Anton Yelchin’s role in the Star Trek movies will not be recast following his death, producer JJ Abrams has said. Yelchin played Chekov in three Star Trek films, including the upcoming Beyond.
Advertisement
“I would say there’s no replacing him”. “But none us could have possibly imagined the unfathomable tragedy of losing Anton”.
27-year-old Yelchin died in a tragic accident on June 19 when his SUV rolled back down his driveway and crushed him against the gate of his home in Studio City.
The sci-fi sequel premiered Wednesday night to more than 3,500 attendees at a flashy invite-only event held at San Diego’s Embarcadero Marina Park just outside the site of the four-day pop-culture convention.
Leonard, who had a cameo as an alternate reality version of his character in the modern films, is honoured within the plot of the new movie, a tribute Zachary was delighted about. It’s nice to see something go our way for a change, although overall the US Netflix library is still a lot healthier than the Australian library.
The rest of the Enterprise crew had face time on the bridge, but in Star Trek Beyond, the playing field is leveled.
And then, in late February 2015, Leonard Nimoy – the man who originated Mr. Spock – died of end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at age 83.
So Pegg and Jung wrote Ambassador Spock’s off-screen death into the film, using it to affect Quinto’s arc, and also serve as an elegy to the actor.
“In all the years we’ve been working on this, I’ve yet to hear a pitch that didn’t sound too contorted and contrived for an audience to swallow”. It’s the kind of twist that’s fairly obvious for Trek – it’s not an outside threat, it’s been one of us all along! – but it’s absolutely presented in the movie as a major revelation.
Advertisement
With the Star Trek: Beyond release date barely a few weeks away, the studio’s already certain they’ve locked a big summer blockbuster – so certain, in fact, a fourth installment has already been approved, with one surprising returning cast member: Chris Hemsworth!
