The new Mr Spock - Zachary Quinto - simply couldn't perform it.

Quinto, 31, admitted he found it impossible to form his fingers into the distinctive V-shaped gesture, saying: "It's much harder than it looks. Seriously."

One on-set insider said: "Zach could do the salute some of the time but only after he'd positioned his fingers the right way off-camera.'

According to The Mail on Sunday newspaper in the UK, the the producers of the $150 million blockbuster - which boasts stunning high-tech effects - hit upon a low-tech but logical solution.

"In some scenes he has to do the salute while speaking his lines so they ended up using skin-protective superglue, like they use in hospitals, to stick his fingers together," a source told the Daily Telegraph.