Moviefone Editorial

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  • Simon Pegg Angry That ‘Star Trek Beyond’ Was ‘Poorly Marketed’ & Spoiled by Trailer

    Listen all y’all, there was a sabotage of “Star Trek Beyond.”

    Simon Pegg plays Scotty in the “Star Trek” reboot film series, and he co-wrote the script for 2016’s “Star Trek Beyond.”

    “Beyond” had a reported budget of $185 million and made about $373 million worldwide. Contrast that to the previous film, “Star Trek: Into Darkness,” which earned $467 million.

    While Pegg seemed to have a great professional experience making the film — and he was pleased that critics and fans both enjoyed the finished product — he was frustrated with the box office results, and blamed a lot of it on marketing.

    Pegg tried to set it straight, this Watergate, in a chat with Geek Exchange:

    “I think it was poorly marketed, to be honest. If you look at a film like ‘Suicide Squad,’ that was around for such a long time before it finally came out and people were so aware of it. Whereas with ‘Star Trek Beyond,’ it was left too late before they started their marketing push. It still did great business, but it was disappointing compared to ‘Into Darkness.’”

    Pegg was also not happy with the first trailer spoiling a planned surprise:

    “I was really angry about that, because it used ‘Sabotage,’ which was our surprise moment in the end. It was supposed to be a very fun and heightened twist, and something that was a big surprise and they blew it in the first trailer, which really annoyed me.”

    He was also frustrated with Paramount’s marketing going for the wrong tone, and missing a major promotion opportunity:

    “They also made the film look like a boneheaded action film. And they were scared, I think, of mentioning the 50th Anniversary.

    It was fumbled as a thing; they didn’t know what to do with it and it’s a real shame. But I came away from it really, really happy and very proud of it.”

    Fans and critics both seemed to be on the same page about “Star Trek Beyond,” rating it 80-84 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and 67-68 on Metacritic.

    Read the full Geek Exchange report for Pegg’s tease about a script being written for a fourth movie, after “Star Trek,” “Into Darkness,” and “Beyond.” There’s a connection to Quentin Tarantino, whether that ever pans out or not.

    Simon Pegg can next be seen in Steven Spielberg’s “Ready Player One,” opening March 29, and then in “Mission: Impossible – Fallout,” out July 27.

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  • Here’s Why Alice Eve Isn’t in ‘Star Trek Beyond’

    Where’s Dr. Carol Marcus? Alice Eve‘s character was introduced in 2013’s “Star Trek Into Darkness,” and seemed poised to return with possibly even more to do than look sexy. But she is not in the new film “Star Trek Beyond.” Why not?

    “Star Trek Beyond” co-writer Simon Pegg (Scotty) explained the reasoning to Star Trek Podcast (via JoBlo):

    “With this it felt like we would under-serve her if we included her, she might end up feeling like she hadn’t been given the amount of screen-time she deserves, so rather than bring her in and just have her be a supporting role, like, have her not be in this one, and when the time comes [bring her back], the worst thing to do would be to have her in the film and have that character be killed, and that felt like a cynical thing to do. We thought rather than have Carol Marcus not be used to a reasonable capacity, let’s just not include her, have her be alive, in canon, and ready to come back at any time.”

    Pegg said they did have a brief explanation of her absence in the film — a draft of the script saying Carol had gone off to start work on Project Genesis — but it didn’t make the final cut of the film.

    “Star Trek 4” is already in the works, and it’s possible Dr. Marcus can return for that. Do you hope she does?

    Want more stuff like this? Like us on Facebook.Simon Pegg Explains Why Carol Marcus Was Absent in New Star Trek Film

  • Why Are Sequels Like ‘Star Trek Beyond’ Hurting at the Box Office?

    Star Trek Beyond†(2016)Left to right: Sofia Boutella (plays Jaylah) and Simon Pegg (plays Scotty)This weekend saw “Star Trek Beyond” boldly go where no recent “Star Trek” movie has gone: to a debut below $70 million.

    The third film since the franchise was rebooted in 2009, “Beyond” opened with an estimated $59.6 million, near the low end of expectations. This despite a splashy premiere at Comic-Con last week, stellar reviews (84 percent fresh at Rotten Tomatoes), and word-of-mouth (an A- at CinemaScore).
    Still, it did a lot better than this weekend’s other new wide-release sequel, “Ice Age: Collision Course.” The fifth movie in the 14-year-old animated franchise had widely been expected to open around $32 million. Instead, it found itself in a near three-way tie for third place, and possibly in fifth place, with just an estimated $21.0 million. That’s below even the new horror film “Lights Out,” a movie with no star power, low-budget ($4.9 million) production values, and nearly 1,200 fewer screens.

