Anton’s death is the second bereavement the “Star Trek” cast have had to cope with in the last 18 months, as last February Leonard Nimoy, who played Mr. Spock in the original TV series and films died aged 83. He was excited to step in because, as he explained, Star Trek is celebrating its 50th anniversary and the franchise was “something that I grew up with”.
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J.J. Abrams has lead tributes to the late Anton Yelchin at the premiere of Star Trek Beyond.
“(Anton) was a great guy, totally fearless”, says his fellow San Fernando Valley boy Chris Pine, whose Capt. James T. Kirk spends the first half of “Beyond” paired-up with Chekov on a hostile alien planet.
“Anton Yelchin should be here”. I’m hoping we get more of that and less INTO DARKNESS in this follow-up!
J.J. Abrams, who relaunched the series in 2009 with a new cast and directed the 2013 sequel had his hands full with “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, and would cede directing responsibilities to Justin Lin – the man who turned the lagging “Fast & Furious” series into an worldwide phenomenon. “I would say there’s no replacing him. There’s no recasting. I can’t possibly imagine that, and I think Anton deserves better”, Abrams said.
The famed director admitted that he has thought about killing the character off, but he’s not ready to approach that topic just yet.
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One of our favorite relationships in Star Trek was the often strained friendship between Spock and Bones.
