Justin Lin’s Star Trek Beyond is set to arrive in theaters in just three months, but the marketing campaign for the movie hasn’t exactly been overwhelming. A seemingly hastily put together trailer arrived online back in December, but we haven’t seen a split second of new footage since – even at last week’s CinemaCon, where a new preview was heavily anticipated. This lack of promotion has left some fans concerned about what’s going on behind the scenes of the movie, but now Anton Yelchin – Chekov himself - has arrived to do his part to calm folks down.
I had the pleasure of chatting on the phone with the Star Trek Beyond actor last week in promotion of his new movie Green Room, and at the end of our long conversation about the excellent new thriller, I asked about the progress of the upcoming blockbuster. Anton Yelchin explained that everything is still on course for the sci-fi sequel as far as he knows, and suggested that Bad Robot’s notable history could easily explain the lack of footage that’s been shown. Said Yelchin,
Everything is pretty secretive, but from what I understand, they’re moving forward and pressing to that release date, and I think people at the studio are happy with it and it’s coming out. ... I’m sure that has as much to do with their plans and how exactly they want to release it and how they want to, you know, in relation to Green Room, build tension and put it out. So, I wouldn’t take that as any kind of negative sign or anything… I think they’re just working on a particular kind of release plan.
Those familiar with the works of J.J. Abrams’ production company know that they like to play their cards close to the vest at all times, and across all franchises. Both Cloverfield titles were shrouded in mystery before their release; Star Trek Into Darkness gave Benedict Cumberbatch’s character a fake name to protect his identity; and Star Wars: The Force Awakens wasn’t even shown to press before the Los Angeles junket. This could explain why very limited Star Trek Beyond footage has been made available.
We’ve expected more footage from Star Trek Beyond before now, but the drought will likely be coming to an end in May. Paramount Pictures is hosting a special Star Trek Beyond fan day in Los Angeles on May 20th, and it’s expected that the worldwide release of a new trailer will correspond with the event. You can be sure that we will have plenty of coverage coming your way.
Star Trek Beyond will be in theaters on July 22nd, and you can currently see Anton Yelchin in Green Room which is now in limited release but will expand nationwide on April 29th.