    “Lights Out” opened in 2,818 theaters (compared to 3,992 for “Ice Age”) and still managed to exceed expectations with an estimated $21.6 million opening. It tied for third place with “Ghostbusters” in its second weekend — which saw a problematic drop of 56 percent. These numbers may be adjusted when Monday’s final tallies come in, but they don’t speak well for “Ice Age” — or for “Ghostbusters.”
    As it turns out, both “Beyond” and “Collision Course” are playing into this year’s trend of sequel fatigue. According to Box Office Mojo, 2016’s wide-release sequels have opened 13 percent lower on average than their predecessors. All year long, Hollywood has suffered from “sequel fatigue.” From January through summer, unless you were Marvel or Disney, these are the titles expected to be sure things that proved to be anything but: “Ride Along 2,” “Zoolander No. 2,” “The Divergent Series: Allegiant,” “London Has Fallen,” “The Huntsman: Winter’s War,” “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” “Independence Day: Resurgence,” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.”

    In fact, there have been only five sequels this year that enjoyed bigger opening weekends than their predecessors. (And only a handful of sequels that opened to more than $60 million — which usually isn’t a high bar to clear during blockbuster season.) “Finding Dory” opened twice as big as “Finding Nemo,” though the 44 percent rise in ticket prices since 2003 and the addition of 3D and IMAX surcharges may have something to do with that.
    Similarly, the new “Ghostbusters” opened 56 percent bigger than 1989’s “Ghostbusters II,” but tickets cost 118 percent more than they did 27 years ago, which means the previous installment sold 2.1 million more tickets than the reboot. “Captain America: Civil War” opened nearly twice as big as “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” but if you look at “Civil War” as the Marvel Cinematic Universe follow-up to “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” then it premiered with $12 million less than last year’s Marvel summer smash.

    “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2” opened 30 times as big as the first “Wedding,” but it also opened on 29 times as many screens as the 2002 indie sleeper hit. Since it opened in March, “Wedding 2” has yet to top $60 million, while the original grossed $241 million.

    Really, the only sequel this year that’s significantly outperformed its predecessor — without having to account for inflation, premium format surcharges, or theater count — is “The Purge: Election Year.” Over the July 4th weekend, it opened $1.7 million above “The Purge: Anarchy” and is already the most lucrative of the three “Purge” movies so far, by a margin of about $5 million and counting.
    Contrast these with the sequels that underperformed, and patterns begins to emerge.
    Many of them seemingly waited too long between installments (20 years for “Independence Day,” 15 years for “Zoolander No. 2”). Key players from the earlier films were missing in action (Kristen Stewart from “Huntsman,” Will Smith from “Independence Day,” Tim Burton from “Alice”) or showed up only in cameos (Hugh Jackman in “X-Men: Apocalypse,” the original “Ghostbusters” in the 2016 “Ghostbusters”). Most of all, these movies suffered from poor execution. Writing, acting, directing — even special effects — were often subpar, as if there were no more need for creativity once the marketers figured out what would go after the colon in the title.

    That certainly seems to have been the issue with the new “Ice Age.” It got only a 13 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes (yikes!) and a B+ at CinemaScore, indicating okay word-of-mouth. Six of the 12 top-grossing movies of the year so far are about talking animals, but neither viewers nor critics thought “Ice Age” good enough to join that list. Or maybe the talking-animal marketplace is just oversaturated. (“Ice Age” marks the lowest opening for a studio-released animated film in a decade.)

    Indeed, over-saturation seems to have been a larger problem with big-budget filmmaking in recent months. Besides sequels “Out of the Shadows,” “Independence Day: Resurgence,” and “Ghostbusters,” there were also “The Legend of Tarzan,” “The BFG,” and “Warcraft” — all expensive summer movies that failed to open above $50 million. Even “Beyond,” which did open above $50 million and also earned praise from both moviegoers and reviewers for its execution, still found the multiplex too crowded. Which is why, for all its positive attributes, “Beyond” still opened under the cloud of low expectations.
    Of course, all these movies were based on pre-existing titles whose familiarity was supposed to guarantee a built-in audience. It’s weird that Hollywood is so risk-averse with movie premises, yet is willing to risk hundreds of millions to shoot and promote these films. Once you’re spending almost $150 million to make these films — before P & A — you’re gambling again, and even a modest box office success like “Tarzan” or Ghostbusters” suddenly risks looking like a failure.

