Simon Pegg Begins His China Invasion, Monty Python Crew in Tow

Get ready to start seeing quite a bit of Simon Pegg over the next few weeks. The British actor, writer, and comedian will be in town in a couple of days and will stay on cinema screens in two films in the coming months.

Pegg will join director Justin Lin and co-stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Zoe Saldana in Beijing this Thursday (Aug 18) to promote Star Trek Beyond (星际迷航3：超越星辰), the third film in the rebooted sci-fi franchise, before it hits cinema screens on September 2. 

He served as co-writer of the script for the new Star Trek in addition to reprising his role as chief engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott.

It was only last September that Pegg graced Chinese cinema screens in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (碟中谍5：神秘国度). He was also an adviser to director JJ Abrams on the set of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (星球大战：原力觉醒), which came to China in January.

Both Star Trek Beyond and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation have received sizable investments from local tech giant Alibaba.

Pegg’s China adventures have even been mirrored on the screen. In 2014, he starred in Hector and the Search for Happiness (寻找幸福的赫克托), a pop-psychology dramedy which saw his character, suffering a mid-life crisis, looking for answers in China.

On top of all that, it was announced today that his film, Absolutely Anything (魔法老师), featuring all the surviving members of the Monty Python team and, in his final role, the late Robin Williams, is getting a release here on September 9.

Absolutely Anything is a sci-fi comedy inspired by an HG Wells short story, The Man Who Could Work Miracles, in which Pegg’s character Neil is given the power to do anything he wants by a group of aliens.

The film was directed by Terry Jones, director of all the Python films, and the voices of the aliens are provided by himself and the other remaining Pythons – John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, and Michael Palin (who you can see in action exploring China here).

Absolutely Anything also features late comedy legend Robin Williams in what turned out to be his last performance, voicing a talking dog called Denis. Kate Beckinsale, plays Pegg’s love interest.

While not exactly hailed as a masterpiece, the film looks like it could make for a fun night out as Pegg’s character causes zombie invasions, and appoints himself president of the United States, among other good-natured and silly shenanigans.

Images: Hector and the Search for Happiness, Absolutely Anything (via Sohu)