‘Star Trek Beyond’: Justin Lin Says He & Simon Pegg “Quit” The Film Several Times In “Intense” Rushed Development

Though we have yet to see a fourth “Star Trek” feature film in the rebooted continuity, that isn’t because the third film was horrible. Far from it, actually. “Star Trek Beyond” is seen by many to be a high-water mark for the rebooted trilogy. But when you hear about how the film was developed, it’s a miracle the film was even a reality. 

Speaking on a Happy. Sad. Confused. watch-along of “Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift”, filmmaker Justin Lin talked about that franchise, but he also talked about his time working on “Star Trek Beyond.” And when you hear his story about how he was hired to direct the third film in the rebooted ‘Trek,’ it really blows your mind.

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For context, a third ‘Star Trek’ film was believed to be pretty far along in development after the success of the first two films. But behind-the-scenes, it appears the J.J. Abrams-produced franchise was on the verge of disaster. And that’s when Justin Link got a phone call.

“I’m shooting ‘True Detective’ in Ventura, and it’s a Thursday. I get a call from J.J. Abrams, and he’s like, ‘Hey man, just curious, do you like “Star Trek?”’ explained Lin. “I’m like, ‘I grew up watching “Star Trek” with my dad, it has so much meaning.’ He said, ‘Would you happen to have an idea for a “Star Trek” movie?’ And I said, ‘Aren’t you in pre-production?’ And he said, ‘Nope, no, we’re shut down.’ He said, ‘If you have an idea, would you want to come by the office on Monday?’”

READ MORE: Timothy Olyphant Says He Lost The Role Of Kirk To Chris Pine In JJ Abrams’ ‘Star Trek’ Films Because He Was Too Old

Lin added, “So, on Monday, I sat down with J.J. and shared with him the idea of ‘Star Trek Beyond.’ He’s like, ‘Great!’ And this is the end of January. He said, ‘Let’s do it, but we have to start production in June.’ No script. Nothing…It was tough. The toughest thing I’ve ever had to do.”

From there, Lin explained that he got on a plane to London to sit with Simon Pegg, one of the stars of the ‘Trek’ franchise. Apparently, Pegg was already onboard to help with the script for the third film, alongside writer Doug Jung. So, it was down to Lin, Pegg, and Jung to figure out a script and get it ready to go in time.

“Simon [Pegg] and I joke about it now, but It was intense, I had quit three times, and Simon had quit four times… also we didn’t know each other,” said Lin. “For me, Simon Pegg, it was a dream to have the opportunity to work with him, but he comes from a very traditional process…but I’m sitting there in Vancouver and I have to start building sets. ‘Star Trek’ is not like ‘Fast and Furious,’ every idea you come up with is a build. And we had no time.”

He continued, “I love Simon and Doug [Jung, co-writer], but it was rough and I didn’t know if we were going to make it out of that first week.”

Of course, we know the film would eventually get the greenlight and production began. “Star Trek Beyond” was finally released in 2016, earning a respectable $343 million worldwide. More impressive, the film would earn an 87% on Rotten Tomatoes. And to think the film was pulled out of thin air just several months before production began. 

You can hear the full discussion below: