January 16, 2007

Matt Damon to be the next Kirk? Damon may be slated to play the young Captain Kirk in the upcoming "prequel".

But who will play Spock? Any answer other than "not Ben Affleck" is unacceptable.

posted by Koko 17 years ago
  • Affleck never got around to that Casablanca remake, so he's more than due for another Abomination and Sin Against Man. A Damon / Affleck Star Trek buddy pic it is...
  • I. Have. To. AGREE. Affleck. SUCKS!
  • > Any answer other than "not Ben Affleck" is unacceptable. So a specific answer other than "not Ben Affleck" is acceptable, meaning that the specific answer must be Ben Affleck. Though Ben Stiller would be better.
  • Affleck could play Captain Pike. Post-accident. Everyone wins.
  • /Slaps head. /Strips off to waist. I'm ready to save the day universe galaxy franchise.
  • Spock MUST be played by the most deadpan, emotionless, golem-like actor working today: Mr. Keanu Reeves.
  • This is pretty old news. The most current rumor is that Shatner and Nemoy will appear in some sort of bookending sequence. Personally I think that the idea of doing soemthing set before the original series with Kirk and Spock is incredibly lame. I've said it before, but the fact that they have 3 series set in the same time period (TNG, DS9, and Voyager) means that they have a lot of characters and storylines they could pick up on. I think there could be a lot of mileage out of mashing together the characters from those series. They are established characters but with only a couple minor crossovers we haven't seen them interact. Rather than make up some stupid new enemy like in Generations or Insurrection or reveal that there's a whole other species that we've never heard of before living on the homeworld of one of the primary Trek adversaries like in Nemesis why not logically build on the situations that were created in the series?
  • Because the TNG, DS9 and Voyager franchises are dead weight. As with Batman Begins, Superman Returns, and the latest James Bond film, the trend of going back to the beginning, as it were, is proving very successful.
  • Damon and Affleck would be great for the Lost Gay Star Trek Episode (you can find the audio file here).
  • The problem with using Matt Damon is that he's already 36 years old, as old as Shatner was when he started playing Kirk. He's definitely a very youthful looking 36, but he's too old to be believable as a 19-20 year old anymore. If the "reboot" idea weren't already slated to begin with Starfleet Academy, I could get on board with Damon as the "new" Kirk, the same way I am fine with Daniel Craig as the "new" Bond.
  • Alec Baldwin for Spock. Vulcans age differently, right?
  • Nathan Lane as Kirk, Harvey Fierstein as Spock.
  • I only saw a few episodes of "Enterprise," but it was enough to sour me on the idea of Star Trek prequels in general. It's like on that old scifi show (Can't remember the name, but it had a pointy-eared guy in it) used to say, you can't go back in the past without mucking stuff up. Or maybe "Enterprise" was just poorly done.
  • I kinda liked Enterprise, 'cause it was less irritatingly Trekkie than the other ones.
  • I liked the dog on Enterprise, Porthos. If I ever get a Beagle, I will call him Porthos. Or Darwin.
  • Someone needs to fix the franchise, so we don't go another 30 years with Enterprise being the last thing everyone remembers. This is not the way. "Nathan Lane as Kirk, Harvey Fierstein as Spock." I hope you're happy. You made me choke with laughter!
  • Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal at Starfleet Academy. That would be memorable.
  • Gene Roddenberry was in the LAPD. I think that explains everything. *pulls over, assumes the position*
  • *Lara makes the doggie happy*
  • I would so go see RTD's version. I dunno why, but Prince would make an excellent Scotty. i.e. Kirk: We need more power! Scotty: AAAaaiIIIhhH! YeeEAA! *killer wah-wah guitar solo* I dunno. It's not canonical, of course.
  • And maybe they could have Li'l Kim as Uhura.
  • It has nothing to do with anything, except that I wish it were a real movie.
  • *raised eyebrow*
  • I think he'd be good. He can do emotionless. And he's hot.
  • Am I remembering wrong, or didn't Sylar die at the end of Heroes?
  • There was a blood streak leading into a sewer grate or some such nonsense.
  • Sylar aint dead, because Quinto is signed on to do the next series. The hint was that he'd lost all his powers (his eyes flashed images of all the people he'd stolen powers from).
  • Heroes was great at the beginning, but its ending was a twisted mess of garbage. The series is afraid to kill its characters off when they should die; that faux-British-Indian doctor should have been killed rigght after he tried that stunt on Sylar, as should have faux-Japanese Ando. If they bring back the emo brothers from the skyplosion, I will be totally pissed off.
  • So, was Syler the congressman's brother? /stopped watching a while ago, but still curious about the ending
  • Nah, Sylar was the mean dude who cut people's heads open. He did pretend to be the Congressman for a while. He and the Congressman's brother were alike in that they could take on other peoples' powers. And their big showdown was the finale.
  • The Emo brothers! Hehe, apt. Well, they could have survived, in that Flying Man could have dropped Empathy Boy at a high altitude, then sped out of range. Empathy boy would survive the explosion because he had Claire Bear's power. And, they are both apparently signed for at least a few shows next season. ;) So either that means that they will return, or will get a flashback scene or two a la some of the dead characters on Lost. As for killing off characters, they did kill quite a few. The last couple of episodes were a bloodbath. They offed Linderman & Sprague the Nuclear Man, & Eric Roberts (which I was pissed off about because I cheered him whenever he appeared on screen - he's my favorite B actor of all time! Eric Roberts! Yay!) I thought it was a hell of a lot better than Lost, which I gave up on due to the insufferable cock-teasing & flashback bullshit.
  • I'm with Hank on the Emo duo outcome. I thought Linderman would have made a good Lex Luthor-Magneto-cross-type villan. (Not to mention the attention to story-board cinematography suited the series better than the cliché dramatography of Lost.)
  • One thing I've been wondering tho' is what power did Empathy Boy steal from the Incredible-Sick-and-Dying-Man he was taking care of?
  • Probly being a sex machine to all the chicks.
  • You have to admit, the way they offed Malcolm McDowell was pretty harsh. His fuckin' eyes went all bloodshot & there was this gaping head wound after DL pulled his hand out, hehehe. That'll teach you to kill Kirk, fucker.
  • I have to admit, Kirk was hot back in the day.
  • /collapse
  • Tom Cruise in Star Trek Prequel? But who will he play? You got your Chillee Uggum in my Star Trek!
  • He does kinda look like Pike.
  • Actual Russian signed to play Chekov. Now that you mention it, there is quite a resemblance between Chillee and Jeffrey Hunter. Especially around the mouth and eyebrows.
  • Not bad. There's no Kirk in this movie. This happens before Kirk is assigned to the ship. Right at the end, they hear there's a new captain coming aboard, he's the youngest Captain in Starfleet, he's the only one ever to beat the Kobayashi Maru sim, and that's it. You don't see him. Keep you hangin' for the next movie, see.
  • Maybe we can have Colin Farrell as Finnegan.
  • If it was me makin' this movie, I would basically remake "The Cage", only this time, I would have it that *everything after the end of that story was invented by the minds of the Talosians* - that is, everything in Star Trek up to now has been part of their telepathic imagining. That way, you reboot the entire fucking series, no problemo.
  • Too old.
  • he's the only one ever to beat the Kobayashi Maru sim HE CHEATED!!!! /nerdlinger
  • HE CHEATED!!!! WAS GIVEN A COMMENDATION FOR ORIGINAL THINKING!!!!
  • He's a cheating cheater and Kirstie Alley was right to pout vacantly!
  • Vulcans do not pout.
  • But she was pretty vacant.
  • Vulcans do not pout. They do if they're half-Romulan. SET PHASERS TO PWN!!!!