    Still, Hollywood considers originality an even bigger risk, since untried ideas are harder to sell. As it turns out, three of the top ten movies so far this year aren’t sequels or reboots or adaptations at all, but are based on original screenplays: “Zootopia,” “The Secret Life of Pets,” and “Central Intelligence.”

    Three out of ten doesn’t sound like much, but at least it proves that, in a marketplace overrun with lackluster sequels and new would-be blockbusters that look like sequels, there’s still room for original movies that are well made and smartly marketed.
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  • Weekend Box Office: ‘Star Trek Beyond’ Beams Up $59.6 Million, ‘Ice Age’ Bombs

    By Brent Lang

    LOS ANGELES, July 24 (Variety.com) – “Star Trek Beyond” opened to a solid $59.6 million this weekend, signaling that after six television series, 13 movies, and 50 years in the pop culture conversation, there’s still life left in one of Hollywood’s most durable franchises.

    And there are more intergalactic missions to come. As boon to Trekkies, Paramount took the unusual step of announcing yet another sequel was in the works even before this latest USS Enterprise adventure sailed into theaters. The studio has lined up Chris Hemsworth to reprise his role as Capt. Kirk’s father, despite the fact that he was earlier depicted being incinerated in a spaceship disaster. In science-fiction, it seems, death is merely a temporary predicament.

    The latest film performed respectably, but its opening is down from the two previous films in the series. “Beyond” could neither match the $70.2 million launch of 2013’s “Star Trek Into Darkness,” nor top the $75.2 million bow of 2009’s “Star Trek.” Moreover, with a price tag of $185 million, plus tens of millions in promotional spending, the film needs to perform well overseas if it’s going to make a profit.

    That’s not a problem for one of the weekend’s other new releases, Fox’s “Ice Age: Collision Course.” The fifth film in the animated series focuses on a group of Paleolithic creatures racked up $21 million from 3,992 locations. That would be a worrisome, even disastrous result for a film that carries a $105 million budget. However, the “Ice Age” films have always been received more warmly overseas than they are stateside.

    The most recent installment, 2012’s “Continental Drift,” did 81.6% of its $877.2 million global total overseas, while its predecessor, 2009’s “Dawn of the Dinosaur,” picked up 77.8% of its $886.7 million worldwide haul in foreign markets. “Collision Course” has already grossed over $140 million internationally in 60 markets, so even though its domestic results are disappointing, the film could theoretically make money.

    In a triumph of profit margins, New Line Cinema’s “Lights Out” racked up $21.6 million in its debut. That’s a healthy return on its $5 million budget. Though its parent studio, Warner Bros., has struggled of late, New Line is enjoying a hot hand at the multiplexes. Earlier this summer, the label scored with the action comedy “Central Intelligence” and the horror sequel “The Conjuring 2.”

    Among holdovers, Illumination Entertainment and Universal’s “The Secret Life of Pets” continues to be one of the year’s biggest hits, adding $29.3 million to its $260.7 million haul.

    In its fifth weekend of release, “Independence Day: Resurgence” crawled over the $100 million mark, earning less than $1 million for the weekend. The $165 million production has gotten a little assistance overseas, earning nearly $250 million.

    A week after debuting in a handful of theaters, “Hillary’s America” expanded to 1,217 locations, picking up $3.7 million. The controversial documentary alleges that the Democratic Party has covered up its historical support of slavery and racism. It’s the latest work from Dinesh D’Souza, the director of “2016: Obama’s America.”

    Woody Allen‘s “Cafe Society” also did well in its expansion, moving from five theaters to 50, and picking up $875,000 in the process. The nostalgic look at old Hollywood has earned $1.4 million. Amazon is releasing the film through a distribution partnership with Lionsgate.

    Among limited releases, Fox Searchlight debuted “Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie” in 313 theaters where the big screen version of the cult series earned $1.9 million.

    The Film Arcade’s “Don’t Think Twice” bowed to $90,126 in a single location, representing the year’s highest per-screen average. Mike Birbiglia (“Sleepwalk With Me“) directs the look at the members of an improv group, as they face career crossroads.

