Star Trek Beyond

Star Trek Beyond is a 2016 American science fiction action film directed by Justin Lin from a screenplay by Simon Pegg and Doug Jung, based on the series of the same name created by Gene Roddenberry. It is the thirteenth film in the Star Trek film franchise and the third installment in the reboot series after Star Trek Into Darkness (2013). Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto reprise their roles as Captain James T. Kirk and Commander Spock, with Pegg, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, John Cho and Anton Yelchin reprising their roles from the previous films, with Idris Elba and Sofia Boutella joining the cast.

Principal photography began in Vancouver on June 25, 2015, with the film scheduled for release in the United States on July 22, 2016. Beyond marks one of the final film appearances of Yelchin, who died in a car accident a month before its scheduled release.[3] The film is dedicated to the memory of Yelchin as well as fellow Star Trek actor Leonard Nimoy, who died during pre-production.[4] Beyond has been met with highly positive reviews from critics.

Contents 1 Premise 2 Cast 3 Production 3.1 Development 3.2 Screenplay 3.3 Casting 3.4 Filming 3.5 Music 4 Release 4.1 Marketing 5 Reception 5.1 Box office 5.2 Critical response 6 Accolades 7 Future 8 References 9 External links

Premise
The crew of the USS Enterprise, halfway into their five-year mission, are attacked by a seemingly unstoppable wave of unknown aliens, forcing them to abandon ship. Stranded on an unknown planet and with no apparent means of rescue, the crew find themselves in conflict with a new and ruthless enemy.[5]

Cast
Chris Pine as Captain James T. Kirk, commanding officer of the starship Enterprise Zachary Quinto as Commander Spock, first officer and science officer Karl Urban as Lieutenant Commander Leonard McCoy, MD, chief medical officer Zoe Saldana as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, communications officer Simon Pegg as Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott, second officer and chief engineer John Cho as Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, third officer and helmsman Anton Yelchin as Ensign Pavel Chekov, ship's main navigator Idris Elba as Captain Balthazar Edison / Krall, former human commanding officer of the starship Franklin, and a ruthless military commander Sofia Boutella as Jaylah Joe Taslim as Manas Lydia Wilson as Kalara Deep Roy as Keenser Harpreet Sandhu Melissa Roxburgh as Ensign Syl Anita Brown as Tyvanna Doug Jung as Ben Danny Pudi as Fi'Ja[6] Kim Kold as Zavanko[6] Shohreh Aghdashloo as Commodore Paris Ashley Edner as Natalia Jason Matthew Smith as Hendorff Bryce Soderberg as Satine Shea Whigham[7]

Leonard Nimoy appears in a photo cameo as Spock Prime, whilst also appearing alongside George Takei, Walter Koenig, William Shatner, James Doohan, DeForest Kelley and Nichelle Nichols as Sulu, Chekov, Kirk, Scott, McCoy and Uhura in a photo cameo from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Production
Development

With Abrams returning as a producer of the third film while focusing on Star Wars: The Force Awakens,[8][9][10][11] writer Roberto Orci replaced him as director in May 2014.[12][13][14] However, in December Orci's role was changed to producer only as well,[15] with Edgar Wright considered to replace him, along with a shortlist of directors including Rupert Wyatt, Morten Tyldum, Daniel Espinosa, Justin Lin and Duncan Jones.[16] Also, Star Trek actor and film director Jonathan Frakes expressed interest in the job.[17] At the end of the month, Lin was announced as director of the third installment.[18]

Screenplay

In 2013, Orci had begun "writing" the script with Patrick McKay and John D. Payne,[19][20] with Payne saying of the script in March, "We really want to get back to the sense of exploration and wonder. The kind of optimistic sense of the future that Star Trek has always kind of had at its core. It's the Chicago Bulls in space, in terms of these people who are all awesome at their job."[21] In January 2015, after Orci's departure, Simon Pegg and Doug Jung were hired to rewrite the screenplay,[22] with Pegg saying on the previous draft, Paramount "had a script for Star Trek that wasn't really working for them. I think the studio was worried that it might have been a little bit too Star Trek-y." Pegg had been asked to make the new film "more inclusive", stating that the solution was to "make a western or a thriller or a heist movie, then populate that with Star Trek characters so it's more inclusive to an audience that might be a little bit reticent."[23] Orci, Payne and McKay are given official "written by" credit alongside Pegg and Jung, although Pegg clarified that neither he nor Jung had read the existing script before crafting their own for the film.[24]

