Justin Lin finally speaks about the next Star Trek movie, and how the decision to direct the film was an emotional one.
“Do you like Star Trek”?
Lin has said very little about Star Trek Beyond since taking the directorial reins in January. That changed today, when he was at the TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles to have his hands immortalized in cement.
Speaking to Deadline Hollywood’s Mike Fleming (who notes that the film is “three weeks out” from production), Lin talked about how the offer was made:
I was in the last week shooting True Detective when JJ Abrams called last December…He asked me, do you like Star Trek? If you do, you should take this, be bold, and just go for it.’
“I was the Star Trek kid”
Lin also discussed how the decision to direct the film was far more than a career move:
I thought about how much a part of my life Star Trek was. Growing up, my parents had this little fish and chips restaurant in Anaheim in the shadows of Disneyland, and they didn’t close until 9 PM. As a family, we didn’t eat dinner until 10 PM, and we would watch the original Star Trek every night at 11. My dad worked 364 days a year, only took Thanksgiving off, and from age 8 to 18, the only time I could hang out with my parents was by staying late. And every night, it was Star Trek on Channel 13 in L.A. That was my childhood. All my friends were Star Wars kids but I didn’t go to the movies, so I was the Star Trek kid. Thinking about this, it became a very personal and very emotional decision.
“An opportunity for exploration”
Lin is looking forward to taking this crew into new territory and doing what Star Trek does best:
They haven’t really gone on their five-year mission, so what we experienced in the TV show hasn’t been touched on yet. That sets up an opportunity for exploration and the deeper you go, the more you are examining humanity. Those are the things that I absorbed as a kid and hope to tap into and embrace and celebrate.
Strange new worlds
There has been a great deal of speculation regarding the plot of the film, and whether it would revisit more characters and situations from TOS or be something more original. Lin states that the crew of the Enterprise will truly be seeking out new life and new civilizations:
It’s all new and fresh. The Klingons, Romulans and other species are great, but it’s time to go further. It has been fun to focus on creating whole new worlds and species.”
Lin goes on to talk about how he feels leaving the Fast & Furious franchise, the Chinese film he recently produced, and how his first film was saved by MC Hammer(yeah, you read that right). All that and more can be read right here.
Star Trek Beyond is scheduled for release on July 8, 2016.
I feel like were in good hands.
This is VERY reassuring, esp. after Into Darkness. I can’t believe we’re only about a year away.
Wow, I am really positively surprised by this interview. And even if this was a PR stunt to win back Star Trek fans it would show that the fans still matter.
I may be naive but I think he meant what he said, being “the star trek kid”.
I watched ff6 and was impressed how balanced the film was and loved the family theme. Mr Lin will do very well with Star Trek, now knowing how he grew up with Star Trek is awesome, good luck Mr Lin. Sorry to say I was wrong about the initial pick but very happy now.
This is an eye-opener of the best design.
Wow, but Disinvited seemed to be inferring that he was not doing anything Star Trek related on his trip to LA today? Whoops! ;-)
And the other item left out from JJ’s phone call was “..and we don’t think you can screw it up any worst then I did…wait till the Star Wars kids see what I did…”
I like what I’m hearing from Lin. It is a good sign that he is a Star Trek fan & the fact that he is looking for something “new and fresh” rather than borrowing from old stuff is very encouraging.
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And the plot isn’t borrowed from old Trek episodes the way the last film was. “It’s all new and fresh,” Lin said. “The Klingons, Romulans and other species are great, but it’s time to go further. It has been fun to focus on creating whole new worlds and species.”
Well. Maybe Paramount will manage to pull this off after all, and in spite of everything. I certainly hope so.
@ 5. Prodigal Son – June 3, 2015
“Wow, but Disinvited seemed to be inferring that he was not doing anything Star Trek related on his trip to LA today? Whoops! ;-)”
Huh? He was in LA “at the TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles to have his hands immortalized in cement.”
And Star Trek is 3 weeks away from filming in VANCOUVER, not LA. So his trips to LA & SF, for the Google conference, were not related to Trek.
@ Ahmed
An inside joke between Disinvited and I based on another thread. Don’t worry about it.
LOVE IT! good luck Mr Lin
These are such positive comments, and in the neighborhood of what most Trek fans surely want from this movie….I wonder both process-wise and time-wise how the usual suspects here are going to find conjure up something negative from this that they can hang their hats on?
It doesn’t seem possible that anyone could go negative with this awesome news, but yet again, that one dude is so creative with those emoticons and little quips, and at the other end of the spectrum, that other dude can pontificate massive term papers that could convince a fish that he could survive out of water, so nothing would surprise me at this point. :-)
I have to say I had reservations when I heard he was going to direct, but this totally reassures me. So glad they finally found a someone who’s been with the franchise and knows what it’s about.
