'Star Trek Beyond' movie plot news: new alien species, 5-year mission in space

Spock and Kirk from Star Trek (2009)Paramount Pictures

Actor/ writer Simon Pegg recently submitted the final draft of the "Star Trek Beyond" screenplay and the film is gearing up to enter production very soon. Just before things get busy, director Justin Lin was able to give fans a few details involving the film's plot during an interview with Deadline. 

Lin explained his history with the franchise, having been a young kid who stayed up late to watch "Star Trek" and how this has affected his view on the series in general and what the two recent films lacked. 

The first two "Star Trek" reboot films helmed by J.J. Abrams revitalized the franchise and gave it a modern spin but they did focus a little too much on Earth and familiar territories. They were good but they did recycle familiar races such as the Romulans and the Klingons and even did a quasi-remake of "Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan" for the second film. 

According to the report, Lin confirmed that this time, the film will take place during the crew's 5-year journey to go out and explore deep space.

"To boldly go where no man has gone before" is the tagline of the main "Star Trek" TV series since the 1960s and it appears that Lin and Pegg intend on living up to that iconic statement. 

Lin confirmed that "Star Trek Beyond" would take place during the 5-year mission, ensuring fans that the crew of the Enterprise will be traveling to new, unexplored planets and meet new civilizations. Along with this intention to focus on unexplored territory, the director also confirmed that the film's villains will be of a new species. 

"It's all new and fresh," Lin told Deadline. "The Klingons, Romulans and other species are great, but it's time to go further. It has been fun to focus on creating whole new worlds and species." 

"Star Trek Beyond" is scheduled for a July 8, 2016 release.