By David Wharton | 9 years ago

It’s hard out there for a filmmaker trying to keep spoilers from leaking out about a new project. Between professional paparazzi, amateurs with cell phones, and loose-lipped extras, it’s almost a given that some elements of any big upcoming movie’s plot will leak online months before it hits theaters. J.J. Abrams has been doing his level best to keep his much-anticipated Star Trek sequel cloaked in secrecy, but even so we’ve seen leaks such as the shots of a fight scene between Zachary Quinto as Spock and Benedict Cumberbatch’s unnamed villain. Now it seems that Abrams has taken the production to red alert and raised shields to keep the paparazzi out. And by “raised shields,” I of course mean “built a big damn wall.”

As reported by Movieweb, Abrams has brought in 30 giant shipping containers to form an anti-paparazzi barricade around one of the film’s outdoor shooting locations. Take a look:

Since we as humans can only move in two dimensions, this imposing barrier should prove impossible for paparazzi to surmount. That’s a good thing, too, because if we were three-dimensional creatures then the determined cameramen might get the idea to buy a ladder, rent a helicopter, find a tall nearby building, salvage some sturdy crates, skydive over the site, use Google Earth, or sneak onto the lot standing on each other’s shoulders inside a comically oversized trench coat. As all the voyeuristic celebrity nude shots in the world prove, paparazzi are not willing to put much effort into their job, so I’m sure they’ll just pack up their gear and go home and pout.