Welcome Justin Lin — AWESOME NEWS !!!!!!!!!!
These are such positive comments, and in the neighborhood of what most Trek fans surely want from this movie
It doesn’t seem possible that anyone could read this as anything but tremendously positive news, but yet again, that one dude is so creative with those emoticons and little quips, and at the other end of the spectrum, that other dude can pontificate massive term papers that could convince a fish that he could survive out of water, so nothing would surprise me at this point. :-)
Welcome Justin Lin — AWESOME NEWS !!!!!!!!!!
These are such positive comments, and in the neighborhood of what most Trek fans surely want from this movie
It doesn’t seem possible that anyone could read this as anything but tremendously positive news.
…whole new worlds and species.”
He is enthusiastic, yes. But I wonder. Lin seems to be seeking an Avatar-type new world in his effort to develop this new Trek.
But, is this even realistically possible with the limited budget and time allowed? Star Trek needs a well developed strange new world. I seriously do not want a half-baked Trek. I hope he can do it!
…but yet, we have one person who is just creative with those single sentence blasts, and at the other end of the spectrum, we have that other person pontificate massive term papers that could convince a fish that he could survive out of water.
So nothing would surprise me at this point. :-)
Yet we have one person who is just creative with those single sentence blasts, and at the other end of the spectrum, we have that other person who can generate massive amounts of text that could tire a fish into given up the reading and so to convince him through sheer fatigue that he could in fact survive out of water. :-)
So nothing would surprise me at this point.
…and the turning of this tremendously good news into naysayer-nitpicking begins
lol Prodigal Son. Yup! It’s excellent news!
I tried to post another one from Hollywood reporter (not really much new other than he’s rushing right back to work on Star Trek) but the post disappeared for some reason.
I have full confidence in this guy. I have full confidence in Simon Pegg.
Paramount, on the other hand, leaves me a bit nervous with their constant meddling and interference with the script-writing process.
“But I wonder. Lin seems to be seeking an Avatar-type new world in his effort to develop this new Trek.”
Personally, that’s something I’d love to see happen. Fully thought-out alien worlds and cultures, with the exception of Vulcan, were almost unheard-of on TOS, and a rarity in the later series. This is exactly the sort of building upon the original concept–making it more sophisticated, not less–that Trek needs to survive the decade, let alone prosper into the new century.
(Contrawise, the latest from Star Trek Continues, “The White Iris,” features aliens so underdeveloped and generic that they end up serving as a mere placeholder in the story. This hurt the episode a great deal, in my opinion.)
Point of order.
Orci had the same sort of story when he introduced himself back in 2007. Star Trek was an important part of my life…yada yada…I grew up on TNG… yada yada…I’m a Trekkie…yada yada…and his “Trek” movies have borne little or no resemblance to either TOS or TNG in spirit and artistic values.
Because they’re action movies, not Star Trek movies.
The bottom line is that if Paramount has hired Lin to make an action movie, then it doesn’t much matter how he feels about Star Trek. There simply will not be enough time invested on-screen to develop the characters and theme in a meaningful, Trek-like way. And we’ve had no shortage of new species and new worlds introduced in Trek. In and of itself, new worlds and new species aren’t necessarily all that interesting if you don’t take the necessary time to make them interesting and to say and show interesting things about them via their role the story.
So, these are all nice words coming from Lin, but they don’t necessarily mean anything. If he really wants to say something meaningful, he can address the issue of whether he will be taking more time away from action set-pieces to develop the characters and theme in this story.
When Michael said:
“We need to see this new incarnation be explorers, to have a sense of camaraderie like the Roddenberry/Coon crew had.”
I “got this;” I agreed with it; and I think its a great basis for what he is trying to describe here for this vision for a new Trek series. That statement nailed it for me.
I didn’t find your additional 500 words or so of tutorial necessary — it confused his points and did not provide any illumination to what he was saying.
Say what you mean; mean what you say. We could all could learn something from the way Michael knows how to get his point across concisely.
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83. Cygnus-X1 – June 3, 2015
54. Prodigal Son – June 3, 2015
No offense meant, but I think Michael’s definitions of camaraderie and explanation are spot-on as is.
What “definitions?”
You seem to like to take very concise and understandable concepts and throw them into painfully drawn out pontification that suits your ability to illustrate to everyone how supposedly complex and detailed this all is…when in reality we already had the answer right in front of us all along.
This seems like a painfully drawn out way of saying that you don’t understand the difference between plot and theme.
When Michael said:
“We need to see this new incarnation be explorers, to have a sense of camaraderie like the Roddenberry/Coon crew had.”
I “got this;” I agreed with it; and I think its a great basis for what he is trying to describe here for this vision for a new Trek series. That statement nailed it for me.
