The casting for Star Trek is moving along. Now we’ve got Mr. Pavel Chekov beaming up.
The casting news is coming faster and faster these days…now from the Hollywood Reporter no less. According to trade paper, the up-and-coming (and Russian-born) Anton Yelchin is in negotiations to play Pavel Chekov for the new Star Trek film. HP also confirms that casting is under way (in New York and London) for “Kirk, Bones, Uhura, Sulu, Scotty, the film’s villain and the Federation captain.” It is not entirely clear what they mean by ‘federation captain,’ it is possible they actually mean ‘fleet captain’ which would be Chris Pike. HP reports that Abrams is expected to sign bigger-name actors for the villain and the ‘federation captain.’ roles. Yelchin is only 18, but has been working steadily since 2000, most recently with a recurring role on the Showtime drama Huff. He is starring in two feature films opening in the fall of 2007 (Charlie Bartlett and Fierce People).
If you’re a Trek fan then you know the first Captain of the Enterprise was Christopher Pike in the pilot episode. Then the ship was helmed over to Captain Kirk. It seems that J.J. Abrams wants Tom Cruise to play Pike.
Cruise’s name first surfaced last fall as a possibility for a role in Trek, but Cruise spokesman Arnold Robinson advised TrekMovie.com at the time, “That story is not true.” There was still bad blood between Cruise and Trek studio Paramount at that time, but in recent months Sumner Redstone, the Viacom honcho who ousted Cruise, has softened his rhetoric, leaving the door open for reconciliation. A Cruise cameo in Trek, however, would be a favor to Abrams and not to Paramount.
About the Captain switch for the original show:
When NBC balked at the cerebral nature of the show and wanted a new, action-heavy pilot filmed, Hunter was unavailable so a new character, Captain Kirk, was created. The unaired pilot was later recycled for the two-part first season episode “The Menagerie,” which saw Spock court-martialed for trying to take a disfigured Pike back to Talos IV, the setting of “The Cage.” In Trek lore, Spock served with Pike for about a decade.
J.J. Abrams was at the Paramount panel discussing “Lost” and had some various guests talking about the new take on Star Trek (Star Trek XI) to be released Christmas 2008. The big news? Spock has been cast.
It’s been a rumor for some time now that “Heroes” Zachary Quinto would play the younger version of Spock and the whole thing was sealed by Quinto himself. He’s just such a dead perfect Spock it’s creepy.
No word on any other castings just yet. Abrams even brought out the original Spock, Leonard Nimoy, who will also be appearing in the film. When asked why he would return to do this movie, Nimoy said “The answer? It was only logical.”
I found this little gem on the net and figured that someone would be still in their Star Trek underoos having coffee.
A picture, even a mere image that hints at a broader picture, can instantly give you a snapshot of things to come.
The production team that now holds the creative reins for the next Star Trek movie project has released a piece of artwork this weekend (to coincide with Comic-Con) that provides a Polaroid of an era past, as well as a vision yet to be revealed. With this familiar imagery, the direction of the next movie is now officially open to speculation.
J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof are the film’s producers; Bryan Burk, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci are executive producers. The film is slated for release in 2008.
Mr. Chekov is cast for Star Trek 
