Just weeks beforeStar Trek Beyondwas set to debut in theaters this weekend, a horriblefreak accidentleft starAnton Yelchindead. In the wake that followed, Paramount Pictures decided to keep the star’s character Ensign Pavel Chekov out of any new marketing materials, including the TV spots and banners. The movie does pay loving respect to bothYelchinand iconicStar Trekactor Leonard Nimoy in the end credits. But it isn’t known how the franchise will move forward withoutAnton Yelchinjust yet.
The PostMedia Networkcaught up with producer J.J. Abrams, and asked the difficult question about what will happen to the character ofChekov. Abrams made it very clear that Paramount Pictures and the team behind the recently announcedStar Trek 4will not recastAnton Yelchin’s character. Though, they are not sure how they will move forward without the actor.
The producer says that his team is still weighing their options.Abramsclaims it is just too early to make a final decision on whether or not they want tokill offthe iconic, belovedStar Trekcharacter that was first introduced in the 1960s TV show, or if there will be a backstory explaining his absence. When it came to Universal’sFast and Furiousfranchise, the team behind those movies felt it was too disrespectful to kill off Paul Walker’s Brian O’Connor and let that character literally ride off into the sunset.Abramssays this.
“I would say there’s no replacing him. There’s no recasting. I can’t possibly imagine that, and I think Anton deserves better.”
Abramsgoes onto admit that killing Chekov off is still a definite possibility. But it’s a hard aspect to approach with sensitivity. He explains this.
“I have thought about it, we’re working on it, and it’s too early to talk about it.
Leonard Nimoy was supposed to appear inStar Trek 3, but he passed during the pre-production period of the movie. He was ultimately written out of the script before it started shooting. SaysAbramsabout handling the situation surrounding Nimoy.
“We knew going into this movie it would be a bit of a heartbreak just because of Leonard. We had no idea just how devastating events would become.”
The end credits are first to acknowledge the passing of old Spock with, ‘In Loving Memory of Leonard Nimoy’. This is followed by the words, ‘For Anton’.Yelchinhad completely finished shootingStar Trek Beyondbefore his accident. He also has a number of othercompleted moviescoming in the next two years that are awaiting release dates. These includeRememory,We Don’t Belong Here,Porto, andThoroughbred.