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  • 19 ‘Star Trek Beyond’ Details Revealed by the Cast and Crew

    Captain James T Kirk in STAR TREK BEYONDThe Star Trek franchise is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a new, action-packed entry: “Star Trek Beyond.”

    The franchise, originally created by Gene Rodenberry, made its debut in 1966 as a TV series about the adventures of James T. Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise. Although the original series only ran for three seasons, many new iterations have appeared on television and in theaters in the 50 years since. “Star Trek Beyond“ is the latest in the franchise, putting director Justin Lin at the head of the ship. J.J. Abrams remains part of the franchise, this time in an executive producer role, while co-star Simon Pegg takes on co-writing the script along with Doug Jung.

    At the “Star Trek Beyond” press day, cast members Chris Pine, Karl Urban, John Cho, Zoe Saldana, and Simon Pegg shared their thoughts on the evolution of Star Trek, the loss of Leonard Nimoy and co-star Anton Yelchin, and what the new message of the franchise is. Here are 19 things the cast shared.

    1. Simon Pegg wanted to pay homage to the 50th anniversary of Star Trek by creating “a hybrid of an episode of the original series with a spectacular cinematic event” for “Star Trek Beyond.”

    2. Pegg also wanted to make sure that everyone who had been there, character- or story-wise, got what they wanted, while also making it welcoming for those who had never seen any Star Trek films or TV series before.

    3. “Beyond” takes place at a time the Enterprise has been out for 966 days — a nod to the original “Star Trek” series’ premiere (September 8, 1966).Spock and Bones in STAR TREK BEYOND4. “Star Trek Beyond” pairs Spock (Zachary Quinto) and McCoy (Karl Urban) together through most of the film. Urban said that he felt it was great to have “two characters that are so diametrically opposed to each other, be forced into a situation where they have to depend on each other to survive” and that it was the most fun he’s had making a Star Trek film.

    5. Quinto agreed with Urban and felt that they got to “know each other and appreciate each other more than we already did, which was already a significant amount.” He also added that he felt fans of the series would enjoy seeing the dynamic between the two characters.Uhura and Sulu in STAR TREK BEYOND6. The reveal of Sulu being gay was not as important to John Cho as how it was handled. Cho said that he thought it “a beautiful idea and was just concerned with how it would be received. It was the handling of it that was most important to me. Its nonchalant posture towards it is the best thing about it. The fact that it is normalized, but if you re-watch it, in 10 years, you won’t think anything of it. That’s the best thing about it. There’s no music queue, no close-up.”

    7. George Takei and Cho are actually on great terms and email all the time, despite what the media may have interpreted Takei’s conflicting opinion on Sulu’s sexuality. Cho says they’ve had, “big, long, lovely discussions about it[…] We were never shouting at each other, or anything like that. And it’s a great discussion to have. I’m really happy with the way that it’s been talked about and responded to, and I’m still a huge fan of G.T., for sure.”

    8. Zoe Saldana (Uhura) was puzzled that people were more concerned over revealing Sulu was gay, rather than the fact that it is revealed that Sulu is a father. “I also feel quite puzzled that we were having a bit of a fit over who he fathered a baby with,” she says.Spock in STAR TREK BEYOND9. The film has a tribute to Leonard Nimoy, and the cast felt it was important to honor his legacy. Quinto felt that Nimoy was still very much a part of making “Beyond,” and that he will be a part of anything they do moving forward.

    10. Director Justin Lin wanted to be a part of “Beyond” so he could achieve his childhood dream of blowing up the Enterprise … but then put it back together. Pegg, on the other hand, hated the idea, and it took some convincing to get him on board. He finally warmed to the idea because it allows the characters to figure out how to come back together as a family.Justin Lin on the set of STAR TREK BEYOND11. The decision behind using “Sabotage” by the Beastie Boys in the film’s climax was easy, “it’s just a kick-ass song. If anything’s going to blow up a swarm of spaceships, it’s going to be the Beastie Boys.” said Pegg.

