‘Star Trek,’ by way of Wall Street and romance
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It will be a while before a new ‘Star Trek ‘ movie hits--it won’t even start shooting until at least 2012. But those yearning for a taste of the USS Enterprise might sate their craving with a visit to the local art house, where a pair of actors from the 2009 reboot are set to bring out new movies.
‘Margin Call,’ a financial-crisis drama that Zachary Quinto produced and stars in, opens this weekend. (The man who plays Spock tells my colleague Rebecca Keegan that he’s ‘training, working on getting in some serious shape’ for a ‘big sequence’ in the ‘Star Trek’ sequel.)
And next week comes ‘Like Crazy,’ a tale of tormented young love that stars Anton Yelchin, the actor who incarnated Russian teenage prodigy Pavel Chekov in J.J. Abrams’ ‘09 picture.
The L.A.-raised Yelchin loses the accent and, in some cases, the words, in his new emo romantic tale. (More on that one shortly.) But after heavily promoting the indie over the past few months, he’s getting back into a ‘Star Trek’ frame of mind, he told 24 Frames.
‘For me, it’s seeing what else i can do to the character, charting some growth,’ he said of his preparations. ‘So I’m re-watching all the shows and and trying to get to that place.’
Chekov was played by Walter Koenig in the original series, his relative youth and Monkees haircut appealing to a younger audience. Yelchin, too, is the junior of costars such as Chris Pine and Quinto; he’s 22, while the men who play Kirk and Spock are in their early 30s. Both Koenig and Yelchin’s mispronunciation of certain words offered comic relief in Abrams’ sci-fi tale.
The filmmaker told us this summer that he and his team were working methodically but deliberately on the new movie. ‘There was a lot of desire [on the studio side] to fast-track a new ‘Star Trek’ and have it be shooting already,’ Abrams said. ‘And in theory we could have done that. But what all of us [the creative team] were concerned about is the release date be the master we were serving. Nothing is more disheartening than something going in front of the camera before it’s ready.’
Abrams was careful about offering plot details. But fans frustrated by the secrecy might take comfort in knowing that, well, the actors aren’t in a much better position. ‘They keep us in the dark until the last possible moment too,’ Yelchin said.
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--Steven Zeitchik
