Paramount Pictures’ Star Trek Beyond has added another cast member as The Hollywood Reporter brings word that The Raid star Joe Taslim has signed on for a role. Taslim is no stranger to Justin Lin helmed franchise sequels. He previously played a villainous role in Lin’s Furious Six.
The new film, now in production, will feature the return of Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin and John Cho along with Idris Elba as the film’s villain and Sofia Boutella in a mystery role. According to the trade, Taslim’s role is closely connected to Elba’s character.
J.J. Abrams, who directed the last two films, is producing the third film in the rebooted franchise. Lin is set to direct from a script by Simon Pegg and Doug Jung.
Paramount Pictures has Star Trek Beyond scheduled for a July 8, 2016 release, which happens to be exactly two months to the day before the franchise’s 50th Anniversary. Although it wasn’t the first episode produced, “The Man Trap,” in which the crew of the Enterprise encounters a deadly shapeshifting salt vampire, introduced the world to “Star Trek” on September 8, 1966.