    12. Saldana appreciated that, in “Beyond,” Pegg and Doug Jung (co-writer) made the characters more human. She added that “Being overly worked, being away from home and all the things that keep you grounded, can put a strain, not just on the intimate relationships that you may have, but also the professional ones. I thought I would never see the day where I would walk into the Enterprise, and we’re not that excited to see each other. I thought, Okay, this is a great place to start because I can only imagine where we’re going to end up. We literally end up in the opposite direction. We’re dying to be close to each other. We’re dying to save each other to get back together. I thought, Okay, that’s brilliant.“Uhura in STAR TREK BEYOND13. Saldana also talked about the parallels between her character, Uhura, and women of today. She stated, “Women are becoming very, very independent; not just in the workforce, but also in their personal lives. There’s something about realizing that you should want to be a part of something, but you don’t necessarily have to be a part of something, in order to be validated or respected or appreciated or considered strong enough … There is a parallel universe situation that’s going on with Uhura and women these days, where there’s no longer this animosity or this resentment to prove who you are. You just want to be left alone to find out who you are because you’re interesting and you’re curious.”

    14. The costume designer, Sanja Milkovic Hays, added ranks to all the women’s Starfleet costumes so that it felt like a throwback, yet modernized.

    15. When asked which timeline they would choose to be in, Cho said that he preferred theirs because he feels that this version is able to give more to women and people of color, adding, “Roddenberry did set up a world that was incredibly progressive, but it was tempered by the social mores of the era. I feel like we can go further in 2016 than he was able to do at the time.”Jaylah in STAR TREK BEYOND16. Jaylah’s original name was “Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone” which was what they wanted the character to be — an independent, resourceful female. But, after saying the name a few times, it got tiring and shortened to J-Law, which became Jaylah.

    17. Each member of the cast remembered Anton Yelchin (Chekov) as an intelligent, sweet guy who was fearless creatively. For most of the cast, they recall him working on various pet projects, like working to translate a Russian novel into English.Chekov and Kirk in STAR TREK BEYOND18. Quinto believes that “Star Trek remains, in a landscape of popular culture entertainment, something that is a beacon of inclusivity and progressive thinking. I think it just takes on different forms now than it did 50 years ago.”

    19. Echoing Quinto’s statement, Pegg added that he felt Star Trek’s message today was “we’re better together. It’s about collectivism. And in this era of Brexit and talking about building walls in certain places, now more than ever, we should be thinking about the value of collectivism, about cooperation, and about unity. That can be and is our strength. The more fractured we become, the less secure we all feel.”

    “Star Trek Beyond” is in theaters now.

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  • Idris Elba Gave ‘Star Trek Beyond’ Costar Chris Pine a Black Eye

    star trek beyond, idris elba, chris pine, fight scene, black eye, krall, kirk“Star Trek Beyond” contains some intense fight sequences, and according to star Idris Elba, those scuffles are so believable because there were actually some real-life injuries inflicted during shooting.

    Elba, a newcomer to the ensemble who plays villain Krall in the threequel, revealed that although he got along well with the returning cast, things got a bit heated between him and costar Chris Pine while filming one fight scene — and one punch in particular landed in a prominent place.

    “Chris and I had laughs, and then I gave him a black eye,” Elba told The Hollywood Reporter during an interview at the “Beyond” premiere at Comic-Con on Wednesday night. ” … [W]e were doing a fight scene, and he got a bit cheeky, and I was just like pow! … I didn’t mean to do it, but Chris was quite proud of it.”

    Director Justin Lin confirmed that series of events, telling THR of the incident in question, “This cast goes all out, and I like to challenge them. We were shooting this third-act fight, and I kept pushing to get the right angle, to the point where Chris just got hit.”

    Apparently, Pine’s black eye will be on display for moviegoers to see in the flick, too.

    “Continuity-wise, it worked out,” Lin told THR. “That black eye played so well in the rest of the movie.”

    “Star Trek Beyond” hits theaters on Friday.

    [via: The Hollywood Reporter]

    Photo credit: Kimberly French/Paramount Pictures

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  • Idris Elba Sings ‘Panda’ in a Chipmunk Voice and It’s Still Sexy

    Here’s why would be the best choice as the next James Bond: 007 is smooth, charming, witty, badass, and cool in any circumstance, including when forced to sing like a Chipmunk. Watch these videos and report back if Idris does not fit the bill.

    Idris was on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” last night, and he rocked two songs playing Box of Microphones, plus he showed off his best dance move — and it was WORTHY.

    First, he had to sing “Panda” while the microphone changed his vocals to sound like one of the Chipmunks. He really went for it, and it came out … well, by his personal account it came out “awful,” but it was pretty great from here. After that, Idris and Jimmy slowed things down for a beautiful duet of “Endless Love,” complete with more random sound effects.

