Why Star Trek Beyond Was An Extremely Rough Experience For Director Justin Lin

There's still very little coming up on the scanners regarding "Star Trek 4," the fourth installment of the Kelvin timeline, which will follow the grossly underappreciated "Star Trek Beyond." Failing to receive a better box-office reception than its immediate predecessor but critically deemed a superior film (perhaps in part because "Star Trek Into Darkness" fumbled its Khan mystery), the threequel for Chris Pine's Kirk and company should've gotten more recognition, if only for the nightmare production issues behind the scenes.

In an interview with Josh Horowitz, "Star Trek Beyond" director Justin Lin explained what kind of nightmare he'd signed himself up for and the work buddy who stuck it out with him to ensure the Enterprise's latest mission was complete. A fan of "Star Trek" since childhood, Lin recalled how former director of the Kelvin timeline films J.J. Abrams offered him the gig.

"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 explained. "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." Thankfully, just like every captain of a Starfleet adventure, Lin had a stellar number one in the form of Simon Pegg to keep him and the production ship steady.

"Star Trek Beyond" had already experienced turbulence in the form of Roberto Orci having stepped on and off as director in less than the span of a year. From there, Justin Lin took the chair, collaborating with Simon Pegg, who was writing the script with Doug Jung. Speaking to Josh Horowitz, Lin praised the screenwriter who doubled as Scotty in the movie. "It was intense. I think I had quit three times, and Simon had quit four times," he said. "Also, we didn't know each other. And I think, for me, Simon Pegg, it was a dream to have the opportunity to work with him."

While it wasn't anything new for Lin to take on a franchise film, it was a drastic shift from the "Fast & Furious" universe, swapping Diesel for dilithium. "'Star Trek' is not like 'Fast & Furious.' Every idea that I come up with is a build. And we had no time," the director explained. "It was rough. I didn't know if we were going to make it out of that first week." Thankfully, they did, and hopefully, while "Star Trek Beyond" isn't remembered as fondly as some of the other entries in the massive "Star Trek" movie franchise, it will gain more love in the star dates and years to come.