  • PFFT. All references to that are NON-CANON. 'PFFT' I SAY.
  • I'll bet it has been a while since Kirstie was able to slip into a Starfleet unitard.
  • Well, she'd be a good wife for Scotty.
  • Scotty is married to the Enterprise.
  • Kirstie Alley is the enterprise.
  • Scotty...or Scott Bakula?! *sighs*
  • See the remastered TOS episode "The Menagerie" on the big screen!! The closest participating cinema is an hour away, or I'd totally be there.
  • I wish they would use that pretty amazing universe that comes along with the franchise and make a new story with new characters. Also, everyone knows that Scotty is parental towards the Enterprise. Kirk is the one with the angsty love for the Enterprise.
  • He is in it. New Kirk. probably this guy: Mike Vogel
  • Couldn't they have found someone that looked at least a tiny bit like a young Shatner?
  • And who isn't a wispy baby girly-man?
  • Good god...why do all the young hoolwood dudes look exactly the same? Say what you will about the tarty starlets, at least there's some variety there.
  • (Hoolwood...it's a suburb of Hollywood. But if you had a preview button you'd know that.)
  • That shirt's gotta go. Shat would never wear such a thing.
  • His facial features have the right proportions.
  • He doesn't need to act, obviously.
  • You know I'm working for Abrams, don't you?
  • I'll chop it later. You'll see. Haters.
  • NEIN. NEIN UND ABERMALS NEIN.
  • ...you don't like my potochop?
  • Potochop good. Clearly answers the question "quien es mas macho" in the Shat's favour.
  • Good chop, still not Kirk.
  • Very nice, especially around the hairline. But not Kirk.
  • I don't like his face. He looks like bad news.
  • Boy, he shure got a purty mouth.
  • I think Vogel's forehead is all wrong for Kirk. Though it could be explained if he gets involved in the accident that transforms the Klingons' heads.
  • Kirk's forehead is explained by receeding hairline. Shat was going bald even before then. In (I think) the original 'Making of Star Trek' book (published during the 2nd season) it mentions that Shatner *stole* several of the Kirk hairpieces at the end of the first season!
  • .. they were those ones that you brush into your own hair, so they look natural. I think he probably went bald on the sides and the crown, not the forelock bit. /trivia
  • It is a lovely parting though. Like a Hokusai wave! /pretentious
  • That article sez that Chris Pine might play Kirk. Sligtly less of a pretty-boy, this one has my vote.
  • I can't tell them apart. Which one starred in Princess Diaries 2?
  • I'll take Pine. He's got dreamy eyes.
  • PEGG??? THIS IS AN OUTRAGE
  • Ehhh.. Doohan was 47 in 67. Pegg is 37. Could work, I guess.
  • I think Scotty should be more like Ewen Bremner in Trainspotting. Completely incomprehensible. "Damage report, Mr. Scott." "Wul, te worp dreyve tuk kwyt a het, BUH, ah tenk et'll bae oigt en eh foo menneh!" "........... what?!"
  • "Och, 'n ah shat en yir kwawturs, kapun."
  • OK, when I heard that "That guy from Shaun of the Dead" was being considered for Scotty, I assumed that meant Nick Frost. He'd make more sense than Pegg.
  • I think Simon Pegg can do it.
  • So do I. I have faith in Simon Pegg.
  • Let's just hope Mr. Pine's acting... *giggle* let's hope his acting... *teehee* hope his acting isn't... *twitter* isn't WOODEN! *runs off cackling madly, hides under blankets with box of Pecan Sandies*
  • Pine had to turn down a role opposite George Clooney in the film White Jazz in order to play Kirk because of a clash of filming schedules. That may be the dumbest move imaginable.
  • Agreed. Anyone see Michael Clayton yet? We saw it last weekend. That is a damn fine film. And I'm not just saying that because I want to bear Clooney's children.
  • More importantly: "Lord of the Rings actor Karl Urban will play Leonard "Bones" McCoy, the Starship Enterprise's medical officer." Hmmm...
  • ...opposite George Clooney in the film White Jazz... Oh, come on. They're not even trying to make it porn-adaptation resistant.
  • porn-adaptation Pine: Dipped, Stripped and Stained Soft Wood probably not got quite the same appeal.
  • Urban is an interesting choice, but it strikes me he's not old enough (and can he do the accent?). It looks to me as if this movie takes place about 10 years prior to the 5 year mission. Which should indicate it's before Kirk gets captaincy. Depends on what kind of reboot they are doing.
  • I saw that! And I think it's a travesty. Why Spock and no Kirk?
  • Re: Urban Since Bones' accent changed from show to show, I think it'll be ok. Note to self: you can appear older by throwing on a thick southern accent.
  • I wonder if it could be due to the fact that Quinto looks more like Nimoy than Pine looks like Shatner. Re: Urban - he did a pretty good Yank accent on Xena, if memory serves me. But I'm a doctor, not a dialectician, dammit. Actually, I'mnot even a doctor, so what the heck do I know?
  • I thought they could at least afford The Shat a voiceover or something. Have him read the intro, or replace Majel Barrett or whatever. Actually, you probably couldn't replace Majel without having a small riot. OK, have The Shat play Kirk's grandfather, dropping him off at Starfleet Academy, and looking all aghast at the dorms rooms. There. Problem solved.
  • Or -- OR -- he could play our preview button. That'd work.
  • Hehe, I can see it all now: "I'm payin' 6,000 bars of gold-pressed latinum a semester so you can live in a party dorm? I don't think so, you young whippersnapper!"
  • And then, of course, he sneaks off to the green chicks' sorority house...
  • ...where he gets into a drinking contest...
  • ... and we're back to Star Trek III: The Search For Cock
  • ..."FOUR HUNDRED QUATLOOS ON THE NEWCOMER..!"
  • Romulan ale bongs and Chech'tluth shooters!!!
  • How could it not?
  • Calibrate your Nostalg-O-Meter™ with Entertainment Weekly's Top 10 TNG Episodes.
  • No Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra? Pfft. PFFT, I SAY! No Girl Q, either.
  • Or Data's daughter. PFFT.
  • Or Ensign Ro. Sure, it wasn't the greatest of episodes, but being that stoopid hawt should count for something in this crazy world...
  • Darmok & Jalad at Tanagra ranks as one of the top 4 or 5 Star Trek episodes evar. Possibly no.2. Ranking depends on whether you can put up with Time Travelly stories like Yesterday's Enterprise. Conundrum was another good one. TNG had a lot of fluff, but when they were good, they were very very good. I don't think they ever had their version of 'Spock's Brain'.
  • Notably absent: The one where Riker serves on a Klingon ship as part of an exchange program. Also the one where they're in a time loop and keep crashing into Kelsey Grammer's ship.
  • Awww...you guys are making me all nostalgic.
  • Koko, when the links died Vending machines?? Koko, her wallet and stomach empty.
  • middleclasstool, his bladder soggy. His boss, his magnetic ID badge door unlocker borrowed.
  • I liked the one that didn't suck as hard as the other ones. Oh wait, THEY ALL SUCKED HARD! Boo Yeah! I'm better than all you people!
  • Koko and Nickdanger at the place where she kicks his ass.
  • Yeah, "nanu nanu" or whatever to you too.
  • > the one where they're in a time loop and keep crashing into Kelsey Grammer's ship. Set Phrasiers to Stun, I think it was called.
  • Are you weird-looking? Be a Star Trek extra! ...The studio said it was interested in people with unique characteristics like "long necks, small heads, bug eyes, large foreheads and oversized ears". Auditions this Saturday at an unspecified location in California.
  • also, roryk FTW
  • Extras will get the chance to play Star Fleet military cadets in the new film... Play a unnamed redshirt? I don't think my life insurance covers that... Also, roryk FTW.
  • > Are you weird-looking? Be a Star Trek extra! Two people I know in California would be perfect for this, but if I e-mail to let them know about it, they'll know that I think they're weird looking. But they'd be perfect for it. Damn, what to do?
  • But the studio said "unique", not weird. I'm sure they'd like that. Everyone likes being unique. Like pretty pretty snowflakes.
  • Pretty pretty snowflakes with disproportionately large heads or huge ears... The BBC headline says "odd" Star Trek extras. Maybe I could say that I think they're in the "ultra perfect" category...
  • Say disproportionately large heads or huge ears just means that they're more highly evolved. And thus good to be in Star Trek. They are the future!
  • I have fond memories of "The Host," the one where Dr. Crusher falls in love with the feller who turns out to be a Trill. For some reason, the first time I saw it the sound on the TV was off (I think my Mom was on the phone or something,) but it was visually so well-done that when I went back and watched the tape I found I hadn't missed a thing. Kind of like a silent movie.
  • Yeah, but then they went and changed the whole Trill thing completely.
  • This can't be right, can it? Winona Ryder as Amanda? She's 36 and Quinto's 30. How is that gonna work?
  • (I presume her job application didn't have a little box to check off stating "I have never been convicted of a crime for which I have not received a pardon.")
  • And -- hasn't Winona been 36 for years already?
  • From that Star article: Shatner, whose current work includes ... the prequel Star Trek: Academy – Collision Course, a novel chronicling Kirk and Spock's first meeting. WHEN THEY TOTALLY HAD SEX. /runs away giggling
  • Silly Pallas. Their love goes beyond mere sex.
  • It boldly goes where no love has gone before, in fact.
  • You mean...DeForest Kelley?
  • Yes, the ages will work. Spock was like 200, and looked in his 30s. Vulcans don't look the same ages as humans anyhow.
  • ... and Leonard Nimoy just put out a fat-positive photography book. TRUTH!
  • My girl Winona can be 36 for as long as she likes!
  • pix taken on set of Quinto as Spock:
  • Not bad.
  • Indeed. His bangs are a little imprecise, though.
  • That's to show that he's young and carefree. bangs, like knee joints, solidify with age. Is he wearing some kind of jet pack in that second picture, or is he plugged into the wall?
  • That's a speaker, obviously. A giant speaker which follows him around playing his theme song, "I'm So Logical."
  • I'm still pissed about no Shatner. To whom do I complain? Oh, and Zach Quinto is a hot guy, but not as Spock.
  • I found out recently that British comedian Bill Bailey named his son Dax after the character on Deep Space Nine.
  • Yeah, Bill is a big Trek fan. Klingon motivational speaker. Ben Cross.. hmm. Doesn't look much like Mark Lenard.
  • I'd no idea Klingons need motivational speakers. They always seem so enthusiastic and gung-ho.
  • They need lawyers, as well, which reveals a certain litigiousness you wouldn't expect from a warrior people. They must have vintners for the blood wine, and interior decorators & clothiers. They probably have used bird-of-prey salesmen and dentists, too. Although I expect the dentists don't use anesthetic but do use black&decker. On hammer setting. It's a reference to one of Bill Bailey's live shows, where he's wearing an earpiece/mic. He says he looks like a wizard at a call center, or a Klingon motivational speaker.
  • Oh he does rather, doesn't he. I have a copy of Bewilderness somewhere.
  • Part Troll is the best one
  • Astounding. Great find TUM!
  • If you didn't have a geekgasm, there's something wrong with your sens0rs, captain. /ear wiggle
  • My, she's yar.
  • Grandmother, what big nacelles you have.
  • The trailer is on YouTube but it a)will soon get pulled and b) is a little too dark to see anything.
  • Still pretty damned cool, though. *looks around, realizes her geek is showing, runs out of room*
  • OK, I totally got chills down my spine watching that.
