I wanted to evoke that feeling on a really large scale."
I wanted to leave the audience with the feeling of an expansive universe, one we all live in yet know so little about. It's about pushing through your boundaries, and Star Trek is also about exploring the unknown, so I drew from that. When you listen to the lyrics of the song, she's this sledgehammer breaking things down. She is able to conjure light and stars and ultimately transform into the universe itself, becoming the stars and the planets. She's harnessing her power to manipulate the elements. She has her own character not rooted in the film. The director explains the concept at the core of the video: "We tried to incorporate those elements but create a standalone piece where Rihanna is a mystical being on this otherworldly planet. But Sigismondi also wanted the music video to have a story all its own, which is where Rihanna's character comes into play. There are several degrees of inspiration here, but it all comes from within the Star Trek universe. Of course, as you can see, that new poster was adapted from the original Star Trek: The Motion Picture poster. We're assuming the differentiation is that "Sledgehammer" may have been shot entirely on IMAX while "Hello" only partially shot on the large format, but we can't be sure. However, you may remember that Adele's music video for "Hello" was shot on IMAX cameras as well. The magazine says this is the first music video shot entirely on IMAX cameras. Over at Entertainment Weekly, they dive a little deeper into the making of the music video. Watch the Rihanna Star Trek Beyond music video after the jump. It's a wild, trippy music video featuring Rihanna as some kind of space witch, and it has some truly stunning visuals. Now that track has gotten its own music video from director Floria Sigismondi, who previously helmed the rock biopic The Runaways as well as an episode of Netflix's Daredevil series. Today, we have one that fulfills both, and it just so happens to have the added bonus of being shot entirely in IMAX.Įarlier this week, a new Star Trek Beyond trailer debuted featuring the new single "Sledgehammer" from Rihanna, a ballad that felt reminiscent of a classic James Bond theme song. Normally we don't post music videos unless they're directed by a filmmaker whose work we've highlighted before or unless they're tied directly to the release of a new movie.