The crux of the screenplay involves the appearance of Nimoy in his iconic role as Spock. "I think a lot of people were speculating that we must have had multiple ideas [for the script]," Orci said. "The truth is that we took a gigantic gamble in terms of the movie we wanted to do, and it was essential that we had Nimoy. Frankly, I didn't understand any other way to do it. We didn't have a Plan B. I think that would have shown that we didn't have a true, singular vision of what we wanted to do, so it was essential for us to get Nimoy. It was a gigantic gamble, and I can't even believe that J.J. supported that kind of a gamble, but I think he understood it was the way to do it and a way to get the blessing for Star Trek, to show there is continuity for the spirit of what it was before. So when Nimoy said yes, not only as a fan was it a relief--if that didn't work, I don't know where we would be!"

Orci, who previously tackled a beloved franchise with Transformers (which he co-wrote with partner Alex Kurtzman), said that adapting Trek was even harder because of the dedicated fan base watching every move.

"The dangers are that now you are opening up yourself to the fact that the fans know what you know about the characters," Orci said. "They have their own ideas about what should be done and what is right for the franchise. So the goal with this movie is twofold. One is to make sure that the fans--who have been the stewards of the continuity and who are some of the most savvy and intelligent fans of any franchise ever--that they be satisfied with anything that has the name Star Trek on it. But, more importantly, the goal is really to introduce casual fans and people who don't know Star Trek at all to this universe and to connect it to today. ... The goal of Star Trek ... is that if you don't like sci-fi or know Star Trek, this will bring you into the world."

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Ben Cross is Sarek

British actor Ben Cross has been cast as Sarek, Spock's father, in the upcoming Star Trek movie.

Cross, a graduate of London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, rose to international stardom with his breakout role as runner Harold Abrahams in the Academy Award-winning 1981 film "Chariots of Fire." He will be seen in the upcoming "Hero Wanted" with Cuba Gooding Jr. and Ray Liotta. Last year he performed with Alexander Siddig in the BBC historical drama about ancient Rome, "Hannibal."

Cross will be paired with Winona Ryder (related story), portraying Spock's human mother Amanda Grayson. The young Spock will be played by Zachary Quinto.

The Hollywood Reporter got it wrong and reported that Winona would be playing a Vulcan. Of course, Amanda Grayson was human. Casting is coming along fine and filming has begun, but will there be any writers to polish the screenplay and do on-set rewrites? The Writers' Strike is in its third week, although the WGA and the AMPTP have agreed to start talks again on November 26th, which is good.

You can find full coverage of the Writers' Strike (What's it all about? What's the current status of all my shows? Where can I find breaking news to read instead of working?) at our sister site WritersWrite.com's comprehensive Writers' Strike Section.

Posted on November 19, 2007
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Is Karl Urban the New Dr. McCoy?

Ain't it Cool News reports that Karl Urban has been cast as Dr. McCoy in the new Star Trek film. We are really, really conflicted about this. We love Karl Urban -- he's great. As a leading man of action. But as Bones McCoy? We're going to hope that Karl has some hidden acting chops, because this will really be playing against type.

What's more disturbing is that our fellow bloggers over at our sister site, ShoppingBlog.com have just informed us that Karl is unbelievably hot and that perhaps they should check out this Star Trek thing, oh, and will Orlando Bloom be in it? This is just so wrong. Bones...hot? We think our heads are going to explode.

Posted on October 17, 2007
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Abrams Casts Scotty and Sulu

J.J. Abrams is moving ahead with casting for Star Trek. Simon Pegg will play Scotty and John Cho has been cast as Sulu.

English actor Pegg, who had a brief but memorable role in Abrams' Mission: Impossible III, takes over the role of the U.S.S. Enterprise's chief engineer, Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, a role originally played by James Doohan in the TV series and subsequent films. (Chronicles of Narnia's McAvoy and Stargate Atlantis' McGillion had both been rumored to be up for the role.) Cho, meanwhile, will take on the role of Hikaru Sulu from George Takei. Sulu was known for his love of fencing and was always seen on deck piloting the ship next to Chekov. Pegg and Cho join a cast that already includes Eric Bana, Anton Yelchin, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana and Leonard Nimoy. Written by Transformers scripters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, the new Star Trek chronicles the early days of James T. Kirk and his crew. Chris Pine has reportedly been offered the role of Kirk. Paramount has set a November start date for the film, which will hit theaters on Christmas Day 2008.

