The studio asked them to think of it as a western or a thriller or a heist movie then populate it with the beloved Star Trek characters.
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The studio said in its statement that the main franchise stars are expected to return, including Chris Pine (Capt Kirk), Zachary Quinto (Spock), Zoe Saldana (Uhura), Simon Pegg (Scotty), Karl Urban (Dr. McCoy), and John Cho (Sulu).
“It’s been a heck of a ride”. He played Chekov in three films, including “Star Trek: Beyond” releasing on Friday. “But we had prior experience with Doug as a screenwriter”.
“Getting them out on the road was an early decision”, Pegg says. 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. “I’m just missing him and still processing his loss”.
“First and foremost, we wanted to get the Starship Enterprise trekking”.
Kirk’s feeling restless; now a year older than his father was when he died (which also happens to be Kirk’s birthday – see the first movie), the captain wants to leave space exploration and become a vice admiral. “It felt like we need to get this film to be what the original TV series was about, which was a mission to explore the galaxy”. It’s pretty remarkable it worked at all, let alone seems to be so liked by everyone (which is rare for anything Star Trek). In actual fact, these stories should be celebrated for what they are. The dialogue is fun throughout – and there is even a nod to one of Pegg’s past projects in the film – and hard situations are dealt with tactfully and respectfully.
Anton Yelchin’s character Chekov will not be recast in the next Star Trek film. Abrams on Yelchin’s passing, “We knew going into this movie it would be a bit of a heartbreak just because of Leonard [Nimoy]”, Abrams added. “We’ve been a family for a long time and I feel for anyone who’s lost anybody in circumstances that were premature. It’s an unspeakable pain, and we’re all utterly, utterly undone by it”. “For people who didn’t know Anton, things haven’t changed”. “You’ll never see another billboard again!”
“We wanted to recreate the structure of an episode from the original series – they’re orbiting a odd planet and they go down to explore – but told on a very big scale”.
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As director, Justin Lin brings the energy of his previous work to “Star Trek Beyond”, making the two hour running time zip past, and keeping the audience engaged as we see familiar characters thrown into something well outside their comfort zone.
