After months of speculation about who might fill the campy shoes of Capt. James T. Kirk in J.J. Abrams’ new “Star Trek” movie (Matt Damon was an early fave), the wait is over: Chris Pine, who smooched Lindsay Lohan in “Just My Luck,” has gotten very lucky indeed.
“The notoriously passionate online fan forums are already showing how strongly they feel about the project,” reports London’s The Telegraph, “with ‘phantomdroid’ on the Internet Movie Database warning that ‘J.J. Abrams better not screw this up or there’ll be hell to pay!'”
Also cast was New Zealand actor Karl Urban as Dr. Leonard McCoy, while potential comic relief lies in two previously announced roles: John “Harold and Kumar” Cho as Mr. Sulu and Simon Pegg, of “Shaun of the Dead,” as Scotty the engineer.
Dark Horizons reports that a seven-minute sequence from “The Dark Knight,” Chris Nolan’s sequel to “Batman Begins,” is set to play in IMAX theaters this December. “General thought is that it will be the bank heist sequence,” the site says, which is “one of four sequences in the film that have been filmed in the IMAX format.” Adds the report, “The sequence itself shows essentially how The Joker [Heath Ledger] got his signature look.”
For comics fans who want to get started fretting really early, E! reports that the Wolverine movie, an “X-Men” spinoff starring Hugh Jackman and his trademark sideburns n’ claws, has been slated for a May 2009. The film’s rather underwhelming title: “X-Men Origins: Wolverine.” Some are questioning the wisdom of casting a getting-older-all-the-time Jackman to play a younger version of his character, others have apparently been keeping a close and approving eye on his prep work: “Have any of you seen Jackman lately? He’s f—ing bulked up like mad now,” one AICN commenter wrote. “He’s chunky Wolverine style to the max.”
Brian De Palma is set to direct an “Untouchables” prequel, “The Untouchables: Capone Rising,” with Gerard Butler signed on to play Jimmy Malone – Sean Connery’s part in the original. Al Capone is still uncast, which opens the online floodgates for debate: Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo were top contenders in the MTV forums, although one commenter went a different way: “My first choice would be Jon Lovitz, but he’s too old and I’m not sure he could pull off playing a noncomedy role.” Indeed.