Simon Pegg is busy saying all the right things to make me hopeful about Star Trek Beyond. Steve Weintraub recently interviewed the actor/co-writer at CinemaCon about the film, and it’s clear that the importance and gravity of penning a Star Trek movie (which he co-wrote with Doug Jung) hasn’t been lost on Pegg for a second. For example, talking about the editing process, Pegg went into how the film is coming along and how he’s enthusiastic about what they have so far:
Where are you in the editing process?
SIMON PEGG: I’ve seen two cuts of the movie, and we’re just doing a little bit of ADR spotting, where you see if there’s anything that needs to be cleared up. It’s looking great. It’s been such a huge deal, this thing. Getting to write a Star Trek film and the task that lay ahead of us in terms of what we had to do was daunting and stressful at times, but it became enormous fun. Once we got back together with the gang and putting it on film and seeing what Justin was doing, and I can’t wait for people to see it.
Pegg also delved into the importance of being able to write a Star Trek movie, and the difficult balance of trying to appease die-hard fans while also appealing to those outside the fanbase:
PEGG: Being given the keys to the Star Trek universe was an extraordinary privilege. It was extremely important to me that we did it justice. I know Star Trek means a lot to a lot of different people. It means an enormous amount to some people. And at the same time, it should be something that everyone can enjoy as well, so you have to look at the means of writing a screenplay as well, which is an invitation to the un-inducted of the Federation Fan Club, and those who have been watching the show for fifty years and knowing it and loving every element of it. And also what’s available to us now and the state of cinema now, and the spectacle to bring people in. It was, “Let’s combine it. Let’s combine the philosophies and tenets of the Star Trek universe with bigger set pieces and exciting stuff. Let’s see Kirk and the guys doing stuff we haven’t seen them do before because we just literally haven’t been able to do that.” But that’s not at the expense of the other stuff. Star Trek is a very thoughtful story. It’s a very intelligent, hopeful projection of our own futures, and that’s something we have to hang on to.
He also preemptively went after people who were trying to criticize the choice of director Justin Lin:
PEGG: I hate people saying that because it’s Justin Lin it’s just going to be Fast & Furious in space. It’s a kind of reductive, asinine criticism. Justin’s history as a filmmaker started off with a Sundance movie called Better Luck Tomorrow. He’s a smart, sensitive guy. The fact that he was able to energize the Fast & Furious series is a testament to his smarts as a filmmaker. He’s not just the car chase guy.
Pegg also detailed the kind of action scenes they’re making and what it’s been like working with Lin on the set pieces:
PEGG: Justin had clear ideas about a few of the set pieces in the movie, and we would work with Justin to make sure the story tracked through those moments so if there was a big event, Doug and I would make sure we tracked every character in that event and make it track with Justin’s idea for the visual spectacle, which he is very good at. So once we hit all the dialogue and all the story beats, Justin would work with the pre-viz guys and the VFX guys and whoever else, the stunt teams, to bring it to life.
To watch what Pegg had to say about the absence of Abrams on the new Trek film, pickups, and where they are with the next Mission: Impossible sequel, watch the video above.