I didn’t find your additional 500 words or so of tutorial necessary — it confused his points and did not provide any illumination to what he was saying.
Say what you mean; mean what you say. We could all could learn something from the way Michael knows how to get his point across concisely.
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83. Cygnus-X1 – June 3, 2015
54. Prodigal Son – June 3, 2015
No offense meant, but I think Michael’s definitions of camaraderie and explanation are spot-on as is.
What “definitions?”
You seem to like to take very concise and understandable concepts and throw them into painfully drawn out pontification that suits your ability to illustrate to everyone how supposedly complex and detailed this all is…when in reality we already had the answer right in front of us all along.
This seems like a painfully drawn out way of saying that you don’t understand the difference between plot and theme.
.
Indeed, Prodigal Son. Good point.
From the article…
“It has been fun to focus on creating whole new worlds and species.”
That might be more interesting to point out, right now. Eh, Progal Son?
This guy sounds like he is having a blast!
Yes, Prodigal Son, even with just a year to go, I could be more excited, but only If I was involved in the production. *Hint for Mr. Lin. I could make it to Canada, easy! I recently appeared in Dark Knight and Jack Reacher. If you want to see me in action, I was the “CFO of Gotham” in Dark Knight (I died in the Stadium explosion, I was onscreen briefly and was right behind a smiling Mayor, Nestor Cambell) and, I am a CSI photographer at the 7 minute mark in Jack Reacher. So I have experience. and my experience does not stop there. Sorry everyone. I had to take a shot. [*End of shameless self promotion]. : )
But most importantly, I too Love Star Trek! I And after reading your comments above, and with Simon Pegg and his tream involved, I am glad to hear you are our Captain this time, Mr. Lin. I definately look forward to this New voyage!
Happy 50th, Trekkies everywhere!
What a great story. For me, it was Channel 11 at midnight. :)
http://www.dishnation.com/leonard-nimoy-star-trek-3-appearance/
This is what DISH NATION’S insider source said:
“Producers are playing around with ideas at the moment, but there’s a definite sense of paying tribute to the stars of the show from yesteryear.
Leonard Nimoy sadly left us, but there are discussions to have him return as Spock for Star Trek 3 by mixing in old footage from both material shot last time and the 60s shows into the new movie.
The same has been said for William Shatner. It doesn’t look like he’ll be appearing in the new film for the moment, but there is an idea of having him appear as a young James T. Kirk too.
With Star Trek’s 50th anniversary coming up next year, J.J. Abrams is excited to honor that achievement. He wants to be clever with incorporating the old clips into a new movie. But they don’t want it to be cheesy, and too nostalgic. The balance has to be just right.
They want it to be a fitting tribute to those that contributed to the series over the weeks and made it what it is today.
It’s also a great effort to appease the fans who have watched the show and pa$$ed it down through generations to their kids.”
Apparently, JJ’s calling the shots on this? Fascinating.
22. MCG – June 3, 2015
What a great story. For me, it was Channel 11 at midnight. :)
Yup. Me too. Through high school. Only my station, WPXI aired it starting at 2:00 am., and then later moved to 3 am – weeknights.! It almost wrecked my HS career! : o But it was so worth it! : )
Glad to hear he’s a fan; that’s wonderful news!
We probably all have our own “wish list” for Star Trek movies, but to me, a great Star Trek movie should have the following elements:
1. A major role for Spock. He should either be thinking his way out of whatever problems the movie throws at them or using mind melds or neck pinches or other Vulcan superpowers to save the day; ideally, he’d be doing both. Bonus points for his inspiring or training or otherwise leading the scientists under his command and for the author’s remembering that his role isn’t just FIRST officer, it’s also SCIENCE officer. More bonus points for allowing him a chance to show what a wonderfully ethical, dutiful, and self-sacrificing person Spock can be. And he should be VULCAN, not a human who happens to have pointed ears. He should wield a tricorder more often than a phaser.
2. A major role for Kirk. He should either be swaying people through the power of his oratory or getting the Enterprise and/or the landing party out of whatever problems the movie throws at them through tactical genius. Ideally, he’d be doing both. Bonus points for inspiring or nurturing or otherwise leading the crew under his command and/or for solving problems through non-violent means.
3. A chance for some of the minor characters (McCoy, Scotty, Uhura, Sulu, Chekov, or Chapel) to shine while still not taking the focus off of the main two.
4. A positive view of Starfleet and the Federation, not a plot where the Federation is actually evil or Starfleet is evil or incompetent.
5. Interesting new problems or situations, not just a tired retread of things that have happened in the episodes or the movies.
6. A lessened focus on the Spock-McCoy bickering (compared to the episodes), since while the things McCoy said seemed funny to people in 1966, they seem racist to modern eyes.
