Abrams, director Justin Lin, and the cast arrived wearing these black Star Trek insignia pins in honor of their fallen friend.
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Sadly, co-star Anton Yelchin who was also part of the new franchise was nowhere to be found.
The film arrives as Trekkies celebrate 50 years of “Star Trek”, which started out as a TV show, has enjoyed several incarnations prior to JJ Abrams’ 2009 reboot and shows no sign of slowing down.
Anton, who played Starship Enterpise crewmember Chekov in the rebooted Star Trek franchise, passed away last month (Jun16) aged 27 after a freak auto accident outside his Los Angeles home. There is something missing tonight. Anton’s parents are here, Irina and Victor. Quinto, who is also known as Spock in the series, took a few moments to celebrate and acknowledge him.
Now producer J.J. Abrams has revealed a decision has been made to retire the role of Ensign Pavel Chekov as a mark of respect to Yelchin.
In an interview with Postmedia Network, published by the Toronto Sun, Abrams spoke about the idea of bringing on a new actor, explaining, “I would say there’s no replacing him”. “There’s no re-casting. I can’t possibly imagine that, and I think Anton deserves better”.
These are huge Star Trek Beyond spoilers!
When asked whether the character would be killed off, Abrams said that he has “thought about it, we’re working on it, and it’s too early to talk about it”.
According to Deadline.com, J.J. took to the stage at San Diego’s Embarcadero Marina Park Amphitheater and said, “There’s something missing”.
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Just before the tribute to Yelchin, Zachary Quinto, who plays Spock in the franchise, paid tribute to the man who originated the role.