    Check it out:
    Idris said people come up to him all the time now to challenge him to dance-offs, because he’s in Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’s “Dance Off.” He said he CAN dance, though, and showed off his favorite movie. The audience went nuts, as they should. He also shared some great stories about working as a DJ, including one where everything went wrong for three minutes of total silence: Idris was actually on the show to promote “Star Trek Beyond,” and he said he lost a few eyebrows making the movie, thanks to his extreme costume, which took 2.5 hours to get on and he had to wear it for 18 hours a day: Funny, self-deprecating, silly, sexy. Come on, now. The man is just perfect. Give him a martini and let’s go.

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  • 5 Things You Need to Know Before Seeing ‘Star Trek Beyond’

    We hope you’re ready to boldly go where lots of people have gone before, because “Star Trek Beyond” is about to hit theaters.

    This latest sequel features a new adventure for Captain Kirk and the Enterprise crew, one that forces them to leave the confines of their ship and find themselves stranded on an alien planet — so think “The Martian” but with 100 percent more phasers.

    Before you don your finest Federation attire and head to the theater, here are five things you need to know about the new crew’s third adventure.

    1. Director Justin Lin Is Changing Things Up
    Paramount faced a bit of a crisis after director J.J. Abrams jumped ship from the “Star Trek” franchise to “Star Wars.” After some further turnover, the studio settled on “Fast Five” helmer Justin Lin (right). Based on the trailers, it seems the studio is hoping that Lin’s more action-packed, crowd-pleasing take will draw in general audiences. Luckily, early reviews suggest this approach worked.

    And Lin, along with writers Simon Pegg (Scotty) and Doug Jung, have arguably made the funniest “Star Trek” film since 1986’s “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.” Trust us, we know — we’ve seen it!

    2. It’s More Like the Classic TV Series
    As “Beyond” opens, Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) and his crew are three years through their five-year mission, and some mission drift is starting to settle in. The film involves an encounter with one of those new civilizations the Federation are always going on about. Basically, expect “Beyond” to play out like a longer, flashier and more expensive installment of the classic “Trek” TV series. That seems to be one of the main reasons behind the film’s critical success.

    3. You’re Gonna Meet Some New Aliens
    When Idris Elba was cast as “Beyond’s” big bad, many assumed he’d be playing a Klingon. But the Klingons will continue to take a backseat in this rebooted universe. Instead, Elba is playing Krall, a ruthless commander of an army of Swarm ships who has little love for the Federation or Captain Kirk.

    On the flip side, Sofia Boutella will appear as Jaylah, a warrior trapped on Krall’s planet who ultimately sides with Kirk’s stranded crew.

    4. RIP, U.S.S. Enterprise (2009 – 2016)
    “Beyond” looks to buck the trend of most “Star Trek” films by taking place mostly planet-side rather than in the depths of space. Much of the conflict revolves around the Enterprise crew forced to abandon ship and take refuge on Krall’s deadly planet when Krall kills their ship.

    The death of Enterprise occurs early in the film, and it’s too bad the crew of this ship hasn’t had a chance to really bond with the iconic vessel — outside of it being the thing that gets them from A to B. But for real Trek fans, seeing their favorite ship get, as Krall says, its throat cut, is still a body blow — especially since the last time Kirk and crew were in a Part III (“The Search for Spock“) the Enterprise also met an explosive end.

    5. There Will Be a New Enterprise
    With the recent announcement of “Star Trek 4” bringing Kirk’s dad, Chris Hemsworth, back to the Final Frontier, the crew of the Enterprise will obviously return. Which means they will have to get a new ship. Look for their new ride — the Enterprise-A — to make an appearance before the end credits roll.

    Both Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto are signed on for the fourth film, but the untimely death of Anton Yelchin makes the return of the character of Ensign Chekhov unlikely. Recent interviews with filmmakers indicate that the role will also not be recast.

    While it will be sad to see a “Trek” without one of our favorite shipmates aboard, we can’t help but be excited to see Kirk and company explore more strange new worlds on the big screen.

    “Star Trek Beyond” beams into theaters Friday.

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  • ‘Star Trek Beyond’ Writer Doug Jung Reveals the One Scene He Didn’t Want You to See

    [SPOILER WARNING: Turn back now if you have yet to see the film and do not want to know anything about a key climatic scene. Still here? Okay, but — ya been warned.]

    Traditionally, odd-numbered “Star Trek” movies are bad. Like, searching-for-God bad. Protecting-an-alien-fountain-of-youth-while-struggling-with-Klingon-zits bad.

