that his movies are nothing more than exploitation of the art of film making, director/producers like JJ Abrams use tricks to fool the audience into thinking that their movies are different. Like a world-class illusionist, Abrams mystery box method fools some into believing that his movies have layers. But stripped down, his films are no different than a Bayformers movie. In the short-term and as a business model, this method makes money and it allows the studio to claim a film is a box office success. JJ Abrams has two beloved franchises in his charge. Star Wars is forthcoming and he has already presented the world with his version of Star Trek. Working under the premise of making Star Trek appeal to the mass audience, he has definitely achieved that aim, even if it meant turning Star Trek into something its not. So how did he do it? How did he make the general cinema-goer show interest in Star Trek? What rules do you need to follow in-order to make an established nerdy series have mass audience appeal? Well wonder no more becasue here is the JJ Abrams guide to rebooting a franchise.