J.J. Abrams and the cast of “Star Trek Beyond” took a moment to remember their former co-star and friend, Anton Yelchin, at the film’s premiere in at Comic-Con in San Diego Wednesday night.
Sofia Boutella, John Cho, Idris Elba, Simon Pegg, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana and Karl Urban were all in attendance. Many of them arrived wearing black “Star Trek” command pins in remembrance of Yelchin, who died in June at the age of 27. Yelchin portrayed Pavel Chekov in the first two installments of the sci-fi film series, 2009’s “Star Trek” and the 2013 sequel, “Star Trek Into Darkness.”
In the moments before the film screened for the audience, director Abrams took a moment to pay tribute to the late actor.
“As wonderful as this is to be here with all of you and to be celebrating the 50th anniversary of ‘Star Trek,’ there is something wrong tonight. There is something missing tonight. There is someone missing tonight. Anton Yelchin should be here,” he said, according to E! News. “Anton’s parents are here, Irina and Victor. We love their son, and if I could ask everyone to have a moment of silence for our dear friend, Anton.”
Adam B. Vary at BuzzFeed captured the powerful moment on his phone:
The moment of silence was followed by a performance by the San Diego Symphony, who played the film’s theme music while fireworks lit up the sky over the Embarcadero Marina Park South.
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