Star Trek Fans Hyped For ‘Star Trek Beyond’ Premiere

Star Trek fans across the country are excited for the U.S. premiere of the new film Star Trek Beyond. The latest installation in the rebooted movie franchise stars Chris Pine as Captain James T. Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Commander Spock, Karl Urban as Medical Chief Dr. McCoy, and Simon Pegg as Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott, or Scotty. The official premiere will take place at the San Diego Comic-Con this Wednesday, July 20, according to the official Comic-Con Blog.

Above: Star Trek Beyond already had its UK premiere July 12

The film has already had premieres in Australia on July 7 and the U.K. on July 12. The July 20 date will mark the first official U.S. premiere for the film, shortly before its opening weekend. This follows an earlier special “Fan Event” held by Paramount Studios on May 20, where a new trailer for Star Trek Beyond premiered.

Above:This Star Trek Beyond trailer premiered at a special “Fan Event” held by Paramount Studios on May 20

Star Trek Beyond is directed by Fast & Furious director Justin Lin, and written by Scotty himself, Simon Pegg, along with Doug Jung. Pegg is excited to bring a blend of both philosophy and action to the movie; he spoke with USA Today.

“Star Trek the series never had the budget to be spectacular when it first started. It would have been if it had the budget. So it was very concentrated on human interactions and philosophical ideas… We want to have our cake and eat it too. It’s possible to be bold and brash, and have a deep sense of what Star Trek‘s about.”

Star Trek Beyond has had a unique behind-the-scenes history. Pegg, Jung, and Lin were not the first to work on this film. The third entry of this series, rebooted in 2009 by J.J. Abrams, had begun under Roberto Orci, co-writer on the first two films, 2009’s Star Trek and 2013’s Star Trek: Into Darkness. In May of 2014, it was announced that Orci would be moving up to the director’s chair for the as-of-then unnamed sequel. New screenwriters JD Payne and Patrick McKay would create the script. Surprisingly, just a few months later in December, 2014, Orci, Payne, and McKay dropped out from the project, fueling much fan speculation. Shortly thereafter, the team of Pegg, Jung, and Lin was announced in early 2015. Pegg made a point of mentioning he was starting a brand new script, and had not read the story by Orci, Payne, and McKay.

Let the next Starfleet voyage begin! #StarTrekBeyond #LLAP pic.twitter.com/VZh9YvJgqA

— Justin Lin (@justinlin) June 29, 2015

Above: Director Justin Lin tweeted out the first official mention of the movie title in June, 2015

Star Trek Beyond (the title was revealed in June of 2015) is not available to the general public yet, but some hints have been dropped in interviews and trailers. The movie features the USS Enterprise about two years into its five-year mission. Kirk is feeling stuck in a rut, wondering what the future may hold. Suddenly, the ship is attacked by a huge swarm of smaller ships, ripping the Enterprise to shreds and forcing an evacuation. Landing on an unknown planet, the crew learns they were attacked by a fleet led by Krall, played by Idris Elba under heavy makeup. Krall has plans that he feels are being interrupted by the Enterprise and the Federation, and he intends to stop them from ever getting in his way again.

Meet Krall, one of the universe’s most dangerous villains in this new featurette. See him July 22 in #StarTrekMoviehttps://t.co/UbUp0Zoxa7

— Star Trek (@StarTrekMovie) July 12, 2016

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, with the very first episode of the series having premiered in September of 1966. The current owners of the franchise have made sure to make it an exciting time for fans, with announcements of the Star Trek Beyond premiere, conventions, merchandise, a new podcast, and a new TV series in 2017. Earlier today, Paramount studios announced a possible fourth film to follow Star Trek Beyond, according to Variety, with screenwriters JD Payne and Patrick McKay, who had worked on the scuttled Roberto Orci film.

Four days left until #StarTrekMovie blasts off into theatres everywhere. pic.twitter.com/IDwrBRNbdD

— Star Trek (@StarTrekMovie) July 18, 2016

After the Comic-Con premiere Wednesday, Star Trek fans don’t have to wait long to see the film for themselves. Star Trek Beyond goes into wide release in the U.S. on Friday, July 21, with early previews the night of Thursday July 20.

[Photo via Paramount Pictures]