Who's The New James T. Kirk?
Chris Pine has been confirmed to play the role of James T. Kirk in the new "Star Trek" movie directed by J.J. Abrams, StarTrek.com reports.
As previously reported, Pine had been in talks for the coveted iconic role, but had a potential scheduling conflict. Today's confirmation ends speculation on whether the actor would choose "Star Trek" over another film he was offered called "White Jazz," to be directed by Joe Carnahan and starring George Clooney.
Carnahan's own blog dropped strong hints that Pine would choose "Trek" over his film, but the details of his signing for the Trek movie have not been finalized until now.
The 27-year-old Pine is one of Hollywood's hottest young actors, gaining attention as Lindsay Lohan's love interest in "Just My Luck" and as a neo-Nazi assassin in Carnahan's "Smokin' Aces." His father, Robert Pine, has played a couple of roles in "Star Trek" ("Liria," "Tavin") and performed with Michael Dorn on CHiPs.
Meanwhile, New Zealander Karl Urban is set to play Dr. Leonard McCoy. This ends the recent speculation as to whether the Kiwi actor would sign on for the role.
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Urban (not to be confused with the other famous New Zealander named Urban, country singer and guitar player Keith) has been in some high-profile films of late, including "The Bourne Supremacy," "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" and "The Return of the King," and "The Chronicles of Riddick." Urban's acting career began to take off back in his native New Zealand when he guest starred in several episodes of "Xena: Warrior Princess" and "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys," both filmed in Auckland.
Although the of McCoy in J.J. Abrams' new "Star Trek" film is cast, not much is known about the story or the character of "Bones," or even whether the character will keep that nickname.
The announcement of Urban as McCoy completes principal casting for the main bridge crew. Christopher Pike is one of the big parts remaining to be cast.