Paramount may have brought Simon Pegg on board to help write a new script for Star Trek 3 alongside Doug Jung, but the actor hasn’t exactly had the studio’s back these past few weeks. He was quoted as saying that Paramount nixed one early draft for being “too Star Trek-y,” a comment that got franchise fans in a tizzy, and now Pegg has revealed that, though the first draft of his script has just been finished, Paramount is pressing ahead with a production start in just a few weeks.
Speaking to Radio Times, Pegg stated:
“We started again six months before we were due to start shooting, which is insane! In fact…we start shooting in Vancouver in four weeks – and we’re only handing in our first draft today.”
That’s a comment Paramount probably would have preferred never left Pegg’s head. Obviously, Star Trek 3 (which may be titled Star Trek Beyond) is a major tentpole for the studio, and it wants to get the film before audiences as soon as possible, but turning the heat up on the movie’s scribes in order to do so is a pretty self-defeating approach. If the script isn’t up to scratch, fans will rip the threequel apart just as brutally as they did Star Trek Into Darkness – and Paramount should and hopefully does want to keep Star Trek in Trekkies’ good graces.
Here’s hoping that execs approve Pegg and Jung’s treatment so that the film can go ahead as planned. The actor has said that his script is true to the “frontierism and adventure” of the original series, something somewhat lacking from J.J. Abrams’ two cinematic installments, and it would be great to see that spirit captured on screen.
Star Trek 3 is set to arrive July 8, 2016. Fans may note that next year will mark the fiftieth anniversary of the franchise – yet another reason Paramount is gung-ho about getting shooting under way.