  • TRAILER. Gnn! GNNNGN! GNNNNGnnGGnnnGGGnnnnNNN!!!
  • Winona Ryder??
  • She plays Amanda Grayson ...
  • I've got my TV on a timer as a backup alarm clock; it comes on at 6:00 to TOS on TV Land. I'm getting a whole new appreciation of the characters, since I'm closer to their age now that the last time I regularly watched it. And it's really whetting my appetite for the upcoming movie.
  • I don't care what anyone says, it was a fucking good series and still is. Sure, the effects are dated, sure the third season was underbudgeted. Sure there were some naff episodes (Spock's Brain etc) but there were truly great SciFi ideas, there was incredible character writing, and the portrayal of Kirk was the first time there was ever a leading man on a tv series who was anything but a staunch, square jawed hero. Kirk was flawed, he made mistakes, he felt passion and fear. God, he even turned into a woman in the final episode! Multiracial cast, groundbreaking themes, technological prescience. There were no other series like that, for years. That cast really worked hard to make those characters believable. I still love TOS the best, it has a certain indefinable something. Isn't anyone going to complain about Ryder being the wrong age to play Amanda, so that I can drop a spoiler about that whole dealio?
  • She's the wrong age, plus she looks Vulcan, not human. I'm pretty sure she is Vulcan, actually.
  • We talked about that waaay upthread, M. Mabuse.
  • oh tl;dr
  • I missed that too.
  • PAY ATTENTION, PEOPLE. THIS IS IMPORTANT. THIS IS STAR TREK.
  • Away put your caps lock! I mean you no harm! heh heh. Heh. Cause of the little green guy. *snif* Ahhhanyhoo.
  • NO KILL I
  • Worried, am I. The force, with the Trekies, it is strong.
  • I see no mention of the Kirk/Spock fight music being considered.
  • They could include some Mozart if they wanted to - like the sonata Captain Picard used to play on his Ressican flute.
  • The Shat 'almost died' during recent hip replacement surgery. But he didn't. It's not like he's some pussy with an artificial heart...
  • Need help findin that special tinfoil-clad, pastel-haired Miss Right? Check out the new self-help book, Captain Kirk's Guide to Women.
  • > Jimmy Kimmel's response. The premise was quite predictable, but the execution was outstanding.
  • From trekmovie.com: In honor of the Shat's 77th birthday yesterday, here are 77 reasons William Shatner is awesome.
  • From trekmovie.com: Best Star Trek Opening Credit Mashups TNG/Love Boat FTW
  • My guts hurt from laughing!
  • A Mother's Day special from trekmovie.com: Top 10 Star Trek Moms I kinda wish they'd made it 20 - I think that paternal/maternal issues were one of the best recurring themes throughout the ST canon. P.S. I love my Moogie.
  • Your daily whiskey-tango via Youtube: Picard vs. MacGyver, Lucy vs. Britney
  • Warning: Extremely NSFW. NSF kids in the room, either. Lots of wonderfully inappropriate language. ST:TNG Rap Video Trust me, it's worth the wait 'til you get home.
  • "Those aren't muskets" is something I need to start working into conversations more.
  • How's it working with "pay me a nickel to bust up your chiffarobe"?
  • Always gets followed up with rape accusations. So, not working so well.
  • Statistical Analysis of the Redshirt Phenomenon, correlated to Captain Kirk's sex life. I think I love this guy. Srsly. "Besides not beaming down, another factor that showed to increase the survival rate of the red-shirts was the nature of the relationship between the alien life and captain Kirk. When Captain Kirk meets an alien woman and “makes contact” the survival rate of the red-shirted crewmen increases by 84%. In fact, out of Captain Kirks’ 24 “relationships” there were only three instances of red-shirt vaporization."
  • My new favorite Youtube vids: Star trek Barbershop Quartet The link goes to their Youtube channel, where they have several clips of different songs.