Director Justin Lin excited Trekkies Monday by revealing the title of the third in J.J. Abrams rebooted “Star Trek” movie franchise, E! Online reported.
Lin, who is taking over director duties from Abrams, tweeted the film’s title, along with a picture of the Starfleet badge, the first photo taken on set.
“Let the next Starfleet voyage begin!” Lin captioned a close-up of the patch worn by the Enterprise crew, adding the hashtags “#StarTrekBeyond” and and “#LLAP.”
So, it’s going to be “Star Trek Beyond.” Beyond what we don’t know. The galaxy? Space, time, gravity? Oh, but the “Star Trek” universe has been playing around with those concepts since the original 1960s TV series.
Meanwhile, “#LLAP,” for those not abreast of Star Trek-related hashtags — though it’s reasonable to ask if hashtags will even be a thing in the 23rd century — stands for Mr. Spock’s famous line, “Live long and prosper.”
What can be said for sure about “Star Trek Beyond,” due in theaters July 8, 2016, is that the franchise’s main stars are returning to play the younger versions of characters that originated in the 1960s TV show. Those stars would be Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana Simon Pegg, John Cho and Anton Yelchin.
And there’s this very exciting possibility: Idris Elba’s name has been bounced around as a rumored villain.
Martha Ross provides celebrity commentary for the Bay Area News Group. Follow her at twitter.com/marthajross.