The Star Trek Beyond crew have landed in Dubai to film some out-of-the-world scenes in our city, and tabloid!’s at the press conference today at the Burj Al Arab to meet the cast and director of the third instalment of the sci-fi reboot. In attendance are star leads Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, alongside Karl Urban, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, and Idris Elba. Director Justin Lin, producer Jeffrey Chernov, screenwriter Doug Jung and actor and screenwriter Simon Pegg are also in attendance. Here is our live upates from the event:
That's a wrap for the #StarTrekDubai press conference. Full story coming up. #StarTrekBeyond pic.twitter.com/ciMg3CplCQ— tabloid! (@GulfNewsTabloid) September 30, 2015
.@idriselba says "for the most part, principal photography ends in Dubai" but he has a DJing gig the week after, so he's sticking around.— Marwa Hamad (@marwahamad) September 30, 2015
12.47pm
Pegg on responsibility, cultures and why Star Trek is so popular
"More and more filmmakers have the responsibility to show cultures in a full way," says @simonpegg #StarTrekDubai pic.twitter.com/0C2XEfuf34— tabloid! (@GulfNewsTabloid) September 30, 2015
"One of the reasons #StarTrek is so popular is it gives us a utopian idea of all of us living together," says @simonpegg #StarTrekDubai— tabloid! (@GulfNewsTabloid) September 30, 2015
More than 200 extras have been chosen so far + 600 who'll be behind the scenes #StarTrekDubai #StarTrekBeyond pic.twitter.com/qjRaD2MAwG— tabloid! (@GulfNewsTabloid) September 30, 2015
12.33pm
Simon Pegg on why he is excited to be back in Dubai
"One of the reasons #StarTrek is so popular is it gives us a utopian idea of all of us living together," says @simonpegg #StarTrekDubai— tabloid! (@GulfNewsTabloid) September 30, 2015
.@simonpegg: excited to return to #Dubai 5 years after MI4 which was filmed here & became a smash hit! #StarTrekDubai pic.twitter.com/fLt4U1luia— Dubai Film & TV (@FilmDubai) September 30, 2015
12.30pm
Elba super psyched to be in Dubai
"I'm super psyched to be here [in Dubai]. It's been a really great ride," says @idriselba #StarTrekDubai #StarTrekBeyond— tabloid! (@GulfNewsTabloid) September 30, 2015
"These guys have been my new family, I couldn't have asked for a better group of players to play with," - @idriselba #StarTrekDubai— tabloid! (@GulfNewsTabloid) September 30, 2015
12.25pm
'Summer camp' in Vancouver for Idris Elba
Actor @ZacharyQuinto says they filmed @StarTrekMovie for 3 months in #Vancouver & it felt like summer camp #StarTrekDubai #StarTrekBeyond— tabloid! (@GulfNewsTabloid) September 30, 2015
12.20pm
Waking up in 'Future land'
"I woke up this morning, opened up the blinds and it looks like whatever tomorrow will be. It's future land." - #ChrisPine, #StarTrekDubai— tabloid! (@GulfNewsTabloid) September 30, 2015
12.15pm
"This has to be a new @StarTrekMovie," says writer & actor @simonpegg, of marrying the traditional #StarTrek with a fresh one #StarTrekDubai— tabloid! (@GulfNewsTabloid) September 30, 2015
"We came searching for the future and we found it in Dubai," says @StarTrekMovie producer Jeffrey Chernov. #StarTrekDubai— tabloid! (@GulfNewsTabloid) September 30, 2015
12.10pm
They're here!! Marhaba boys! #StarTrekDubai pic.twitter.com/BTC7rdLRPR— tabloid! (@GulfNewsTabloid) September 30, 2015
11.36am
The Idris Elba question
The burning question at #StarTrekBeyond press con: where will @idriselba sit? pic.twitter.com/iwNfDefRar— Marwa Hamad (@marwahamad) September 30, 2015
11.32 am
Waiting for some action
First spotting of the morning, Mr. @SimonPegg getting out of the car next to mine. Hello, Simon!— Marwa Hamad (@marwahamad) September 30, 2015
11.30am
Zachary Quinto shared this via Instagram
11.23am
Ready for the show
Yallah, we're all set for #StarTrekDubai. Photo via @FilmDubai pic.twitter.com/NXtz2jLU7f— tabloid! (@GulfNewsTabloid) September 30, 2015
10.43 am
Off to Star Trek Beyond press conference. Traveling in a cab as my colleagues failed to beam me there.— Marwa Hamad (@marwahamad) September 30, 2015
It's going to be a nice day tomorrow, the Sun is coming out, so, I'm going to sleep in my sunglasses. Always be ahead of the game. Dubai 😎— Idris Elba (@idriselba) September 30, 2015
Almost exactly five years since Tom Cruise scaled the Burj Khalifa for Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, another mammoth franchise has landed in town to shoot some out-of-this-world footage. Say welcome to Star Trek Beyond.
Arriving at the Burj Al Arab to promote the third instalment of the sci-fi reboot are star leads Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, alongside Karl Urban, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, and Idris Elba. Director Justin Lin, producer Jeffrey Chernov, screenwriter Doug Jung and actor and screenwriter Simon Pegg were also in attendance.
The cast and crew’s UAE arrival comes just days after they wrapped up filming in Vancouver, which they reportedly began in August. Zoe Saldana, who plays Nyota Uhura and was with the cast in Vancouver, was nowhere to be seen at the Dubai press conference.
It’s no coincidence that this would be the movie to join Ghost Protocol as one of the biggest feature film shoots to happen in Dubai. The links between the two production teams are obvious. Both films boast J.J. Abrams as a producer, and Chernov, a producer on Beyond, was an executive producer on Protocol. In terms of cast, Pegg played Benjamin ‘Benji’ Dunn alongside Cruise, and plays Montgomery ‘Scotty’ Scott alongside Quinto and Pine.
Elba was the latest cast member to be added to cast, creating buzz over whether or not he’d be the villain. His role was confirmed in July, and the star has since opened up to MTV about the complexity of the character he plays.
“I think Star Trek has prided themselves as being quite classic when it comes to villains, like ‘he’s a guy who wants to end the world,’ there’s no doubt about that,” he said. “But in this version of the film, there’s a slightly different twist to that. It’s quite an interesting journey, which I think is ground-breaking for the franchise. But, it still keeps with the ‘classic bad guy is a classic bad guy’ tone.”
In August, the film held a casting in Dubai under the code name “Washington” and recruited a flock of extras to be in the film. During the casting, which tabloid! attended, they left no body part unmeasured, including neck circumference, crown, glove (space between middle finger and wrist) and ring finger.
The film is set to release in 2016 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the original 1966 sci-fi series, created by Gene Roddenberry. It was initially to be released on July 8, but the date was recently pushed back to July 22.