Trek Casting Update

A couple weeks back, there was much speculation that actor Mike Vogel had won the part of James T. Kirk in director JJ Abrams' big-budget Star Trek reboot, which starts shooting next month. But today's Hollywood Reporter declares that actor Chris Pine is "in discussions" to play Kirk.


Pine, 27, is third generation Hollywood. Dunno about his training, but he's been acting in TV and films for about five years. Anyway, he looks the part (see right). I expect we'll find out in the next few days if he actually has it, though the article probably wouldn't have gone to press if his people hadn't approved it. And they wouldn't have approved it if they thought it jeopardized his chances. Anyway, we'll see.

Meanwhile, they've at least settled on an actor to play the Romulan heavy: Eric Bana, who starred in Spielberg & Kushner's brilliant Munich (and Ang Lee's less-than-brilliant Hulk). An excellent choice -- far better, IMO, than Russel Crowe, who had long been rumored to be in talks for the part. (Crowe is an excellent actor, but Bana is better.)

Karl Urban (Eomer in the LOTR films) is also rumored to have been cast -- in an unknown part. (Possibly second banana to Bana's heavy?)

The cast so far: Bana as Nero (who presumably will fiddle while Romulus burns); Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto as Old Spock and Young Spock, respectively; Zoe Saldana as Uhura; Anton Yelchin as Chekov.

This leaves Scotty and Bones uncast. Paul McGillion is among those rumored to be up for Scotty. If anyone has been rumored for Bones, I haven't heard about it.

As far as plot, it's rumored to feature Romulans from the post-Next Generation era going back in time on a mission to kill James T. Kirk. Old Spock (last seen on Romulus) learns of this, and is able to warn his younger self. And much hilarity ensues. While the plot to kill Kirk ultimately fails, all this tampering with history does apparently create a new timeline (freeing Abrams, et al, to do what they want with established continuity, including big screen remakes of classic episodes).

Co-writer Roberto Orci, perhaps coincidentally, told Trekmovie.com that two of his favorite episodes are TNG's "Yesterday's Enterprise" (which features a time travel plot quite similar to the above rumor) and TOS' "Balance of Terror," which is essentially a u-boat movie in which Kirk must match wits against a cunning Romulan commander... Hmmmm. "Yesterday's Enterprise" meets "Balance of Terror." If that's not the movie they're making, I'm gonna end up wishing it was.

Full Indiana Jones 4 Title Announced

The title of the new Indiana Jones adventure, now in production under the direction of Steven Spielberg, is Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, it was revealed today by actor Shia LaBeouf.

LaBeouf, who stars ... with Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen, Ray Winstone and John Hurt, announced the title during today's MTV Video Music Awards. ...

[Pic] will be released in the U.S. and simultaneously in most territories worldwide on Thursday, May 22, 2008.

We were so close.

Ultimate Star Trek?

Moriarty at aint-it-cool-news had dinner with a friend who works at Paramount. Apparently, this friend gave him a brief precis of the premise of the new JJ Abrams-directed, $150 million Star Trek reboot.
He then posted the following (taking pains to paint it as rumor--though Jeremy Smith at CHUD later posted that he had "100% confirmed" through a source of his own).

Indicating that the movie opens on Old Spock (Nimoy), presumably on Romulus (where we left him in his last appearance in 1991), Moriarty writes:

Picture an incident that throws a group of Romulans back in time. Picture that group of Romulans figuring out where they are in the timeline, then deciding to take advantage of the accident to kill someone’s father, to erase them from the timeline before they exist, thereby changing all of the Trek universe as a result. Who would you erase? ...

Who else, of course, but James T. Kirk?

Which may be a fanwank, but if so, it's an outstanding one, basically a variation "if you could go back and kill Hitler before he came to power, would you?"

It's worth noting that the single best episode of the original series, "City on the Edge of Forever," is centered around a nearly identical premise: what happens if time travelers from the future save a person who would otherwise die?

In the episode, this character's survival delayed the United States' entry into WWII, allowing Hitler to take over the world.

So what happens if time travelers from the future remove a person who would otherwise spend his life saving the galaxy on a regular basis? One imagines that the galaxy would fail to be saved... Repeatedly.

For example, Kirk would not have been there to defeat the Romulan Commander in "Balance of Terror." His mission to test the Federation's mettle would have been successful, quite possibly presaging a full-scale Romulan invasion. Even a hundred years later, there might be people on Romulus still nursing that grudge. (Which Old Spock, living on Romulus, might hear about.) It's worth noting that "Balance of Terror" was a *very* early TOS episode--probably the first one, chronologically-speaking, that could be remade into an excellent feature (it was a U-boat movie done for TV). It'd be great if Abrams & Co are using that for their A-plot... but that's purely conjecture on my part.

Moriarty continues:

If Spock were in a position to change that incident back, and then in a position to guard that timeline and make sure things happen the way they’re supposed to, it creates...