Casting

The first film's major cast members signed on for two sequels as part of their original deals.[25] In 2014, early in the film's development, William Shatner said that he was contacted by producer Abrams to see if he would be interested in a possible role, but as the process continued and the script changed hands, the role never materialized.[26][27] In March 2015, Idris Elba was in early talks to play the villain, and he was confirmed for the role in the following months.[28][29] Pegg noted that the villain would be an original one, rather than a known antagonist from past stories in the Star Trek franchise.[30] In April, Sofia Boutella joined the cast in an unspecified lead role,[31] and in early July, Deep Roy was confirmed to reprise his role of Keenser.[32] That month, Joe Taslim was added to the cast in a role opposite Elba's villain,[33] and by August, Lydia Wilson joined in an unspecified role.[34] In March 2016, Shohreh Aghdashloo was cast as the High Command of the Federation for reshoots on the film.[35]

Filming

Principal photography on the film began on June 25, 2015, in Vancouver,[36] and Squamish, British Columbia, after several delays caused by multiple script rejections.[37][38][39][40] Additional filming locations were Seoul, South Korea, and Dubai, UAE.[41][42] Principal filming ended on October 15, 2015. In March 2016, production underwent reshoots, with Aghdashloo added to the cast.[35]

Music

Main article: Star Trek Beyond (soundtrack)

In August 2015, composer Michael Giacchino confirmed that he will be returning to write the score.[43] On June 26, 2016, Barbadian singer Rihanna released a teaser across her social media accounts for a single for the film entitled "Sledgehammer", confirming that the song premiered the following day.

Release
The film is to be released in 2D, RealD3D, and IMAX 3D. In August 2014, it was announced that Paramount had pushed back the release of the film to 2016 in time for the 50th anniversary celebration of Gene Roddenberry's original sci-fi series.[44] In December, it was announced that the film was to be released on July 8, 2016.[45] In September 2015, the film's release date was pushed back to July 22, 2016.[46] The film is scheduled to be released in Dolby Cinema format in selected theaters.[47] The film had its Australian premiere in Sydney on July 7.[48]

Marketing

A teaser trailer for the film released on December 14, 2015,[49] was criticized heavily for focusing too much on action and for featuring the Beastie Boys song "Sabotage", which many considered out of place, despite its prominent use in the first film of the rebooted series. Pegg expressed similar thoughts of dissatisfaction with the teaser, claiming that he "didn't love it" because "I know there’s a lot more to the film." He considered the trailer to be the marketing team saying "Come and see this movie! It's full of action and fun!"[50] A second trailer was released on May 20, 2016, to much warmer reviews.[citation needed] A third and final trailer was released on June 27, 2016, featuring Rihanna's single "Sledgehammer".

Reception
Box office

In the United States and Canada, the film is projected to gross $50–60 million from 3,800 theaters in its opening weekend, which would make it the third-biggest debut among the franchise but the lowest of the reboot series (behind Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness for both).[2] Internationally, the film will be released across approximately 55 markets.[51]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 93%, based on 42 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Star Trek Beyond continues the franchise's post-reboot hot streak with an epic sci-fi adventure that honors the series' sci-fi roots without skimping on the blockbuster action."[52] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 71 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[53]

Accolades
The film was nominated for Best Teaser at the 17th Annual Golden Trailer Awards.[54]

Future
Pine and Quinto have signed contracts to return as Kirk and Spock for a fourth film, should one be made.[55] In July 2016, Abrams confirmed plans for a fourth film, and stated that Chris Hemsworth would return as Kirk's father, George, whom he played in the prologue of the first film.[56][57] Later that month, Paramount confirmed the return of Hemsworth as well as most of the Beyond cast, producers Abrams and Lindsey Weber, and writers J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay.[58] That same month, Abrams had said that Anton Yelchin's role will not be recast.