The Star Trek reboot introduced the adventures of the legendary Spock and Kirk to a whole new generation. The reboot was initiated by J.J. Abrams, who did not return as director to the third film Star Trek Beyond. Despite the film earning over $343 million and a fourth film in development, several issues reportedly went wrong with the film behind the scenes.
One of them was lead actor Chris Pine, who played James Kirk in the reboot getting a black eye while filming a scene in the threequel. The actor was reportedly punched by Idris Elba, who mistakenly gave him a black eye. However, it did not stop the actor from brushing it off and finishing the movie in true Kirk fashion.
Chris Pine Got An Injury On The Sets Of Star Trek Beyond
After J.J. Abrams rebooted the Star Trek movies with Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto playing Captain Kirk and Spock, the filmmaker stepped back as a director as he handled the Star Wars sequel trilogy. This led filmmaker Justin Lin to take over the post of director for the third film Star Trek Beyond.
While the film received positive reviews from critics and was a commercial success, the behind-the-scenes events of the film were reportedly far from smooth. Tasked with a tight deadline, Lin had to pull all the stops in making the film happen on time, and an on-set injury added to his woes.
Actor Idris Elba, who played the villain Krall in the film reportedly punched Chris Pine a little too hard when filming an action sequence. Though not as serious, the combat scene resulted in Pine getting a noticeable black eye which was worked into the film. Elba said to THR,
We had laughs. Chris and I had laughs, and then I gave him a black eye. Well, we were doing a fight scene, and he got a bit cheeky, and I was just like pow! I didn’t mean to do it, but Chris was quite proud of it.
While the lead actor sustaining an injury on set was no joke, Pine reportedly brushed it off and actually claimed that it was fun (via People).
Justin Lin Had To Film Star Trek Beyond Quickly
While the second film of the reboot franchise Star Trek: Into Darkness was a commercial success, many criticized its lack of mystery revolving around Benedict Cumberbatch’s Khan. Compared to that, Star Trek Beyond has often been considered to be an upgrade and was handled well by Justin Lin considering the constraints he had. The film even earned a decent $343 million worldwide against a $185 million budget (via Box Office Mojo).
Lin was reportedly brought on board the film after Roberto Orci’s departure. According to Deadline, many other directors such as Edgar Wright, Rupert Wyatt, and Lin were being considered with the latter finally getting the job after he declined to return to the Fast & Furious franchise. However, the filmmaker was tasked with a quick production schedule.
Lin told Josh Horowitz that Abrams liked his pitch for the film and told him that they had to be in production by June when they met in January. He said,
On Monday, I went down and sat with J.J. and I shared with him the idea for ‘Star Trek Beyond.’ And he’s like, ‘Great!’ And this is the end of January. He said, ‘Let’s do it, but we have to start production in June.’ No script. Nothing. … It was tough. It was the toughest thing I’ve ever had to do.
However, Lin credited co-writer and actor Simon Pegg for being an incredible support system and mentioned that both of them quit the film together multiple times before making it happen.
Star Trek Beyond is available to stream on AMC+.
