Star Trek Beyond Was The 'Toughest Thing' Its Director Ever Had To Do
The arc of the "Star Trek" films released from 2009 to 2016 is an odd one. In 2009, J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek" rebooted the film series in a new timeline, depicting a brand new cast of younger actors playing the "Star Trek" characters we all knew and loved but altered thanks to a causality/time travel conceit. That film was a massive hit, repurposing "Star Trek" into a slick, sexy action franchise. Long gone were the days of philosophical intellectualizing and tales of diplomacy. Thousands of nerdy conversations immediately began as to what constituted the "real" version of "Star Trek" and what didn't.
Abrams followed his film in 2012 with "Star Trek Into Darkness," a film that repurposed the character of Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch) previously seen in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan." That film was also a hit but is generally not as liked as the 2009 film.
It's notable that in 2015, Abrams tackled his first "Star Wars" film, "The Force Awakens." With "Star Wars" back in the public consciousness, audiences no longer needed "Star Trek" to serve as an action-packed stand-in. As such, the 2016 film "Star Trek Beyond" wasn't as big a hit as its predecessors, despite being well-written (partly by Simon Pegg) and perfectly decent. "Beyond" was directed by Justin Lin, the experienced action director behind five of the "Fast and Furious" movies, and he did an exemplary job.
Despite his acumen, however, Lin has since revealed that he hated working on "Star Trek Beyond." Indeed, as he explained on an episode of the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast, he quit the project on three separate occasions. It was a by-the-seat-of-your-pants affair that Lin doesn't recall with fondness.
Would you happen to have an idea for a Star Trek movie?
Lin, it seems, was swept into the production of "Star Trek Beyond" rather quickly. The film was still being developed when the bulk of responsibilities was suddenly dropped on the director's shoulders. Luckily, Lin was a Trekkie from childhood, so he was at least familiar with the tenets of the franchise. Still, a lot needed to be done very quickly, which isn't the ideal way to make a feature film. Lin was already shooting an episode of a hit TV series when "Star Trek" pretty much just dropped in his lap. He explained:
"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?"' 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?'"
That was it? Just come up with something? Luckily, Lin was able to assemble an idea pretty quickly and, once it was approved, rush into production, get a script together, and start building sets. Lin hit the ground running and struggled to keep up. He recalled:
"[O]n 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."
Star Trek stat!
The screenplay for "Star Trek Beyond" was credited to Simon Pegg (who also played Scotty) and Doug Jung, the writer behind TV shows like "So Weird," "Big Love," and "Dark Blue." Lin said he liked working with Pegg and Jung, but the time crunch caused a lot of headbutting and difficulty. He also noted that a "Star Trek" movie was unique in that every scene required the building of a new set; it wasn't like a modern-day action flick that could shoot in found locations or the glory days of the "Star Trek" TV shows wherein they could drive out to Vasquez Rocks and shoot an alien fight. It was a massive, massive endeavor and Lin seems to have barely survived. In his own words:
"Simon 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 [...] 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 [...] Love Simon and Doug, but it was rough, and I didn't know if we were going to make it out of that first week."
Luckily, they did make it out of the first week, and Lin managed to make a decent "Star Trek" sequel, far better than the film that came before it. The film cost a whopping $180 million to make but earned $343 million worldwide. Everyone survived with aplomb. Lin would go on to direct "S.W.A.T.," "Magnum P.I.," and "F9."