General News

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS & Paramount Pictures Celebrate WWF’s Earth Hour

By Michelle McCue | March 24, 2013

As the UK prepared to go ‘into darkness’ for WWF’s Earth Hour Saturday evening, Paramount Pictures showed it’s support with a special ‘Star Trek’ themed light display which dimmed as Earth Hour approached. Get ready for some goosebumps Trek fans.

This amazing light show by Paramount, in conjunction with Ars Electronica Futurelab & Ascending Technologies, saw quadrocopters flying into the night sky, forming the Star Trek federation logo beside Tower Bridge on a scale never seen before. In keeping with Earth Hour’s initiative, the quadrocopters utilized batteries that were charged in Austria using green energy from the Austrian renewable energy grid specifically for this event.

The event coincided with WWF’s Earth Hour at 8:30 pm. Along with key landmarks such as Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, and The London Eye going dark, the quadrocopters turned off their glow in support of Earth Hour.

To signal the end of Earth Hour at 9:30 pm the quadrocopters reformed the Star Trek logo above London’s skyline.

The logo formation hovered about 36m (118ft) above the ground at the lowest point and the highest point (the tip of the logo) was at approximately 130m (426ft) above ground. The total height of the logo was approximately 94meters (308ft).

The light show was captured from the main location at Old Billingsgate Walk, which gave a view of Tower Bridge and City Hall. Other vantage points for the public were the Tower of London and on location at Potters Field Park, Tooley Street , Southwark, London SE1 2AA.

Prior to the event, John Fletcher, Director of Marketing for Paramount Pictures UK said “We are very pleased to go ‘into darkness’ with the rest of the world in support of Earth Hour. It seems fitting to be associated with such a global cause.”

Kellie Rollings from WWF added “WWF is delighted that Paramount is supporting this year’s Earth Hour event. Millions of people around the world take part in Earth Hour year on year and we’re always looking for innovative ways to get our message out there. It’s fantastic that Paramount has chosen to mark the hour by dimming their lights at this unusual light display.”

In Summer 2013, director J.J. Abrams will deliver an explosive action thriller that takes STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS.

In the wake of a shocking act of terror from within their own organization, the crew of The Enterprise is called back home to Earth. In defiance of regulations and with a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads his crew on a manhunt to capture an unstoppable force of destruction and bring those responsible to justice.

As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS is written by Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman & Damon Lindelof and directed by J.J. Abrams . Abrams is producing with Bryan Burk through Bad Robot Productions, along with Lindelof, Kurtzman and Orci. Jeffrey Chernovand Skydance Productions’ David Ellison , Dana Goldberg and Paul Schwake are the executive producers.

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS opens in cinemas across the UK & Ireland on Thursday May 9th, in the U.S. in select theaters in IMAX 3D on May 15th and theaters everywhere May 17, 2013.