Pegg was hilarious in Hot Fuzz; we suppose he's now brushing up on his Scottish accent. And as for Cho -- we didn't see his latest oeuvre, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle.

Posted on October 12, 2007
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Just Our Luck: Chris Pine is Kirk and Eric Bana is the Villain

MTV reports that Eric Bana has joined the cast of the new Star Trek film as the villain, named Nero. No one is sure if he's a Romulan, a Vulcan or something else entirely. And Chris Pine may be the new Captain Kirk.

Eric Bana has signed on and Chris Pine is in final talks to play the villainous Nero and James T. Kirk, respectively. The duo will be filling out a prequel-minded Enterprise bridge that already includes Zachary Quinto as Spock, Zoë Saldana as Uhura, Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov and Leonard Nimoy as an older version of the pointy-eared Vulcan science officer.

While it is still unknown whether the legendary William Shatner will, like Nimoy, appear alongside his character's younger self, the latest "Trek" leak has revealed that Pine is in talks to portray the yellow-shirted commander's distinguished time at the Starfleet Academy. Pine, a 27-year-old heartthrob best known for movies like "Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement" (and for being the son of none other than "CHiPs" Sergeant Getraer, Robert Pine), recently raised eyebrows with a gritty, chameleonic performance in the shoot-'em-up thriller "Smokin' Aces."

Until now, the deadliest adversary Pine has tangled with was Lindsay Lohan in "Just My Luck."

Pine was that guy in Just My Luck?? We saw that film -- don't ask -- and we don't remember which one he was. The guy in the band? That worked in a bowling alley? It's all a bit of a blur. We haven't gotten around to seeing him in Smokin' Aces, so it's time to get the DVD, no question. As for Eric Bana as a bad guy -- we approve.

Posted on October 10, 2007
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Robert Orci Talks Star Trek

Robert Orci talks to Trekmovie.com about the new Star Trek film and lets a few interesting tidbits drop.

TrekMovie.com: J.J. [Abrams] has said the film is Spock-centric, but does the young Kirk have as big a role as Quintos Spock?

Roberto Orci: Totally! It is Lennon and McCartney. However Spock's role is key in that we also have Nimoy. Having said that Kirk is Star Trek and he is as essential.

TrekMovie.com: What about Bones? The Kirk/Spock/McCoy troika is also quintessential Trek, with McCoy being the counterpoint to Spock and Kirk in the middle.

Roberto Orci: That is a big part of what we are doing. You are correct that their interaction and how they face the impossible is what Trek is about and that is no different in our movie.

*****

TrekMovie.com: Speaking of captains I have one more casting question which is burning in the minds of many Trekkies…what about Shatner?

Roberto Orci: What J.J. said at Comic-Con [story] is still true. We are actively perusing looking for a way to make a part that is worthy of him and that is not pandering to either his role in Star Trek or to the fans.

TrekMovie.com: You guys have resisting labels for this film such as remake, reboot, etc. even prequel. Prequel has a pretty basic definition so what is wrong with calling it that?

Roberto Orci: But yet it is not entirely accurate. In some senses it is a prequel, but the word I would use, which is how Damon [Lindelof] describes it, is a re-invigoration or re-vitalization.

So far, so good. Although we're still worried about the casting of the younger crew members, such as Kirk and Bones. We like Zachary Quinto as young Spock -- we think he'll do a great job. This was the second in a two-part interview. The first part of the interview is well worth a read. In it, Orci talks about his lifelong love of Star Trek, his favorite series and episodes and how he is approaching the project.

Posted on October 9, 2007
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George Takei Has Asteroid Named After Him

George Takei, who played Sulu on the original Star Trek series, as well as Hiro Nakamura's dad on Heroes has gotten an asteroid named after him.

Star Trek and Heroes star George Takei has been immortalized by having his name permanently affixed to an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter, StarTrek.com reported. The Committee on Small Body Nomenclature of the International Astronomical Union approved the name "7307 Takei" for the asteroid previously labeled "1994 GT9," the site reported.

The Takei reference will be used in the scientific community to identify the minor body from now on. Only about 14,000 asteroids have been named after specific people, out of about 400,000 such bodies known to exist. "I am honored, indeed transported to the galaxies, to know that my name has been assigned to an astronomical object in our solar system," Takei told the site. "I am yet to come down to Earth."