... well, what does it create?

It creates a fairly compelling idea for a new series of Star Trek movies is what. If this is true, they're creating a way to keep Leonard Nimoy as Old Spock into as many sequels as he's interested in making--which is reason enough to do it, in my opinion. But they're also taking the opportunity to streamline and tighten 40 years of continuity created on the fly--it's a second draft of Star Trek history. Ultimate Star Trek. And why not? It's been a huge success for Marvel Comics.

Because evidently the plan is to use this second timeline as a way of rebooting without erasing or ignoring canon. These new voyages of the Enterprise, they’re taking place in whatever timeline starts with this story. Maybe this timeline features dramatic differences.

More importantly, that would allow them to remake classic TOS episodes on the big screen while acknwoledging that for some characters (i.e., Old Spock), and some audience members (i.e., the fans), all of this has happened before.

I like it. I hope this is what they're doing... though it should be noted that, if this is true, it isn't so much the plot of the movie--at least, not the A-plot--as it is the premise for the movie and any sequels Abrams produces.

Casting Update: apparently, they want Zoe Saldana for Uhura, but her involvement may be hampered by the shooting schedule for James Cameron's Avatar. They are also said to want a name for the heavy with the rumor focusing on Russell Crowe (who says he's interested). Crowe would make a fantastic Romulan, huh?

Casting: James McAvoy as Scotty? Bell to Heroes

The UK Daily Mirror is reporting a long-standing rumor that James McAvoy (best known to genre audiences as the son of Maud'dib in Sci-Fi Channel's Children of Dune mini) has been cast as Montgomery Scott in JJ Abrams' Star Trek reboot. As much as I loved Jimmy Doohan--RIP--it'd be nice to have an actual Scotsman in the part.

If true--Paramount has not yet confirmed--McAvoy would be the third actor confirmed for the cast (the first two being Zachary Quinto and Leonard Nimoy, both as Spock).

In other casting news, Kristen Bell--who in the last couple of weeks was thisclose to taking a season-long recurring part on Lost--decided instead to take a short-term recurring gig on Heroes. Apparently, she wasn't too keen on moving to Hawaii.

Update: McAvoy's people are denying this report, but apparently no one is denying that 19 year old TV vet Anton Yelchin has been cast as Chekov... Yelchin was born in St. Petersburg, but has been acting in American TV since he was 9. Still, no confirmation from Paramount, but the source (Zachary Quinto) is fairly reliable.

Cloverfield is Furious

More info has emerged regarding this JJ Abrams-produced monster movie everyone's been buzzing about since a teaser trailer appeared in front of Transformers.

Heretofore known by the codename Cloverfield (which I kinda like), the film now has a proper name:


Aint-It-Cool-News also reports that the production set up last night at Orchard & Stanton on Manhattan's Lower East Side (about 6 blocks from my apt), where it is shooting, appropriately enough, under the name "Cheese." :-) (Do the link for pics.)

The 2 Spocks

Alan Moore (& Art Spiegelman)... on The Simpsons???

Now, this is unexpected:

I mentioned last year that Alan Moore, creator of the seminal graphic novel The Watchmen, would be appearing in an episode of The Simpsons. Now comes word that the episode, "Husbands and Knives," will air on October 7 and will feature not only Moore, but two other big comic book names: Art Spiegelman (Maus, Maus II, In the Shadow of No Towers) and Daniel Clowes (Eightball, Ghost World, David Boring).

Source

Meanwhile, the movie made nearly $72 million in its opening weekend, almost doubling studio estimates, slaughtering the competition and ensuring at least a couple of sequels. Woo-hoo!

Trek Casting: Quinto Confirmed for Spock, Nimoy Cameos

Appearing at San Diego Comic-Con today, director JJ Abrams confirmed that Zachary Quinto will play Spock in the Star Trek reboot due to begin shooting in the fall.

Leonard Nimoy will also appear (as "Old Spock") in a "substantial cameo." By the time the movie premieres, it will be 17 years since Nimoy last donned the pointy ears (for The Next Generation episode "Unification 2" in 1991), and 44 years since the first time (for the original series' 1st pilot in 1964).

They also released this new teaser poster:

Sunshine

Oh my god, did this movie suck. So pretentious, and so stylish, yet so truly free of substance. Did I mention boring? For the most part, it was like watching hair grow... Interspersed, to be fair, by a couple of tense, but nevertheless predictable, set-pieces.

Note to Danny Boyle and Alex Garland: if you want to do the 2001 thing, it would help to keep us riveted by the subtext. Which is difficult when you've left nothing *in* the subtext... And if you want to do the Alien thing, it would help to bring the alien into it before Act 3.

Oh, and while you remembered to bring the soapbox, you forgot to bring the fun. I hear a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down... Trainspotting and 28 Days Later, which are among my favorite movies, remembered this. Oh, well.

Avoid, avoid.