This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the original Star Trek TV show, along with the release of Paramount's third film in their reboot series, Star Trek Beyond. It was established at the end of 2013's Star Trek Into Darkness that the USS Enterprise crew was starting their famed five-year mission, but some fans were left with a bad taste in their mouth. Many thought the sequel was too similar to the second original Star Trek movie, 1982's The Wrath of Khan. Director Justin Lin, who takes over for J.J. Abrams, says in a new interview that he really wanted to "deconstruct" the whole franchise, to honor its 50th Anniversary.
"This is the 50th anniversary. I felt like it was important to really deconstruct the idea of Star Trek, the idea of the Federation and why it's special. We'll really be poking at a lot of different things."
Along with a new director in Justin Lin, this sequel also has two new writers, with franchise star Simon Pegg pulling double duty by portraying Scotty, and co-writing the script with Doug Jung. The actor-writer reveals that this story is set during the USS Enterprise crew's second year into their five-year mission, which is already starting to take its toll. The crew has come to a Federation outpost for some much-needed rest, when they encounter Idris Elba's villainous Krall, who attacks the ship to show his hatred for the Federation. Here's what Simon Pegg had to say in his interview with Empire about the larger themes at play within the story.
"What's the point of it all? We're gathering a great community within the galaxy, but to what end? What does it all mean?"
Simon Pegg will be joined in the cast by Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Jon Cho and Anton Yelchin, along with new cast members Idris Elba, Sofia Boutella, Lydia Wilson and Joe Taslim. Justin Lin is directing this new adventure, which hits theaters nationwide on July 22, going up against Ice Age: Collision Course and Lights Out. Stay tuned for more on Star Trek Beyond as we get closer to this highly-anticipated summer release.