The world of Star Trek was rocked by the passing of iconic Spock actor Leonard Nimoy in 2015 – but director Justin Lin is promising that his new movie Star Trek Beyond will honour the memory of this acting legend.
"It’s something you’ll see in the film. It obviously affected everybody, because he’s been a big part of our lives," Lin tells Trek Core. "There’s an attempt to acknowledge that in some way."
Nimoy turned up in the first two of the newly rebooted Trek movies (released in 2009 and 2013), appearing as the old version of Spock alongside younger incumbent Zachary Quinto. Check out the first film's memorable passing-of-the-torch scene below.
It remains to be seen how old Spock will be woven into the fabric of the new movie – but then the vast majority of the production is still shrouded in secrecy. With Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg and Karl Urban all returning as Kirk, young Spock, Uhura, Scotty and Bones, we also get new faces Idris Elba and Sophia Boutella, playing villain Krall and alien warrior Jaylah, respectively.
However even amidst this fan-pleasing ensemble, there's one character who holds a particular place in Lin's heart.
"Bones is my favorite character, because I’ve always viewed him as the curmudgeonly uncle I never had," he says. "So it was fun to talk with Karl [Urban] about where McCoy is going and where he is right now. I almost feel like I’m making the biggest-budgeted fan film! We got to have Bones and Spock have the conversation I’ve always wanted them to have. I didn’t realize how much the franchise was a part of me until we played with putting characters in these different situations."
There's not long left until the U.S.S. Enterprise crew beams back onto our screens: Star Trek Beyond is released on 22nd July.