Asteroid 7307 Takei is approximately 5 miles in diameter, located in an orbit ranging between 2.5 and 3.0 astronomical units from the sun in the mid-solar-system asteroid belt. It was discovered in 1994 by two Japanese astronomers. The name was suggested by Tom H. Burbine, a Massachusetts astronomer, who cited Takei's work with the Japanese American Citizens League and the Human Rights Campaign, as well as his celebrity.

What an amazingly cool honor to receive -- we totally want an asteroid named after us. Congratulations, George!

Posted on October 4, 2007
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Zach Quinto Talks Spock, Nimoy

Zachary Quinto, who plays Sylar on Heroes, talks about his new role as Spock in the upcoming J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie and how he's become friends with Leonard Nimoy.

Quinto and Nimoy have become fast friends since meeting briefly at San Diego's Comic-Con sci-fi convention last month. They had more time to connect during a recent tour of the Griffith Observatory. That led to Nimoy inviting Quinto to his home for dinner. Though there is speculation about how Abrams will make use of both Spocks in the film, no one is talking. "I honestly … can't say," Quinto, 30, says during lunch at the observatory's cafe after bidding farewell to Nimoy.

But perhaps a tiny clue is revealed. "I think there's going to be a sense of guidance through this film and beyond," he says. In Nimoy, 76, Quinto has found a father figure of sorts.

*****

In November, he will check out of Heroes to beam aboard Trek's 85-day shoot. He says 11 stages have been built on the Paramount lot, and two weeks will be spent shooting in Iceland. "I really identify with Spock's struggle," he says. "We're going back to a time before anything (Nimoy did in the original series) was established. These characters are in a completely different stage of their lives." After he turns in his Spock ears, Quinto hopes to live long and prosper on the series that made him a star. "If I could be on Heroes for the next 10 years, I would absolutely do that. But when something like this (movie) comes along, and you step away from one thing to do another thing, you never know what the future holds."

We think Zach will do a great job as the young Spock. So far we have Leonard Nimoy and Quinto as Spock, and Anton Yelchin as Chekov.

But what about Kirk? We need Kirk casting news, and we need it now. You can watch a horrifying video below in which Damon says he talked to J.J. Abrams who told Damon that he wanted a really young Kirk and that Damon was too old! Damon clearly wants the part, saying if they progressed the age, maybe he could still play him. We want Damon -- he's not too old. The editor of our sister site, Shoppingblog.com, informs us that with some injections of Botox and Restalyne and good makeup, that Damon could easily pass for early 20s. We are very unhappy about this. For the Love of the Federation, J.J., please reconsider!



Posted on August 21, 2007
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Will Tom Cruise Join the Star Trek Cast?

Here's an interesting and somewhat disturbing rumor: Tom Cruise may do a cameo as Captain Christopher Pike in the upcoming J.J. Abrams Star Trek film.

Better get those "Tom Cruise is an alien" jokes out of the way, because everyone's favorite Scientologist is reportedly being considered for a part in J.J. Abrams' upcoming Star Trek reboot. Abrams knows Cruise from their time together on that schlock-fest Mission Impossible III, and there's long been word that the Lost creator has been looking for an A-lister to make a cameo in Star Trek. Just one question: does Cruise still qualify as an A-lister?

According to IGN's source, Tom is being asked to play Capt. Christopher Pike, Kirk's predecessor as captain of the Enterprise, as well as Spock's first commanding officer. He was portrayed in the original - and unaired - series pilot by the late Jeffrey Hunter. After Cruise's very public feud with Paramount, it'd be a little surprising to see the actor back in a studio film but, if anything, he'd be doing the cameo as a favor to Abrams, not Paramount heads. Cruise is currently filming the WWII-drama Valkyrie with Superman Returns director Bryan Singer.

Hey, we loved Mission: Impossible 3 -- that was no schlock fest! We love us some J.J. Abrams around here, being long time Alias and Lost fans. We're not as concerned with who the cameo is -- we want to know if Matt Damon will be Kirk? Will he or won't he? It's driving us nuts. And after the Bourne Ultimatum's $70 million+ opening weekend, Damon will be expensive.

Posted on August 8, 2007
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