7. While the focus is mostly on the plot, there should be some emphasis on the relationships among the characters, with the Kirk-Spock friendship foremost here.
8. Exploration — those “strange news worlds” we’re promised.
9. A moral message but with a LIGHT touch — something along the lines of “The Devil in the Dark,” rather than along the lines of “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield.”
10. Character development — Let them grow and become wiser and more mature.
*crossing fingers that the combination of Pegg plus Lin means we’ll get actual TREK*
@ 14. Prodigal Son – June 3, 2015
“…and the turning of this tremendously good news into naysayer-nitpicking begins.” Hey, I need a hobby! What about MY needs?
@ 18. Cygnus-X1 – June 3, 2015
“Orci had the same sort of story when he introduced himself back in 2007. Star Trek was an important part of my life…yada yada…I grew up on TNG… yada yada…I’m a Trekkie…yada yada…”
So, do you think he’ll mimic Orci by doing the ol’ cut and paste with a previous Trek script? Or, maybe he’ll just start telling people who disagree with him to go to hell/Detroit.
I’m taking him at face value. I have enjoyed his work to date and look forward to a truly great Trek.
Right on cue, Cygnus starts bitching about it.
So. Very. Predictable.
Cygnus seems to think that if he repeats his anti-nuTrek rhetoric enough, people will start to accept it as the truth.
Unfortunately, the distance between fantasy and reality has just gotten a little wider. :-)
24, that’s funny, my local station was WPIX, I think!
@Prodigal Son: “…and the turning of this tremendously good news into naysayer-nitpicking begins”
Yup. What a pathetic bunch. LOL
I don’t want this to sound mean, but it’s how I feel – it can’t be any worse than what Bob Orci would have done. I’m sorry, it’s how I feel. I like the first movie, I thought it held much promise, none of which was realized in the second film. It was a huge letdown to me.
I lost all confidence in Orci after that. He had no idea where to take Star Trek. Mabye Pegg and Lin don’t either, but I can’t imagine being more disappointed than I was with Into Darkness. But we shall see…
#21 That’s Nestor Carbonell, not Campbell.
Very encouraging from Lin.
Yep McG, Channel 11 at midnight, after the Off Couple and Honeymooners.
@ Phil
@ Read Dead Ryan
@ Dennis
@ TrekMadeWeWonder
@ Beth
Agreed. And just how long was it before Cygnus “crapped” all over this? I think it took him 45 minutes from when the story broke to tell us all how the movie will still suck anyway.
His mind in CLOSED to the possibility of this being a good movie.
…now watch for his 1000+ work treatise…lol
33. Kirk’s Girdle
Thank you! My bad. Sorry, Nestor!
Those were the good ole days when McG ran a TV station that had Star Trek and other classic shows on it.
Then, he started directing movies, and proceeded to ruin the Charlies Angels and Terminator franchises. ;-)
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34. Kirk’s Girdle – June 3, 2015
Yep McG, Channel 11 at midnight, after the Off Couple and Honeymooners.
@35. Prodigal Son,
You liked what Justin Lin said in this interview & so am I. Cygnus-X1, on the other hand, happens to have a different view, so what?
Is it mandatory for Cygnus-X1 to share your views, or anyone else for that matter ?
We shall see next year, but it can’t be any worse than STID. ;)
ya cygnus is such a downer, turn that frown upside down, has star trek taught you nothing?
It is deeply ironic that this action movie guy managed to say more reassuring things about the direction of the franchise in a few lines than Pegg did with all his insulting nonsense he’s been spewing ever since he took over the script. Shame on you, Pegg!
Only Nixon could go to China?
Seems to be like that: Pegg: great script writer for a Star Trek movie! Lin: great director for a new Star Trek movie! Paramount: Does not want to have a real Star Trek movie!
*facepalm*
@37 (Ahmed): Having a measured response (“We’ll see, Mr. Lin”) is different from being a negative Nancy (“Teh suck!”).
Here’s the way I see it. I know Orci was giving similar interviews back in 2007, but the difference between him and Lin is that Orci was writing and Abrams directed what he was given. And to be honest, it was Abrams who really salvaged the problematic scripts he was handed (ST09 was pretty well written, IMHO, but STID was very flawed) and made them very entertaining. I think Lin will provide the entertainment while approaching it with the Star Trek sensibilities that Abrams lacked.
And this time, he’s working from a script by someone who’s both a Trek fan AND a very talented writer. Pegg can write. I’ve enjoyed everything he’s written so far so I’m not concerned about the script. Now that we know Lin’s emotional connection to Trek from his childhood, that boosts my confidence and excitement even more because he’s going to approach this as a fan trying to pay tribute to something that connected him to his family growing up!
Make it so!