    The Original Series” or “Next Generation” films. In this timeline, Kirk and Spock have different origins and now even-numbered “Treks” (ahem, “Star Trek Into Darkness“) are of the not-good variety.

    “Star Trek Beyond,” the third nuTrek but 13th overall, continues this new tradition off having good odd-numbered films with the help of co-writer and Trekker Doug Jung (below, right). Jung and Simon Pegg had the unenviable task to write “Beyond” from January to June 2015, to ensure it would be ready in time for release during the franchise’s 50th anniversary year.
    As huge fans of “Trek,” alongside director Justin Lin, they had to do this while all packing in enough nods and references to the past to keep die-hard fans happy. But one of the film’s better references, and more emotionally-resonate scenes, almost didn’t happen.

    “I just wasn’t sure it would work the way we all intended,” Jung said in a recent sit-down with Moviefone. The “It” in question involves this timeline’s Spock (Zachary Quinto) inspecting the personal belongings of the now-deceased Spock Prime (Leonard Nimoy).
    The bittersweet scene will make you swear you’re sitting too close to someone cutting onions, especially when Quinto’s character finds a keepsake: A photo of the original Enterprise crew (taken from “Star Trek V“) on the bridge of the Enterprise-A.

    This marks the first time we’ve seen William Shatner‘s Kirk in the new film series — along with the rest of the crew’s original, older counterparts. The latter is what originally gave Jung pause.

    “I remember there was a lot of discussion about should we do [this scene] or should we not. I resisted it at first, because, well — I know a lot of fans want to see, like, Shatner and all that. But there’s kind of a bit for me where it breaks a weird fourth wall in a way. And, you know, you’re asking a lot of — maybe not Trekkers — but of casual fans to say: ‘Wait. You’re telling me [Chris Pine‘s Kirk] becomes [Shatner’s Kirk]?’ It can be a little jarring, I think.”
    But all it took for Jung to have a change of heart was seeing the final product.

    “I thought it was a really risky thing, until after talking with Justin and Simon on how to do it, and now it is one of my favorite bits in the whole movie.”

    Jung also remarked how important the scene is in terms of serving as the “final punctuation” for the arc of Quinto’s Spock, who struggles throughout the film with how to deal with life and death upon receiving word that he, er, his other self has died. Moreover, the scene provided Jung and the filmmakers one of two moments to pay tribute to the late Nimoy — who makes his third, and final, appearance in this new film series.

    If critical reaction is any indication, “Beyond’s” legacy — and Spock’s — will live long and prosper.

    “Star Trek Beyond” opens in theaters Friday.
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  • Anton Yelchin’s ‘Star Trek’ Role Won’t Be Recast in Future Films

    anton yelchin, chekov, star trek, pavel chekov, star trek beyondThe “Star Trek” universe will continue into at least a fourth flick in this new series, featuring the improbable reintroduction of Chris Hemsworth’s George Kirk (a.k.a. Capt. James Kirk’s father, who famously died in the opening minutes of 2009’s “Star Trek”). But there’s one original character who will not be present for the proceedings: Ensign Pavel Chekov.

    In an interview with Postmedia Network, “Star Trek Beyond” producer J.J. Abrams revealed that the role of Chekov will not be recast in light of actor Anton Yelchin’s recent passing, with Abrams saying that doing so would be a disservice to the young man’s memory.

    “I would say there’s no replacing him,” Abrams told Postmedia Network. “There’s no recasting. I can’t possibly imagine that, and I think Anton deserves better.”

    It’s unclear at this point how filmmakers plan to follow up on that pledge, though Abrams told the outlet that filmmakers are currently considering several options, including killing off the character.

    “I have thought about it,” Abrams added, “we’re working on it, and it’s too early to talk about it.”

    Yelchin, 27, died in a freak car accident on June 19 at his California home. His death sent shockwaves throughout the Hollywood community, and hit his “Star Trek” castmates particularly hard. Abrams told Postmedia Network that the ensemble and creative team were already reeling from the loss of original Spock actor Leonard Nimoy, who passed away in February 2015; now, Abrams said, dealing with the death of Yelchin has been “devastating.”

    “Star Trek Beyond” will be dedicated to Yelchin’s memory. It’s due in theaters on July 22.

    [via: Postmedia Network]

    Photo credit: Paramount Pictures

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