It looks like the casting process for the next Star Trek movie, helmed by JJ Abrams and set to debut in December 2008, is nearing completion and I’m not terribly impressed so far. The story is going to be heading back in the timeline, so get ready for a more youthful lineup here. Initially Abrams had wanted Russell Crowe as the villain Nero but the role has instead gone to Eric Bana (Troy, Hulk, Black Hawk Down). I’m glad to see Bana get a chance at a bigger role than his last attempt at a movie with “Lucky You“. I’ll keep discussing the positives for the moment and delay the downers. Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) is taking over as Scotty which is a surprising casting choice, but I’ll take it all the same. Both of those are recent updates to the list but we’ve known for awhile that Leonard Nimoy would reprise his role as Spock while Zachary Quinto (Heroes’ Sylar) would play his younger counterpart. I’m anxious to see Quinto work on something new and different before he gets trapped in his Sylar role. That seems to be the end of the positive parts, now for the rest.
The big unknown had been who would fill the tough role of Captain Kirk and apparently they couldn’t find anyone worthwhile because the role has gone to the obscure Chris Pine who’s biggest gig had been Lindsay Lohan’s flop (which weren’t?) “Just My Luck”. Apparently someone owed someone a favor as the biggest role of this $150 MILLION movie just went to Lohan movie reject. Great. You’ve also got John Cho (White Castle) filling in as Sulu. Nothing terrible about Cho in general, but as Sulu? Considering the budget is set at over $0.15 billion it seems like they could have done a little better.
Sigh. Things need to look up quick for this movie or the buzz is going to die fast. Anyone still interested? Anyone already decided to skip it?
Source: Slashfilm
Posted on: Wednesday, October 17, 2007
5 Responses to “JJ Abrams’ Star Trek Casting Nearly Complete - Kirk Confirmed”
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October 20th, 2007 at 6:04 pm
Oh for the love of Pete. Hello? I find the idea of this movie appalling. People! This no name cast of wanna bes is an affront to all Original Star Trek fans. Good grief. Leave a classic alone! I hope GR’s ashes in space zap this movie with a lightning bolt the very instant it hits the theaters. Beam ‘em all to smithereens, Scotty!
October 20th, 2007 at 10:00 pm
Yeah, I’m a little concerned too. The older ST movies are such classics and if they’re trying to make a “hip” version it could go really wrong. The studios have too many $$$ in their eyes to not go for it though.
October 20th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
Oh Matt. Sigh. They’ll do it and, ya know, it just might be a smash it. Draw in a young audience who aren’t familiar with the classics, fill it up with zap bang boom special effects so no one could care less about the characters and it’ll go. What they won’t get, is the special relationships that were shared among the original crew. That’s what I loved about the originals. What kind of snide comeback could we always expect from Bones. The wonderful, understated friendship between Kirk and Spock. I could go on and on. But hey, the classics will continue to live in our hearts, not to mention our shelves of DVDs. Space, that final frontier will forever twinkle with our menories.