Star Trek XI: the rebirth?

Mark Pickavance

Forget Star Trek: Nemesis. Forget Enterprise. JJ Abrams' Star Trek XI may just be the jolt the franchise needs...

Published on Jul 13, 2007

The world it seems is alive with Star Trek XI movie rumours, as MI3 and Alias brainiac J J Abrams reaches the ever-tricky casting phase of the production. Some of the suggestions going around seem good possibilities, while others are, er, much less likely.

Last year it was hinted that Matt Damon would play the young Kirk along with Adrien Brody as Spock and Gary Sinise as Bones. These seemed remarkably plausible, especially Sinise, who bears an uncanny resemblance to DeForest Kelley.

But now new rumours abound. Film Ick has run a story that Zachary Quinto, who plays the psychopathic Sylar in Heroes, may be up for the Spock job, and Bill Shatner on his own 'Shatnervision' curiously revealed that he's not in the movie, but his green-blooded buddy Leonard Nimoy is.

True or not, personally I'd like J J to forget old cast members and concentrate on making something genuinely dynamic and spectacular. More Wrath of Khan, and less Final Frontier, please.

I just hope Paramount has the guts to let him do a good job, and make something worthy of the material.

Whoever gets these jobs we'll know soon, because it's got a 2008 release. I'd really like Matt Damon as Kirk and Sinise as Bones, but I'm open to persuasion on Spock.

It's about time this franchise got out of impulse power and kicked into high warp…